This interviewer had the good fortune to accompany Localfightevents.com Founder and President, Dan Magnie, to an evening with Steve Alley at the Mahany Gym in Aurora, Co on June 6, 2007.
Interviewing Steve Alley, Denver’s premier dynamic local MMA promoter and ring announcer is like being in the presence of raw energy. His eyes dance and his arms wave as he expresses his passion for this sport that captured his interest in 1994.
Steve had found himself parked outside of Innovative Martial Arts gym in Aurora on his way to a local health food store. He noticed that the gym was offering a Special and found himself gravitated to the front door. Once inside, he was introduced to Sensei, Tom Johnson who encouraged Steve to become a participant rather than just an observer. It ultimately took three visits before the hook was set and 3 years 3 months later, Steve had his black belt.
As this reporter spent an evening with Steve Alley in interview and observation, it became clear that a career in sports and broadcasting has been his birthright. Steve’s father had been involved in radio sales which opened the door for young Steve to be used in several radio spots. He was mesmerized by listening to his father describe the excitement of the play-by-play radio announcing of a Joe Lewis fight. As a young man, he would turn down the volume on the TV to announce his own play-by-play action of televised football and baseball games in the same spirit of how David Stern made the games come alive for his radio listeners in the 1920s.
During the years Steve spent with Tom Johnson at Innovative Martial Arts, he got his first opportunities to ring announce at two of Tom’s events. In 1999 Steve also made application to the UFC for media credentials to ring announce for their events as well. Some of his early announcing highlights included the 1st Gladiator Challenge that came out of California, 4 Ring of Fires and 6 Rocky Mountain Bad Boys competitions. Steve estimates that he has ring announced 90 – 100 fights since his first two opportunities at Tom Johnson’s gym where Steve had started.
Also, in 1999, just five short years after entering his first martial arts gym, Steve launched his own radio program that aired Sunday evenings on clear channel KTLK. His time slot unfortunately clashed with the Broncos weekend update so Steve then moved his broadcast to his current web-site of MartialArtsRadio.com where the listening audience was greater even than that on clear channel.
During the course of our interview, we were joined briefly by Steve’s original Sensei, Tom Johnson. It will be exciting to watch Tom fighting again at the up-coming Kick Down 38, being produced and ring-announced by Steve on June 29, 2007 at the Red Lion Hotel in Denver. Tom was awarded his first professional win at Kick Down 37 in just 1 minute 16 seconds into the first round!
Steve invited us to stay after the interview to watch one of his training sessions with Anthony Sanchez Jr. Anthony will be matched against Kyle Johnson on June 29th at Kick Down 38 for the Kick Down amateur welter-weight championship.
As animated as Steve was in our interview, that same energy was now poured into his training session with Anthony. Steve had Anthony performing punches, jabs, knee-lifts and calisthenics in rapid change-ups. Steve also enlisted feedback from another of his fighters, Jack Johnson, the current and recently crowned (5-12-07) ISKA amateur Muay Thai World Champion. Together they coached the smiling, sweating and totally focused Anthony Sanchez Jr. in strategies that could help him wrest the Kick Down welter-weight championship from Kyle Johnson.
The fighter that has been with Steve the longest, is the exciting Colby Snyder who has been a friend and participant for the past 5 ½ years. Unfortunately Colby Snyder will not be fighting at Kick Down 38 on June 29th at the Red Lion due to a broken thumb that occurred at Kick Down 37 on May 12 of this year in Loveland, Co.
When Steve first started coaching fighters, he worked out of his home basement that had been entitled: The House of Martial Arts. When “accidental” damage occurred to the very small home where Steve lived with his wife Sherry and their infant daughter, Sherry lovingly encouraged Steve to find a new facility to work with his fighters! It was at this time that Steve followed his excellent business instincts and found space at his current gym-home of Mahany’s Gym in Aurora, Co. Tom Johnson joined him and this successful MMA duo continues their encouragement, support and promotion of young fighters.
In order to make ends meet, Steve relies on his events such as his Kick Downs and on his continuing income from his original career path as that of a mortgage banker. Although there is money to be made once a fighter, trainer or promoter makes it to the UFC, local fighters still struggle to make ends meet. As Steve so eloquently describes it: “Martial Arts folks are so broke they can’t pay attention much less pay for gym time to train.”
As we left the gym, LocalFightEvents.com President Dan Magnie used the expression “electrifying” when describing the hours we had just spent with Steve Alley.
The Denver and Colorado fight scene is very fortunate to have Steve Alley producing and ring announcing for us locally. Don’t miss an opportunity to attend one of his events while they remain relatively accessible. This interviewer predicts that within the next few years, Steve Alley will have moved onto become a presence on the larger MMA circuit.
