Despite their differences, boxing and mixed martial arts fans can agree on one thing: They want to see the best fights made.
Making those fights for Epic Fighting, a Chula Vista-based amateur fighting promotional company is Harvey Castellano.
As a matchmaker, Castellano finds amateur MMA fighters across the state to fight each other based on their skill level. He is tasked with having the fighters agree on the matches, getting them to sign a fight contract and have them agree on a fighting weight.
Castellano, a Chula Vista real estate agent, makes it a goal to put on at least 15 fights per promotional card. While a 15-fight show has its challenges -like filling a void for an injured fighter- Castellano said his secret to match making is simply being a fan.
“At the end of the day when I look at an entire card, I’m watching fights that I want wanted to watch [as a fan],” he said. “That’s how I pick them.”
His latest card Epic 33 at the Four Points Sheraton on Feb.3 marks his fifth promotional card since making the switch from handling Epic Fighting’s social media accounts to making matches.
Castellano moved to Chula Vista in 2007 from New York to get involved in the foreclosure business.
The foreclosure specialist, a self-proclaimed boxing and Manny Pacquiao fan, had no interest in joining the MMA scene.
But a real estate networking meeting changed that for him when he ran into Jason Stewart, a real estate agent, and CEO of Epic Fighting.
Castellano started attending Epic Fights at the invitation of Stewart. At one of the Epic fights, Castellano had realized that the promotional company had no social media presence providing fans with live fight updates.
He said he asked Stewart if anyone controlled the social media for the company, but Stewart told him no one, in which case he offered Castellano the opportunity to do it.
“I just saw that there was something lacking [a social media presence], and the company didn’t have that,” he said.
Doing social media for Epic Fighting opened him up to the mixed martial arts world with a new perspective on the sport.
“That enabled me to open up a laptop and sit cage side,” he said. “And that really got me into the sport because I was watching it first hand up-close. You can’t get any closer unless you’re in the cage.”
He said by sitting so close to the cage he was able to hear the grunts of the fighters and one-time blood from a fighter’s face went flying on to his laptop.
Castellano ran the social media for several Epic fights then when there was an opportunity to be a matchmaker, he wanted to give it a try.
Previously he had assisted for the previous matchmaker by filling out paperwork and contacting fighters so he had some matchmaking experience coming in.
