I'll get right to it for those that missed the radio show today. Tonight will be the last night that MMA For Real (www.mmaforreal.com) will be active. The site is shutting down and will be archived in a consolidation move by Sports Blog Nation Network. It's bittersweet in some respects. I mean this site was birthed from absolutely nothing back in August 2008 in an effort to shine the light on the local MMA scene in North Carolina. I think we accomplished that.
Just to give you a quick synopsis on how we have come to this I suppose...
You probably began to notice my absence from the site around June 2010 as my wife and I awaited the birth of twins, who were born in late July 2010. I simply couldn't devote the time into the site that I once had knowing what was coming with three kids under the age of 5...so I notified SBN that I would need to take a hiatus of sorts until we were settled with the twins. Matt Bishop stepped up to the plate to try and keep things going in my absence, and as I said on the radio show earlier today....I thank you for doing that Matt. However, I suppose during this time SBN decided to go another direction in regards to their MMA coverage. Would things have been different if I didn't have to take the leave of absence? Who knows... but you may have noticed that Watch Kalib Run was shut down about two weeks ago, so some of you may have seen the writing on the wall as things had slowed down quite a bit on this site.
Time changes things, but I certainly don't regret any of the literally thousands of hours I've put into this site. It was a blast and we've had well over 2 million pageviews in less than two years. We've interviewed local fighters, former UFC champions, TUF winners, and more. I think that's pretty incredible. There are some community members that have been with me since day one over at the old site. To you guys...I say thank you for the support...I won't name names in fear that I'll forget someone...but you know who you are.
To the SBN guys...I say thank you, and a special thanks to Kid Nate for vouching for me when nobody had a clue who I was.....and they still don't know who I am...lol.
To the local MMA folk that supported this site. I say thank you. To the guys that didn't? You lost.
To the local fighters that we've given shine too..I certainly hope we were helpful to your careers. Keep grinding, and if we can help in any way in the future...just holla.
To the guys that put in work for this site.
Charles Walker-Charles is the only guy I knew prior to starting this site and he was one of the first people I talked to when I thought of starting this site...Charles contributed when he could and when he did...it would always generate good discussion. Thanks man...and I'll see you soon.
Rich Wyatt-This guy came out of nowhere...and was a lifesaver with his infinite knowledge of the local MMA scene in NC and the surrounding areas. Son is a walking encyclopedia about local MMA! I had the pleasure of meeting Rich last year and we had a blast. Rich and I will still be updating the MMA For Real fan page on Facebook..we'll be updating the local rankings as we have in the past and so on...so you local fans can get your fix there. Thanks for everything, and I look forward to seeing you soon man.
Anthony Pace-Anthony joined the site last year as a contributor. I always enjoyed his pieces, and you can find him putting in work at HeadKick Legend. Thanks for your contributions man. Good luck with everything.
Erich Vowell-You have disappeared in the last 6 months or so. I don't know if you are alive or not. If so, thanks for your contributions man. You put in work down in Georgia for us. Good luck with everything.
Neil and Forrest(From the Radio Show)-Thanks for keeping Matt straight...lol...good luck to you guys in whatever you do in life.
As for me...well...I'll still going to be doing my thing. I'll be writing over at PROMMA Now(www.prommanow.com). So make sure you check me out over there as it's a great site that covers EVERYTHING MMA. You can still follow me on twitter (@MMA4Real) or (@KelvinHunt)...so check me out there as well or on Facebook. Feel free to shower us with praises or tell us how you really felt about us in the comments section.
With that said....on to the next chapter....peace.
[Note by Kelvin Hunt, 02/21/11 7:25 AM EST ]
Rich Wyatt and I will still be covering North Carolina MMA as we have done in the past. I've reached an agreement with PROMMA Now (www.prommanow.com) to post North Carolina MMA news there, so that will now become the home of North Carolina MMA. This is a HUGE deal as PROMMA Now is one of the largest and fastest growing MMA sites around, and is also content partner with USA Today. So coverage for you guys just got THAT much better, compared to what we were doing here at MMA For Real. All fighters/promoters feel free to contact me via twitter or at kelvinhunt@hotmail.com. Thanks.
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