Mark Bieri, LFA Vice President, Talent Relations, discusses COVID-19 impact on promotion

With coronavirus precautions forcing the cancellation of many MMA events, among the hardest hit was the LFA. Originally scheduled to hold events on March 20, April 3, and April 17, no fewer than 30 bouts composed of 60 fighters were wiped off the books and currently sit in limbo, waiting to see when or if they will happen in the coming months.

Speaking to MMAWeekly.com on behalf of the LFA, Mark Bieri, Vice President, Talent Relations, discussed the mood going into the company’s last event on March 6, having to inform a roster of fighters their bouts were off, and what possible long term changes the sport of MMA could see due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

MMAWeekly.com: Firstly, Mark, take us back to the March 6 LFA event in Texas. How was the mood going into that show? Was there much talk about the coronavirus and potentially changing things with the show or was it business as usual?

Mark Bieri: Honestly, I recall LFA 83 fight week being pretty much business as usual. Our team was riding the high of putting on some pretty solid events recently and we were looking to build on that momentum that Friday night.

We were aware of the situation, but that was probably the last week things were fairly normal. Looking back at that being (about) a month ago, it’s crazy to see where things stand currently in our country.

MMAWeekly.com: When did it become clear that the scheduled LFA dates had to be cancelled? What was the process in reaching out to the fighters and their teams to inform them of the cancellations?

Mark Bieri: We all returned home after LFA 83 and set our sights on LFA 84 in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 20, which was less than two weeks away. We began internal talks of the circumstances as things were changing daily. It was especially difficult on our end considering we had just gone through some cancellations and postponements with our (AXS TV) network fallout just a few months prior.

The state of Arizona was hardly affected at that time and had no restrictions in place for LFA 84, so we had to make a decision and stick with it. Ed (Soares), Sven (Bean), and I decided with all of the traveling staff and fighters, along with working things worsening daily, it was probably best to postpone (LFA 84).

We spoke internally with our staff and also our fighters and teams. I hit the phones and started to make those calls, and we also sent a notice to everyone from the event before announcing the postponement publicly. We also had two April events that were currently announced as well, and a similar process followed for them just a few days later as the situation worsened daily.

MMAWeekly.com: What sort of contact do you keep with the LFA fighters and their teams during this time of social distancing?

Mark Bieri: I’ve been reaching out to fighters, coaches, and management through phone, email, etc. Unfortunately, there is not much news to give at this time. I want to keep everyone updated but also not provide false hope that we’ll be back in action sooner than is realistic. We are taking this day to day just as most of our athletes and their teams are.

MMAWeekly.com: When it comes to rescheduling the events that were cancelled and getting fighters lined up for dates, what kind of process do you anticipate taking? Will cards proceed in the order they were originally slated or do you anticipate a shuffling of lineups depending on fighter availability or other factors?

Mark Bieri: In a perfect world it would be great to run those shows back in the same cities, venues, etc. We had our schedule rolling for this year, so we worked ahead quite a bit. It’s safe to assume some shuffling around, but the goal is to get everyone back in action as soon as it is safe to do so.

Some fighters and teams will be open and back to training again while others in harder hit areas may still be on lockdown. There will be hurdles for sure, but that’s what we’ll be ready to work through. We have plans and back-up plans, but we are currently just in a holding pattern until we see a turn in all of this.

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MMAWeekly.com: Do you anticipate any long term changes to the way that the LFA or MMA in general does business because of the coronavirus lockdown?

Mark Bieri: We’ve had some ideas internally for a while now of how we’ll do some of our events moving forward and those will likely be fast-tracked during this downtime. As far as our event count, I don’t foresee any changes.

We were scheduled to do at least 20 live events this year, so we have 16 remaining. We’ve told our staff and fighters that we still plan to do that number of shows once things clear. We will just have some very busy months later in the year.

MMAWeekly.com: Thanks for taking time out for us, Mark. Is there anything you would like to add in closing?

Mark Bieri: Thank you for reaching out. I’ve seen the morale stay pretty high these past few weeks, so let’s keep that up. I think following the recommendations of the CDC, doctors, etc., to stay safe and also finding some positive in this is the quickest route to getting us back to normal.