Geer’s interest in MMA began around 2001 when he borrowed some UFC tapes from staff at his construction company.  Geer had done some boxing, judo and security work in the past so certainly knew a thing or two about having a scrap and liked what he saw in the Octagon.  Intrigued, he sought out more, and encouraged by Dave O’ Donnell, took up the sport himself.  Geer describes his slightly odd relationship with O’Donnell, another infectiously enthusiastic fan/promoter and committed martial artist.  “Dave works for me in real life (at the construction company), is my equal business partner in Cage Rage, my martial arts instructor and best mate.  We even go on holiday together with our families.”  Clearly, the partnership works as the two Londoners now head one of the hottest and most ambitious promotions in the business.

Humble Beginnings
The first Cage Rage was meant to be a one-off, a “club show” to raise money for more training equipment at O’ Donnell’s Elite Fighting Gym.  Held at London’s Elephant & Castle Leisure Centre on September 7th 2001 it was based around Team Elite fighters taking on competitors from other clubs.  The show was a success, covering its costs and paying for some new training mats, but left Geer and O’ Donnell, who jumped right into it without even a basic business plan, exhausted.  “We sat down when it was over and said ‘never again.’  Then about two weeks later we started planning Cage Rage 2.”  At the time there were few MMA shows in Britain and Team Elite fighters competed on most of them.  Travelling to shows to support his teammates (he still spars today when he gets the chance), Geer felt something was missing from most events.  Most had tiny budgets and understandably looked minor league.  Geer felt there was an opening for events with higher production values and ambitions.  With this idea, and the experience gained from the debut show Geer and O’ Donnell set about putting together the kind of events they wanted to see.

Cage Rage 2
Its obvious Cage Rage 2 has some very special memories for Geer.  This, despite it almost being shut down with just 24 hours notice due to ignorance about the sport from the local council.  Geer was even interviewed by the police but since he had done nothing illegal, and wasn’t about to, the show went ahead.  Geer acknowledges the company’s early marketing may not have helped.  “We played on the underground aspect of it, the cage and everything.  We downplayed the skills needed to get in there.”  But these days, like the UFC, they stress the more ‘legitimate’ side to the sport.  “The cage is really there for safety.  Fights are more dangerous in a ring and there’s more stopping the action in them too.  We’re fully insured and have the backing of the British National Martial Arts Association for everything we do.”  Geer also notes the presence of doctors and paramedics at every show and the fact Cage Rage, in 10 shows have still only seen one serious injury, a broken leg.  “Well there have been others: broken noses, concussions and broken ribs but nothing really serious.  Just the usual stuff.”

Cage Rage 2, held on February 22nd 2002 featured one of the sport’s genuine legends, Royce Gracie as a special guest and referee.  Gracie was in Britain for a series of seminars and was invited down to the event.  Geer laughs as he recalls how Gracie called in on Jean Silva to ask if he wanted any help warming up for his fight.  Unfortunately meeting his hero was too much for the star struck Silva and he promptly went out and lost his main event match to UFC veteran Gerald Strebendt.  Geer speaks of Gracie with obvious affection and respect.  “He’s an absolute gentleman.  Around 30 of us were at a seminar with him and we all got to roll with him.  It’s times like that, when you’re in there with a master you realise the difference between someone like him and ordinary fighters.”  The show is fondly remembered for other reasons too.  It was the first UK show to be filmed to a truly professional standard, it attracted interest from ITV (the main commercial TV network in Britain) for its 13 part ‘Caged Combat’ series, was covered by a major news programme (ITN), and made a little money too.  And Geer and O’ Donnell both found the whole experience far more enjoyable this time around too.

The Early Years
The next four Cage Rage’s (all at Caesar’s Nightclub in Streatham, south London) passed by in a similar way.  Armed with the business plan they finally sat down and wrote after Cage Rage 2, Geer and O’ Donnell set about putting together a series of financially and (usually) critically successful events.  Booking some of the best and most entertaining fighters in and around the British scene (Silva, Strebendt, Ronaldo Campos, Leigh Remedios, Paul Jenkins, Jean Francois Lenogue, Mark Weir, Mark Epstein) they were quickly picking up a reputation as the leading promoters in Britain.  A reputation clearly helped by their big ambitions and big production values like big screens, laser shows and dancing girls.  Cage Rage shows were just bigger, and more ambitious than all but one of their counterparts – the ill-fated Extreme Force (more on that later).  Along with the company’s growing success Geer and O’ Donnell were actually now finding things easier thanks to their past experience and the help of their administration staff.

Moving Up in the World
Cage Rage took a giant leap forward in July 2004.  Abandoning Caesar’s for the Wembley Conference Centre in north London they put on their most ambitious show to date.  This was all possible due to their new financial backers.  Selling 49% of the company’s stock was the key to opening up Cage Rage’s new home, new DVD and TV deals and international profile.  Geer and O’ Donnell remain in charge of running the company but now have the backing to think even bigger.  Geer admits the financial safety net is vital but “just as important is their media contacts.  They [the backers] own a variety of companies including a media law firm so we can get the best advice and take advantage of their contacts in the media.”  Cage Rage 7, with its Mark Weir and Jorge Rivera main event certainly marked a new era for the promotion but the transition from nightclubs and small halls to Wembley wasn’t easy.

