Getting to know WMMA via Twitter Series: Babes of MMA

Do you know who Mike Calhoun is?  Maybe you don't but I am sure if you have spent any amount of time in the MMA or WMMA communities you know who Babes of MMA is.  Mike and his team over at Babes of MMA are helping to draw attention to Womens MMA in different ways then maybe our conventional minds might think about, but that is what truly makes Mike and team over at Babes of MMA on the cutting edge of the Social Media and Marketing front.  Mike has also expanded Babes of MMA business model to also be able to recently start sponsoring Female Fighters.  Mike and his team at Babes of MMA are doing many great things and we are honored to be able to have them as our spotlight of the week this week.  So with out further ado her is Mike and the Babes of MMA.

SchenkMMA: Tell us about yourself.

Babes of MMA:  Babes of MMA is not about me, it's about the ladies but I can give a short background on both.  I grew up in the Chicagoland area which is rich in sports history and always been a sports junkie myself.  Always looking for something new to get my sports fix I eventually found MMA.  When I was in between jobs I explored several different internet ideas including another MMA website.  Looking for something to spice up the site and always inquiring from friends for feedback on ideas, Babes of MMA was soon born.  This definitely was nothing that I sought out to create it just started up as something fun to do.  When I first started this idea in December 2009 I had no idea it would become my calling.  It started more as a hobby than anything else.  As time progressed I started meeting some of the women fighters, ring girls and MMA Models and soon realized I was a small part of this crazy world of MMA.  Spending time with these incredible people gives you an appreciation of the dedication they have and if I can give back with promoting these ladies and make my mark on this sport then I am happy.  Everything takes time but in the next year Babes of MMA will see some exciting new things coming. 

SchenkMMA: What Martial Arts have you studied?

Babes of MMA:  I personally have only studied Shotokan Karate for 2 1/2 years when I was younger. Being wrapped up in the corporate world for the last decade consumes you but I would like to explore something like kickboxing to get back into shape one of these days soon.  As a kid and early adult I was active in almost every sport you can think of but my competitive days are past me unfortunately.

SchenkMMA: What got you interested in WMMA?

Babes of MMA:  As a fan of MMA in general it seems to pull you in more and more as you develop an appreciation for it. Once that happens you just can't get enough and start exploring different areas, promotions, etc which eventually led me to WMMA. Watching fighters like Gina Carano and Miesha Tate opened my eyes to WMMA years ago. Tough and sexy and I was hooked.

SchenkMMA: Why do you follow SchenkMMA?

Babes of MMA: A little over a year ago SchenkMMA and I connected through Twittter and things evolved from there.  The WMMA movement is still growing but there is great core of people and organizations that support it including SchenkMMA.  Being relatively new on our end I have sought out advice from SchenkMMA for multiple things and ideas.  SchenkMMA is great for WMMA!

SchenkMMA: Anyone you would like to send a shout out to? or mention?

Babes of MMA:  I would definitely like to thank Chris and SchenkMMA for the interview.  Thank you to all my family, my friends, the Schumacher brothers for all the feedback, ideas and help, my current sponsored fighters Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc, Jiyoon Chung, Jordan McDonald, Tisha Rodrigues, Jill Valenzuela, the fans who believe in what we are doing and of course all the incredible ladies of MMA that I get to correspond with, meet and spend time with who make this all possible.