Exclusive: Chris Mancuso Talks FRFC Promotional Debut, Jake Shields Podcast Return, and More
Ahead of Front Row Fight Club’s promotional debut: Brawl By The Falls, we recently had a chance to chat with the owner Chris Mancuso himself.
He talked about:
- What it means to have FRFC 1 in his hometown of Niagara Falls
- The reason behind the name change and re-branding
- The return of the Jake Shields Podcast
- Future plans for FRFC, the cancellation of TOFC 1 in 2021, and more!
Chris Mancuso Wants to Leave a Legacy Behind with Front Row Fight Club, Discusses Name Change
Beginning the interview with Mancuso, the topic was quickly turned to his son’s birthday, which was the day of the call. Chris Mancuso beamed when his son’s birthday was mentioned and talked about how being a father motivates him to reach for the skies in terms of goals and ambition.
“Being a father motivates me to really be more than a 9-5 dad.. especially when I have sons, and they love sports as much as they do, and even for my daughter… I want to have more than just things and possessions to leave them; I want to leave them with a piece of myself, a piece of legacy,” the young Canadian Promoter said.
The topic then turned to the name change from Tarps Off Fight Club to FRFC.
“We originally planned to come back at the end of April,” He continued. “But in that time, I was approached by an online tech company from the UK… We get into a meeting, and the guys on board are super smart… there’s a whole new way the internet is moving, and these guys are at the front (of it)… they were like, ‘what do you think of changing the name?’”
Mancuso would talk about how skeptical he was at first because he was admittedly attached to the Tarps Off Sports name and what it meant to him. However, after a while, he said the new name started to grow on him.
“The more I thought about it… you think of sitting first row, there’s that pristine to it… We have plans to go all over, including our second show, which will be in the United States right off the hop.” Which tied into his next point, talking about how the name change opened them up to a wider global audience.
Chris Mancuso On the Return of the Jake Shields Podcast
One of the biggest milestones Mancuso had with Tarps Off Sports was the inception of one of MMA’s most off-the-cuff and unique shows: the Jake Shields Podcast. Originally debuting in May of 2021, the show was only active for nine episodes. However, each show seemed to pack more of a punch and garnered more fans.
When asked about the show, Chris Mancuso had good news for the MMA world.
“Yeah, so Jake, if you follow MMA, you know who Jake is. Founding member of the scrap pack, (a close friend to the) Diaz bros… We found each other on Twitter… Ended up hopping on (the podcast). The podcast isn’t necessarily gone. What’s happened is, Jake’s had a few high-end people ask him about taking some private jiu-Jitsu courses. So right now, he’s actually flying weekly to go train high-level people in Brazilian jiu-jitsu…
“And he’s doing amazing at that,” the owner of FRFC said. “And when we had a talk about it, I really was like: ‘Bro, you gotta go for this.’ Cause me and Jake can always pop the podcast back up.”
“It was just getting its pop…” He continued. “It was a super, super, super good show. You haven’t seen the last of me and Jake Shields doing stuff. It’s just Jake has some business that’s way bigger than a podcast going on. But, it does have a date when it will stop, so we’re waiting to get to that point. I’d say look for maybe towards the end of summer.”
To catch the full interview and hear about the cancellation of TOFC 1, Mancuso’s prediction on Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Chandler, and more, check the video down below:
Watch Front Row Fight Club’s promotional debut on June 25th, live on PPV or in person at the Niagara Falls Convention Center!
