Tuff-N-Uff: The Other Las Vegas Promotion
Published by Jim Genia on June 25th, 2009 in Current Events

 Print |  Email |  RSS

The UFC may be synonymous with Las Vegas glitz and glamour, but there’s another promotion in Sin City carving a name for itself in the sand. Eschewing the Zuffa-dominated realm of professional mixed martial arts for the verdant greens of amateur competition, Tuff-N-Uff has become the organization where West Coast newcomers and rookies go to get their first taste of combat. And while the flames within the crucible may not burn as intensely (as per amateur rules, there are three two-minute rounds, no elbow strikes, foot stomps or knees to the head), it in no way lessens the fervency of the fighters or the roar of the crowd – a point brought home by the fact that Tuff-N-Uff has outgrown its ballroom beginnings to find a new home within the much bigger Orleans Hotel and Casino’s Arena.

“Every other sport, whether it’s wrestling, boxing or kickboxing, needs an avenue for beginners to test themselves out before turning pro,” says Barry Meyer, the man behind Tuff-N-Uff. “It’s a matter of progress, just like for any other combative sport. It’s something that’s needed, it’s something that wasn’t being done, something I needed to make sure was started for fighters turning professional.”

Meyer is like most lifelong martial artists who were transformed by the revelations of the first UFC. An Illinois native who promoted kickboxing shows in Chicago before moving to San Diego and working in finance, he traded in his kung fu and kickboxing to grapple with Dean Lister and Fabio Santos. Upon attaining his license to promote in Nevada in 2003, he put together a Las Vegas card that featured past, present and future stars like Shonie Carter, Jon Fitch, Aaron Riley and Sammy Morgan in action. But it was the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s approval of his amateur venture that had him moving to Sin City and focusing on the business of MMA full-time.

Why promote in Las Vegas? “When I lived in San Diego MMA wasn’t even legalized at that time in California, so I had to obtain a license and start a corporation in Nevada,” says Meyer. “And being that Nevada is the fight capital of the world, and I got the Nevada Athletic Commission to approve amateur mixed martial arts, I figured this would be the best place for it.” He adds: “We started the amateurs a little over a year ago, so I’m going to guess and say we’ve done about ten shows. We do them just about every month or every month and a half.”

Thus far, Tuff-N-Uff has seen grappling god Robert Drysdale pop his MMA cherry, and had a former Playboy model step into the ring to throw down. What does Meyer consider to be his proudest achievements? “My proudest achievements would be to have the blessing of the Nevada commission to allow me to spearhead amateur mixed martial arts, making history and seeing fighters I had under the Tuff-N-Uff banner, like Jon Fitch, get into the big leagues. Those are accomplishments I’d say are noteworthy.”

Only July 10th Tuff-N-Uff plunges head-first into the roiling waters of female MMA with “Tuff Girls” – Las Vegas’ first all-female MMA event. “I used to be anti-female fighting 15 years ago when MMA came out,” says Meyer. “But I’m friends with Jeff Osbourne, the man who runs Hook-n-Shoot, and I went out to the very first all-female event he did (in 2002). It was in Evansville, Indiana, and it changed my perception. Females usually steal the show. We’ve talked about it for a number of years – doing an all-female event in Las Vegas – and we figured, what better time than the day before biggest UFC event in history, UFC 100? Hopefully we can get these girls notoriety and the attention that they deserve.”

What does Meyers envision for the future of his promotion? “I see Tuff-N-Uff being the number one, premiere amateur mixed martial arts organization,” he says. “Doing shows in different states, hopefully other countries, and building up champions. Just how the Golden Gloves is for boxing is how I want Tuff-N-Uff being for mixed martial arts.”

Given the number of competitors who’ve gotten their feet wet in Tuff-N-Uff’s ring, that vision is well on its way to being realized.