Fighters Only Blog

Tuesday, 5 February 2008

Behind the scenes of Fighters Only

Behind the Scenes of Fighters Only
By Jack Sexton

Running the worlds leading MMA lifestyle magazine is easy. Its employees are lazy and have no talent; anyone with half a brain could do their jobs….

…Just kidding!

I've spent the last week and a half with the team behind Fighters Only and my perception has completely changed. I imagined walking into a stereotypical office full of fight fans typing away article after article. For some reason unknown to me, I never wondered how the magazine was put together, where the artwork came from, who sorted out the sales and marketing and about a hundred other jobs that you would overlook if you were not in the media industry.

Jack at his desk in the editorial dept.

I've been trying to come to the Fighters Only (FO) office for a while now to get some work experience and see how it all works behind the scenes, but it never quite happened. When I was told FO was moving to a new office and I could come in for a week or two I was over the moon.

The reception area in the FO office

I arrived at the office on my first day about an hour late after being sucked into Newcastle town centre's miles and miles of one-way roads and bus-only lanes. After standing outside for ten minutes (nobody heard me ringing the door buzzer twenty times) administration exec and PA Angela Smith welcomed me in. Angela is the driving force behind the Administration department and is the reason you lot who are subscribing or ordering back issues actually receive your copies. My favourite Angela moment had to be the first time I heard her answer the phone in the reception area, her voice changed to possibly the poshest I've ever heard. Bare in mind her voice is quite posh anyways, so this was on a whole new level of professionalism!

Angie, posh voice on stand-by

After being told our managing director (MD) was somewhere upstairs I set off on the hunt for Mr. Rob Hewitt. I've known Rob for years now, we used to train together when I was a young buck and he used to bully me. When I started getting better he faked a knee injury to avoid taking a beating from a 16 year old. That's the way I remember it anyway, his side to the story may differ slightly.

Business-wise Rob is the Don. There are always fighters, TV producers and loads of rich men in suits coming into the office to see him. I never really look at him in a businessman role as he's always been a friend, but it was shown how much respect he has across the globe when the UFC's Marshall Zelaznik said at the UFC 80 press conference one of the reasons they brought the UFC to Newcastle was because of Rob giving his opinion that the North East of England has a huge MMA fan base. That means all you Geordies owe him!

I found Rob behind a mountain of boxes setting up furniture. As we were moving box after box we conjured up a plan: I would wear a pair of the most horrible spectacles I've ever seen in my life (I found them on the floor) when I was introduced to the guys that worked in the office. The first to come in was Jim Burman, sadly the glasses fell apart as I said hello so that trick never worked.

Jim, marketing guru. Sandwich, check. Plastic dog, check. That's how he rolls.

Jim is Fighters Only's marketing manager and as he puts it, the "do everything" guy. Jim keeps the website looking good and is the FO representative when engaging the mainstream media. He's probably one of the best people to do this job, as he always makes sure there is an accurate portrayal of the sport in the newspapers, on the radio and television. Plus if he wants he can act posh and sophisticated (although deep down he's a dirty-minded, slightly twisted man who enjoys acting a fool and laughing at our Geordie accents and slang).

Another role Jim has is he is the Sun Online's resident expert on the UFC. This involves making fight predictions on upcoming UFC shows. Like the new kit reviews in the magazine? Thank Jim, he is one of the many guys who road tests then reviews the stuff we get sent. On top of all that he still finds time to contribute a bit of writing to the magazine. Clark Kent; eat your heart out!

Jim and art director Pete

After screwing together four chairs (that didn't want to get put together) in the dining area, Pete Falkous and David Kirkland walked in. To this day I still believe they saw our struggle with the rebellious chairs and timed it so they didn't have to help us put them up. Pete is the Art Director and Davey is the Advertising and Business Development manager.

Pete the art director loves Macs but hates cameras

Pete was unlucky enough to be stuck with me in his office for my short stay and he's always got his music on. What surprised me was how he would be playing N.W.A gangster rap one minute, then the next song would be some form of heavy metal, then the next would be classical and then the Village People. Quite a variation! Pete's job is to do all the artwork and graphics in the magazine. He also helps organize the placement of where articles go in the order of the mag and a load of other design-related stuff like logos for the merchandise.

Davey, money maker and major shaker. The exclusive FO gumshield is broken out for big deals only.

What do David Kirkland and Rampage have in common? They are all about the 'chedda'! Davey sorts out all forms of advertising for Fighters Only and aims to bring in as many clients as possible. He also helps his clients increase their revenue so basically if you work with Dave, you get money. The first time Dave tried to explain his job to me I didn't really understand what was going on, too many advertising terms were used for me. I do remember however when I looked at the figures jotted on his whiteboard I was quite impressed. I nearly shed a tear when Dave told the heartbreaking story of how he wanted to work for FO for years, but there was never a position available. He had to slave away living on barely any money just gaining work experience here and there, then seven months ago a job became available which he grabbe with both hands. The thing that stood out most about Dave was his break-dancing skills. Every time he made a business deal he decided to bust a move. It was like that scene in The Office over and over again.

Davey shows off his latest bling

Hywel busts out the thing that keeps his contributors in line. Don't make him open the can!

The following week (after we had sorted out the office) it just happened to be UFC 80 week. Seeing as the UFC was in Newcastle our editor Hywel Teague came up for the week. Hywel lives in Manchester and works from home. Hywel's job is to sort out what goes in the magazine and also commissions all the writers. Hywel loves playing with his balls…. his miracle balls that is! (As featured in "New Stuff", issue 35). I once walked in on his rolling about on the floor like a dog, obviously I was a bit worried for his mental health, until he explained the balls are used to massage your back.

Well that was my first week with Fighters Only, I look forward to the next. I never got to tell you about what we got up to behind the scenes at UFC 80, but that's another story for another blog.

Over and out.

Jack shows off his best GSP impression

posted by Fighters Only Mag Editor at Tuesday, February 05, 2008 << Back To Main Page

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Behind the scenes of Fighters Only

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