Clementi Proves Mettle In Promotional Field
New Orleans City Business has a piece up that details the promoting efforts of former UFC 155′er Rich “No Love” Clementi. While he has bounced in and out of the UFC over the past several years, the one constant for Clementi has been his efforts at promoting at the local level. The article details his efforts to tie in his promoting feats to a local car show, and his fighting uphill to convince the organizers to play up the MMA angle. The article gives a good view of the depth of Clementi’s efforts:
Clementi is a world-class MMA fighter and president of No Love Entertainment, a Slidell-based MMA promotion company. In his eight years with No Love Clementi, 33, has produced more than 70 events at regional venues including the Northshore Harbor Center, LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center, the Baton Rouge River Center and the Imperial Palace Casino Resort in Biloxi.
“Some people think they can just jump into this business, that they can set up a cage and throw two fighters inside and that’s it. When people do things like that, the fans don’t get their money’s worth and it hurts the sport as a whole because it misrepresents it,” Clementi said.
After promoting the MMA for more than eight years, Clementi is used to being challenged by people unfamiliar with the sport who tell him it is too violent and will horrify women and children. But once they attend one of his events they walk away with a different perspective, Clementi said.
“Some think the people who go to my shows are the same crowd as the WWE. But most people at my shows are 25 to 40 years old and business professionals. I think something that hurts me is my age. I look like a younger guy who doesn’t have a lot of experience. But I’m the longest running and most successful promoter in the state.
While much is made of MMA fighter’s using gyms as fall back careers once their days in the cage are passed, Clementi seems to be ahead of the game in this respect. I believe Clementi also had his hands in the gym business, but going the one step further into promoting field
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