Name: Michael Pepper

Position: Editor and Owner

Age: 30

Favourite Fighter: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

Nickname: The Doctor

Why I got into MMA:

The lure of MMA came early and it’s never gone away to be honest. From the early days of Gracie and Tank Abbott, to the era of Andrei Arlovski and Fedor Emelianenko ruling their respective divisions an ocean apart, right through to the fantastic sport we find ourselves loving today.

I really found myself becoming a student of the game when I started competing in combat sports myself, taking up Thai boxing in the UK and competing on the local scene. Dedicating yourself to something everyday and training yourself to become a better fighter certainly gives you a different perspective on things and a new found respect for those who make it their life.

I was a founding member of MMABay back in June 2008 and have taken great pleasure in not only seeing it develop and improve as a new service to MMA fans, but seeing the sheer number of people visiting daily surpass anything I thought would ever be possible. The site is now ranked as one of the most viewed MMA sites in the world and is definitely the leader in the UK, something I put down to the hard work of the team and good taste of the fans that visit every day.

Name: Brad Wharton

Position: Lead writer

Age: 26

Favourite Fighter: Keith Hackney

Nickname: BrashleyHolland

Why I got into MMA:

I’ve been interested in martial arts ever since I saw the Ninja Turtles cartoon as a kid. Unfortunately, Manchester was sorely lacking in mutant rats to train me in the art of Ninjitsu, so I had to settle for Karate lessons at a local youth centre instead. In the mid-late 90’s I moved to the kickboxing mecca of Holland and was exposed to the UFC and Dutch free-fighting. I didn’t know quite what I was watching, but I knew there and then that I’d never stop loving it.

Combat sports have always been a big part of my life. At four years old I got into trouble at preschool when I was asked to draw a ‘star’ and turned in a picture of Frank Bruno, which my dear old mum treasures to this day. Some of my fondest memories as a nipper involve staying up late to watch Eubank, Benn, Bruno, Tyson and Prince Naseem tearing it up in the ring. As far as MMA goes, I started off watching European fighters like Bas Rutten and my all-time-favourite Igor Vovchanchyn, as well as American icons like Frank and Ken Shamrock.

I’ve dabbled in various disciplines over the years, but MMA is something entirely unique. As far as I’m concerned, whether you want to train, fight, watch or write about it, you just can’t beat Mixed Martial Arts. It’s more awesome than a yacht full of strippers and whiskey, which I imagine would be pretty awesome. I consider myself an MMA historian, but ‘supergeek’ is probably a more accurate term. I’ve been writing for MMABay for over a year because, in the words of Phil Baroni, I can’t sing or dance and it sure beats working for a living.

Name: Steve Davies

Position: Writer

Age: 27

Favourite Fighter: Rousimar Palhares

Nickname: None

Why I got into MMA:

Having only come on board at the start of the year, I’m a newcomer to the MMABay team. Originally from South Wales, I have spent the last 8 years living up North in Yorkshire, getting a degree in journalism in what feels an age ago. Having worked as a freelance music journalist sporadically, I lost interest in the field and drifted away from writing in general for a couple of years. MMA provided me with something to be passionate about again, and after wanting to get involved in writing about the sport for some time I finally did something about it.

Compared to a lot of you out there, I’m a relative newcomer to the love of mixed martial arts, having been an avid fan for around 4-5 years. Despite always being aware of the UFC in particular, I had never found myself in a position to sit down and watch an event, but once we got off our lazy post-university asses and had cable installed, I finally got to see what all the fuss was about. For me, it was the sportsmanship and professionalism that initially bowled me over, something I had not expected to see from two guys beating up on each other inside a cage. From that moment I was hooked and what followed was a frenzy of downloading as I crammed as much as I possibly could and tracked back right to the beginning of the UFC and PRIDE. Now I can safely say it has become a near-obsession!

Name: Ian Parr

Position: Head of social networking

Age: Wrong side of 35

Favourite Fighter: A tossup between BJ Penn and Jon ‘Bones’ Jones

Nickname: None

Why I got into MMA:

I was introduced to MMA by a friend about 8 years ago. He kept pestering me to check out this UFC video he had gotten hold of. Eventually I gave in and checked it out, and was absolutely blown away. It was UFC 40, featuring the likes of Tito Ortiz, Ken Shamrock, Robbie Lawlor and Matt Hughes. But it was a mohawked monster who really grabbed my attention. This guy destroyed his opponent (Renato Babalu) with just an incredible head kick – it was jaw-dropping. Chuck Liddell ignited my love for MMA and I wanted more! From then on it was my mission to catch up on all the UFC events I had missed and check out a certain other MMA promotion I had heard about called PRIDE!

The closest I’ve come to any martial arts training was when I was a kid, being dragged by my Dad to the weekly local ‘Tang Su Do’ lessons. I lasted a year, making it to Yellow Belt (big whoop!), before calling it a day – I hated it!
Fast forward to today and it’s an absolute pleasure to be part of the ever-growing MMABay team. I have always found the site to be the most up-to-date, with the latest news and is my first port of call every morning for my MMA fix.