fighters and now there are only sixteen.”
     And still the conundrum escaped me.
     “The state athletic commission wants to shut down the show because they think everyone needs a fucking pair. Just take them off the first fighters, clean them up, and give them to the last ones. We’re not going to stop a whole show for gloves.”
     I had to agree. This seemed like the pea in the princess’ bed, a speed bump under the tire treads of a Terex truck. We sat in the middle of a seething sea of people who paid to see fights discussing the absurdity of ending the night over a pair of gloves.
     It was clear we had experienced a quantum shift in focus. Getting the word out was no longer the priority. The 6300 people in attendance had clearly gotten the word. Now the focus was keeping those 6300 people happy so they came back for the next show. That boiled down to crisis management and Foran was the Man ‘O War blasting problems with cannon fire as soon as they arose. Someone in the VIP section wants beer? Foran delegates and suddenly there’s a waiter. A bunch of wounded troops came to the show? Foran opens a new section for them that was previously closed off. The Washington Capitals brought an entourage bigger than Sesame Street? Foran finds seats and issues a stern warning not to do it next time. The arena manager is irate because intermission is taking too long? Foran gets the ball rolling again. I think if someone had spilled a vat of Vaseline causing every ring girl to slip and twist their ankles, Foran would have gone topless and done the job himself.
     I’m fortunate the night didn’t come to that.
     Anyone who’s managed a major event knows how adaptable you have to be and how flexibility separates the Superbowl from the Wiggles. But what happens outside the cage is merely a distraction. What happens inside leaves a lasting impression on those who bought tickets. An MMA promoter can set up and hype fights all day, but if the two contestants come out and dance around tepidly, his chances of holding another event are slim. Luckily the preliminary fights delivered. In five fights there was one submission, two TKOs, and a devastating knockout when Ron Stallings caught Whisper Goodman with a brutal knee. To round out the undercard, female fighters Felice Herrig and Iman Achhal went the distance, though Achhal’s one-dimensional, ground-centric style prompted more than a few boos.
    “He should have stood them up,” Foran states after the catfight as he checks his Sherdog.com live stream. It was the first chink in his Teflon coating. He spent a lot of money hyping a fight that in the end underwhelmed. It’s a thin line a promoter has to walk between excitement and skill. Two evenly matched fighters may put on a combative clinic, but if it’s boring, his bottom line sinks faster than Dow Jones.
    The drama of the main card only multiplied his need for Pepto Bismol and forced Foran into a leadership dilemma. When Richie Hightower threw two illegal downward elbows into the back of Marcus Foran’s (Marcello’s little brother) head, the referee immediately halted the fight as Marcus crumpled to the mat face first.
     "That was nasty," Luke Thomas said as the replay footage rolled on big screen TVs around the arena. The instant chorus of boos from the crowd supported his sentiment-it was clearly an illegal blow...