The Prestige Fight Club of Regina will be presenting a live MMA event at Crescent Point Place on September 28. The card for 'Fallout' includes four of Weyburn's local adult fighters, Dean Hodgkin, Clint Mohan, Andris Baltgalvis and Clayton Schira. Mohan had his first fight during 'The Rising', the first MMA event held in Weyburn in April.
The athletes are in the gym six days a week. Training includes direct hand-to-hand cardio, of course, as well as strength training.
"We're just trying to get an all-around game," said Hodgkin. "MMA entails mixed martial arts, so there's kicking, punching, wrestling, grappling, submission. It's everything, so you need to train in all disciplines, so you're prepared for everything."
Hodgkin is also a trainer and instructor with the Weyburn Mixed Martial Arts Kickboxing and Karate Centre. He noted that the last MMA event paid off for their fight club in the form of new mats worth $1,500.
"Our mats are actually fairly expensive. It's something you don't like to cheap out on, because when it comes to people getting slammed in wrestling, you want some good soft mats, but not too soft so it's taking away any bounce in your step," he explained.
Another section has been added to the set of mats the club had purchased about a year and a half ago. Hodgkin noted that more children can now be accommodated on the mats simultaneously, making the club's training time more efficient.
Cord Crowthers of Prestige Fight Club said that the last event raised just over $31,000 for local youth sports in Weyburn. Those groups included the Red Wings hockey team, the MMA club, the Soo Line Boxing Club, Cobra Wrestling, as well as a few others.
"Basically what we do is we give up 100% of the liquor sales to the Red Wings," he said. "They run the bar and we give that money back. We take a percentage of all the sponsorships, etc., and put it back into this fund as well."
"It helps clubs like Dean's get new equipment for the kids, travel costs to tournaments that might not be in the city, whatever they want to use it for, as long as it goes to youth sports," said Crowthers, noting that some different groups have partnered this time as well.
"It's just a win-win situation for everybody that is involved," he said. "We're trying to open eyes in the community of what we can do with our show in town to help out (local sports). It doesn't have to be our sport, but our sport is lucky enough to have a lot of fans."
Crowthers said he hopes to top the $31,000 with the next show.
"We could never do this, on this level, without the support of local businesses and the city," he said, noting that in larger cities like Regina and Saskatoon they never were able to raise the kind of money Weyburn has raised. "The people see that their kids are benefitting."
Tickets for 'Fall Out' are moving quickly and VIP Tables are 70% sold out already. General admission is $40 and children under 16 years get in for $20. Early bird pricing is available before Sept 1. Tickets are available at The KG Fitzgerald's Pub and the Weyburn Red Wings office.
