Professional fighter turned promoter Jesse Finney is using his tenacious attitude to develop Shamrock FC, and his fighters.

Former kickboxer and mixed martial artist Jesse Finney has been competing since grade school. While competing in mixed martial arts, Finney amassed an impressive record of 6-1 with five finishes.

Since retiring, Finney has since settled into the business side of mixed martial arts. Finney currently heads the Shamrock FC promotion, but that does not do his resume justice.

Before settling into his current position, Finney worked many roles in the fight world, from trainer to manager. Finney’s varied fight game experience gives him an interesting look into MMA, and some inside knowledge.

Cage Pages got the opportunity to pick Finney’s brain, to find out more about the unheralded aspects of MMA.

Finney began the conversation by explaining his martial arts beginning.

“Robert Biggs, my stepfather, owned a martial arts studio. He was a kickboxer, fought on ABC Wide World of Sports and even won a title in the 80’s. He got me started in boxing and kickboxing when I was 8, or 10. I competed until college, but I actually played baseball in college. After that I didn’t really know what to do, but my stepfather got me to compete in kickboxing and MMA.”

While he may sound gung-ho, Finney quickly explained that he wasn’t keen on fighting originally.

“At first when I was training MMA fighters, just holding pads. When they tried to talk me in to competing, at first I thought they were crazy.

Finney’s move to promoting came off as a bit more natural than fighting.

“I’m lucky. I’ve been a trainer, fighter, manager and promoter. I even helped run Chuck Norris’ World Combat League. I got into promoting when I owned a gym, but was disappointed with local promotions-you need to create an experience for fans and fighters. I thought I could do better. I want to create an energy that will set us apart from other promotions.”

Before getting too heavy into business discussions, Finney dove into his fight career.

“I fought very aggressive like how I do business-either kill or be killed. I could always control my conditioning, and control the pace. It translates a lot into business. If you’re going to do it, do it right. Young promoters always ask for my advice and, excuse my French, don’t do anything half-assed.”

Finney went on to comment on when it was finally time to retire.

“I was starting a family and fighting wasn’t paying the bills. I already owned a gym and a promotion company. I knew it was time when fighting was the last thing on my agenda for the day. I was the last person that got any attention. I wasn’t really sleeping, and was probably just getting away with everything based on athletic ability.”

While Finney has had to deal with his own career ending, he claims he has never had to tell another to retire.

“I don’t think I’ve ever directly said you need to retire. Life is about scaring people in the right direction, and I have suggested it a few times. They’ve listened to me and they haven’t, but if you ask for my opinion I’ll give it to you.”

Finney went on to explain his plans for the promotion, and his intelligent business model.

“I think our spot is all about the fighters. We are in a position where we want to be the best triple A organization in MMA. Without a doubt, we do it right, with how we treat fighters, and how we pay fighters. We promote pro-am cards because we bring so many people up through the ranks with us. We almost have it like small steps, we start people on smaller shows and move them up to bigger cards. If you win our amateur title, we’ll give you a pro contract. If you win our pro contract, you’ll go to Bellator. We have a contract with Bellator.”

Before getting off of the phone, Cage Pages asked Finney to comment on the ongoing Conor McGregor drama playing out in the UFC. Being a former fighter and current promoter, Finney was bound to have a more informed opinion.

“At the end of the day, the UFC spent a lot of money on Conor McGregor. Who made Conor McGregor? The UFC. Five years go he was begging to get into the UFC, and now he’s begging for money. Fighters get so big because of the promotion behind them. When Conor is guaranteed to make 10 million, he made the choice to complete his obligations. I understand/appreciate where he is coming from, but if you say you’re going to do something you better do it. The UFC probably asks a bit much, but he agreed to do it. I’m actually happy to see the UFC sticking to their guns. Maybe I’m too loyal of a person, but I say don’t forget where you came from. The UFC is probably a five billion dollar company, do you really think 50 million is going to break them? Not going to lie, I’m kind of over it.”

With such an in-depth understanding of the fight game, Finney is doing his best to do right for the mixed martial arts community. Thus far, Finney has only promoted amateur and professional mixed martial arts to higher levels. Make sure to give Shamrock FC some love, and keep your eyes on Cage Pages for more fight coverage.

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