Middle School Saves The Day. Wrestling Team Feed The Masses. Mountain Force Gives Back.

Mountain Force President & Promoter, Juan Pablo poses with Rick Stimpson (in green) along with West Minico Middle School Wrestling Coaches after presenting donation check.  Photo courtesy of Polo Aguayo

Burley Idaho. Dec 30, 2019.
Johnny Moreno


Two weeks til Fight Night and Mountain Force 14 (MTF 14) is venueless.
The event was scheduled for Saturday, December 7, 2019 and was to be hosted at College of Southern Idaho or CSI Mini Cassia Extension Campus in Burley, Idaho. However, due to some scheduling concerns and other undisclosed factors, Mountain Force was left with no venue to host MTF 14.

Mountain Force's President & Promoter, Juan Pablo said he went into deep panic mode when he found out that "we couldn't hold our event there any more." He further explained that he had to quickly scramble to see what venues in the area were available on the day the event was scheduled. "The list of places were next to nothing. Everywhere we searched or called were booked."

With the assistance of  Pete Nunez & Hector Castro, local gym owners & coaches at Full Force MMA in Burley, Juan explained that they searched high and low, even in Twin Falls.

One venue in Twin Falls was large enough & available on the day they needed it. But Juan's priority was to try and keep it in the Burley/Rupert area. The Twin Falls venue would be the last resort.  During this time, West Minico Middle School in Paul Idaho was proposed as a possible venue to host MTF 14. Paul Idaho is about 10 minutes North of Burley City on Highway 27.

In order to host the event at the middle school, it would first need to be approved by the Minidoka school board. "At this time, I was saying my prayers that our event will get approved," Juan said. "All the marketing, promotions, and sales were centered around this fight night being on December 7 in Burley or nearby towns like Paul or Rupert. This would totally save us on cost if we don't have to move it outside of the Burley area."

The word came back that the school board approved the event. "I was so happy & relieved. I want to thank Rick Stimpson, wrestling coach & school board member, for being our advocate before the school board. With so many misconceptions about MMA and MMA events, Rick was instrumental in putting his fellow board members concerns at ease.  Also a big thank you to Pete Nunez and Hector Castro for reaching out to Rick," Juan said.

Force Fans pack the West Minico Middle School gymnasium for MTF 14 to begin.
Photo courtesy of Polo Aguayo

Juan mentioned that they had to make some adjustments to how many seats were now available given a smaller venue. "We lost some seats but I was just happy that we found a home for MTF 14, that it was in the general vicinity of CSI Burley campus, and that the show was going to happen on the date we planned and promoted."

The show went on as schedule.  It was a sold out show according to Juan. "We had to discontinue selling tickets hours before doors opened. I think everyone there had a great time. The fight bouts were amazing. The fighters put on a great performance for their fans, family, and friends.  The crowd was by far one of the most energetic & loudest crowd at a Mountain Force event. Can't forget the Idaho Army National Guard Push Up Contest. That was intense. It was a great fight night."

Force Fans participate in the half time Idaho Army National Guard Push Up Contest at MTF 14.
Photo courtesy of Polo Aguayo

Not only did the West Minico Middle School save the day, the West Minico Middle School Wrestling Team played a role in contributing to the event as well. The wrestling team was given the opportunity to sell concession goods to general admissions and was contracted by Mountain Force to feed all VIP guests. Food items and ingredients were donated by local restaurants and caterers.

"With our VIP program, each VIP ticket includes a hot catered meal from a local caterer and Pepsi & Rockstar Drinks who sponsor our fights," Juan said. "A lot of force fans rave about our VIP meal program because they don't have to go out to eat before coming to our fight events. They can kill two birds with one stone."

Juan said it felt great to give West Minico Middle School Wrestling Team the opportunity to cater the VIP food. All proceeds that were raised from catering & concessions went to benefit the team-travel, uniform, fees, etc.  According to Rick Stimpson, they are able to afford a checklist of items needed for the 2020 wrestling season.

Force Fans in VIP mingle & feast at West Minico Middle School gymnasium before MTF 14 commence.
Photo Courtesy of Polo Aguayo

At the end of the night & before the main event, Juan Pablo, who was also the cage announcer, expressed his gratitude to sponsors, the athletic commission and officials, fighters, and force fans. He then called up Rick and his fellow wrestling coaches to the cage and presented them with a check for $2000.00 for the middle school facility; of which $1800 was donated. The regular day rental rate is $200.

Debut fighter, Axel Alonzo, thanks his fans, family & friends during post fight win interview.
Photo courtesy of Polo Aguayo

When asked if Mountain Force will return to Burley, Juan said yes. He went on to say "we are looking to return Fall 2020. I think the Mini-Cassia community would like us back. They have some of the most dynamic fighters in the area & some of the loudest fight fans in the region. I really admire how the fans, family, and friends rally behind their fighters like no other I have seen in other areas we host mma and kickboxing events. I'm grateful for everyone's contribution on what I think was a successful night. In the end, everyone involved came away with a win."

