Inside Karate Combat, which hosts fights in MOVIE STUDIOS and was founded by millionaires inspired by UFC’s $4.4bn sale
KARATE COMBAT is mixing martial arts with Hollywood after being founded by a pair of millionaires inspired by the UFC.
The organisation was created in 2018 by Wall Street duo Michael Depietro and Robert Bryan.
Bryan made his money investing in both public and private markets, while Depietro managed financial equities.
The businessmen saw the UFC go from a struggling entity on the brink of collapse to a global brand which in 2016 sold for $4.4BILLION.
Following the success of the UFC, several rival MMA promotions have squeezed into a market already crowded out by boxing banners.
But never before has there been a full-contact karate league, which is why Depietro and Bryan looked to capitalise.
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The same year the UFC sold, karate was introduced into the Olympics.
And that is when Depietro and Bryan approached Adam S. Kovacs, a Hungarian champion, about their new idea.
Kovacs told SunSport: “They thought if karate was one of – if not the most participated martial arts – then why isn’t there like a brand or a league like the UFC?
“They thought they are onto something which could be really interesting and a good business opportunity.
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“They thought if this other business was sold for $4billion and it has a few million people practising it in the US especially, karate has tens of millions of people doing it.”
Kovacs started karate when he was just nine and went on to become Hungary’s most accomplished competitor.
He also provided commentary and analysis on UFC fights for Hungarian TV after retiring.
Kovacs was initially approached to compete for Karate Combat, but with his fighting days over, he later became the companies president.
MMA legends Bas Rutten and Georges St-Pierre have also come on board in advisory roles.
And Rutten believes Karate Combat are in a league of their own, away from the UFC and other competitors in the MMA space.
He said: “I’ve never seen it, full-contact karate. There was nothing like it, with punches to the face, in a pit.
“And the way the present it, with almost no people there, the camera angles. It is like a movie. It’s completely different to anyone else.”
But while Karate Combat is a first in its sport, they are still vying for eyeballs on their product, just like anyone else.
Kovacs admitted: “You do compete for the attention.
“We’re not big enough to compete with the UFC, but we’re big enough to compete for the attention of people who like fight sports.”
Karate Combat uniquely stage all their fights on movie sets, with Orlando’s Universal Studios playing host this Saturday.
And the never-before-seen backdrops and visual affects are reminiscent of classic fight movies and video games of the past.
Kovacs said: “We wanted to do stuff different but also better.
“We thought that people really love fighting movies and movies with martial arts, so we thought maybe we could put real, live fights on the movie screen.
“People can feel like they are actually watching a movie instead of a sporting event.”
Karate Combat is also either invite-only or limited tickets are sold.
Kovacs added: “Invite only or places where it’s hard to be, that has a compel as the area of entry is not so easy, you can’t just buy tickets.
“Also, we are always thinking about it like the paddock of Formula One, it’s a really limited amount of people with the best seats.
“Around the pit we always have the best view and experience and even now, when we start to sell tickets, almost every ticket is a VIP ticket.
“We don’t just sell the fight we sell the experience.”
Kovacs believes Karate Combat can overtake the sport of kickboxing, which has slowly failed to keep up with boxing and MMA.
He said: “We thought we could be the fourth pillar of combat sports; MMA, boxing, kickboxing and then karate.
“Right now, I would say we’re on a good path to be the third with kickboxing kind of disappearing when it comes to professional fighting and organising events.”
Karate Kombat returns tomorrow with welterweight champion Josh Quayhagen facing lightweight title holder Luiz Rocha.
Ex-kickboxing champion and Bellator MMA star Raymond Daniels, 42, also makes his promotional debut.
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As Karate Combat continues to grow, adding well established names, Kovacs teased it will grow to new heights in September.
He said: “What we’re about to announce is something which is going to put is somewhere different, no only in combat sports but the entire sports world.”
