Hey peeps and welcome to blog number three. I’m happy that I am keeping to my and that I have been able to do three blog posts in a row, I know that I should be easy, but I have struggled for consistency in the past and doing three blog posts in a row is a big deal for me.
Today’s blog post is about how I fucked up my chance to become an MMA writer and get paid for it. Being an MMA writer is something I still aspire to; it was the reason I moved to Canberra to do a sports media degree. While I was
How I got into MMA writing
At first, I was never looking to get into writing about MMA but after an old injury resurfaced I had to take some time off from Jiu-Jitsu training and I found myself with a bit extra free time. I kept watching MMA but started to break down some of the fights as I was going, I also read a lot of MMA news and would go on the forums. After reading some of the previews for UFC cards I thought to myself “I can do that just as well as that person’ so I jumped on the computer and started up my first blog.
Back then (it was about 09/10) I started out on Blogger and called myself ‘That Jiu-Jitsu Guy’ since my base was Jiu-Jitsu. As good as a name as I thought that was, it unfortunately other people didn’t think so and it didn’t take off. I also was having some trouble with the Blogger dashboard or so I thought, it later turned out to be an internet issue, but by that stage I had decided to leave Blogger and give WordPress a try since I had found out from a friend that it was more user friendly.
The birth of ‘The Fight Writer’
Since ‘That Jiu-Jitsu Guy’ didn’t take off I decided that a name change would be in order, especially now that I was enjoying writing and thought I could possibly do something with it. It took me a while to come up with a name for my blog, a lot of good ones were taken and I didn’t want to be another that just put MMA at the end of his name though I would be a liar if I say that I didn’t consider doing that (I still think about adding it on), in the end I came up with ‘The Fight Writer’.
After getting my writing out there through social media, I started to get offers to write for some websites after they had read my previews. After a few years of writing for smaller sites, I wanted to work for sites such as MMA Fighting, Bloody Elbow, MMA Junkie or MiddleEasy and travel the world sitting at cage side. When I decided to go university, my MMA writing dropped off and in the end I decided to concentrate on uni (also it was hard to watch much UFC when most days I was working when pay per views on).
How I blew it
After not doing much of any type of writing I decided that it was time to get back into it, I noticed that Fansided MMA were looking for writers and the best part was that you could get paid for it. After being excited and looking forward to writing my first article however that article would never come. As I always do, I would let work (while I enjoy hospitality it isn’t my passion) and uni get in the way. As always I had fucked my chance.
Holding out for hope
After the forced lay off due to COVID-19, I started to watch some old UFC fights and I stared to get excited and thought that I still love MMA and that I very much want to start writing about combat sports again. The only question left now, does anyone want to hire me?
Until next time peeps, take care.
Merce