Travels with the Pav: Part III

Originally posted on MMAjunkie.com

by Ken Pavia on Sep 09, 2008 at 6:55 pm ET

If you have ever played blackjack, you understand. You can't fight the power. You can't make a cold table hot, and if it is hot, ride it.

I was playing golf with a hockey-player client, Terry Yake. He gave me three strokes a side – six in total. At the turn, after the first nine, he was up six strokes (he was a freaking scratch golfer). I said we need to change the bet. He replied, "You need to change your game. You can't do what you are doing better. You have to do something different. You have to change it up."

They say "luck" is when opportunity and preparation meet. The theme of Part III of "Travels with The Pav" is changing the momentum, trying to get lucky.

The weigh-ins

Making weight can be a dramatic and trying time. Tiki Ghosn always apologizes ahead of time for anything he says once he gets below 175 pounds, when he becomes even more of an ass. I once made Nate, my in-house counsel, change out of his khakis and into board shorts and sit with a fighter for six hours in a sauna. Nate lost 15 pounds, and the fighter finally lost the tough last eight. I have literally helped carry fighters into the weigh-ins because they didn't have the power to stand. Dehydration is the great equalizer. It turns men into boys.

Martin Kampmann's cut for this past weekend's UFC 88 event was a piece of cake. He even ate breakfast. Truth be told he was ready to become a welterweight some time ago. I encouraged him to stay at middleweight because of the success he was enjoying. He has a second career if he needed it waiting at 170.

We met in the hotel bar at 3 p.m. or so. The lobby was a zoo with fans. Fortunately, the hotel had the bar area secured so we could wait. Randy Couture and I walked in a little late because of all the confusion when the UFC guys didn't give us wristbands. Now, for Randy, that is not a big deal. For The Pav, it is a huge deal.

You see, one of the Zuffa employees is a former MMAagents.com employee, and let's just say, I don't think I made the Christmas-card list. I am pretty much on the radar now, or more specifically, the "Tom-dar." Tom is head of security for Zuffa. While I am given lots of latitude with ProElite, Strikeforce and the like, if I take one step in the wrong direction at a UFC event, and sometimes just for sport, Tom gets me -- every time. I even asked Tom for "most favored nations" status as I currently represent more Zuffa fighters than any other agent. I was given an unqualified "no." It has become a running joke with many other agents and Zuffa employees.

It was a solid crowd for the UFC 88 weigh-ins -- perhaps 5,000 fans in all, including clients Diego Saraiva and Rafael Assuncao, who live in Atlanta. Just before the television fights were announced, I emerged from backstage to watch from down in front. Martin was announced and approached the stage. While the crowd had been boisterous, they were extra loud as he approached. He took a moment to bask and acknowledged the fans. He later told us that he realized the reaction was because Randy was in tow as he went up on the stage with him to assist.

Just as they announced Martin's weight of 184, I caught sight of Tom making a beeline for me. I ran through the usual internal checks:
"I am rightfully here as a licensed corner man.
"I was brought here on the UFC shuttle.
"I am sure that girl last night was at least 21. Pretty sure, at least."
Tom asked whose corner I was in, and I told him I was one of Martin's three corners. He asked where my wristband was. I told him I wasn't given one at the hotel or on the van. So, he escorted me backstage.

After he left, another one of the Zuffa guys offered me his pass, but I declined. The reality is that instances like this remind you of the dichotomy between management and talent. While sometimes you feel like you are all on the same team, in an effort to further the sport and the careers of the competitors, this is really an idealistic agent notion. While they say it is not about money, they lie. It is always about money, and we as the advocate and voice for the talent are viewed as adversaries.

I talk to Mark Coleman often, and he once asked me if I got along with the UFC hierarchy. I said, "Sometimes yes, sometimes no." He said, "Good. If you told me yes, I would have said you weren't doing your job and to beat it."

Lessoned learned from an old-school guy that has managed to stay on top of the game. The perception is that the job is filled with perks. Sometimes that is not the case; sometimes you can't even get most-favored-nation status.

Such was the luck, and it was a sign of things to come.

The WEC

We got Martin fed and took him to get a sweat in. Randy had hoped to meet us but got hung up in a Japanese media conference. Shawn Tompkins put Martin through a workout, and he looked fluid and ready. Just as we were finishing, I got a call about a mandatory conference call for Jonathan Brookins, my kid making his WEC debut. This was out of the norm, and I wasn't sure why they wanted me to attend for Brookings and not "Razor" Rob McCullough, who was also on the card. I retreated to my room for the call.

Now, The Pav has been known to walk on water, but changing the course of a hurricane is something I haven't yet mastered. With Ike barreling down on Florida, we were notified that WEC 36, originally scheduled for this Wednesday, was postponed for eight weeks. For Razor that meant, after an eight-week camp of sacrifice and preparation, the true test was about to start. He would have to start it all over again immediately. Actually, his first question was could he have a couple of days to get drunk. I told him just a couple.

For Brookins the consequences were more severe. Money is not a big deal. Lack of money -- that is a huge deal. Brookins was not slated to make much, but he was counting on it. His coach Saul Soliz and I will have to talk and find some creative solutions. Saul, who gives tirelessly for his guys, also pitched me on helping a journeyman kid named Lee King that helps at his gym. Saul said it would mean a lot if I could get him a shot. His record is 13-13, so he is not the kind of fighter we would actively seek out, but Saul said he would fight anyone on any notice (and he has) and really needed it, so I will keep my eyes out as a favor to Saul.

What I expected to be a two-week trip would now be broken up as I would return to California on Monday, incurring unexpected airfare and then leave on Thursday for Montreal. These were tells that we were fighting the power and needed some luck.

