Based out of Oklahoma, Primus FC’s maiden voyage into the world of MMA will be anchored by an intriguing rematch between Rakim Cleveland and longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Houston Alexander. The two collided in April at Extreme Challenge 234 and “The Boogeyman” knocked out Alexander via knees and punches in the first. It’s a second go-round for the two and it’s a battle that has Faria giddy with anticipation.
“It’s a great match and these guys have fought each other before,” said Faria, who is the vice president and athlete director for Primus FC. “Rakim is a guy that we’ve been watching for a long time and he’s got huge potential. Houston is a guy who always likes to bring the fight. They are going to try and kill each other and that’s what we look for in a main event. We know the fans down here in Oklahoma like the striking [more] and they want to see the guys come forward and go for the knockout.”
The card, which takes place inside Woodward County Event Center in Woodward, Okla., is loaded with up-and-coming young lions hoping to carve out a name for themselves. They’ll have a large audience watching their every move as the event will be streamed online via Fite TV’s pay-per-view service. Fite TV has been making waves in the fight game with their staggering lineup of national and international events ranging from MMA and boxing to kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments. Faria believes it’s a perfect marriage for his fledgling promotion.
“Right now, it’s very important for us to team up with Fite TV,” Faria said. “They are an established company and they have a large, established base of viewers. They are known for [streaming] great live events and that’s what our goal is, to put on a great event on a great platform. They are a great company because fans can watch the fights by pulling out their phones, their laptops, their PS4 or Xbox or tablet. That’s how a lot of the kids are watching fights now and it’s something we want to be a part of.
“Remember when you had to rush home just to watch the fight or rush to the arena to catch the early fights?” he added. “Or if you had to set your (VCR) or DVD to watch them at home? Now you can whip out your phone and watch it anywhere. You don’t even have to be at home in order to do it. How cool is that?”
Faria and his team have seen dozens of promotions come and go for having what he believes is the wrong approach. Too many promoters have the idea that they will come into MMA and quickly take on the UFC for supremacy of the sport. That hasn’t happened and isn’t likely to happen anytime soon. Primus FC’s focus is similar to that of other highly-successful regional shows like Legacy Fighting Alliance, CES MMA and Professional Fighters League [formerly World Series of Fighting], in that he wants to build a respected feeder system to the UFC and Bellator MMA.
“You need to establish yourself first and earn the respect of the MMA world,” Faria said. “The UFC is going into their 25th year and nobody can just come in and compete with them. It doesn’t happen. Those guys are the best and my job is to find the young new fighter or pick up a rebounding older fighter or even that veteran who is very good but never quite got that chance. It’s our job to get him fights, to show what he’s got, to build him up and if he’s good enough, then he can get into one of the bigger shows like the UFC or Bellator.”
Things are expected to go swimmingly for Primus FC this weekend and Faria is already looking ahead to 2018. With only a few weeks left in this calendar year, Farias expects to take his promotion to greater heights next year.
“We are looking for locations for our next batch of shows,” he said. “We are planning to put on four to six shows and are looking at Oklahoma City, Texas, Kansas and Colorado and hopefully by the end of next year or early 2019, we will be hitting the West Coast.”
Primus FC will stream live on Fite TV beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and will cost fight fans just $16.99.