Adrian Bakos is both the founder of the German Amateur MMA Federation, and a manager for First MMA Management. Their management team handles the likes of Loik Radzhabov, who battled Natan Schulte in the PFL Championship’s lightweight finale on New Year’s Eve, just days ago. That fight pretty much stole the show.
How did you get into MMA?
AB- “I fell in love with MMA when I watched the first UFC events. I was training Kyokushin Karate and Kyokushin Budokai all-round fighting since I was a kid, I was a member of the national team. Later I founded the first amateur MMA federation in Germany.”
What got you into wanting to be a manager and how did it happen?
AB- “I have been in close contact with many young prospects and managers. I saw that many fighters with solid amateur backgrounds need a manager to become successful professionals. Unfortunately, there were not so many managers who were ready to work with the fighters from the very beginning of their pro career, but I was ready to do it. That’s how I got into the world of MMA management.”
How do you go about finding new fighters to sign? Are you actively watching the regional scene, maybe even watching ammy fights?
AB- “Yes, I closely watch many fights, including amateur ones. Most of my fighters have serious experience in amateur MMA, wushu sanda, combat sambo and other combat disciplines, so I need to follow them all.”
What are some mistakes made by other managers you notice?
AB- “I don’t follow the other managers too much, I’m too busy with my own management business and my fighters.”
What are some ups and downs of being a manager?
AB- “The biggest problem for many fighters is when they don’t have the UFC contract yet and start blaming their managers for it. Then they start changing managers, making some agreements behind the manager’s back and that affects managers and their own image negatively. Fighters need to concentrate on their own duties, make 100% of their job to be the best and trust the manager. Then the manager will do the rest. That helps to maximize the ups and minimize the downs for everybody.”
Let’s say you got a young fighter get an offer against an experienced fighter in a “dangerous fight? Are you more of a slow build like Michael Page or a fast push like Aaron Pico?
“It depends on the fighter, every situation is different. Most of the fighters in my roster have big experience in amateur MMA, even if their pro record is not so impressive, so the record of the opponent is not the biggest factor for us. We just need to have a close look at the opponent, watch his videos, see what he’s capable of, calculate our chances against him. Then, based on everything, we make the final decision if we are ready for that challenge or not.”
What is your opinion on fighters managing themselves? How important do you think it is for a fighter to have a manager?
AB- “I think the fighter needs to seriously think about his possible management even before he starts his professional career. Sooner or later fighters want to earn good money in this sport, a good manager can help him to make it faster and to be more productive, it’s like a GPS navigator and destination is the good big contract from a top promotion.”
What is some advice you have for someone looking to get into the industry as a manager or someone just now starting?
AB- “First of all, don’t talk with any promotion on behalf of the fighter if he is not officially under your management. Second, you always have to discuss all the details of the contract with your fighter, especially the financial aspects of it, everything has to be 100% clear for the fighter before he will sign anything. Third, you have to be available 24/7.”
What is the toughest challenge as a manager?
AB- “The toughest challenge is when your fighter loses, especially some very important fight because you realize that something went wrong and the most likely it will be a setback on the way to your goals. But that’s the part of the business, it happens regularly and no one can avoid it.”
Who is a client/prospect you have on the team that is for the most part, unknown but you thing has a high ceiling?
AB- “Anton Vyazigin 14-3: 27-year old HW with 14-3 pro record, won against the PFL HW tournament finalist in 2018 Josh Copeland. Anton is young, especially for a heavyweight. He has a good striking base and has true heavyweight size. Andre Schmidt: German HW with the pro record 4-0, he’s a two-time national amateur MMA champion and he’s on his way to enter the big stage to show his skills. Rinat Fakhretdinov: 28 years, Russia, pro record 17-1-0. Very popular fighter in Tatarstan (Tatars is the second largest ethnic group in Russia after ethnic Russians), he has a very solid fanbase, especially in Tatarstan, and he has many titles in pankration and combat sambo both on the national and international level. He is the current GFC middleweight champion, one of the biggest Russian organizations, it is ruled by Khabib Nurmagomedov. Entertaining fighter, only 3 of his 20 fights went to decisions, and just 28 years old. Vadim Kutsy: He’s just 28 years old, 14-1 pro record, seven-fight winning streak, only 3 of 14 his fights were ended by decisions. He is a national champion in freestyle wrestling and MMA, European champion in pankration and grappling. Milson Castro 12-3-0: Milson is a stand-up fighter with a solid muay thai base, he is an entertaining fighter with the championship belts from three different MMA promotions. He is ranked 2nd in Mexico and 5th in Latin America because he fought multiple times in Mexican promotions and he is quite well-known in that region. Now he’s on an 11-fight winning streak. Ruslan Emilbek Uulu 11-0: National MMA and grappling champion, big fanbase both in Kyrgystan and in China, when he has fought and won almost 10 professional fights, he has the victories against the top Chinese lightweights in his resume. 9 of his 11 fights ended by the stoppages. Raul Tutarauli 25-5: He has fought 10 times in M-1. He is a great striker with many bonuses in M-1 for the best performance and the best fight of the night.”
What is a goal you still haven’t reached but still something you want?
“I work 24/7 because I want my role models in management today who may become my competitors tomorrow.”
