Last month Bellator MMA held an unannounced MMA card, which took place before a motocross event, in which several of the top MotoX riders in the world competed for truck loads of cash.
The event was such a success that Bellator plans on holding more MMA-MotoX crossover events in the future.
Monster Energy Combat Sports Manager Hans Molenkamp spoke to MMAJunkie about the massive success from the event.
“This was in Vegas, where MMA happens all the time, so we didn’t know if it would be one of those things where people are just like, ‘Eh, whatever,’ or if people were going to be really into it, which they were. We saw the droves of people flock to the cage once that first fight started. We’re stoked. We couldn’t have picked a better partner to do this with.”
“There are numerous things that can happen. We had an hour timeslot for the MMA event, and that’s because we were sharing it with a number of other attractions. We had a large carnival going on. But this event was a little different in that it wasn’t what we typically see in the pits, and the reaction for it was awesome.”
“I think that when we do the next one, which I think we’re going to be doing early January because that’s when the season starts up, there could be more fights. It will all come down to timing and what the other partners would like to do, as well.”
Molenkamp wasn’t the only one who saw success at the event. Bellator MMA President Scott Coker also saw the event as a huge success.
“I was standing there watching a sea of people. It was like Woodstock meets MMA. I think it was well-received. It clearly shows that our key demos and their key demos are in sync. There’s a lot of synergy between the two companies.
“It was my first time at a motocross event, and I walked in and saw all the different events happening. People were fighting their way out of the stadium to go watch the fights. They could have just waited inside for the races, but they worked their way out to get outside because they wanted to watch these fights.”
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