In my capacity of handling MMA marketing and strategy for Cash4Gold.com I have been very fortunate to work with some of the very best fighters in the world from the likes of Randy Couture, Rashad Evans, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, Matt Lindland, Gray Maynard, Damacio Page, Brandon Vera, Brad Pickett, James McSweeney, Luis Cane, Leonard Garcia, Jorge Rivera, and Tim Kennedy, among others. I've also had the opportunity to interact with many of the key promotions such as the UFC, WEC, and Strikeforce.

So when I initially approached our CEO, Jeff Aronson, about working with Ultimate Challenge MMA (UCMMA) a fight promotion in the United Kingdom that none of us had heard of I was not sure how he'd respond. However, after sharing some of my due diligence with Jeff on UCMMA he quickly discovered that not only was this a reputable promotion it was the premiere MMA promotion throughout Europe. Additionally, the face of UCMMA is Dave O'Donnell of Cage Rage fame. Dave has been in the business for some 25 years and is without question one of the most charismatic figures in all of MMA. After several weeks of discussions Cash4Gold.com and UCMMA agreed to a yearlong sponsorship.

Our CEO, Director of PR, and myself traveled to London to launch our relationship with UCMMA live from the cage during their event Fighting For Heroes, which was held on December 5th, 2009. None of us knew what to expect - we were blown away as UCMMA put on an absolutely topnotch event, complete with a great card of fights and more pageantry than any of the Japanese shows I've ever seen.

As I took in the experience I began to understand why UCMMA was considered the premiere European based MMA brand. Quite simply they "get it". Dave O'Donnell and his team understand that in order to be successful as an MMA promotion you first and foremost have to give the fans great fights. Additionally, the fans need to be provided an amazing night of entertainment.

UCMMA delivered on both fronts at Fighting For Heroes. The event was held live at the Troxy, an intimate venue in East London with a capacity of 3,000 fans. Choosing the right venue is key because it allows the event to be a sell out, assures that every seat is a good one, and affords the fans access to the fighters which all combine to create a tremendous excitement and energy for all concerned.

In terms of the fights, the talent level far surpassed anything I expected. It was readily apparent that UK MMA and UK fighters in particular are a force to be reckoned with on the global MMA stage. British fighters are typically known as ferocious strikers as was highlighted by Jamie Hearn's devastating KO of highly regarded Tam Khan . However, one of the aspects of the UK fighters' game in general that most impressed me was the high level of competency with the submission game. Among the various submissions attempted during the night was an absolutely ridiculous flying arm bar, by far one of the coolest MMA submissions I've ever seen.

I was so inspired by the energy of the moment and the professionalism of the promotion that I agreed to to fight for UCMMA in December 2010. Time to start training!

During a post fight interview Cash4Gold CEO, Jeff Aronson...