Ken Pavia
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| Ken Pavia | |
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| Born | August 8, 1966 Rochester, New York, United States |
| Other names | The Pav |
| Residence | Huntington Beach, California |
| Nationality |  American |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
Ken Pavia is a former sports agent, founder of the Huntington Beach, California based sports agency MMAagents, VP Business Development for Takedown Fight Media, and CEO of Super Fight League. From 2005 to September 2011 Pavia represented a client roster of 55 professional mixed martial artists at MMAagents, most of whom competed in top tier mixed martial arts promotions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), Pride Fighting Championships, Strikeforce, DREAM, and Bellator Fighting Championship.
In September 2011 Pavia announced that he had sold his company, MMAagents, to Paradigm Sports Management but he would be staying on as a consultant during the transition. In an interview to MMAJunkie regarding the sale of MMAagents Pavia was quoted as saying: 'It was a move that was good for everybody involved, so we took the jump.'[1]
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[edit] Early years
Pavia is an American of Italian descent who was born in Rochester, New York in 1966. In 1978 he relocated to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina where he attended prep school at Sea Pines Academy. He obtained his collegiate undergraduate degree from the University of California Los Angeles in 1989 where he was the goalie on the Pac 10 champion ice hockey team. Pavia then attended the University of Miami School of Law, graduating in 1991. Soon thereafter, Pavia opened Fiduciary Management Group and began his career in athlete representation.[2]
Prior to venturing into the mixed martial arts industry, Pavia enjoyed a twelve year career representing athletes in both the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball.[3][4]
[edit] Mixed Martial Arts Agency
Pavia’s career representing professional mixed martial artists began on May 9, 2005 when he was approached by former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez with the request that Pavia assume his representation.[2] Pavia, who had been a fan of mixed martial arts from the time he purchased UFC 1, agreed and thus began the career that would lead to the creation of MMAagents.[2] Soon afterwards, former WEC Champion Razor Rob McCullough became a client and moved into Pavia's home in Huntington Beach, California where he resided for four years. Pavia formerly wrote a bi-monthly article for Versus.com, is frequently published on MMAjunkie.com,[5] is a regular guest lecturer at the USC Marshall School of Business[6] and has been selected as the 'agent expert' lecturer for the annual MMA Fight Summit for two years.
MMAagents represented over 55 fighters, the majority of whom fought in the UFC, Strikeforce, and Bellator.[7] In 2010 MMAagents' clients competed in over 192 fights in 60 different organizations in 18 countries, and Pavia or MMAagents' employees attended virtually every event. Due to the nature of representing international clients, Pavia is sometimes required to take calls at all hours of the day. He also claimed to fly over 150,000 miles in 2010 for mixed martial arts.[6][8]
[edit] Zuffa Lawsuit
On July 29, 2010, MMAagents founder, Ken Pavia was named as a party to a lawsuit launched by Zuffa, LLC for the allegedly misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential Zuffa documents.[9] "According to the suit, Pavia delivered confidential contracts, including fighter agreements, to Bellator after being asked to do so in an email from Bellator founder Bjorn Rebney.[10] In a video Pavia called the suit “A lot to do about nothing that was perpetuated by a disgruntled former employee that tried to make the situation something that it wasn’t.”.[11][12] In support of ramped speculation that Zuffa’s actions were an attempt to discredit an agent who had gained too much leverage, Pavia and Bellator counter sued Zuffa claiming tortious interference, fraud, breach of contract, and misrepresentation. Bellators attorney Pat English stated “This seems like a fairly tight case. It’s much more tight than Zuffa’s, There is substance to this.”.[13]
[edit] Takedown Entertainment
On September 13, 2011 it was announced by publicly traded company Takedown Entertainment Inc (TKDN) that Pavia had been appointed VP Business Development for subsidiary Takedown Fight Media Inc.[14] Takedown has announced intentions to aggregate MMA Promotions from around the world and consistently broadcast MMA events much like Friday Night Fights. In his new role Pavia is responsible for creating strategic partnerships with MMA fight promoters, sponsors and suppliers globally. Pavia has been quoted in numerous interviews including those on Junkie Radio stating that through his seven years with MMAagents he fielded numerous weekly calls asking him to act as a consultant, and that the opportunity with Takedown was the first 'no brainer' that he was fully prepared to commit to. Pavia has indicated that his services are rendered through his consulting company.
