Fight Channel's Editor-in-Chief, Marko Petrak, gives his view of the first real FFC season which ended with an event in Skopje, Macedonia. 

The first real Final Fight season was brought to a close with the event in Skopje (tenth in a row) last weekend. In total, we saw 73 fights in 2013 under the FFC brand, both in the MMA and kickboxing competitions. Well over a hundred fighters walked through the Final Fight ring, we saw a massive number of knockouts, submissions and spectacular moves made for highlight reels. The events were aired live on national TV networks in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia, as well as on channels in sixty countries of the world, including the USA. The ratings for Nova TV in Croatia were impressive, attesting to the quality of the product and the interest of the sporting public.

Final Fight saw appearances from the likes of Ricco Rodriguez, Dion Staring, James McSweeney, Zelga Galesic, Maro Perak, Pavel Zhuravlev, Hesdy Gerges, Igor Jurkovic, Raul Catinas… Not to mention the best regional fighters, such as Ante Delija, Mladen Brestovac, Antun Racic, Dzevad Truscek, Miran Fabjan, Mladen Kujundzic, Vaso Bakocevic or Bojan Kosednar. Final Fight has also promoted a number of regional stars, making their names known to the general public and recognized in the combat sports circles. From complete unknowns, Laszlo Senyei, Ibrahim El Bouni, Igor Emkic, Francisco Barrio, Stevan Zivkovic, Primoz Vrbinc, Samo Petje, Lemmy Krusic and others became names that are reckoned with for the future and that have impressed with their qualities and attractive fighting styles. Some, like Hesdy Gerges (Glory), Jason Wilnis (Glory), Mladen Brestovac (Glory) or Pavel Zhuravlev (Legend ) have already capitalized on their excellence in Final Fight by signing lucrative contracts with the world's biggest promotion companies.

Overall, in only seven months, the FFC has become an internationally recognized brand with a bright future and major potential. We already went beyond Croatia's borders in 2013, having organized events in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Skopje (Macedonia), and 2014 is expected to bring further expansion and the conquest of new markets in Europe and across the world. 

Naturally, there were mistakes, or teething troubles, which came as a result of some objective factors. They are almost impossible to avoid in any organization's first year, thus even the world's biggest production companies wouldn't be ashamed of the number of screw-ups that we had.

Yes, we too agree that fighters like Tibor "Vad Joni" or Viktor Stojanov have no place in the FFC ring, and we hope that such missteps will be reduced to minimum in 2014. However, such gaffes were almost in all cases the consequence of last-minute cancellations and unfortunate circumstances that cannot be avoided in this business. According to some estimates, as much as 30% of scheduled fights in the world's biggest MMA promotion, the UFC, never take place due to injuries or other objective reasons. If this happens with the highest possible level of professionalism upheld by UFC fighters during their camps, then everyone should be clear that this percentage is much higher when it comes to fighters participating in the Final Fight events.
Sadly, mistakes are something that critics won't forgive, but some are even more bothered by success, which always entails slander and malicious comments predicting that the FFC won't make it to the summer, won't survive the fall, or that this is the first and last FFC season.  Fortunately – or unfortunately for some – Final Fight has not only survived, but it has completed its first year in the best possible way. The event in Skopje fulfilled all expectations, providing by far the best atmosphere of all the FFC events so far (with the exception of Cro Cop Final Fight), in a venue packed with combat sports fans.

So, what to expect in 2014? The new season brings us a new expansion of Final Fight. The head of the organization, Orsat Zovko, has already announced another step forward – enlarging the FFC further – and at least eight events featuring even better and bigger global names. In addition to events in Croatia, Final Fight plans to return to Macedonia, Slovenia, as well as venture for the first time to the Czech Republic, Austria, France and Abu Dhabi. What comes first is the postponed event in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was originally scheduled for September 2013 but was cancelled due to headliner Dzevad Poturak's injury.

All in all, the FFC is a major breath of fresh air not only on the Croatian and regional scene, but also in the European and global combat sports sky.  Final Fight has given a major opportunity to many young fighters who previously had nowhere to show their qualities and who've established themselves on the big stage overnight. It took several years for some other, much wealthier and financially carefree promotions to accomplish that. Some others went down already after the first season.

The most important thing in this whole story is the love of this business and combat sports which has guided the entire Final Fight team, headed by Orsat Zovko, through such a large-scale project. Our goal will always be to provide the best possible fights to martial sports fans all over the world in a cutting-edge production unequalled in this business. We hope you have recognized that…