The Fight

Going into the fight, I had the utmost respect for Nate Marquardt's skills -- so much in fact that I questioned Martin when he asked for this fight. Kampmann had less than one round of ring time in the past year and a half and had undergone major knee surgery just last year. But every decision is ultimately the athlete's, and Martin really wanted the fight. His training partners (whose opinions I respect) -- Phil Baroni, Mike Pyle and Tompkins -- all were extremely confident, and that put me somewhat at ease. Maybe we were all too confident, maybe he was unlucky, or maybe Nate was just that good. Regardless, the night did not go as planned.

Prior to the fight I was pacing the hall when Forrest Griffin walked up and said he just got there and asked who I had on the card. I told him his training partner, Martin, and brought him into the locker room. (By the way Forrest didn't have a pass, but Tom was nowhere in sight.) Kampmann was sharing a room with Rousimar Palhares and Matt Hamill. I had met Palhares as he had beaten client Ivan Salaverry in his last fight. Matt I knew through Tito Ortiz since the days of "The Ultimate Fighter" show. We text on occasion.

Everything was perhaps too perfect for Martin, and it was an energetic walkout with Tompkins, Couture and Forrest. Early in the fight, Martin got caught with a head kick that put him on Queer Street. As he struggled to get his sea legs, Marquardt was relentless with the pressure. Every time Martin seemed like he was almost out of the woods, Nate would land another big shot. Nate displayed the discipline and the composure of a Greg Jackson-trained fighter. The end came a minute and a half into the fight, and it resulted in Martin's first loss in nearly four years.

We all sat in awe in the locker room and were literally at a loss for words. UFC President Dana White, who had been sitting ringside, left during the Henderson-Palhares fight and came in to console and give encouragement to Martin. He began with pleasantries, but as the realization hit Martin and showed on his face, Dana changed his tune and kept it real. I thanked him for the gesture.

My text messages started blowing up. First came shock from my staff. Then came encouragement for Martin from Benji Radach, Anthony Johnson, Mike Pyle, Brad Blackburn and Tito. I even got a few texts from David Loiseau, whose loyalties lie with Nate, his training partner, but still has feelings for the team, so he chimed in. This is not uncommon after PPV fights, but the response was particularly strong after this fight.

Often in moments like this, the tendency is to slip out of rational mode and into emotional mode. This is a fatal flaw for an agent. It is crucial to stay grounded and be the voice of reason. This is not the place to make career decisions about weight classes or opponents or a time table for a return. Recognizing the difficulty in staying rational, I turned to an unlikely source for situational advice. Some would say Phil Baroni personifies emotional. I would tell you that he has encountered virtually every hypothetical in his career as a fighter, cornerman, training partner and agent, then gone home and analyzed it and broke it down ad nauseam. He lives and breathes the sport; his obsession and passion for it perhaps even rivals The Pav's. This often makes for spirited debates, which I prefer to do outside of striking distance. He is very capable of rational thought too, and that is what he offered in this instance.

We continued to fight the power in an effort to change the course of luck.

Tanner

The culmination of Part III of "Travels with The Pav" would be remiss if it did not acknowledge the passing of Evan Tanner.

One of the first UFC events I attended as an agent was in Las Vegas with Ricco Rodriguez and our buddy Mike Hogan. We stayed to the bitter end and even attended the post-fight press conference. Ricco had parked in the very last row of the parking lot. As we left the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, we walked out to the lot in a light rain. There was only one other vehicle out there, and it was parked next to Ricco's. The vehicle was an older, beat-up Toyota Jeep without a top. We could see from a distance that a man was sitting in it getting wet with the radio on. He was smiling. As we approached the Jeep, we saw that it was Evan Tanner. Hogan got all excited and asked to take pictures with him, and Evan obliged. He told us he had driven down from Oregon for the fights and was getting ready to go home. He seemed quite content.

Some years later the UFC came to Anaheim. Dana White and Joe Silva were discussing some of my fighters for the "TUF" comeback show when they told me that Jeremy Horn had gotten hurt and they wanted Ivan Salaverry to replace him against Tanner at UFC 59. We played with the number but could not come to terms. I offered up client Justin Levens, who grew up in the shadows of The Pond, and they gave him a chance. Levens was game but got the Tanner of old and fell victim to a flying triangle choke.

Just as I arrived in Orange County from Atlanta on Monday, my phone rang. It was the wife of fighter Dan Christison, Kyria. She said she was not doing well and needed a favor. Kyria had been very close to Evan and said he had been missing. She had just gotten word from the authorities that a body had been found. Kyria asked for help in letting the UFC know and getting the news out in the most respectful manner.

In a weird way, Evan profoundly touched many people, and I am not sure why. Maybe it was because he was so powerful yet vulnerable. Maybe it was because he always seemed to be searching. Maybe because he was so basically human. Maybe it was because he was a tormented lost soul. No matter -- it is very sad.

He often wrote of his struggle with addictions. He screamed for help in life, and no one seemed willing or able to help. I have been scolded by Joe Silva for misusing power as someone in the know. I realized then that with the privilege comes responsibility. MMA for many of us is life, and it is moments like this that the community can come together in support. I know that Evan will be remembered, and I also know that Kyria will be a big part of making those memories positive.

Evans' luck ran out. RIP Evan Tanner, 1971-2008.

Ken Pavia is a frequent MMAjunkie.com contributor who also runs MMAAgents.com, one of MMA's biggest sports agencies and one that represents more than 50 top-level MMA fighters. "Travels with the Pav" is designed to give readers a behind-the-scenes look as a handful of fighters (and their agent) prepare for fight day. New columns will be available every few days. Pavia's views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of MMAjunkie.com and its staff.