To begin the conference, Hooser apologized to his followers for the lateness of the press conference. He stated that due to some rethinking and reconstruction of the idea he had presented to the public a month ago, he had to put the conference on the backburner while he rethought the organization’s direction.
After making peace with the public, Les went on about the changes he has made with Panmachia. First, Hooser reiterated his statements he made in May concerning the weight classes. In the beginning, the weight classes were listed as lightweights, featherweights, and bantamweights. Reluctantly, Les has decided to trash the bantamweights and replace it with the welterweight class. The reason for this is because, “bantamweights just aren’t common in Utah”. So, now that the bantamweight class has been disposed, that leaves us with: welterweights (170), lightweights (155), and featherweights (145).
Hooser also mentioned that the idea of separating Panmachia into different leagues has also been thrown out the window. Instead, Les has announced that he has came to an “understanding” with three of the nation’s premier mixed martial arts gyms- including his own, and even another that is located in Thailand! That’s right, THAILAND!
“I have been talking with the owners of Team Unbreakable, and Paramount Combat Club, about giving some of their upcoming guys a chance to perform on a higher stage- to basically give them a chance to showcase their talents to a wider audience.” Hooser declared, “I would also like to say that I’ve been talking to Anand Leekpai, whom is a legendary kick boxer, muay thai champion, and even trained me back in the day. When I approached him with the idea, he was more than happy to import his best fighters into Panmachia.”
Thought most of Panmachia’s talent pool will have came from the said gyms, Hooser made it a point to say that he is not shutting the doors to outsiders. He said that he has already contacted a few gyms such as Beverly Hill’s BJJ, Northeastern MMA, etc., to recruit some fighters and has even signed a few out of Japan.
Then, Hooser announced his “BIG SURPRISE” he promised in the first news bit. It turns out, Hooser will be making a ONE time return to the ring as a fighter! However, he did say that his return would take some time, as he feels that he is out of shape and hasn’t had to train since 2002. His opponent? Unknown as of now, but he did say that whomever he chooses will be fighting for something more than just pride and a paycheck.
Closing the conference, Les advertised that the first performance will be held August 2nd. A card, nor a venue, was supplied to the public- but we’ll be on the lookout for updates as time goes by.