Geer and O’ Donnell had both attended the Extreme Force: Genesis (with the much talked about Murray-Pele main event) show a year earlier at the same venue.  Extreme Force shut down after that event, unable to follow up after losing significant money.  Geer recalls just how impressed he was with the venue.  “It’s set out like an amphitheatre, there’s a great view from every seat, it has its own lighting rig and it’s in a great location.  You’ve got Wembley Arena nearby and good public transport…” reminded the last two shows have been marred by engineering works at the nearest tube (metro) station, Geer laughs and adds “but that’s not our fault, or Wembley’s.”  Cage Rage 7 may have been the company’s breakout show but there was a downside.  “That was the first show to lose money.  There’s a very high rent for the Wembley Conference Centre, the move from south to north London didn’t help and for the first time we had an outside marketing company in charge of selling the tickets and they didn’t do it very well.  We fired them.  If you look at the shows we’ve had there was a big dip [in revenue] with Cage Rage 7.  Then we put on Cage Rage 8 and again the costs were high but the attendance was better and the loss was much smaller.  Now we’re breaking even.”

Television Deals
Although Cage Rage 7 lost money at the gate it was the first show to air on Sky Sports 2 in edited form a week or so later.  Since then every show has appeared, as a one-hour highlight show a few days later and Sky have signed up at least until the end of 2005.  Viewing figures are not easy to come by (Sky are notoriously secretive about their ratings) but the channel are clearly pleased with the series and the audience share, pushing 60% (of cable and satellite viewers) is excellent.  The initial deal was for three events and Sky happily renewed it for another five this year.  Geer is the Executive Producer of the show and has complete and total control over what airs.  And more importantly, Cage Rage don’t sign over exclusive rights to the footage either.  As long as they appear in a different format to the Sky show, Cage Rage are free to pursue other TV deals.  That’s exactly what they’ve done.

We spoke to Geer a day before he and O’ Donnell were due to go into the studios and film 15 episodes of a 30 minute show for Men & Motors (a British satellite channel aimed at, er, men that’s now owned by the ITV network).  Each episode will be presented by Geer, O’ Donnell and Sarah Cawood (a well-known British TV presenter) providing background details on the rules, the events and the fighters, backstage footage, pre-fight and post-fight analysis.  As Geer points out “this is the first show like this in the [English speaking] world.  UFC don’t have a show like this.  Generally, we’ll have one fight an episode but it depends on the fight.  It’s hard to make a 30 minute programme about a 40 second fight.”  Most of the featured fights “will be from recent shows but because we have such a big back catalogue [of properly filmed fights] to choose from, all the way back to Cage Rage 2, there might be some older fights too.”  The ITV crew will also be backstage on April 30th to capture some more new footage and the channel have already ordered a second series.  That’s before the first has even been taped, let alone aired.

The Fighters
Geer is well aware the highest production values in the world can only do so much.  The fighters have to provide the real entertainment.  Geer broadly agrees with the theory an entertaining loss can be worth more to a fighter’s career than a boring or unimpressive win.  Not only that but “personalities definitely matter for us.  At every rules meeting we tell the fighters ‘once you step outside that curtain you’re working.  And you’re working in the entertainment business.’  I’m not saying you have to go out there and do a ring entrance like Jeremy Bailey [a real ‘character’ and Cage Rage’s most controversial fighter] but get the crowd into it.  We even tell the people in the first few fights when there might be nobody in the arena to do it because they might end up on TV.”  This emphasis on entertainment is also clear in the promotion’s matchmaking, a duty shared by both men.  A quick glance at the line-ups for the last few shows will confirm their fondness for matching up fights that promise some serious action – Rivera vs. Weir, Anderson Silva vs. Murray, Mike Bisping vs. Epstein (twice), Sol Gilbert v. Curtis Stout, Antony Rea vs. Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos and Rivera vs. Silva.

Geer is pleased with the relationship he and O’ Donnell have with their fighters.  Every single fighter is booked on a per-show basis.  When asked whether they have considered using longer contracts, Geer is adamant.  “We always do things one show at a time.  We probably could tie fighters up to contracts but it would hurt the UK scene.  And we’d never stand in somebody’s way of getting a shot at the UFC or Pride or whatever.  Besides, we don’t have enough shows to keep everybody busy.  Look at [Cage Rage British Welterweight Champion] Paul Jenkins.  He fights all the time and he loses some fights he should win and wins some he shouldn’t but he’s his own man.  We could never give him enough fights to keep him happy.”  Geer contrasts this with popular Brighton native Sol Gilbert.  “He really only wants to fight on Cage Rage shows.  He runs his gym, he’s got his family and other things to keep him busy.”  Speaking of fighters, talked inevitably turned to Lee Murray.

