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The first mixed martial arts championship Sullivan and Ted Baccam put on in April 2007 had it all: the lights, the music, the big fights, set within the iconic confines of Veterans Memorial Auditorium. But they scheduled the event on the same day a religious event was taking place in Wells Fargo Arena, and being new promoters to town, they didn’t draw as many people as they had hoped.

“We lost a lot of money,” Sullivan recalled. “We cried together and we came back in December ’07 and threw another event, which was very successful.”

Since their first mishap, the cousins have been working to recoup their initial investment and losses from the first fight card, and hope their venture will become profitable in 2010. They have hosted five mixed martial arts (MMA) events as Glory Fighting Championships so far, and expect to host another four or five this year, putting up $15,000 to $20,000 of their own money each event just to cover the fighters’ purses, not counting the cost to pay crews, venue rental and all the entertainment features that go into creating a big spectacle.

Sullivan smiles when he thinks back to how easy he thought the mixed martial arts promotion business would be. “I thought that when I first did it, I’m going to set up a cage, get some fighters to come in and sell tickets and that’s it,” he said.

Ted remembers Sullivan selling him on the idea. “It sounded like you put up a cage and throw fights and it was easy,” he said. “But there’s a lot of rules and regulations that we were blindsided by and a lot of hoops to get to where we’re at.”

Dream versus reality

Sullivan was on the wrestling team at North High School before attending Iowa State University on an academic scholarship. It was there that he became interested in mixed martial arts, a combat art that incorporates several forms of fighting, including jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, boxing and wrestling. It was around that time the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the premier series of MMA sporting events, was gaining popularity.

He returned to Des Moines when his mother passed away before finishing his degree. After taking a few courses at AIB College of Business, he decided instead to work full time, eventually becoming a relationship banker at Bankers Trust Co. on East Euclid Avenue. Meanwhile, he was training in MMA, but could not find a good place to compete. Midwest Cage Championship was the only professional MMA promoter in town, and Sullivan began to wonder whether the market needed more competition. So he put together a business plan modeled on the UFC.

That’s when Ted, the financial brains of the operation who works as a client service consultant for Wells Fargo Financial’s Retail Sales Finance operations, became interested in the idea. “As far as I was concerned, it was a good business to get into, because the sport was up and coming, and I was financially stable at the time,” he said.

The relationship worked perfectly, the cousins said, with Sullivan focusing on recruiting fighters and selling the show, while Ted put together the budget.

“I definitely have the best ideas,” Sullivan said, “but Ted knows how to implement them.”

Buying a professional fighting cage cost $35,000. Plus, Sullivan says it takes about 1,000 general admission tickets at $25 apiece just to cover the fighters’ earnings. The Baccams’ most recent event drew 1,500 people, some of whom paid extra for cage-side or table seating. Most of their events are at 92.5 KJJY Events Center at 7 Flags Fitness & Racquet Club, which is much cheaper to rent than Vets.

They have lost money at a couple of events, but also have made up to $20,000 on an event.

“We’re a new business, and I wasn’t looking to make a quick buck,” Sullivan said. “I’m looking to brand Glory Fighting Championships. Like the UFC, I want them to associate us as being one of the best regional and local events.”

Sullivan believes if he sticks to the philosophy of “take care of your fighters, and your fighters will take care of you,” the business will be successful. His main focus is to boost professional fighters to higher levels of professional MMA fighting, such as Kevin Burns, one of Glory Fighting Championships’ first fighters, who drew a lot of fans here before making it to the UFC.

Rolling with the punches

One of the biggest hurdles the Baccams have faced is meeting all of the Iowa Athletic Commissioner’s requirements, including fees, a surety bond to cover each fight and a promoter’s license. Plus, the Iowa Athletic Commissioner, who oversees professional MMA fights, has regulations that vary from those of the UFC. The cousins had to make a case, for example, to use their 30-foot-diameter cage, which is larger than state regulations allow.

“That’s something I’m looking forward to help change so we can get a more official sanctioned type rules that’s going to be validated by Las Vegas, New Jersey, the gaming states,” Sullivan said.

It also has been difficult securing sponsorships, Ted said, without being on television or the radio. And Sullivan said they have struggled to find a private venue large enough to host MMA events or a public one that doesn’t have stipulations, such as paying government workers they don’t need.

One main advantage the Baccams have, Sullivan said, is their heritage. Both are Tai Dam, and their families were part of the group that came to Iowa in 1975, when then-Gov. Robert Ray opened up Iowa as a safe haven to their culture. Sullivan is U.S. born, but his family’s ties with the Tai Dam community have led to a built-in fan base for a sport that many Asian people are not normally involved with, he said.

Ted said his entrepreneurial spirit comes from his parents, who worked in a meatpacking plant in Denison until they saved enough money to buy an apartment complex. They have since expanded their business to a few more complexes.

Bigger aspirations

Despite accomplishing his dream of promoting MMA, and even fighting on a couple of his own cards before injuring his back, Sullivan doesn’t want to stay in the business forever, and neither does Ted. They would like to attain a certain level of success with Glory Fighting Championships and then sell it to someone who can make it even better.

“I think Sullivan and I both don’t see us having enough time to do this unless we convert to it full time,” Ted said. About two months before an event, Ted said, he is over at Sullivan’s house every other night going over details.

Sullivan rarely sleeps more than a few hours a night as he looks for better opportunities outside his 9-to-5 job. Ted could see the cousins’ business relationship continuing to other ventures as well.

But they have learned one important business lesson along the way: Whereas Sullivan wanted to work with everyone based on a handshake, he has learned to do business with contracts. Yet he views his success with Glory Fighting as not the money he can make at it, but the fact that the competitors he once had to beg to come fight for him now want to be part of his organization.

“There was a sense of coming, like we made it,” Sullivan said, recalling one fighter who asked to join his promotion. “We made it so people respect us.”