[edit] Super Fight League
On January 1, 2012, Pavia was named as CEO of the Super Fight League (SFL), India's first major mixed martial arts promotion founded by celebrity entrepreneur IPL cricket team owner Raj Kundra and Bollywood mega star Sanjay Dutt.[15] The SFL will consist of professional mixed martial arts bouts featuring both Indian and International fighters including a line up of chart-topping music performers.[16] The promotion's first event, SFL 1, will take place in Mumbai on March 11, 2012, and feature a main event of James Thompson vs Bob Sapp.[17] Two future events are scheduled for Chandigarh, India, on April 7, 2012, and New Delhi, India, on May 6, 2012.[18] Pavia has stated that he is fortunate to have an extremely talented staff that has allowed him to maintain his role at TKDN while serving the SFL as well.
[edit] Television appearances
Pavia has appeared four times as a panel member on the weekly HDNet program "Inside MMA". The program is hosted by Bas Rutten, Kenny Rice, and Ron Kruck. During his appearances on "Inside MMA" Pavia provides his expert insight on the current events surrounding the world of mixed martial arts. He has also been seen on The Dating Game (twice), Studs, an ESPN Game Show, The Geraldo Rivera Show, Celebrity Rehab, Fight Zone Presents, and numerous commercials.[19]
[edit] Notable clients
Ken Pavia represents, or has represented "Razor" Rob McCullough, Ricco Rodriguez, Chris "Cyborg" Santos, Brett "The Grim" Rodgers, Anthony "Rumble" Johnson, Alexander "Storm" Shlmenko, Benji "The Razor" Radach, Chris "Lights Out" Lytle, Joe "Diesel" Riggs, David "The Crow" Loiseau, Karo "The Heat" Parisyan, Jay "Thoroughbred" Heiron, Martin "Hitman" Kampmann, Phil "NYBA" Baroni, Mike "Megatron" Pierce, Tiki Ghosn, and War Machine[20]
[edit] Personal life
Pavia was married for four years, has been divorced since 2003, and has no kids. Despite the demands of his work and travel he is often photographed at night clubs and after parties usually surrounding MMA events.[21]
[edit] References
- ^ Marrocco, Steven. (2011-09-23) Ken Pavia discusses sale of MMA Agents, new role with Takedown Entertainment. MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ a b c Sports News Headlines – NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, PGA, NASCAR – Scores, Game Highlights, Schedules & Team Rosters – NBC Sports. Versus.com. Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ The Jerry Maguire of Mixed Martial Arts. Sherdog.com (2007-01-05). Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ Stupp, Dann. (2007-01-05) Ken Pavia: MMA and UFC Sports Agent. MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ Pavia, Ken. (2008-09-03) Travels with The Pav: Part I. MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ a b Ken Pavia: Founder & Managing Agent. mmaagents.com
- ^ Ken Pavia. Sports Agent Blog (2011-12-27). Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ Sports News Headlines – NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, PGA, NASCAR – Scores, Game Highlights, Schedules & Team Rosters – NBC Sports. Versus.com. Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ Report: Zuffa LLC sues Bellator, Ken Pavia over alleged theft of trade secrets. MMAjunkie.com (2010-07-30). Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ki-ufcsuit072910
- ^ Ken Pavia Talks Ufc At Fight Summit. YouTube (2010-12-18). Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ Ken Pavia talks at Fight Summit. Mmanewsleak.com (2010-12-18). Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ki-bellatorsuit081010
- ^ Takedown Entertainment Appoints Ken Pavia as Director of Business Development // Takedown Entertainment // Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Content and Programming. Takedownentertainment.com (2011-09-13). Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ The Official Website of the Super Fight League® (SFL). Superfightleague.com (2010-07-18). Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ Raj Kundra & Sanjay Dutt announce India's first Super Fight League (SFL). adcombat.com (2012-01-16). Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ Slack, Jack. (2012-01-16) Asian MMA Update: Honorio Banario Steps In For Eric Kelly At ONE FC 2, James Thompson vs. Bob Sapp In India. Bloody Elbow. Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ Super Fight League to kick start in March – Sport – DNA. Dnaindia.com (2012-01-17). Retrieved on 2012-01-26.
- ^ Ken Pavia (II). IMDb.com
- ^ MMA Agents. mmaagents.com
- ^ https://twitter.com/#!/KenPavia