Lee Murray
“You have heard the news about Lee Murray, haven’t you?”  Geer asks before explaining the situation in detail.  “We originally had Lee [provisionally] booked for 30th April but then UFC came calling and he chose to fight over there and of course we would never stand in his way.  Now Lee can’t get his visa so we’ve agreed with Lee and his management for him to fight for us instead.  We did have an opponent standing by as well – Gabriel Santos who beat Mark Weir [at Cage Rage 10] but unfortunately Gabriel got injured in training so me and Dave are going round to Lee’s later on to give him a list of opponents.”  Geer refuses to name names but assures me there are some big names on the shortlist.  Besides, “we wouldn’t just put Lee in there with some stiff.  And Lee wouldn’t fight just anybody either.  He wants fights that will do something for his career.  He’s agreed to fight; it’s just a matter of finding the right opponent.”  Lee Murray isn’t the only big hitter Geer has been talking to lately.

The Curitiba Connection
Yet again Geer laughs; he does that a lot by the way, and announces, “I’ve been hugged more by Wanderlei Silva in the last month than I have by my own wife.”  Geer goes on to talk about the “strange trip” he and O’ Donnell took to Brazil two weeks previously.  “Wanderlei came to Cage Rage 10 and invited me and Dave over to Curitiba for their Storm Samurai show [March 19th .]  We thought ‘yeah right, he’s just being nice’ but when he got back to Brazil he was still calling us, Rudimar was calling us and saying they really wanted us to go out there.  You have to understand Cage Rage is huge [among fight fans] in Brazil.  We’ve had Brazilians on every show and the fans over there have followed us all along.  Cage Rage is bigger than UFC over there because of the way we use Brazilians on our shows.  UFC want their corn fed American champions and not some pug ugly cave dweller who can barely speak English.”  Before anyone complains by the way, Geer is simply reflecting what many in Brazil see as the American attitude towards their fighters.  His admiration for Brazil and its fighters is obvious “there are so many good fighters in Brazil they could probably have a UFC champion in every weight category.”.

Back to the trip.  “Chute Boxe flew us out there first class and when we got off the plane there were media waiting for us.  We were taken through the airport and chauffeured to the best hotel in Curitiba.  We couldn’t even walk down the street without kids running after us trying to get autographs.  We went to a nightclub and they took us straight into the VIP section to get us away from the press.  We were interviewed on television.  When we went to the show they snuck us in the back way and announced us to the crowd.  Then they brought us into the ring and we got a standing ovation!  It was bizarre, we were in the ring and guys like Wanderlei, Ninja, Rudimar, loads of our favourite fighters wanting pictures taken with us.”  While he clearly loved the experience, the Curitiba trip was about more than just making thousands of new friends.

The Future
Somewhere amidst all the enjoyment, some serious business discussions took place.  Geer and O’ Donnell opened up preliminary talks with Chute Boxe for a Cage Rage event in Curitiba, possible TV and DVD deals in the country and best of all for British fans, an agreement to use Chute Boxe fighters on shows in London.  This makes Cage Rage the only non-Brazilian company, aside from Pride, allowed to book Chute Boxe fighters on their shows.  This agreement is a measure of how far Cage Rage has come since it required DSE’s assent.  Indeed, DSE aren’t just aware of Cage Rage they seem to be keeping tabs on events in Britain.  Nobuyuki Sakakibara apparently even called Geer to congratulate him on Cage Rage 10.  This and the Chute Boxe connection inevitably bring up the subject of potential links with Japan.  Geer refuses to say much but does tell us we’ll be seeing some Japanese fighters in London by the end of the year.  He won’t name names or promotions but sounds very confident this really is going to happen.

So what else is on the horizon?  Cage Rage has clearly outgrown the UK scene and is thinking beyond national borders.  Despite this Geer helps out with smaller shows and is genuinely concerned about keeping the British scene as a whole vibrant and healthy, and that’s despite some of the online bitterness evident from one or two British promoters Cage Rage long since left behind.  One even challenged them and various other UK promoters to a series of fights in order to decide who the best promoter is.  Yes, really, that is some serious bitterness.  Anyway, Geer and O’ Donnell recently signed a DVD distribution deal in France and are working on similar agreements in the United States, Holland, Belgium, Italy and Spain.  Geer also feels pay-per-view is a “very realistic” target for the future.  He wants to increase the company and the fighter’s profiles first, and the Sky, ITV and DVD deals are excellent ways of doing this.  Can Cage Rage make the leap to pay-per-view?  Given what they have already achieved only a fool what bet against it happening at some point.  Just over a year ago, Cage Rage was just a British promotion, now “we know we’re being watched, the fighters know they’re being watched.”  The future for Geer, O’ Donnell and their promotion certainly looks bright.

Cage Rage 11 – Face Off takes place on April 30th 2005 at London’s Wembley Conference Centre.  Look out for a full preview and a detailed event report here at www.kakutougi.info
For ticket information on all Cage Rage events see www.cagerage.tv
For up to date information on the promotion check out the MMA forums at www.sfuk.net or right here at www.kakutougi.info