We were lucky to catch up with Joe Wooster recently and have shared our conversation below.

Joe, appreciate you joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

Absolutely! I’ve been self employed my entire adult life. Having a stable paycheck with benefits and retirement would be great but the freedoms self employment bring can’t be beat.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I entered the MMA industry first as a participant. Training, learning self defense and getting in shape. I quickly realized it was a young mans sport and started focusing more on helping the guys I was training with. Finding their fights, negotiating their pay and setting up their sponsorships. In 2012 I was having a hard time finding our top guys an event to fight in so I decided to promote my own event. And that’s when Kansas City Fighting Alliance was formed. Under the KCFA banner we did 5 events per year. They were smaller regional shows held at the Truman Memorial Building in Independence, MO. As the Midwest talent started to get better, getting the fighters a bigger opportunity became our goal. In 2019 with the idea of not being stuck to Kansas City, we rebranded from Kansas City Fighting Alliance to Fighting Alliance Championship (FAC). We moved the event from a 1200 seat venue to the Cable Dahmer Arena that has the capacity of 6,000. After a few events under the new name and in the new arena, we were able to secure a streaming deal with UFC Fight Pass. Fight Pass is the worlds largest fight library and is available in over 200 countries. The Fight Pass platform was exactly what we were looking for to progress the careers of Midwest MMA fighters. We are currently promoting FAC 16 on October 7th. The thing I’m most proud of is staying consistent and giving these athletes a platform to showcase their talent and move onto the next level. In our first 15 events, we’ve sent 10 fighters to the UFC. Back in February of 2022. Dana White, the President of the UFC came to our event and brought the Nelk Boys with him. The fighters were fighting for an opportunity to get signed to the UFC. With over 5,000 people in attendance, the fighters put on a show! Every fight was insanely good! After the event Dana and the Nelk Boys decided on Isaac Dulgarian who had just won our Featherweight title with a devastating 1st round KO and Josh Fremd who won by rear naked choke.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In 2020, a year after rebranding to FAC Covid hit. During the craziness of the World being shut down we NEVER stopped doing events. With all the restrictions in place it was rough but we pushed through and was able to get all 5 events in. During a time where all the major sporting events weren’t able to go, we found a way to make it happen.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I’d like to think my reputation in the MMA community is a good one. My involvement is full circle. I am part owner of the best MMA gym in the Midwest called Glory MMA and Fitness, I’m a sports agent with Iridium Sports and the promoter of FAC. So in a sense, you have training, management, and fighting opportunities under one roof. Being so intertwined, honesty and integrity are huge.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Joe_daddy816
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KCFIGHTING

Image Credits
Jerry Chavez