GeneChing
08-03-2010, 01:56 PM
Indiana's first female MMA promoter, Danielle Vale helps Hoosier Fight Club's early success (http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/mixed-martial-arts/article_08ffeed7-ee73-5fdb-b962-4e1383aebda4.html)
By Matt Erickson - matt.erickson@nwi.com, (219) 933-3275 | Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010 12:00 am
Danielle Vale has seen this before, but slightly differently.
The crowd files in. The music blares. The judges sit, waiting. The competitors take the stage. And the show begins.
Only this time, there's no evening gown portion. And the competitors are hitting each other.
Vale is no stranger to competition. As the 2007 winner of the Mrs. Indiana pageant, she's seen her share of it. And now, as the first female mixed martial arts promoter in the state, with her fourth event on the horizon, Vale finds herself quickly rising through the ranks in a brand new world.
But that isn't to say some of the beauty pageant circuit didn't prepare her for this.
"I've seen more vicious fights break out at pageants than I have in the cage, to be honest," Vale said. "You put a pair of heels and some acrylic nails on those ladies, and watch out. But it is really different."
Vale and her husband Paul franchised the first L.A. Boxing location in the state two years ago. That Merrillville location will hit its second birthday this summer. And once the two started working with the local fighters who began to call the gym home, the MMA bug hit them.
"We opened the gym and the fighters and instructors from here fought," Vale said. "We would go to the local shows and we saw some stuff we thought there could be improvement on. We didn't really think people were getting true value for what they were paying for, and the fighters weren't being treated the way they should be treated. We wanted that experience for everyone, to try and be the best it could possibly be.
"Other promoters run their shows a certain way and we just decided there was a different direction we wanted to go."
And teaming up with former UFC and Strikeforce fighter John Kolosci, from Portage, Hoosier Fight Club was born. With three shows under its belt, including one at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, HFC has its biggest test to date on Friday with HFC 4: Showdown at The Steel Yard, an outdoor show at the home of the RailCats. It will be the first MMA event at the stadium.
Even Vale admits playing on the Region's biggest stage so quickly in the life of her promotion is surprising.
"I think maybe the timeframe happened a little sooner than we thought," Vale said. "I think we figured it would take a year to get this credibility and to prove to the bigger venues that we're serious, that our shows are legitimate.
"But now, looking back at the time and energy and the fortitude (we put in) -- it's being relentless. And I think more of this is to come."
Friday's card also raises the bar for the organization in terms of the level of talent being brought in. HFC 2 in January featured a main event between UFC veteran Pete Spratt and Keith Wisniewski, who fights out of Duneland Vale Tudo in Valparaiso, who also has fought for the UFC. UFC and WEC vets Derrick Noble and Joe Benoit also were on the card, as was Kolosci.
But for HFC 4, Kolosci gets his biggest test to date against nine-time UFC veteran Luigi Fioravanti, who trains at the renowned American Top Team in South Florida. The co-main event will be between Miguel Torres-trained light heavyweight Anthony Gomez and Lew Polley of San Diego's famed Team Alliance.
Vale said Friday's show already is successful with all of the VIP tickets sold out and just one luxury suite remaining. She said HFC looks like it will have sold about 1,000 general admission tickets before Friday night. The business model that has brought the promotion success so far seems to be looking at the fight game from a different perspective.
"I think not being fighters really helped us," Vale said. "(Paul and I) didn't have that background. So we viewed it as a business. We knew that creating a brand was very important, and that's what any big company does. There wasn't one time we thought that we can't do this. We don't go into anything thinking we're going to fail. But we're willing to work longer hours to make this successful."
And that grassroots mentality permeates throughout the operation.
"A lot of people work hard, but we truly try to work smart, as well," Vale said. "Paul and I and John, none of us feel that we're above doing anything.
"I'm the promoter, but I'm not above hanging posters. I'm not above putting cards on cars. We never feel that we're above doing anything to make our company successful -- anything legal. And there's absolutely no room for complacency. If you get complacent, you will shrivel up and die."
And that is something Vale clearly has no patience for.
And what would happen if we put a pair of heels and some acrylic nails on some cage fighters? The mind boggles at the thought.
