Tuesday, 9 December 2008

My Work Experience at Fighters Only

Since September I have been looking forward to doing my work experience at the UK's number one MMA and lifestyle magazine, Fighters Only. The experience has exceeded my expectations and I have gained a lot from it from it.

As I walked through the door on the first day, the first thing that caught my eye was the blown-up pictures of my heroes on the wall, which made me even more excited. Not knowing what to expect, I was introduced to the friendly staff and soon settled in. To mine and the staff's surprise, a van pulled up in front of the door with the latest issue of the magazine. I felt very privileged to be the only 15-year- old in the country to be reading issue 45, four days prior to release. When they found some spare time, I was able to sit down with the editor, Hywel Teague, and advertising manager David Kirkland, and gain a professional insight into the MMA journalism industry.



The next morning I was called into the boss's headquarters. In the room were the MD Rob Hewitt and the design team. There were pictures of a VERY famous fighter projected onto the board, and believe it or not, they wanted my opinion on what picture should be used for next month's issue! They even liked my ideas!


That evening I did my first ever interview with the well-respected local fighter and Fighters Only contributor Peter Irving, which was a great experience. When I arrived home that night I turned on the TV and there was MMA enthusiast and Fighters Only representative Jim Burman on Setanta Sports; this goes to show how big the Fighters Only product is.


What better way to end the week than to have a visit from Ian 'The Machine' Freeman, which I was very happy to find out about. I got the chance to have a chat with the legend and had some very animated pictures taken.



It has been great to be in an environment with people who share my passion for the sport. I started the week unsure what career to pursue but following this week I have a goal that I intend on achieving: to be an MMA journalist.



Joe McNally

posted by Fighters Only Mag Editor at Tuesday, December 09, 2008 << Back To Main Page