UFC-ийн ахмад тулаанч Эд Херман зодог тайлсныхаа дараа өөрийн тулааны холбоог байгууллаа

Nights felt darker and longer eight years ago. Streets wetter. The sunlight harsher. The noise louder. The people, hidden in plain sight.

Even back then, as MMA grew in notoriety amid the UFC’s rising popularity, professional fighters still had a way of standing out in a crowd, no matter how casual or hardcore of a fan you were. Fighters usually just have that “look,” right?

I heard “the question” on one blurry night out on the town. You know the one: “That dude looks like a fighter, doesn’t he?” My friend asked as we blindly galavanted through the heart of Vancouver, Washington. The tribal tattoos were always a dead giveaway, even with beer goggles on. You could argue that, in some cases, they made them pop more.

“Yeah, wait a minute. I’m pretty sure that’s Ed freaking Herman, man,” I responded.

Seeing Herman around Vancouver shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with the UFC. Since first emerging on “The Ultimate Fighter” season three, “ShortFuse” was as Pacific Northwest as an Octagon brawler could be, proudly repping the region throughout his 20-year career. His naturally bright orange hair was a signature that always helped him stand out, but if his 6-foot-2 stature wasn’t enough, there was also just something about the select few products who trained in the Oregon-Washington part of the country. A way they carried themselves.

Take MMA legend Dan Henderson as an example. Good old “Hendo” had a very unique posture and way of moving. It was as if he were made of wood — with anvils connected to the ends of its branches.It might not sound like a compliment, but for Henderson and those alike, it most certainly is.

That night, Herman was indeed working as a bouncer in front of one of the city’s hottest bars — a corner of the “Vancouver Bar Triangle,” we called it. Covered by a black baseball cap, the line of Herman’s gaze was half visible. He was not to be trifled with, carrying his patented resting scowl, which softened into an interchangeable smile whenever a friendly passerby or bar patron approached.

What made the sight all the more surprising was that, by then, Herman was already a well-established name with 21 UFC fights. Why was he working a weekend job dealing with feisty drunks? Was he just looking for any excuse to find a tussle outside the Octagon?

The impression I’ve gotten since meeting him? That’s just Herman. A workaholic by nature, he’s stayed busy his whole life. After retiring from mixed martial arts competition in April 2023, he’s been working a “normal” job as a longshoreman while staying as involved as possible in the fight game. Beyond running his own gym in Vancouver, Herman does commentary for regional events and took his involvement a step further this yearby officially launching his own promotion: ShortFuse Fighting Championship.

Herman, 46, has long wanted to put on the promoter hat.

Increasingly in MMA’s young history are fighter-to-promoter crossovers being seen, with Herman joining notable names like fellow UFC veterans Anthony Pettis and Urijah Faber. He applied for his promoter’s license last year and cleared the necessary hoops, leading to the debut of ShortFuse FC 1 this Sept. 26, an all-amateur MMA and kickboxing show.

“I’ve been a part of a lot of different shows and seen a lot,” Herman told me a week before fight night. “So I’m going to take a lot of that into this, right? The excitement of fighting in the big show, with the lights and just all the cool stuff that comes with that. The entertainment factor — there’s some amateur fight shows you’ll go to, they’re like in a gymnasium, all the lights are on, and it’s kind of boring. And it’s just about the fights. I want this to be about people coming in and enjoying the show.”

“We’re selling entertainment, right?” he added. “I want the fans to remember the best party they’ve ever been to, in a sense. Having a good time, great fights going on, and just good culture. That doesn’t come easy. We’re trying to build that.”

Herman’s has been a long journey in the fight world, affording him the chance to build plenty of connections and relationships along the way to launching his own promotion. Being around other shows in the area has been invaluable, but one thing that’s still surprised him, to an extent, is how much time gets consumed in this avenue of the business. Not because it’s necessarily “too much”; Herman, after all, has always excelled as a juggler without the clown makeup. It’s just that people don’t often think about the countless little atmospheric touches around something like a fight show, specifically.

“Food vendors, insurance, licensing, parking, venue negotiations, the DJ,” he listed.

Jeff Bottari via Getty Images

Those were just what came to mind. Then there’s the big focus: The fights themselves.

“Securing the fight card is always probably one of the biggest ones,” Herman said. “Making sure you got a full card booked. Normally that’s an issue, but we haven’t had much of an issue this time. It’s been really great, actually.

“We have 15 fights booked, which is awesome. Sometimes shows end up with seven, eight fights. And I didn’t want that to happen. So I was like, let’s book like 15 and maybe we’ll end up with 10 or 12. But so far, we’ve got 15 solid fights. Nobody’s pulled out, and nobody’s gotten injured.”

As it turns out, Herman spoke far too soon.

Instead of the projected 10-12 fights, ShortFuse FC 1 lost just two, rounding out at 13. But one change wound up being the happiest accident the event could’ve had.

The headliner bout took a hit, prompting a last-second scramble of the highest order. Up-and-coming area prospect Rantin Reynolds missed weight by seven pounds for his lightweight main event against Caleb Wheeler, and Wheeler declined the bout. That prompted an unexpected call for one Vancouver local to fill in.

