Mixed Martial Arts no men’s club for local organizer

The male dominated sport of Mixed Martial Arts brings to mind two men covered in blood and sweat, kicking butt in a cage, but Kyria McBrayer-Christison, the female owner of Indiana Fight Championship (IFC), knows the difference between an arm bar and a triangle choke hold too.

“Sometimes in my house we joke that I have all the testosterone,” Kyria laughs.

Inspired by her husband Dan (The Sandman) Christison’s 10 years of professional fighting experience, Kyria decided to start hosting fighting events in the area. The idea came to her while she was home on bedrest due to complications with a surprise pregnancy. A surprise pregnancy for the couple who were in their late 30s and already had three children “My husband thought I was crazy,” she said. “Psycho might be his words but definitely crazy.”

Kyria completed her business plan and after the birth of the couple’s son in December of 2010, she moved forward with her plan to begin organizing fights. In July of 2011, she held her first fight at the Dale Community Center, but it wasn’t easy starting out.

There was little awareness of MMA in the area, making it a less than ideal location to start the business. “Opening a fight organization in a larger city area definitely would have been easier,” Kyria said. “But it was important for me to open this business up near my hometown of Cannelton.”

The IFC’s first few events rarely sold more than 400 tickets, but with time they grew. As attendance numbers flourished, so did Kyria’s hopes. The IFC went from holding three events their first year to four in their second and three so far this year. With the continued growth, ticket sales have increased as well; their most recent Cannelton event sold just short of 1200 tickets.

Another limiting factor has been finding venues to hold the events in. She has been turned away on more than one occasion by venue owners who were afraid of something being destroyed or fights breaking out outside the ring. According to Kyria, the chances of that happening aren’t very high. The events are no more dangerous than Sunday afternoon pee-wee league soccer games with parents blowing steam at each other on the sidelines. “The IFC has never had an altercation at one of their events outside of the ring,” she explained. “People don’t realize this, but we have engineers, lawyers and doctors that fight at these events.”

Kyria persevered and found several venues in the area to hold the events. She increased ticket sales by adding kickboxing – a more recognized sport – to the events.

Of course it wasn’t Kyria’s efforts alone that built the IFC to what it is now. Through the support of her friends, co-workers and community she has been able to continue to grow the popularity of the events. The fight crew, as Kyria calls the group that keeps the events running smoothly, are more than a group of associates, they’re friends.

Kyria’s dedication extends to her fighters also; they have become a part of her extended family. As a family member she is there to help them out whether it is through helping them find sponsors, assisting them through tough times in their personal lives, and even helping them pay travel fees for the IFC fights.

Kyria’s dedication to her company is apparent through the support she gives to her fighters and co-workers despite the immense burden of a full-time job at Spencer Industries in Dale and the responsibilities of her family; all while operating the IFC.

In the end Kyria offers up only one reason for shedding the blood, sweat and tears for her fledgling fight club, she loves it.

The Indiana Fighting Championship event, Resilience, will feature mixed martial arts and kickboxing at the Jasper Inn and Convention Center this Saturday, June 29 starting at 6:30 p.m. They will be opening with six kickboxing matches before transitioning into 17 pulse-pounding MMA fights. Tickets can be purchased at the door the night of the event or pre-purchased at www.indianafight.com.