Triumph*United’s interview with MMASTOP owner John Fosco

Posted by admin - 02/03/10 at 07:03:56 pm

With the growing popularity of MMA, Fighters are now forced into the business aspect of the fight industry. Behind the scenes fighters have to work out fight contracts, endorsement deals and training camps.
Fighters usually turn to their Manager and Trainers for this assistance. Unfortunately, this can also make and break their career’s, picking a good manager is just as important as your next fight. T*U sat down with premier fight manager and owner of MMA Stop John Fosco.

How did you get started in Management?
JF- I never planned on It,I kinda just fell into it. Clay Guida sent me an email about sponsorship. I started sponsoring him. I kept my word to him, paid him on time, did what I said and did what It took. So we built a good
relationship which lead to Clay asking me to manage him,obviously I did. It worked out good for both of us.

How much has MMA changed since you got involved ?
JF- I don’t think its changed much at all, out side of the UFC’s continued growth. Until the UFC has a REAL
competitor It doesn’t have the ability to change from a
management/business perspective. Everyone thought
Affliction or Pro Elite would be able to hang but they are gone and now Strikeforce is here. Without that strong competitor the fighters don’t have much leverage for
negotiating or getting more than they do now.

Whats the hardest part of your job ?
JF- I love my job. So probably living up to my own expectations. I don’t want to be just an average MMA manager because some are good and some
aren’t. MMA Managers have gotten a bad rap throughout the years. I wanna be outstanding at what i do not just good. So the hard part is dealing with myself and
my lofty expectations.

Do you manage any International athletes ?
No not right now. I’m just concentrating on my guys which are Clay Guida (march 21st on Versus ) Alan belcher ( UFC 113) and Jake Ellenberger (UFC 111)

Do you think the talent is better now?
JF-For sure. I believe its a product of the longer the sport is around the better the fighters. Before you had a wrestler learning striking or a Muay Thai fighter learning wrestling. Now younger guys are learning from the
ground up and making themselves all around MMA fighters. So definitely the fighters are getting better and making for better fights.

Do you manage anyone outside of MMA ?
JF- No just MMA guys, because it was just something i fell into so i didn’t even look outside of that. I recently partnered up with a strong team so I can
now aggressively go after more clients. We are now VF Elite Sports Agency and we are most definitely looking forward to seeking new talent.

What’s your views on UFC banning certain sponsors ?
JF- I totally understand why they did that. A lot of companies have been built on the UFC’s back. UfC wasn’t getting a piece of what those companies were getting so now they want there cut. So i get it but my
opinion is irrelevant , its just business.

You also have a shop correct?
JF-Yes MMA STOP. Our end game is to franchise the stores, so that’s our vision with it. Currently we have two potential franchisee’s looking to open
up in Houston, Texas and South Beach Miami. Its hard now because banks are not lending money (due to the economy) to fund such things. So just look
out when the economy turns around because
you will see MMA Stops everywhere.

Is it hard to balance both ?
JF-Not at all. Since everything I do is MMA it goes easy. I have such a good staff for both that I’m able to balance them seamlessly. My staff
really supports me and has my back, So i have a great team and they help me with balancing it.

Are there any fighters you would really like to work with ?
JF- HA HA HA ! yeah for sure . Im going to keep that a secret for now, don’t want to piss anyone off. As soon as I do ill make sure to call Triumph United to spread the word.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to let us know a little about you.
JF- Thanks to Triumph United.

If anyone want’s to check out John’s shop then you can go here www.mmastop.com or if your in the area you can cruise in to
MMASTOP
1275 South Main Street
Lombard, IL 60148
630-317-7592

Jaco MMA Clothing

Posted by admin - 27/02/10 at 02:02:36 pm

We are pleased to bring on Jaco as our newest featured MMA brand. Jaco has come on strong since its inception and they are on a clear path of success. Their impressive MMA shorts and unique art style make them a fantastic addition to the MMA appparel world. You can find all of our NEW Jaco products in the New Items & Jaco sections!

Strikeforce on the move

Posted by admin - 25/01/10 at 01:01:02 pm

The days of the UFC having no formidable competition are over.
Strikeforce has made enormous strides since Elite XC folded and they
stepped up and filled the Showtime/CBS vacancy with style. Not only did they replace Elite XC’s horrible production with a more sporting like,
professional atmosphere, but they also made a legitimate committment to signing some of the best available mixed martial artists on the open market-Fedor, Mousasi, Henderson, King Mo, Zaromskis, etc. Who are you more excited to watch face off, 2 prime fighters in Diaz and Zaromskis, or the Hall of Famers in Coleman & Couture? The UFC is able to survive on selling quality names (not saying they dont put on great fights), Strikeforce on the other hand WILL ONLY survive if they put on quality fights. Hmmmm…..

NEW Title MMA gear

Posted by admin - 19/01/10 at 12:01:10 pm

Title has been producing high quality, reasonably priced fight gear for a long time. We just received ALOT of it. Check the New Items & Title section for all of the NEW Title MMA gear!

Aldo is ready, but is Zuffa?

Posted by admin - 18/01/10 at 08:01:09 pm

Jose Aldo has proven in this past year that he is not only the best
featherweight in the world, but he is also a top 10 pound for pound
fighter in the world. With the state of the UFC LW division and the fact
that they don’t have a worthy challenger for BJ, it makes complete sense
for Zuffa to make a tough move that would hurt the WEC temporarily, but
help the UFC enormously. Bring Aldo (assuming he beats Faber) to the UFC
to face BJ Penn! If Aldo beats Faber, both him and BJ will have cleaned
out all worthy divisional challengers. Aldo has the frame to move up in
weight and this would be a fight that every MMA fan would tune in to
watch.

NEW FAIRTEX MMA T-SHIRTS

Posted by admin - 09/01/10 at 02:01:37 pm

We just received all of the new Fairtex MMA T-shirts. They are available in the Fairtex & New Items sections!

UFC 108 Walkout T’s by Silver Star

Posted by admin - 30/12/09 at 01:12:03 pm

Get your UFC 108 gear now! We just received Thiago Silva’s & Rashad Evans UFC 108 Walkout T’s by Silver Star! In addition to these 2 brand NEW T’s, we also received the Clay Guida UFC 107 Walkout & the NEW Urijah Faber Cali Crown T. Get yours today! They can be found in the Silver Star & New Items sections.

TapouT Mouthguards

Posted by admin - 08/12/09 at 12:12:13 pm

We just received the long awaited TapouT mouthguard! The TapouT mouthguard comes in 5 different color packs-black, blue, red, green & orange. Each pack has 2 mouthguards and retails for only $14.95! This is an extremely reasonable price for an extremely high quality product. It also comes with a $30,000 dental warranty! TapouT mouthguards can be found in the New Items and TapouT sections.

Subculture Gi’s

Posted by admin - 23/11/09 at 08:11:17 pm

MMASTOP now carries gi’s! Subculture specializes in Jiu Jitsu gi’s and the quality of their product is astounding. Check out the Subculture section of our site to view our new gi’s.

MEET STRIKEFORCE FIGHTERS @ MMASTOP!

Posted by admin - 26/10/09 at 06:10:20 pm

Strikeforce superstars Jake Shields & Gilbert Melendez will be at our Lombard IL store on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 6pm. Jake & Gilbert will be available for pictures & autographs from 6pm-7pm. We suggest arriving early as we typically get very large crowds. See you there! MMASTOP 1275 S Main St Lombard, IL 60148

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