Fight Fans:
UnCivil War™ held it's very first MMA Competition (or cagefights) on May21st of 2011. The event was a huge success despite a competitor holding an event less than two miles away on the same street on the same night. The first ever UCW (UnCivil War) featured fighters from many local teams and by the end of the show the entire audience was off their feet and you could feel the excitement in the air.
On July 9th, 2011 UCW founder and fight promoter Eric Stevens held UCW II on his birthday. An avid Mixed Martial Arts fan, Eric couldn't think of a better way to spend the occassion. The event was again a huge success featuring fighters from every fight team in Springfield that was actively competing at the time. On the card were fighters from Team Fusion, Hybrid Martial Arts, Springfield Fight Club and others. Stevens took pride in offering fans an event that included all Springfield area teams and showed Stevens' desire for a unified MMA Community. Again, the event was packed and a huge success in the eyes of the promoter and the Mixed Martial Arts Community.
Plans for UCW III have been underway since the completion of the second event. Dates had to be changed and plans delayed due to a change of ownership at The Clarion Hotel and Convention Center, home to the UCW events.
A meeting between Stevens and the venue's new management and event staff yielded a plan for one more show in 2011 on December 10th and 7 show dates for 2012 occurring approximately every six weeks beginning February 25th and concluding November 10th.
Also in the works are plans to incorporate a Submission Fighting Tournament the morning of the UCW events. The tournament will give grapplers of all ages including children who are not permitted in Missouri to compete in Mixed Martial Arts but are allowed to compete in 'submission fighting' (no striking allowed, joint locks and choke holds only) the ability to compete on the same day as the MMA event. Finalists in the children's tournament will be given the opportunity to compete in a submission only fight at the main show later that evening on the main fight card.
Grapplers will be able to compete in the tournament in the morning, watch the MMA fights that evening and spend the night at the Clarion for an all inclusive price expected to be around $99. The Clarion Hotel and Convention Center is an excellent property for an event of this type. Competitors and spectators can take advantage of "Classics" the on-site Restaurant and Bar or go for a dip in the pool after the tournament or before the MMA fights.
UCW events always feature an 'after-party' celebration at Classics. Awards are given for 'Best Fight', Best Submission' and 'Best Knockout'. Many of the fighters like to cut loose after their contest due to the weeks of dieting and training in preparation for the event. Stevens adds that guests can stay at the Clarion for a reduced rate and avoid drinking and driving by going straight from the after party to their room without leaving the property. The discount is available to all ticket holders, event staff, corner-men, etc.
Stevens says that he is looking forward to growing his events into a "Combat Sports Convention" of sorts eventually incorporating Amateur Muay Thai and Boxing to the line-up on the Friday night before the grappling tournament and MMA competition. Stevens says he plans to keep the event for amateur combatants and desires to become a breeding ground for potential pro talent to be featured in other area events that feature pro-fights.
Stevens also says that he is looking to partner up with some area promoters as well in the future at some point as an undertaking of this magnitude is more than one man can handle. Stevens hopes to partner up with a Muay Thai / Boxing promoter in the area to take on the Friday night events as Stevens is usually busy tending to the competitors weighing-in for Saturday's events.
The first two UCW events also offered charitable donations to fund Martial Arts training for youth in the Springfield area. A summer camp program for troubled teens was funded by the promoter and coordinated with the Green County Juvenile Probation Department. Stevens says the program was a huge success and plans are underway to offer a summer camp in 2012 for both Greene and Christian County troubled youth. He says the youthful offenders are willing to listen to the fighters that run the camp. The fighters are able to get through to the kids in a way that other adults can't seem to accomplish. Stevens says that "all UCW events will support Martial Arts training for kids, especially the troubled and less fortunate youth of our community".
Stevens sees a lot of room for growth in the Southwest Missouri area as far as combat sports are concerned. "There are too many people working separately against each other. It's time for a more unified effort to grow the sport. The history of combat sports in the area is riddled with feuds and drama. To date few promotions in the area have really lasted without undergoing ownership transfers, partner fallouts or total failure. The fight game in general is ran by 'alpha-males' making it difficult not to 'butt heads' or have fall-outs. I care more about the sport than my ego so I'm willing to work with others. I don't need all the credit", says Stevens.
