Promoters want Cage Fighting at W.L. White Auditorium

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By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Cage fighting is coming to Emporia, if promoters and the city can agree on contract terms, alcohol availability and a date to use W.L. White Auditorium.

“It’s going to take a little time,” said Joe Kelly, president of Titan Entertainment of Liberty, Mo. “It’s a new event. It’s never been to Emporia before.”

Kelly and Stephen Cole of Cole’s Restaurant will co-sponsor the event, which features a mix of what Kelly terms “Olympic-style sports more blended together.” They hope to be able to present the event in late October.

Kelly said that cage fighting is the fastest-growing sport in the world.

“It’s a blend of all the different martial arts and combative art disciplines,” Kelly said. “All these athletes are cross-trained in boxing, muay thai, jujitsu, wrestling. ...

“It’s the most, I would say, complete form of fighting that you can find because it allows all of the disciplines to blend together.”

The combatants fight within a cage, with oversight by a state official and a medical doctor. The event would be sanctioned by the state of Kansas, Cole said.

The fighters are professionals and amateurs who will be brought in by Titan Entertainment from throughout the Midwest.

“We definitely don’t want someone coming in off the street trying to fulfill their dream of become a cage fighter with no training,” Kelly said.

Kelly and Cole met with city officials Aug. 18 to discuss requirements for the venue and to try to find an open date at the auditorium during late October. The latter has presented a problem for auditorium manager Ed Rathke.

“Our event schedule is not really conducive to it in October because of all the volleyball,” Rathke said.

Emporia State University volleyball team has games at White during October, and the Lyon County League Tournament also is scheduled during that time.

“A lot of times I can’t give it to them because this is ESU’s home court,” Rathke said, “and I’ve got to make sure that they’re protected first.”

Other happenings also will keep the staff and the auditorium occupied: The new scoreboard is set to arrive and be installed the first part of October, William Allen White Book Awards activities will be held there, and the Lipizzaner Stallions show also has been squeezed into the calendar on Oct. 18.

Rathke said, though, it appears the sponsors have experience in promoting cage fighting types of events, and will be able to meet contract requirements set down by the city.

“I’ll be happy to host it if they follow all the laws and the rules, and I really believe they will,” Rathke said.

“We’ve agreed to have as many cops as needed to control everything that we pay for,” Cole added.

Floor seating will be available, Kelly said, estimating potential attendance between 3,500 and 4,000 people.

The promoters want to have alcohol available for the audience, however, and that has been a sticking point in the talks.

“We just have some roadblocks we have to get over,” Kelly said. “Once we get over those, then we’ll have the event.”

Kelly said that in a live entertainment environment, such as sporting and professional events, people often want to drink alcoholic beverages.

“So yes, that is a part of it and it’s something we’d like to get ironed out so that people can enjoy themselves at the event,” Kelly said. “You definitely don’t want to have an event and exclude something they want to partake in.”

City policy, however, could prevent that from happening.

“We can’t do that,” Rathke said. “We have to abide by the rules that are set down by the city commission. Basically, we can’t sell it for any event.”