Reed Harris describes Las Vegas fight week through his eyes

By Brett Okamoto

Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009 | midnight

In the moments just before the doors of The Pearl at The Palms opened Saturday to let in an anxious line of fight fans waiting outside, WEC general manager Reed Harris wasn’t celebrating another successful event just yet — he was still working.

Before every fight night, Harris can be found in the cage itself, checking every last detail to make sure it’s safe for his fighters.

“Just prior to the event, I always go into the cage and check it,” Harris said. “It’s just a habit I have from the first show I put on.

“In the old days I would find out that they hadn’t attached one of the corners, that doesn’t happen anymore. I still want to check the post and the fence; make sure everything is secure and padded and done right.”

The sport of mixed martial arts has become a little more glamorous than it used to be — particularly in Las Vegas.

When the UFC held its first-ever event in Las Vegas in 2002, it drew an attendance of 7,663 and generated $898,850 worth of revenue at the gate. Compare that to UFC 100 in June, which drew an attendance of 10,971 and $5,128,490 at the gate.

The WEC, owned and operated by the same parent company as the UFC, has experienced a similar growth.

With that kind of success, it would be easy for Harris to take many of the responsibilities he’s had since founding the company in 2001 and hand them off to his staff.

Instead, Harris remains involved with nearly every aspect leading up to an event.

“Fight week in Vegas typically has a lot of meetings,” Harris said. “I meet with my public relations manager Dave Sholler about 5-to-10 times every day. He lays out my schedule for me.”

On the week of a fight, Harris has such a full schedule he checks himself into the Las Vegas hotel where the event is being held.

Thursday mornings he can be found sitting in his hotel room, assembling binders filled with fighter info that get distributed to WEC matchmakers and commentators.

It’s the kind of work normally reserved for interns, however Harris says he enjoys putting together the binders because it helps him learn more about each individual fighter competing on the card.

“I’ve always done them, it really forces me to learn a lot about each fighter,” Harris said. “When these guys show up, if I’m able to understand their background it just makes me able to familiarize with them and tends to ease them up a little bit.”

Fighters usually arrive in Las Vegas on Wednesday before working out for media members Thursday.

Because of his knowledge of the every fighter’s background, Harris takes the media portion of a fight week very seriously.

More so than probably anyone, Harris knows the remarkable stories behind some of the athletes that compete for him — many of which he feels are his responsibility to share with the fans.

Just before becoming WEC featherweight champion in a fight last month, Jose Aldo told Harris that he was like brothers with teammate Wagnney Fabiano.

When Harris asked why, Aldo told him it was because when he first started going to the gym in Brazil, Fabiano would always ask him if he had eaten yet that day.

“Sometimes Jose would say no, and on those days Wagnney would take him and feed him before they worked out,” Harris said. “So you can see what coming to The Palms and winning a belt would be a dream come true to him.

“That’s something you’ve got to get out to the public and let them experience, because personally, that’s something very gratifying to me.”

To fans, one of the best days of a fight week is Friday. That’s when they get a free chance to see the fighters on the card at the official weigh-in.

Harris treats weigh-ins more like family reunions, making the rounds and catching up with fighters, trainers and even fans.

“Our fighters are like our family,” Harris said. “If I have a Christmas party, I’ll them all over. We’re friends. We’re really happy when we see each other. I spend a lot of time with them and I also understand what they’re getting ready to do, so I have so much respect for them.”

Of course, the best part of fight week in Vegas is the night of the event itself.

The fights of Saturday night were so popular in fact, that Harris received so many ticket requests he had none left for some of his biggest VIPs.

“I actually bought four tickets for my kids,” Harris said. “I didn’t have any more to give away and I felt bad asking the ticketing office for more so I just told my wife to go ahead and buy them. I bought tickets to my own event.”

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Also follow him on twitter: LVSunFighting.