This Is How The Sausage Is Made
Or How I Can Make A Living As A Freelance MMA Writer
Here’s My Story
I'm not 100 percent sure when I started writing about MMA. I think it's been at least 10 years, but again, I'm terrible with dates.
I spent the first few years doing some paid work and some free work. It eventually became mostly free work for a site I won't name (I'll tell you why later). At the unnamed site, I worked my way up to associate editor for both the NHL vertical and the MMA vertical. I ran the day-to-day functions for a while, a couple of years I think, and I was pulling in reasonably good money, I think it was in the range of $50K. The downside was that I worked 10-12 hours a day seven days a week and whenever big news would hit I would have to drop everything to get something on the site or find someone who would.
That site was eventually bought and as I was a contract employee, I didn't get anything from the purchase. Well, I did get a call from the VP/Editor-In-Chief were he blew smoke up my ass and then informed me that the new owners did not like having long-term "temps" (Yes, I went from contract employee to temp) and that if I didn't get hired full-time (was not going to happen) I would get "laid off" after nine months. The site could (not would) bring me back three months after that for another nine-month term. Then it would be wash and repeat (maybe). I agreed at first, but the more I thought about that and how I had been strung along for so long and the fact that the new NHL editor was a bit of a prick, I gave my notice. Shortly after that I asked if I could just quit right then. I did.
After that I went back to work part-time in a warehouse where I had worked for a while as a supervisor before I leaped into freelancing. I eventually landed some work with Bloody Elbow as a contract employee. The folks over there were good to me and I was happy to work with/for them. One of my favorite things I did around then was a series on Jim Miller leading up to UFC 172. During that time I got my first gig with Fight! Magazine and I did some non-MMA stuff for Vice and Narratively that was a lot of fun and exciting.
After a while the warehouse I was working at closed and I had to get a full-time gig at a manufacturing plant. It was boring and I did not enjoy it. The people were fine, but standing in one spot for eight hours, watching bottles pass by, well, my brain could not handle that. It got real depressing in a hurry.
Around that time I got some work from Dann Stupp at MMA Junkie. One of my first stories was on Mac Danzig after he had been retired for a few years. I enjoyed doing that piece. I also did post-retirement stories on Dustin Hazelett and Brad Imes. Dann gave me more work. With that and some other freelancing gigs, I was able to quit the manufacturing job and freelance full time. I've been doing that for the past few years.
Oh, I also called that unnamed site and asked them to delete all my work. I figured they were still making money off my efforts and that did not sit well with me. That told me that once the stories were deleted they could not be brought back and no one would be able to see all the writing I did there. I just wanted to forget about that place, so I told them to blow it up. Surprisingly, they did.
During this time I also landed more work with Fight! Magazine and was able to do two cover stories (Nick Diaz and Cain Velasquez) before the magazine went under. I don't think I was paid for those stories.
Time went on and I continued working with Dann and MMA Junkie for a while. Then Dann left MMA Junkie and a new editor took over. It didn't take long for that relationship to became strained. When that editor brought some new writers on full-time after Dann, Ben Fowlkes and Fernanda Prates moved onto The Athletic, without giving me a heads up or an interview, I decided to quit MMA Junkie. I found out about those new hires on Twitter, which seemed like a kick in the balls after having worked for the site for at least four years. I didn't get a call from that editor until after I emailed him, telling him I had filed my last story for the site. Keep in mind that I had reached out multiple times about the new hires, but did not receive a single acknowledgment of my emails.
So, I'm still writing today and still making a living. Last year I think I pulled in around $50K for all my freelance work. This year it will be about $40K. Next year will be a lot less because I was working on some big, high-paying projects during the past two years outside of my writing.
Now, here's where I tell you why I was able to write for a living and I still can even though I'll probably be below $15 an hour next year.
When I was 18, I got a job in a warehouse. I worked my way up to supervisor. I banked most of the money I made there and my 401K did well. I bought a house for $55K and when I decided to move to Baltimore, I sold it for $180K. Now I have a nice house in Baltimore on a quiet block of single-family homes. The place has a big yard and a lot of trees, which are great until fall, and the mortgage is manageable between my girlfriend and me.
That warehouse job had me working 10-16 hours a day, six days a week for 15 or so years. With all those hours, all I could do was save money, since I had no time to do anything but work. With that, I was able to build up enough retirement funds that I set myself up. I got lucky and unless the market crashes, I should be okay in the future.
I probably wouldn't work like that now, since I had no life for those years. On the upside, I can write about MMA for a living and I guess that's good.
Yes, I'm one of the lucky ones who can make a living at this. However, if I had not saved retirement money and caught some breaks in the housing market, I wouldn't be in this position. There was a great deal of luck involved. How others who have not caught those breaks and do not work for one of the big sites that provide benefits and whatnot can do this full time is beyond me.
Anyway, if you were wondering how someone can do this full-time as a freelancer, well, there you have it, stick with it through good times and bad and have a whole lot of luck…and money in a retirement fund. Oh, and also have a significant other who tells you to go for it when things are rocky and who feels your mental health is more important than your bank account. I had that as well. That was huge and continues to be.
Would I tell someone to pursue a gig like this? I don't know. The folks that have the good MMA gigs are very talented, very embedded and very deserving of those positions, so it's not likely that you'll grab one of those spots unless you're the second coming of Wright Thompson. So if you can't endure the ups and downs of the freelance market, it's going to be a tough haul.
I just wanted to share that. Take it for whatever it's worth, which I'm going to guess is nothing.
**The links above take you to those stories, so if you’re interested click on ‘em. That Narratively story was interesting - I followed some folks around Baltimore who sell fruit and veggies from the back of horse drawn carriages. It’s an old tradition here.
I’ll Try To Do Better
I have a real hangup about opening up in my writing. I have all these grand ideas and thoughts in my head when I'm pondering what to write, but when I sit down and do it, I freeze up. I'm going to try and get better at using my real voice in my writing. That voice can be abrasive and sarcastic, it might even make me come across as a bit of an asshole, but it's true. I'm too old to worry about offending someone. So, I hope you'll stick with me as I work through that and figure these things out.
A Threat Or A Promise? We’ll Find Out This Week
An unnamed UFC VP warned me that I should not bother applying for credentials after I wrote a story about low television ratings. During this exchange, I told the UFC employee that I didn't appreciate being threatened and that the threat to pull my credentials was not going to work on me. After that his tone changed. It wasn't friendly, but it wan't bullying either. Not long after that, he stopped answering any of my requests for replies on stories. I applied for UFC 244 credentials. I don't know if I will get them. If I don't, I'll let ya'll know.
The funny thing is that before I went to the Philly event this year, the last time I used credentials was for the GSP vs. Nick Diaz fight in 2013 when I was with the unnamed site. I remember it was cold that night in Montreal and I also remember Carlos Condit giving Diaz the side-eye during his "interesting" post-fight press conference.
With that, thanks for the support and on to UFC 244 fight week, maybe I'll be at MSG, but don't count on it.
If you want to share these posts, if you have not subscribed, please do so. I'd appreciate that. Honestly, the lack of subscriptions has me thinking about scrapping this at least once a day, but I'm stubborn and hard-headed and so I keep battling.
Is that hard-headed or stupid?
Joe Coleman - John Brown Painting
Damn, I love me Joe Coleman and the fact this is John Brown just puts it over the top for me.
Mule - We Know You’re Drunk
This here record is something else. This band was, is and will always be one of my favorites.