Icon Sport, the leading promoter of mixed-martial arts in Hawai'i, has been sold to a publicly traded California company for $1.95 million in cash and stock, underscoring the popularity of the sport locally and nationally.

Icon and its parent company, Future Fight Productions Inc., were purchased earlier this month by Los Angeles-based ProElite Inc., a growing MMA company that counts the Showtime cable network among its shareholders and is expanding through acquisition of MMA promoters in the U.S. and abroad.

ProElite agreed to pay $350,000 in cash to Future Fight owners T. Jay Thompson and Odd Haugen, and give the pair another 200,000 shares of its stock, which currently trades on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board market for $8 a share. It will pay another $100,000 if the local promoter meets financial goals next year.

"It's been fun to watch the growth and be purchased by a public company," said Thompson, who also signed a five-year agreement to stay on with the business. Thompson separately will continue to operate his 10,000-square foot Icon Fitness gym in Niu Valley.

"I started this thing as a broke kid at Gussie L'amours out by the airport who ate ramen noodles. It's a pretty exciting time."

Since Icon's start in 1996 at the now-defunct nightclub, Thompson has staged 52 competitions. He's moved the local bouts to the Neal S. Blaisdell Center and also staged events in Guam, Iowa, Texas, California and Illinois. Icon, which once operated under the SuperBrawl name, will continue to promote shows here.

Thompson said the purchase is good news for Hawai'i MMA fans, as it will strengthen the Icon operation and allow it to draw from fighters from other ProElite operations. It also opens up more opportunities to have Honolulu bouts broadcast on Showtime, as was a Sept. 15 event.

He said Showtime is scheduled to broadcast an April 26 event from Honolulu. Fighters from Hawai'i will also have greater opportunities to fight elsewhere.

ProElite still has a ways to go to match Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, a Las Vegas promoter that dominates the MMA business and has as many as 14 pay-per-view matches annually.

UFC's fighters are among the best known in the sport, and its events are also broadcast on the SpikeTV cable network.

But in the past several months ProElite, which trades under the PELE ticker symbol, has managed to purchase United Kingdom MMA promoter Cage Rage and SpiritMC, a Korean promoter, as well as raising $25 million through a private placement of common stock and warrants.

Earlier this year it entered an agreement with a production company owned by reality show producer Mark Burnett for a possible television series involving mixed-martial arts.

It also owns www.ProElite.com, which streams the company's live events. Its other deals call for the purchase of King of the Cage, an MMA promoter that has staged events from Michigan to Australia. The companies are operated under the EliteXC live fight division of ProElite.

"In the short span of 12 months, EliteXC has already got the well-deserved reputation for staging sensational fights with the world's top fighters," said Gary Shaw, president of the EliteXC division, in a press statement.

"I look forward to developing Hawai'i as the next stronghold in MMA."

He said resources being made available to Icon should help it expand the company's operations as an international fight brand.

Thompson said Icon helped launch the career of such MMA stars as Frank Shamrock, Vitor Belfort, Tim Sylvia, Robbie Lawler, Mayhem Miller and Rich Franklin.

He said that should continue as he promotes about five shows a year locally and works with other brands under the ProElite umbrella to further the sport.

Reach Greg Wiles at gwiles@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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