Advice to fighters: Get a good highlight reel!

Advice to Fighters Looking to Make The Leap

From: Jason Chambers

Apex Sports Agency (ASA), CEO

Member Since: 9/18/04

Posts: 2898

We get a ton of emails each week asking how to bring it to the next level or get a shot in more/bigger shows.

My answer can vary based on where someone is in their career; however there is always one consistent thing I tell everyone.

HAVE A GREAT HIGHLITE REEL!!!!

In the acting world, everyone has clips of their best work. It helps get your foot in the door and leapfrogs you over others. This is your 2 min infomercial that showcases your talent.

Your reel is your MMA marketing business card. It is a sales tool. It enables me to get a promoter fired up.

A good reel can make all the difference in the world.

WHAT IS A GOOD REEL?

– Short. Most reels are WAYYYYY to long. You need to be able to grab the viewers attention and hold it. A good reel will be 2-3 mins MAX. Unless your walkout is Mayhem esq, no one really wants to watch you walk down a ramp 5 different times. We get it. 🙂

– Concise. Akin to “short”, Reels need to be concise. They want to see 2-5 seconds of your submission, a KO, a Take down, etc. SHOW ME THE MONEY! Do not include clinchwork with baby shots, boring guardwork or the like. Do not feel the need to tell the whole story.

– Well Paced. A good reel should be well paced, it should move quickly. Start with a clean opening, show 5-20 seconds of technique, bagwork, training, etc. Use this time to show off! Esp if you dont have great fight footage, this is the time to show some flying armbars, hard sparring sessions, etc. Make sure your entire reel moves swiftly and tells a story.

– Clean. Please do not over think the reel. You do not need to “cheese” it up with Windows movie maker. High-end is CLEAN and SIMPLE.

– Professional. You get what you pay for. Any reel is better then none, but not by much. PLEASE INVEST IN YOURSELF. A professional reel will be edited to match a KO or take-down with a beat. IT adds to the production value and overall experience of your reel.

You absolutely have to have a profession reel if you want to be a professional athlete. You cannot afford to NOT have a professional reel.

Winning fights + Good agent + tape = BIG Show(s)

Hope this helps.

If I can ever help any of my UG brethren give me a shout on here!

Cheers

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LayzieTheSavage’s latest highlight reel.