The Business of MMA: Alchemist Management, Part One

Brendan Schaub

“Train-fight-win; we’ll take care of the rest.”

What started out as a conversation about mixed martial arts has grown into one of the elite management companies in the sport today. Alchemist Management, the home of fighters like Brendan Schaub, Nate Marquardt and Vladimir Matyushenko, can trace its origin story to an unconventional pairing on a Super Bowl commercial and, like many things these days, Facebook.

“Myself, Hammer and Jeff Aronson met on the set of a Super Bowl commercial that my dad and Hammer were featured on for Jeff’s company, Cash 4 Gold,” recalled Alchemist’s President, Lex McMahon. His father, the venerable entertainment industry legend Ed McMahon starred alongside the 90s rap star, taking turns announcing the various gold items from that could net them cash in return during the entertaining 60-second spot.

“I had negotiated my father’s contract to appear in that commercial with Jeff. The day of filming, the first thing that Jeff, Hammer and myself talked about as we were handing around by the craft services table was MMA. We all had a passion for it, we were all really interested in it, and as some time passed, we started going to some fights together.”

Aronson had a desire to start sponsoring fighters, and McMahon facilitated the move. Cash 4 Gold eventually sponsored more than 25 fighters including former champions Rashad Evans and Randy Couture, as well as elite contenders Gray Maynard and Marquardt. But as McMahon and Aronson continued working on the sponsorship side of thing, they believed they saw something missing within the industry.

“As I was doing the sponsorship experience with Jeff, I was thinking there’s really kind of a void in the industry for a very sophisticated management group to come in,” recalls McMahon. “Something that was more akin to a CAA or a William Morris or Endeavor — some of the really mainstream entertainment agencies that represent everything from entertainers to athletes. That was kind of the impetus for it.

“My background — I’ve got a law degree and an MBA, worked in venture capital. Jeff is considered one of the top marketers in the direct response world; two years ago, he was voted the #4 marketer in the world. Hammer is one of the foremost experts on social media and marketing, so why don’t we combine these people and really build a powerful company that would kind of be a game-changer?

“We started looking for the right type of people to align ourselves with. That’s how we came across Nima (Safapour); he’s our Vice President of Business Development and General Council, as well as being a manager. He’s phenomenal, man; Columbia-educated attorney, super-sharp which is what was missing in this sport — sophisticated management teams — and Nima fit the bill. So we all got together and started Alchemist, and have been growing it steadily since.”

In a little over a year, Alchemist has grown from an idea into one of the leading management companies in MMA, with a decorated and varied client list that goes beyond fighters; coach Firas Zahabi and strength and conditioning guru Jonathan Chaimberg are also clients.

There is a system and a structure to identifying the types of athletes the Alchemist team looks to work with, a vision that has been followed from the beginning.

“When we started Alchemist, we set out some goals,” McMahon began, explaining the types of fighters the company targeted. “(We wanted) to sign some top fighters — fighters that we thought were well on their way of being a champion, (as well as) someone who had the potential to becoming our “homegrown champion” in some respects; someone who [was] a young prospect.”

Marquardt was the first to come on board. At the time, the former King of Pancrase was a top 5 ranked middleweight in the UFC, vying for a second chance to face Anderson Silva for the 185 pound title. Numerous others followed; Alchemist now boasts a roster of more than 20 clients across various organizations.

“We’ve got a lot of really outstanding other fighters that we’re very excited about. Everybody from Vladimir Matyushenko and Jared Hamman to Ovince St. Preux, Brendan Schaub, Eliot Marshall, Liz Carmouche. We’ve got so many fighters that we’re so incredibly excited about. Obviously they were great fighters, but also really marketable fighters, had a tremendous amount of character, that we could help cross over into mainstream sponsors and entertainment projects, which are things that we’re starting to do now.

“We work with fighters that we really believe in; that we can invest in emotionally” McMahon continued. “You and I see each other all the time because we’re both travelling to shows all the time. That means time that we’re away from our respective families. If I’m going to spend time away from my two daughters and my wife, I’ve got to really believe in the fighter that I’m working with. I’ve been very fortunate — and as a company we’ve been very fortunate — that we’ve been able to align ourselves with those type of fighters.”

Though McMahon admits there are times when he or another member of the Alchemist team has to step out of the background, such as his appearance alongside Marquardt on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani following his client’s late removal from the UFC on Versus 4 fight card in Pittsburgh, the preferred approach is to focus on the fighters.

“I don’t need to be out there talking about us. What I need to be talking about is that Brendan Schaub has the biggest fight of his career coming up on August 27 against “Minotauro” Nogueira — what a life-changing moment for that young man. How exciting is that? That’s what the focus needs to be on.

“I’m not going to pass judgment on what works for someone else — each situation is unique. There’s nuances to everything that as outsiders looking in, we’re not privy to. From a business model perspective, the one thing I know is that our business model is about the fighters; the athletes come first.

“I have conversations — I have very good relationships with the coaches, the PR people, everyone that’s kind of affiliated with the fighters — and I always tell them, `Guys, it’s not about us. It’s about the fighter.’ What we do should be supporting to them; we should not be the main piece of the conversation.”

McMahon has a very easy way of summing up the Alchemist approach, one that might even make for a good marketing campaign or company slogan:

“The fighters should worry about three things: training, fighting and winning. They train-fight-win, and we take care of everything else with the same degree of professionalism, that fighter is going to be in a great position. That’s really what we aim to do.”

Tomorrow in Part Two, we’ll go in-depth with McMahon on the branding and marketing of Brendan Schaub, as well as discuss the man who told the world “U Can’t Touch This,” Alchemist CEO, MC Hammer.