‘Man Bun Ken’ Theodorou to break ring card boy barrier at Invicta
Elias Theodorou: “Mixed martial arts has been at the forefront of equality in many different ways. … also now myself included as the first ring boy.”
Women’s have achieved parity with men in important regards at the highest levels of the sport. Pay appears to be equal. The number of divisions is reasonable given the number of competitors. But in one crucial aspect, the sport remains in the dark ages.
Male fighters get female ring card girls. But females fighters never get ring card boys. That’s not fair, and it’s about to change. During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, UFC middleweight Elias Theodorou said he would be appearing at Invicta FC 28 on March 24 in Salt Lake City in a ring card bearing capacity.
Mixed martial arts has been at the forefront of equality in many different ways, said Theodorou, as transcribed by Alexander K. Lee for MMA Fighting. You can see in regards to women being on top of pay-per-views and selling millions and also now myself included as the first ring boy.
Theodorou takes the role seriously and practiced at a small event in Montreal earlier this month. Not only is it just, it’s good for business.
I’ve talked to [Invicta FC president] Shannon [Knapp] and I will be allowed to put all my sponsors on my shorts and beyond that all the local sponsors that I have like Fuel Foods, and HPN, which I’m going to be doing a campaign for, essentially show and performance, because I’m hoping to fight in April in Atlantic City if all goes well,” he said. “I’m going to be ring boy ready and then fight ready in just a couple of months.
And more importantly, I have really large brands that are going to be jumping in. I’m the world ambassador for Mattel and I work with them promoting Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em robots and they also love the whole idea of the equality and the openness to actually put yourself in this position. And I’m actually going to be partnering, if all goes well, with Barbie for ring boy and I will be ‘Man-Bun Ken’.
I love mixed martial arts, Theodorou said. I’m a huge believer in the fighter’s journey, I love traveling and training. My last fight was in Australia. I’ve been to Thailand and Brazil and everywhere in between, learning and growing. You only live once, to quote the immortal words of Drake, but I want to build my brand beyond fighting because this is a platform and this is an opportunity and yours truly doesn’t want to get hit in the head forever.
With this great leap forward for gender equity, perhaps the ring card girl term has to go too. Cage card bearer doesn’t have the same ring though, so for now, the sport is likely to stick with ring card girls and Man-Bun Ken the ring card boy.