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/nwitimes.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/e/f6/e8c/ef6e8cf1-b494-589b-8cb4-776ce42167ac.image.jpg
By Matt Erickson - matt.erickson@nwi.com, (219) 933-3275 | Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010 12:00 am
Danielle Vale has seen this before, but slightly differently.
The crowd files in. The music blares. The judges sit, waiting. The competitors take the stage. And the show begins.
Only this time, there's no evening gown portion. And the competitors are hitting each other.
Vale is no stranger to competition. As the 2007 winner of the Mrs. Indiana pageant, she's seen her share of it. And now, as the first female mixed martial arts promoter in the state, with her fourth event on the horizon, Vale finds herself quickly rising through the ranks in a brand new world.
But that isn't to say some of the beauty pageant circuit didn't prepare her for this.
"I've seen more vicious fights break out at pageants than I have in the cage, to be honest," Vale said. "You put a pair of heels and some acrylic nails on those ladies, and watch out. But it is really different."
Vale and her husband Paul franchised the first L.A. Boxing location in the state two years ago. That Merrillville location will hit its second birthday this summer. And once the two started working with the local fighters who began to call the gym home, the MMA bug hit them.
"We opened the gym and the fighters and instructors from here fought," Vale said. "We would go to the local shows and we saw some stuff we thought there could be improvement on. We didn't really think people were getting true value for what they were paying for, and the fighters weren't being treated the way they should be treated. We wanted that experience for everyone, to try and be the best it could possibly be.
"Other promoters run their shows a certain way and we just decided there was a different direction we wanted to go."
And teaming up with former UFC and Strikeforce fighter John Kolosci, from Portage, Hoosier Fight Club was born. With three shows under its belt, including one at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, HFC has its biggest test to date on Friday with HFC 4: Showdown at The Steel Yard, an outdoor show at the home of the RailCats. It will be the first MMA event at the stadium.
Even Vale admits playing on the Region's biggest stage so quickly in the life of her promotion is surprising.
"I think maybe the timeframe happened a little sooner than we thought," Vale said. "I think we figured it would take a year to get this credibility and to prove to the bigger venues that we're serious, that our shows are legitimate.
"But now, looking back at the time and energy and the fortitude (we put in) -- it's being relentless. And I think more of this is to come."
Friday's card also raises the bar for the organization in terms of the level of talent being brought in. HFC 2 in January featured a main event between UFC veteran Pete Spratt and Keith Wisniewski, who fights out of Duneland Vale Tudo in Valparaiso, who also has fought for the UFC. UFC and WEC vets Derrick Noble and Joe Benoit also were on the card, as was Kolosci.
But for HFC 4, Kolosci gets his biggest test to date against nine-time UFC veteran Luigi Fioravanti, who trains at the renowned American Top Team in South Florida. The co-main event will be between Miguel Torres-trained light heavyweight Anthony Gomez and Lew Polley of San Diego's famed Team Alliance.
Vale said Friday's show already is successful with all of the VIP tickets sold out and just one luxury suite remaining. She said HFC looks like it will have sold about 1,000 general admission tickets before Friday night. The business model that has brought the promotion success so far seems to be looking at the fight game from a different perspective.
"I think not being fighters really helped us," Vale said. "(Paul and I) didn't have that background. So we viewed it as a business. We knew that creating a brand was very important, and that's what any big company does. There wasn't one time we thought that we can't do this. We don't go into anything thinking we're going to fail. But we're willing to work longer hours to make this successful."
And that grassroots mentality permeates throughout the operation.
"A lot of people work hard, but we truly try to work smart, as well," Vale said. "Paul and I and John, none of us feel that we're above doing anything.
"I'm the promoter, but I'm not above hanging posters. I'm not above putting cards on cars. We never feel that we're above doing anything to make our company successful -- anything legal. And there's absolutely no room for complacency. If you get complacent, you will shrivel up and die."
And that is something Vale clearly has no patience for.
And what would happen if we put a pair of heels and some acrylic nails on some cage fighters? The mind boggles at the thought.
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/nwitimes.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/e/f6/e8c/ef6e8cf1-b494-589b-8cb4-776ce42167ac.image.jpg