The UFC landscape has changed a lot in the last few years. A uniform deal has taken the place of sponsors, an online streaming service has been formed and rules regarding weight cuts are beginning to take shape. While each has its own positives and negatives, all have a common thread. They were all implemented without much input from the fighters.
With unionisation constantly seeming so-near-yet-so-far, the next best asset for up and coming athletes in the sport of MMA appears to be having a solid managerial team.
Enter Shane Carwin.
Earlier this month, the former interim UFC Heavyweight Champion announced the formation of EPU Collective and with it his move into MMA management. A popular athlete who competed at the highest level of the sport, Carwin’s experience seems to have him in rarified air. Who better to assist you with your career than someone who has been there and done it themselves?
“When sitting in the gyms us fighters talk, when at the events us fighters talk and I have seen the struggle and heard the horror tales,” Carwin said in an e-mail interview. “I also failed to take advantage of my career in my first 8 fights. I was 8-0 and a UFC Heavyweight making maybe 8 grand a year in sponsors. I hired a company called Ingrained Media and as an agency they made me millions going 2-2. They helped make my fights and the earnings some of the biggest.
“I want to take their model and apply it to athletes that deserve such a treatment. That means digital marketing, SEO, endorsements, sponsorships, promoting the fights, building and leveraging their brands. We have legal support, financial planning, post-sport planning, PR and crisis management, fight procurement, social media support and activation. I have associates in China, Russia and here in the US, ready and willing to help.”
It’s an interesting career choice. Fighting, for the most part, is a selfish sport. Those on the way out of active competition tend to set up more ‘inward-focusing’ businesses in clothing brands or podcasting, something you won’t be hearing the Colorado native be doing anytime soon.
“Have you heard my interviews?” Carwin said. “I am not that interesting and I would rather build the sport versus build my brand or bank account. Nothing against those platforms and I plan on looking at them for my athletes, but I want to build millionaires not build on my millions.”
“I look at [Conor and Ronda] and see the puppet strings”
In a landscape with Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey, there is seemingly potential for UFC athletes to get more exposure and money than ever before. Yet in a recent much-publicised disagreement, McGregor showed that there is a limit to how much power the athlete can truly hold.
Does Carwin look at the Rouseys and McGregors as models for his athletes to follow?
“Nope, I look at them and see the puppet strings,” Carwin said. “I want to make sure my team can stand without the strings. It is a great thing to have Zuffa’s PR team pushing you. You have to leverage that and capture it. Not squeezing Zuffa at every turn, but using their hype and your hype to get as many deals as you can. Retaining the spotlight, extending your time in it and having some control over the narrative and timeline.”
In December 2014, the UFC announced an exclusive apparel deal with Reebok. Replacing fighters traditional emblem covered shorts, the move came under intense criticism from fans and fighters alike, due to a sudden lack of sponsorship money for the athletes. It’s not a critique Carwin shares. Instead, he views the move as just the next step in sponsorship deals, and one that offers different benefits.
“I love guaranteed money with an option to gain an endorsement deal,” Carwin said. “I love the big brand exposure. My plan is to sell the athletes and their platforms year round. Not the old eat what you kill when you are allowed to hunt type of model. My deals were annual deals. If I was injured I got paid, if I was fighting I got paid. I just got paid. I plan on doing it the Ingrained way. They built a few champions and ushered in monthly deals and out of cage endorsement deals. They even got me paid on the UFC video game that I wasn’t in. I will take all the guaranteed checks offered and work hard to create more opportunities.”
Similarly, another issue as of late is weight cuts. As the sport evolves, and the science around intense dehydration becomes more informed, attempts are beginning to form to prevent athletes from making such drastic drops in weight days before they enter competition.
“Weight cuts almost killed me and cost me my title. I think that is the smartest move that I have seen in a long time. A lot of people do not know this but I brought USADA to the table.”
One of these attempts came in the form of a ban on IV’s by the UFC’s anti-doping partner, USADA. Previously fighters had been able to use IV drips to rehydrate after weighing in, but with USADA ruling that drips could potentially be used to dope, they were axed from the sport. Again, a controversial decision, and again one that Carwin thinks is the right move.
“Weight cuts almost killed me and cost me my title,” said Carwin. “I think that is the smartest move that I have seen in a long time. A lot of people do not know this but I brought USADA to the table. Roy [Nelson] wanted to test me but he wanted to use some agency that was also sponsoring him and had slandered me. So I went looking for a true independent lab and got Zuffa and USADA talking.
“The sport needs blood level testing and adhering to WADA or higher standards, for the safety of the athletes, all athletes.”
Of course, being on the other side of the cage doesn’t mean the itch to get in there is gone. Carwin was forced to retire after repeated training injuries left him unable to compete any longer. The transition to a managerial role wasn’t easy.
“I am pondering a comeback. I just need the right motivation or opponent. I’d like to get the belt and retire after defending it. Or just beat up Brock again.”
“[I struggled with retirement] every day,” Carwin said. “I did not do everything I wanted. I think about it constantly. When I watch the Heavyweights, I am seeing myself in the ring. Then I board a jet and enter a board room trying to close company executives.
“After my failed NFL bid, after going from a top draft pick to not a draft pick, I missed competing. I went from not being good enough to play pro sports, to winning a national title and pinning my opponent in the finals. I then went on to beat some of the best athletes in the world. I have no regrets, but I would love one more run.
Is it possible?
“I am rehabbing and pretty much recovered,” Carwin said. “I am pondering a comeback. I just need the right motivation or opponent. I’d like to get the belt and retire after defending it. Or just beat up Brock again.
“I still compete with the best of them and could beat any of them.”
Follow Shane Carwin on Twitter, and click here for more information on EPU Collective.