Lost Bouts Postpones Mountain Force Logan Fight Night

Logan. 1.15.2019
Jake Mason

Mountain Force MMA staff, fighters, and fans were preparing for another fight night in Logan Utah on Saturday, January 19, 2019 at the new Cache County Event Center. I was looking forward to covering this event as well. Two weeks ago, they had 10 scheduled bouts with fighters coming from Idaho, Colorado, and Utah. Then, According to Mountain Force's President & Promoter Juan Pablo, the nightmare began.

Two of the 10 bouts were dropped because of injuries.  "That is pretty standard or normal," Juan said. "Every card you are going to have 1 to 2 bouts get cancelled due to injury during training. I tried getting replacements but two weeks is little time for most fighters who plan to win. Normally, they need 1 to 3 months of fight camp to get ready. With 8 bouts, we will still be ok and still manage to have a great show. What happened next is what I wasn't prepared for."

Last Monday, Jan 7, the Mountain Force Logan fight card had 8 scheduled bouts. This is a week they call hell week in the MMA world. And it was nothing more than that for Juan and his staff. On Tuesday, Jan 8, Mountain Force received word that one of the fighters scheduled was arrested and jailed. "It's so sad," said Juan."It's sad because he was doing everything by the books to prepare for his fight. He was even scheduled to get his physical and bloodwork done the day of his arrest. Even if he would've posted bail, there was no way he would fight in that type of mindset. I hope when he gets out that he will iron out all his legal issues, get back in the gym, and get him in the cage because he loves MMA."

That brought Mountain Force Logan card to 7 Bouts. Juan indicated he is now nervous but still can manage 7 bouts and find fillers in between bouts and rounds to make it a good show for the fans. On the day of Utah's Athletic Commission's deadline for all medicals, bloodwork, and contracts to be submitted, Juan received a text that one of his scheduled fighter's family member was in a freak roadside auto accident and died at the scene. "I felt so sorry for this fighter and their family and hoped they get through it," Juan explained. "At the same time I'm asking myself why me. How can this be happening all at the same time."  Juan also mentioned that two other scheduled or contracted fighters did not get their medicals & bloodwork in on time to compete.

"I couldn't believe what was happening-watching this fight card go from 10 bouts to 4 bouts in a matter of a week." He said. "I want to thank a lot of my fellow promoters and matchmakers like Brian and Bruce Smith of TuffNuff down in Vegas and Leonard Thierry of No Mercy Extreme Fighting in Colorado Springs, among others for coming to my aid and providing us with replacement fighters and support; and coaches like Steve Eargle of Cedar City BJJ and Brian Zehler of Zs Gym in Fort Collins. Unfortunately, the deadline expired and we couldn't add new fighters."

Juan explained that there is a minimum amount of bouts a promotion would need to host a MMA show in Utah and they fell below that threshold. Moreover, they would lose a significant amount of money with a low number of bouts if they had the opportunity to host a fight event with 4 to 5 bouts. "At the end of the day, most fans come out to see their brother, cousin, son, dad, mom, daughter, friend, or favorite fighter compete," Juan said. "And these fans pay a fee at the door which helps cover the cost of putting on these events. Without these fans coming through those doors, we would go bankrupt."

Juan mentioned that he and his staff are making significant changes and protocols to assure something like this doesn't happen again. "My heart goes out to our fans and sponsors who were looking forward to another Mountain Force show. Fortunately, the new date (March 30, 2019) isn't too far away. We will honor all tickets purchased for the January 19 event or reissue tickets for the new date or give them refund if they choose."

"My heart goes out to those fighters who trained, sacrificed, and prepared for a fight that couldn't happen.  We did offer all of them a spot on any of our upcoming mma or kickboxng cards. Some are scheduled on an upcoming fight card. I am well aware somethings are way beyond our control like when someone loses a loved one. However, there are somethings we can control such as making sure fighters get their bloodwork, medicals, and contracts done ahead of deadlines; and having back up opponents should a fighter get injured or cannot compete."

On March 30, 2019, the new date, Mountain Force will be celebrating its 1 year anniversary. It had its first fight night on March 17, 2018. In 2018, they had completed 6 MMA events and 1 kickboxing event in three states-Utah, Idaho, & Wyoming. Juan stated that in 2019, Mountain Force will be hosting about 7 MMA events and 4 kickboxing events. "I'm really excited," He said. "We have a strong fighter and fan base that continues to grow and I'm thankful for their love & support for our platform. This little promotion is going places. just wait and see."

Jake Mason
Independent Writer