The first rule of Twin Galaxies Fight Club is that everyone is going to be talking about Fight Club come this Sunday’s show-off.

Billed as a sort of exhibition match featuring the top fighting game players in the world across ten fighting games, Twin Galaxies Fight Club No. 1 is free to watch or attend (those seats were snatched up in less than a day) and takes place between the dusk of Saturday and twilight of Sunday.

The 17 invited competitors will make their way across the street from the annual EVO showdown, the most prestigious fighting game tournament in the world, to the Esports Arena Las Vegas located in the Luxor Hotel and Casino Saturday night.

The matches, which wrap up with two main events pitting legendary players against one another in “Dragon Ball FighterZ” and “Street Fighter V,” starts at 0 p.m. and is likely to run to 3 a.m. Sunday.

“It’s just a whole new approach to bringing attention to the fight community,” Jace Hall, Twin Galaxies co-chairman and self-described fight game super-fan, told Variety. “In Fight Club it’s much more about dream matches between players under controlled circumstances. Imagine if you watch Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali fight in their prime. Everyone would want to see that.”

While the fighters are being paid an undisclosed sum to attend the exhibition, there is no prize money, trophy or award. Instead, Hall said, it’s more about fan service.

“EVO is a big event that all of the fighters gather for, it’s a giant tournament that everyone goes to,” Hall said. “This is meant to complement what EVO is doing and be something more for the fighting game community.”

The concept is that instead of spending a day or days watching a tournament weed out the weakest in a fighting runoff, people can tune in to see the best take each other on. And, perhaps, that could give the fighting game community some much-needed exposure.

“A lot of the time, when people are exposed to the fighting game community it’s through watching tournaments and ladders or seeing that competitive process,” Hall said. “It’s very oriented toward that process of eliminating players until you get to the final winner. Fight Club provides players a chance to just play and show off their best stuff.”

In setting up this first tournament, Hall worked with both pro players and fans to decide which games would be included and which matches would draw the biggest interest.

Hall said that when they approached the players about the invitational, many were ecstatic to be invited and play in these match-ups.

If this first Fight Club goes well, he added, then he hopes to continue and expand upon the idea.

“Really it all comes down to community feedback,” he said. “Did they enjoy themselves? Did they think it was the hotness? Then yes, we’ll do this again.

The inaugural Fight Club takes place at the Esports Arena Las Vegas from Saturday, Aug. 4 at 9 PM PT to Sunday, Aug. 5 at 3 AM PT. Fans can attend in-person or watch online at https://www.twitch.tv/twingalaxieslive.



Here’s the full fight card for the evening: