The Pro Fight Network is one of the most unique fight websites out there. I recently spoke with the president and radio co-host, Chris Greenman, regarding the Network and what sets it apart from other similar sites..jpg)
Phil Lanides: You are the president of the Pro Fight Network. Tell us about it.
Chris Greenman: I designed it to be a one stop-shop point. We’re still developing it, though. The website is functional, but is not our end product, for sure. We’re not trying to be THE news source, but we want folks to be able to get their MMA news through our feeds and partnerships. We’re really more about behind-the-scenes features. What’s really working are the gym partnerships. If you have a PFN card, you can get a lot of benefits. It’s $19.95 lifetime fee, and with it, you can work at any affiliate gym for a week for free, so you can kind of tour the world’s training gyms. You go to Vegas, you can train at Xtreme Couture for a week…it’s really cool. We have more gyms that we’re adding, but we’re waiting till they’re finalized before we post them.
PL: What are the features of the site?
CG: If you like Facebook, it has every feature FB has. You can download videos, upload videos, start chat threads, and much more. You can participate in forums, and a big thing is our radio show. Even though the show is separate from the site, logistically, we’re the exclusive place to listen to it. For the most part, I try to stay in the middle politically, not favoring fighters over others. I actually wanted to take the [radio] show off the site because the host, Lee Honish, is more of a Howard Stern-type, and I don’t really like that. But we took it off, and ratings nosedived. So I brought it back. He asks questions that no one asks, asks about the fighter’s love lives, and I may not agree with it all, but it’s what folks want to hear. It gets 3,000-5,000 hits per day on the podcasts, so it’s very popular. Podcasts are becoming more and more popular.
PL: What sports does the site cover?
CG: The last site I was involved in catered 100% to MMA. I love boxing, too, and internationally, it’s a huge sport. People in the U.S. don’t realize how big the sport is all over the world. We have some great boxing writers and analysts, and they do a great job of catering to the boxing fans that visit our site. We don’t want to alienate any combat sports fans, so we try to cover as much as we can. Some of the big MMA fighters now are showing that karate and Tae Kwon Do can do some damage as long as it’s accompanied by a ground game. Look at Chuck Liddell: I used to bounce with him, went to school with him. He took a form of karate growing up, and once he learned to wrestle, he was able to showcase those karate skills. Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida both have great stand-up skills to go along with their ground skills.
PL: Regarding profiles, can you tell if it’s really the fighter it says it is?
CG: Anyone can create a profile, but it has to get verified. So if there’s ever a duplicate or a superstar fighter, we trace the IP address to determine whether or not it’s legit. We verify to make sure, either by a copy of the driver’s license being sent to us, or by checking the area it was sent from. It’s got to be a legit email, which gets rid of 99% of your spam. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter…that’s a problem with all of them. We want to make sure the fighters on there are the real fighters.
PL: Who are some of the fighters you have profiles on your site?
CG: Robert Drysdale, Chuck, Rashad, Gil Melendez, Ricco Rodriguez, “Razor” Rob McCullough, and even mainstream celebs like Carmen Elektra, Ben Roethlisberger, and Tony Romo.
PL: Who are some of the fighters you’ve had on the show?
CG: You name him, he’s been on. Lesnar, Couture, Liddell, Ricco, Arlovski, Rampage, Rashad, Baroni, everyone on StrikeForce: Thomson, Buentello, Shields, Cung, Melendez…pretty much anyone who’s anyone in the sport. It’s a different approach, as sometimes we don’t even talk about MMA. We have a lot of fun on the show.
PL: Do you train?
CG: I constantly train in MMA, and I had a fight lined up in July but didn’t pass my MRI, as I have a torn ligament in my elbow. I train at gyms all over California and Vegas, and as such, I have a unique perspective. When I trained with Chuck, I had so many people come and ask me what his weak points are, and I think fighters respect me for keeping my mouth shut. Also, there are a lot of trainers out there that can kill some of the fighters they train, but won’t fight. It’s an interesting dynamic. Some guys go in there for blood, and some are there for the competition. Chuck, for example, he just loves to fight. He would never start a fight, but for some reason, guys would always approach him in a bar and want to fight. He just loves it. I remember him taking on 20 guys at once…he just loves it!
PL: Who is your favorite fighter to watch?
CG: I really like Fedor Emelianenko or Machida.
PL: Nogueira vs. Couture: who wins and why/how?
CG: You know, I love Randy, but Nogueira, his last fight really disappointed me. If he comes in that same form as he did against Mir. He doesn’t match up well with Randy’s wrestling, or his striking for that matter, so I’m going Randy all the way. I may be biased, though.
PL: What will be the outcome of the UFC vs. StrikeForce rivalry?
CG: Why would Dana show UFC 100 for free during Carano vs. Cyborg? C’mon…it’s obvious that it really is a war. Even if Scott’s a little over his head, he’s doing the smart thing. He’s hooking up with a network and Showtime, which will kill Pay-Per-View numbers every time. I think Scott’s outsmarting Dana strategically. You need competition. The UFC can’t just do it on its own. You need more organizations to keep up the interest. StrikeForce is perfectly positioned to be the alternative to the UFC. Scott’s shown some class, and he’s willing to co-promote, and he just seems to be a little more about the fighters than ego. Hats off for what Dana has done, we wouldn’t be where we’re at without him, but he shouldn’t be alienating everyone. Why is the Sherdog site more popular than the UFC site? Because MMA fans are not just UFC fans. They want to know about StrikeForce fighters, and other fighters. And that’s what Pro Fight Network is all about. We want to cater to fights fans, regardless of who they like and don’t like.
You can check out Pro Fight Network at http://www.profightnetwork.com/, where you can become a member and check out the other features of the site.
Comments
I went and joined your site but it seems kinda dead. There arent any people really online. When is the site more active?
Are you talking about the Pro Fight Network site? You'd have to ask that question on that site. We're not affiliated with the site, we only did a story on it.
Just joined, it was pretty active and lots of content
The ProFightNetwork has just posted the number one rating for mma / boxing broadcast, and the the number one sports show according to Podamatic, nice job Greenman, class act. Believe you also broadcast Fight Net Radio on your site exclusively....good luck nice article Phil, Greenman is a big advocate for StrikeForce and has the guts to say what is right. Looks like you do too.
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