“Wheeler said, ‘That’s way too much. I already made weight. I’m not going to fight.’ So we found a replacement opponent,” Herman said. “Bilal Alshujery stepped up to a plate the day of the fight, the morning of the fight. He got the call at work and said, ‘Let’s go.’ He went to the gym and started cutting weight, made the weight that we asked him to make. And he went in there and had a great performance and got a big W.

“We love seeing guys having the balls to go in and take it right on short notice and not be worried. As an amateur, get after it.”

I had to do a double take while Herman spoke. Taking a professional fight on hours’ notice is one thing. Taking an unpaid amateur fight on hours’ notice is another.

Alshujery’s side of the story needed to be heard, just to see if he was as crazy — or as determined — as his actions suggested. That wasn’t the case, though.

Alshujery couldn’t have come off as any more innocent. A 20-year-old student with an unbeaten 4-0 amateur record, Alshujery works at his family’s auto shop when he’s not training. Since starting his career in February, Alshujery has already become a frontrunner for a ShortFuse FC title fight on the next show, Herman says. And rightfully so after beating Wheeler via second-round TKO under those circumstances.

“It dates back maybe like four weeks ago,” Alshujery said. “I had wisdom teeth surgery, so I was coming off of that and didn’t know how the recovery was going to go. Thankfully, it was maybe like two weeks, and back to training. Maybe three, four days out of the week.

“It was Friday night, and I was just chilling. I wasn’t expecting anything. I woke up Saturday morning. I was at work, and I open up on weekends. I was drinking some tea, and my coach texted me. He said, ‘The main event fell through for Ed’s show.’ Honestly, I think I’m ready for anybody, anytime, anywhere; I really want to emphasize that. But if it wasn’t Ed’s show, I wouldn’t have taken it on two hours’ notice. If it was a couple of days’ notice, I would. They told me it was at 170 [pounds] and asked what my weight was. I had to cut maybe a pound or two at the gym, and thankfully the guy accepted an hour before the weigh-ins.”

Overall, the event was a smashing success, and the RV Inn Style Resorts venue is already knocking down Herman’s door for more.

Aside from a few hiccups on fight night, Herman had no issues running around the venue all night doing his best Dana White impression. He didn’t get as much rest cageside as he’d have liked, but speed bumps are always expected. That’s just the fight game, he said.

We’ve seen countless promotions come and go. So what do people get wrong about the industry before they take up the showrunner’s chair? I asked Herman before and after the event, because, depending on how it went, I figured he may have felt differently.

“There’s been so many shows you’ve seen come and fail. Trying to compete with a show the UFC may have been a lot of their first mistakes,” Herman said before the event. “They’re the brand. They’re the name. A lot of people know what we do as UFC. MMA is worldwide now. And, again, I think trying to maybe go too big, too fast. Spend too much money too fast.

“A lot of them, they run out of money. Some of these bigger shows, like the GFL, haven’t had a show yet. They spend all kinds of money, and they’re always talking about doing shows, but no one’s seen it yet. They’re bringing in all these — I call it the ‘Graveyard Fight League’ — all these guys who are old. But they’re paying a lot of money; I was kind of like, ‘Hey, what about me? I’ll take one of those contracts.’

“I think trying to go too big, too fast. That’s why it’s fun for me to start small with amateurs and just kind of see where it goes without a lot of expectations of trying to go too big time,” Herman continued. “I think I can have the premier amateur fight league in the Northwest and again, help get these guys to the next level. That’s the goal.”

Herman reiterated the need to build relationships and find local support, given the nature of new promotions. Specifically, a brand like GFL came to mind for “ShortFuse,” as the stalled promotion has yet to get off the ground after promising a global-team-based format in 2025.

It’s good to be ambitious. Rooting in realism is also essential, though, and Herman’s perspective didn’t change much after successfully running his first event.

Mike Roach via Getty Images

“You spend a lot of money, so you’ve got to make a lot of money [to cover it],” Herman said on the Thursday after ShortFuse FC 1. “You’ve got to sell a lot of seats. We filled that place up. We sold the arena out. A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, you need a bigger arena.’ Maybe, but then you go and you invest in an arena that holds 5,000 people, you might lose your ass. So it’s kind of risky business there. We’ll see.

“Some people have big money backers, so it’s not as big a deal. I’m pretty much funding everything myself. I have some local support from community businesses that are helping with stuff. But I don’t have a huge financial backer throwing millions of dollars at me. Maybe they see my show, and they’re like, ‘Let’s go. Here’s some money,’ and we go big, right? So, I think I did a great job at the show. Everybody said it was one of the best shows they’ve ever been to. So, hey, you never know.”

One show down, many more to go for ShortFuse FC.

The Pacific Northwest’s latest fighting home started with the sport’s roots, showcasing amateur talent, but Herman does have goals to get pros involved at some point.

A year from now, ShortFuse FC could run at a sustainable frequency, which Herman envisions as maybe three shows a year. That was his starting number, anyway. After the first one, the hot demand may force his hand. And even though that would add more work in his already busy day-to-day life, that’s just how Herman likes it. Especially if it’s for the good of the fight game he’s represented in the Vancouver streets since day one.