Fame MMA turns celebrities into athletes. “The owners did not have it planned”

Marta Linkiewicz gained enormous popularity when she boasted online that she had sex with three rappers from Rae Sremmurd. Esmeralda Godlewska also wanted to hit the gossip portals – first appearing in the program “Ex na Beach”, then showing her bust on Instagram, and then singing.

Little? Patostreamer Daniel “Magical” Zwierzyński gained followers on YouTube broadcasts, during which he insulted and beat his mother and her cohabitant, and devastated the apartment in a drunken frenzy. A.

Jacek Murański? It is not entirely clear where he came from. It is only known that the 52-year-old has had acting episodes, a hooligan past, a stay in prison and. He is an adventurer who is gaining popularity thanks to conflicts.

What do all these characters have in common? That they fought – or are still fighting – at Fame MMA galas. And the term patocelebrity fits them perfectly.

Twins fights, clashes in a Roman cage

Other celebrities also appeared at freak galas – freak ones, i.e. simply for freaks -: Popek, Marcin Najman, Don Kasjo or Bonus BGC. Viewers of the federation founded in 2018 could also watch other crazy clashes. Examples? The fight of the short-grown MiniMajka with Youtuber Lord Kruszwil, Jacek Murański with Arkadiusz Tańcula in the so-called a Roman cage (three by three meters), a clash between twins and twins (the Tybura brothers defeated the Kluk brothers) …

Press conferences themselves break popularity records. Why? Because they are full of “smoke”, as Fame MMA bosses call conflicts between participants. One thing is for sure – there is no shortage of creativity in the organizers of fights. And they water it all with a gutter form.

Although the Fame MMA galas filled the largest Polish halls without any problems, and they were followed by several hundred thousand fans on the Internet, the media rather neglected the topic. Or they criticized it harshly, not considering it a sport in any way. Krzysztof Stanowski from “Kanał Sportowy” called Fame MMA “spreading pathology” and the court completely dismissed the organization’s claim. But today “Kanał Sportowy” is the media partner of this federation.

“Shit always sells and people are happy to buy it”

Initially, the MMA community was against this phenomenon. – I can’t say anything good about such galas. I don’t like it and it’s very poor. This is not a sport – said the KSW star, – I do not understand the phenomenon of vulgarity, disrespect, lack of culture. It made no sense whatsoever. I understand “trash-talking” where the real players are. Every sport requires discipline and respect. This is what it is all about and these values ​​are also used to educate young people who need to be set a good example, added Khalidov.

The MMA community also irritated the fact that celebrities earn much more from their sport than most professional athletes. – I know many players who struggle their whole lives and get ridiculous money for it. At the same time, you pay a lot to some funny guys known from the network. But this is not only the case in MMA: there is demand, there is supply. Shit always sells and people buy it willingly. On the one hand, I understand it: if someone wants to buy something, you have to sell it to him. That is why I am not outraged and I do not bother with it. I will not change it anyway – said the former UFC champion.

Łukasz “Juras” Jurkowski, one of the Polish MMA ambassadors, was not a fan of Fame either. – It’s just a shame for real MMA. There are a few guys who have taken their sport seriously and prepared them diligently for their fights. (…) It’s worse when people who don’t give a shit about this sport enter the cage, and the only argument why they do it are agreeing likes and a questionable increase in popularity. This is not the kind of MMA promotion that many people are fighting for in this country. Through the prism of freak fighters at various galas, people get clear information that it is better to be “known because you are known”, often for some life pathology, than to devote yourself to working on success – this is what he said back in 2019.

Fame MMA makes friends

Today the situation is different – Jurkowski recently invited the player and owner of Fame MMA to a broadcast in. But it is not only about “Juras”. Because more and more people open up and look a bit more favorably at what the owners of this organization are doing. And she also changes for the better.

– It’s very nice to see the Gliwice arena full. It’s nice that sport is promoted. It’s not just pathology anymore. Great respect that a tournament for amateurs has been organized. It’s nice that in addition to tiktokers, youtubers and other instagramers, there is also a lot of investment in sport – noted Joanna Jędrzejczyk, a former UFC champion, who appeared as an expert in the Fame gala studio.

– I am impressed with how it all looks from the production side – added Mateusz Gamrot from the UFC sitting next to him. Earlier, Karolina Owczarz from KSW also appeared in the studio, and one of the galas was commented by Marcin “Różal” Różalski, former KSW champion.

But MMA stars don’t just watch and comment on Fame. They also prepare the players for fights. Adrian Polak, former Fame MMA champion, has Anzor Ażyjew and his brother Mansur in the corner – the former fought for KSW, and today he is a coach of, among others Mariusz Pudzianowski,. He also cooperates with Chechen coaches i.a. Kacper Błoński, another Fame player.

In a word: professionals began to earn money on the new phenomenon. And not only thanks to the trainer. At the Fame galas, freak fighters from KSW, like Popek and Najman, fought first, but later we watched real sportsmen in a cage: Norman Parke, Borys Mańkowski and Marcin Wrzosek. The Irishman played in the UFC in the past, and Mańkowski and Wrzosek fought a total of 24 fights in KSW.

Fame MMA as a competition for KSW?

