Jack Shore: Former UFC fighter turned coach promoting first event

Nearly two years after retiring from fighting in professional mixed martial arts, Jack Shore’s name is back on a combat sports poster.

The former UFC fighter from Abertillery remained in the sport as a coach but now turns his hand to fight promotion.

The first iteration of Shore’s new Stand and Bang venture is on Saturday, 22 August when 23 bouts will take place inside a 20-foot boxing ring.

It will feature only striking with no takedowns or grappling at Ebbw Vale Leisure Centre.

Shore is hoping to make the show a success with the Welsh MMA scene at “an all-time high”.

“It was always going to be hard to jump into an MMA or pure Thai show,” he told BBC Sport Wales.

“I thought, ‘what’s a little niche in the market that I can kind of go after?’

“I’m a big fan of ONE Championship and I don’t always know the guys fighting but I’ll always put it on because it’s exciting.”

Shore says his event is shaped by friends coming to shows when he was fighting.

He said: “All my mates used to say that if I wasn’t fighting, they wouldn’t come because they didn’t understand the grappling and it was a bit boring.

“To the untrained eye it is, what’s more fan friendly than essentially an MMA fight but with no grappling and no wrestling?

“That’s what we’re trying to do, stand-up fights. Most of them are going to be in MMA gloves so it should make for an entertaining night.”

Shore hopes the points scoring makes it easier for the public to follow who is ahead.

He said: “If one guy is inflicting more damage, the average Joe can look at that and say, ‘well, that guy’s winning’.

“Don’t get me wrong, ring control scores and good defence scores. I daresay a flashy move will score a little bit higher than maybe a jab.

“But ultimately the judges are being told that we’re scoring on damage.”