Jervis Cole brings a different sensibility to his work as an MMA agent. He is most interested in what the fighters do outside the ring.  As the agent for top-ranked heavyweight Rashad Evans among others, he concentrates on building up the fighters as a brand and selling them to sponsors and advertisers. He thinks long term and, rather than building a huge stable of fighters, he looks for key players whose commercial reach he can improve upon over time.

Because of his background in professional basketball, the 6’6” forward is very familiar with the world market in athletics, “I used to play semi-pro in Argentina and France for more than ten years. I was recruited right out of high school. Now I do the recruiting. And it’s pretty much the same parameters of going out and looking at which of the top guys that I could find that I’d want to represent.

“When I started out, that guy ended up being Rashad. I didn’t want to have more than seven or ten guys at one time so I’m midway at that point now with five fighters, Rashad and trainer Greg Jackson.

“I kind of know what I want and because of my background in business and marketing I kind of know what I have in mind when I go after a guy.

“There’s a heavyweight kid that I’m talking to right now whose name is James McSweeney. He fights over in the UK, holds several belts, he’s working with Greg Jackson right now and he’s going to be fighting here in the US and so that’s one of our big investments now, that kid.”

            “I’d like to have a guy in every weight class—but that’s not what I go after. I go after the guys that I think are the most marketable. Of course, you want them to win, but the people I work with in this business—we look at guys where we can build a face, a name and build a strong Q rating so we can make the transition from inside the ring to outside the ring. Once you’re able to market a guy outside the ring, it really helps the fighter and my company as a whole.

            “The questions I have to answer are: Is it a guy I can get along with, is it a guy that I know sponsors and fans will be receptive to?

            “Once you get to the point where a guy has at least an 80 win record, a 75 win record, that guy can be built. Take Rashad Evans. Though he was undefeated, he wasn’t really pushed outside the ring besides what the UFC had done. So, what we did is hire PR people, we went out and I spoke to people I know outside the MMA world—that’s just basically in entertainment and marketing and what we did was put together a marketing plan and that’s how we were able to land a Microsoft—you know him in a Microsoft commercial.

Getting Rashad Evans in a Microsoft commercial was a major coup for Cole, “We were just fortunate that there was someone there that understood MMA—because he’d done some training—and knew that the guys that participate in MMA are world class athletes.

“He was one of the top guys in marketing for Microsoft, so what ended up happening was Rashad doing the commercial and through that commercial we were able to put together sponsorship for the last fight. And that’s why you saw Rashad walk out in the ring in a Bill Gates mugshot shirt.

“We’ve done a lot of different things like that. Surprisingly, not one sponsor we’ve had in a Rashad Evans fight had ever sponsored before in MMA. That says a lot.”

The reason Cole has such a special perspective comes courtesy of his own playing days, “Being an ex-athlete and knowing what you have—and what you don’t have once you stop playing—I think it opened my eyes a long time ago. So, when I had an opportunity to start working alongside fighters, that’s what really came out.“You know most fighters live from fight to fight. They make pretty good money on the fight purses, but when you start paying out your living expenses, your corner, your manager, whatever you have to pay out—then that money’s going to get whittled down pretty quick.

            “It’s hard for some guys to understand because a lot of guys honestly haven’t had great management. So outside the UFC or whatever league they’re in, once you leave that professional atmosphere, you’re looking at how can I get this guy magazines, how do I get a particular television show, how can I get a TMZ to come out and watch?

            “You know the question has been asked why Rashad Evans is in a Microsoft commercial and not some other bigger-named fighter and it’s because we’re going out and working our asses off to get our guys exactly what they deserve. I’m surrounding myself with people who are not in MMA, but they’re business people and I’m reaching out to people and  they’re reaching back and we’re helping each other out in any avenue we can.

            “Our goal is: we want our guys to be able to go into fights with a clean mind and not worried financially. I came into the sport with that attitude: how can I build my guys out side of the ring? How can we get paid more than one time for this fight? We want to do three fight deals, we want to do appearances, we want to do commercials, we want to do photo shoots, we want to do all that. I would never sell my guys short, I’m going to build your brand I’m going to get you what you’re worth and, if people offer you anything less, I’m not going to accept that.