Interview with Rumble on the Rock PR person JD Penn

KMA-First of all JD, Rumble on the Rock puts on very good shows. How do you get all these world class fighters? 

JD Penn-By listening to Hawai'i fans and hearing what and who they would like to see. Who wouldn't want to come to Hawai'i to fight? I think that a lot of fighters consider it a big privilege to come to Hawai'i to compete in MMA because so much of our culture is associated with warrior spirit and warrior pride. In one of Frank Trigg's interviews with our local media on Oahu, he talked about how honored he was to be asked to come here to fight. Trigg lives in Southern California where extreme localism is nothing new. Being invited to fight here and to be welcomed by the locals in Hawai'i is a big deal to him. 

KMA-Right now I feel that ROTR is second biggest show in the nation. I
have heard a rumor that you are going to be having a show in
California, is this true? 

JD Penn-Yes, this is true. We are currently working on doing shows in California and Las Vegas. We should know when and where in a couple of months. We are really looking forward to doing shows there. 

KMA-I have heard that a good percentage of people who watch the UFC live in Vegas are actually from California. Now that MMA is legal in
California do you think this could be a huge opportunity being that a
lot more people from California may come if the fights are in their
own back yard? 

JD Penn-I feel that the legalization of MMA in California will take the sport to the next level. California is a huge state that has thousands of mixed martial artists and fans so the potential is unlimited. The problem up to now has been that they don't have a venue or an organization where they can showcase their skills. With California adopting MMA, I wouldn't be surprised to see it become the mecca of mma in the future.

KMA-I also heard about the $9.99 download of Rumble on the Rock available the day after the event. This seems fair to me because because it is a good value for people who cannot watch the fight live, it also enables people all over the world to watch the event. Care to talk
about this more? 

JD Penn-With technology growing exponentially and the freedom it provides, the Internet will undoubtedly become the future of pay-per-view culture. It is our goal to bring Rumble into every household and ensure that everyone has access to our shows, even if they live on an outer island and can't make it to Oahu to watch it live because of work or other obligations. The quality is unbelievable and the access is what is most convenient to people - anytime and almost anywhere. If you haven't seen the show on our site yet, you have to check it out by visiting www.rumbleworld.tv. In addition to the price being only $9.99, we're also offering five free tokens good for viewing five more fights from previous events. 

KMA-Carlos Condit had a huge upset by beating heavily favored Charuto. Do you think you may have found a the next big up and comer? 

JD-Carlos Condit is definitely a good fighter. We're anxious to see how he ends up doing in the tournament. I feel Frank Trigg and Carlos will be a good fight. 

KMA-Is it true that Cabbage injured his arm prior to his fight with Butterbean?

JD Penn-Yes, this is true. Cabbage slipped in the back and severely bruised his elbow an hour before his fight. Despite recommendations by his coaches and the doctors, he didn't want to quit and said he rather fight with one arm instead of disappointing his fans. Just goes to show you what kind of an athlete Cabbage is.


KMA-Will Butterbean be in future ROTR shows? 

JD Penn-Butterbean is a Rumble on the Rock fighter and we hope to bring him back to fight in our other shows this year.

KMA-Regarding the Anderson Silva disqualification, I understand why he was DQ'ed, he up kicked Okami while Okami's knees were on the ground. My question is why are upkicks illegal but kicking a downed opponent
is not? 

JD Penn-Kicking a downed opponent to the head is illegal. You can kick to the body. 


KMA-Will you be bringing Rumblevision back on free TV? 

JD Penn-We are looking at February to start broadcasting Rumblevision.


KMA-Will you be selling a box DVD set like KOTC did a while back? 

JD Penn-At the moment, we are concentrating on just the one dvd but might consider doing something like the box set in the future.


KMA-Anything other big plans for ROTR that you would like to tell the fans about? 

JD Penn-Stay tuned for Rumble on the Rock World Championships-Final round in April.