KSW, a tycoon on the domestic and even European MMA market, had a disrespectful attitude towards Fame. – It’s hard to call them any competition. Even when I was talking to Polsat, they told me that it was a competition for “Dancing with the Stars” and not for KSW – said Martin Lewandowski, co-owner of KSW.

The first serious MMA fighter to sign a contract with a freak organization was Parke. The Irishman, however, could not act on the basis of MMA, because he was prevented from doing so by the contract with KSW, so he used a gap in the contract. He fought Don Kasjo on a boxing basis and won on points.

Later, the Irishman – in the fight of the evening of the Fame MMA 11 gala – faced Mańkowski. Due to the fact that he had an injured leg and could not fight too much MMA, KSW allowed him to appear at a freak gala in a boxing fight with small gloves. Mańkowski defeated Parke, and in January he will return to KSW to compete for the belt with.

In turn, Wrzosek – in pursuit of money and greater recognition – challenged Don Kasjo to fight. The latter accepted the challenge and defeated the experienced competitor. Thus, Wrzosek ceased to be a KSW player. – If you lose to the freak, you have no place with us – said Kawulski. At the same time, his business partner Lewandowski started … inviting Don Kasjo to KSW.

– If I would like to hire anyone now, it would be Don Kasjo, because he is the winner of this duel. We reach for the winners and reach for those who develop and give our rivals crap. But no, we’re not having any talks. No boxing and kickboxing formulas in our KSW were and will not be – and.

Well-thought-out KSW strategy

Don Kasjo perfectly understands that in MMA he would not have any chances with the pros, so they are measured in boxing matches with large gloves, where it is easier to bridge the level difference. That is why we will sooner see Szymon Kołecki in Fame MMA than Don Kasjo in KSW. And who knows, maybe it is Don Kasjo who will fight Kołecki? For now, however, Don Kasjo has become the face of a new freak federation – Prime Show MMA.

And Kołecki? Until recently, he was a great KSW star, but his contract has expired. The Olympic champion did not come to an agreement with KSW on the terms of the fight with Tomasz Narkun, so both sides parted ways. And Kołecki is one of the most expensive warriors on the market. In Poland, apart from KSW, only freak organizations – High League or Fame – are able to contract it. Krzysztof Rozpara, one of the co-owners of the latter, openly invites Kołecki.

Why has KSW not blocked the performance of Wrzosek or Mańkowski at the Fame gala? This is a well-thought-out strategy: KSW is aware that thanks to guest appearances, their players promote the organization among children and young people, who are currently mainly interested in Fame.

Anyway, a dozen or so years ago the fledgling KSW was judged a bit like Fame MMA now. The organization, respected today, was initially considered to be a phenomenon on the margins of the sport.

Fame MMA doesn’t mean amateur anymore

It is impossible to unequivocally assess the sports level of the Fame MMA gal. Both typical freaks lacking sports skills, such as Sylwester Wardęga or Lord Kruszwil, whose level is downright embarrassing, fight here. But, for example, Adrian Polak (seven fights) or his last conqueror Maksymilian “Wiewiór” Wiewiórka (four fights), who have been training regularly for several years, are also fighting. And they train like professionals, their experience grows. They won’t become professionals, but they are hard to be called freaks. There are many more players who have an athletic body and can fight. Speech incl. about Gammou Fall or Piotr Pająk.

The sports level of freak galas is rising, it cannot be hidden. In addition, Fame boasts of having a positive impact on the development of MMA. Marta Linkiewicz, who a few years ago showed off in social media with another fancy events, today mainly shows snapshots of training sessions. She claims that they changed her life. You can believe her, but you can also see this transformation as another marketing procedure that allows her to reach another group of recipients. Anyway – it looks like Linkiewicz has turned into a sports enthusiast.

– You can take offense at it, but the truth is that famous personalities, even if they are not associated with a sports lifestyle, strongly promote sports. When Popek performed in KSW, many kids signed up for martial arts, because thanks to him they learned about them. The Fame stars also made a new generation appear in the halls to emulate the idols. This is just a positive phenomenon, although the owners of Fame probably did not originally plan it – says Sport.pl the coach and owner of one of Warsaw’s martial arts clubs.

He says, let us emphasize, anonymously. Martial arts experts are reluctant to comment on Fame MMA under the surname. In the community, despite the obvious changes in the approach to freak galas, he still rather shy away from substantive talks about Fame MMA.

The plans are ambitious – sports promotion and television

Meanwhile, Fame boasts of promoting amateur sport. A year ago, the federation started cooperation with ALMMA (Amatorska Liga MMA) and Army Fight Night. What is it supposed to consist of? Fame will finance a tournament in which 16 players from ALMMA and AFN will compete for the final, the winner of which will make his professional debut at the AFN gala.

According to unofficial data, each of the Fame MMA galas is watched by over half a million viewers on the Internet. The federation hopes that the results will be even better in the future. Cooperation with television is to help. – For now, we only exist on the Internet. We have not broadcast our events on TV so far. Perhaps it will happen soon. I don’t know when yet, but we’re working on it -. And he adds that he dreams of a repeat of the KSW achievement, i.e. a gala at the National Stadium.

And probably with other professional athletes in the lead role. And also those who were once patriotic and today consider themselves athletes. The mass is done, it’s time to sculpt.