‘It’s crucial to have MMA these days’: cage fights appealing to the masses

Mixed martial arts is one of the fastest growing sports in Australia, but it has taken a while for the combat art to catch on in Geraldton. Geraldton-born fighter Waylon Prater wants to change all that, opening up a new MMA school in Webberton to train the next batch of locals. Valhalla MMA opened up just before Christmas after Prater moved back to his hometown after years away in Perth and Thailand honing his skills in combat sport. In a town dominated by boxing and kickboxing, Prater said Geraldton lacked a proper MMA gym. “This has always been something I wanted to do – bringing MMA to Geraldton because this is my hometown,” he said. “I moved back to be closer with my family and there is nothing like it here like there is in Perth.” Prater has teamed up with local boxing coach and fight promoter Paul Barrett to operate the MMA school out of the Geraldton Boxing Centre on Flores Road. The pair say they have big plans to expand the gym and install a permanent fight cage for training and events. With the rising popularity of brands like the UFC, Barrett said it was increasingly important to organise MMA fights to attract a younger crowd. “It’s crucial to have MMA on the cards these days,” he said. “My speciality is boxing but to do an event only with boxing, you’re not appealing to the wider audience. MMA is such a growth industry. “To continue to evolve we had to have an MMA coach on board, otherwise you fall by the wayside.” As a State, WA hasn’t always embraced cage fighting with open arms. Former Liberal Premier Colin Barnett famously banned cage fighting in WA in 2013, stopping the likes of the UFC from holding events in Perth. At the time WA was the only State or Territory in Australia to outlaw the sport. But when a Mark McGowan-led Labor Government came to power in 2017 it quickly moved to overturn the ban on caged MMA. It paved the way for WA’s first UFC event in 2018, with crowds packing out Perth Arena to watch Cuban heavyweight Yoel Romero knock out American Luke Rockhold in the main event. There were plans to hold another UFC event in Perth in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced a cancellation. Locally, Barrett is promising to host Geraldton’s first ever cage match when Fists of Fury III takes place on April 2. Barrett said Prater would likely face off against an opponent from Kalgoorlie, but the final matchups were still being finalised. “MMA is getting more traction now and is more mainstream,” he said. “People now understand the cage isn’t locking two fellas in. It isn’t Thunderdome where one comes out. There are rules involved. “The psychology is changing and we are catching up.”