The local Wreck MMA promotion is back in business, with its Wreck 2.0 card set to go for March 28 at the Casino Lac Leamy’s Hilton hotel.
If you’d asked promoter Nick Castiglia five months ago whether he’d have seen this event coming together, the answer would have been a flat-out no.
“I was burnt out and we kept on losing money over and over again for years,” Castiglia shares candidly.
He said that it would be the last card of a 10-show run, but as soon as he’d pulled the plug, that’s when a groundswell of support suddenly came together in support of the organization that provides a stage for many local fighters looking to make a name for themselves and advance to greater levels in the sport.
“I guess I was kind of surprised because I didn’t realize so many people cared,” recalls Castiglia, who’d returned his focus to instructing at the Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts. “I was just receiving messages non-stop, so eventually I had to address it.”
There were two major pieces of the puzzle that made a renewed Wreck more viable – the increased support of Giovanni’s Restaurant as lead sponsor for the card, and the Casino lending some help as well.
Plus he has a larger group helping to organize the event that’s drawn interest from fighters from many parts of the country, including a number of athletes who competed in The Score’s now defunct Fight Series, of which Wreck was a part previously.
“I’m actually getting a lot of heat because I’m not putting a lot of those guys on (the card),” Castiglia says. “But they’ve got to understand this is a local show. I’m really focusing on the fighters that are here and building the local scene, and that’s what I’ve maintained from the beginning.
“My city comes first. A lot of people know I represent a certain gym here, but I want to help all the gyms in the city.”
The main event will feature ‘Relentless’ Randy Turner making his debut in the 125-lb. division against ‘Dirty’ Benny Vinson of Portland, OR. Turner was Wreck’s 135-lb. champion previously, but is hoping the lighter frame may lead to greater opportunities.
“Hopefully he wins this fight and UFC gives him a call,” remarks Castiglia, whose promotion has seen four fighters move on to compete in Ultimate Fighting Championship events. “That’s the plan.”
One of those athletes who competed in UFC will also be on the card with Mark ‘Boots’ Holst from OAMA. Other Ottawa fighters on the card include Anna Barone from Victory Performance Centre taking on Kelowna, B.C.’s Sarah Moras in another showcase bout, Pablo Santos of Siam No. 1, and several products of Experience MMA & Fitness, plus Ashley Nichols and Robert Thomas out of M.A.S. Academy of Martial Arts in Cambridge, Ont. are ones to watch.
Tickets to the event are available through capitaltickets.ca.
“Come out and support the sport,” Castiglia urges. “We still need more people behind it.”