Ann Dain
June 2007 This interviewer had the good fortune to accompany Localfightevents.com Founder and President, Dan Magnie, to an evening with Steve Alley at the Mahany Gym in Aurora, Co on June 6, 2007.
Interviewing Steve Alley, Denver’s premier dynamic local MMA promoter and ring announcer is like being in the presence of raw energy. His eyes dance and his arms wave as he expresses his passion for this sport that captured his interest in 1994.
Steve had found himself parked outside of Innovative Martial Arts gym in Aurora on his way to a local health food store. He noticed that the gym was offering a Special and found himself gravitated to the front door. Once inside, he was introduced to Sensei, Tom Johnson who encouraged Steve to become a participant rather than just an observer. It ultimately took three visits before the hook was set and 3 years 3 months later, Steve had his black belt.
As this reporter spent an evening with Steve Alley in interview and observation, it became clear that a career in sports and broadcasting has been his birthright. Steve’s father had been involved in radio sales which opened the door for young Steve to be used in several radio spots. He was mesmerized by listening to his father describe the excitement of the play-by-play radio announcing of a Joe Lewis fight. As a young man, he would turn down the volume on the TV to announce his own play-by-play action of televised football and baseball games in the same spirit of how David Stern made the games come alive for his radio listeners in the 1920s.
During the years Steve spent with Tom Johnson at Innovative Martial Arts, he got his first opportunities to ring announce at two of Tom’s events. In 1999 Steve also made application to the UFC for media credentials to ring announce for their events as well. Some of his early announcing highlights included the 1st Gladiator Challenge that came out of California, 4 Ring of Fires and 6 Rocky Mountain Bad Boys competitions. Steve estimates that he has ring announced 90 – 100 fights since his first two opportunities at Tom Johnson’s gym where Steve had started.
Also, in 1999, just five short years after entering his first martial arts gym, Steve launched his own radio program that aired Sunday evenings on clear channel KTLK. His time slot unfortunately clashed with the Broncos weekend update so Steve then moved his broadcast to his current web-site of MartialArtsRadio.com where the listening audience was greater even than that on clear channel.
During the course of our interview, we were joined briefly by Steve’s original Sensei, Tom Johnson. It will be exciting to watch Tom fighting again at the up-coming Kick Down 38, being produced and ring-announced by Steve on June 29, 2007 at the Red Lion Hotel in Denver. Tom was awarded his first professional win at Kick Down 37 in just 1 minute 16 seconds into the first round!
Steve invited us to stay after the interview to watch one of his training sessions with Anthony Sanchez Jr. Anthony will be matched against Kyle Johnson on June 29th at Kick Down 38 for the Kick Down amateur welter-weight championship.
As animated as Steve was in our interview, that same energy was now poured into his training session with Anthony. Steve had Anthony performing punches, jabs, knee-lifts and calisthenics in rapid change-ups. Steve also enlisted feedback from another of his fighters, Jack Johnson, the current and recently crowned (5-12-07) ISKA amateur Muay Thai World Champion. Together they coached the smiling, sweating and totally focused Anthony Sanchez Jr. in strategies that could help him wrest the Kick Down welter-weight championship from Kyle Johnson.
The fighter that has been with Steve the longest, is the exciting Colby Snyder who has been a friend and participant for the past 5 ½ years. Unfortunately Colby Snyder will not be fighting at Kick Down 38 on June 29th at the Red Lion due to a broken thumb that occurred at Kick Down 37 on May 12 of this year in Loveland, Co.
When Steve first started coaching fighters, he worked out of his home basement that had been entitled: The House of Martial Arts. When “accidental” damage occurred to the very small home where Steve lived with his wife Sherry and their infant daughter, Sherry lovingly encouraged Steve to find a new facility to work with his fighters! It was at this time that Steve followed his excellent business instincts and found space at his current gym-home of Mahany’s Gym in Aurora, Co. Tom Johnson joined him and this successful MMA duo continues their encouragement, support and promotion of young fighters.
In order to make ends meet, Steve relies on his events such as his Kick Downs and on his continuing income from his original career path as that of a mortgage banker. Although there is money to be made once a fighter, trainer or promoter makes it to the UFC, local fighters still struggle to make ends meet. As Steve so eloquently describes it: “Martial Arts folks are so broke they can’t pay attention much less pay for gym time to train.”
As we left the gym, LocalFightEvents.com President Dan Magnie used the expression “electrifying” when describing the hours we had just spent with Steve Alley.
The Denver and Colorado fight scene is very fortunate to have Steve Alley producing and ring announcing for us locally. Don’t miss an opportunity to attend one of his events while they remain relatively accessible. This interviewer predicts that within the next few years, Steve Alley will have moved onto become a presence on the larger MMA circuit.
Ann Dain
June 2007
