Three brands. One website. And absolutely no idea what would happen next...

The FightStore(Y) Chapter 3

When FightStore MMA first launched, we weren't sitting on tonnes of products. We didn't have every brand in the sport. We didn't have a huge warehouse full of stock. In fact to start with we had only three brands. 

Two which would be considered for MMA at the time and the third a new Muay Thai brand that was a real winner!

This started something that became the Fightstore way. The three we picked were three brands we believed in, and three brands that we felt offered something different at the time. 

The first was Hayabusa. Now today you might be able to say that was an easy decision but at the time, they were a relatively new name in the UK, however they had already started making waves with their attention to detail, quality and unique approach to fight equipment. They sponsored major athletes like George St Pierre and Alister Overeem. 

Then there was Top King Boxing which actually launched the same year we did in 2009. Top King are now a legendary Muay Thai brand, but in 2010 they were just beginning to become known outside of its home country. They had exciting new designs, colours and styles. Their Muay Thai Shin guards were probably the most copied shin guards in the world and still are to this day, years after the brand has largely disappeared in the UK.



And finally, Bad Boy. A brand that was a legend in MMA but had disappeared from the scene at the time. BADBOY had a completely different attitude. Bold designs, a rebellious identity and something that caught the attention of fighters who wanted to show their attitude to the world. 

Badboy at this time was almost 100% an apparel brand and distributed worldwide by a company that became a major part of the Fightstore story later on (coming soon!). Almost every major Brazilian MMA Fighter was a Badboy fighter, Shogun Rua, Wanderlei Silva, Lyoto Machida....The names were endless.

The interesting thing was that none of these brands were the obvious choices (At the time). We weren't trying to copy everyone else. We wanted to find the brands that fighters would be talking about in the future.

That idea became part of FightStorePro's DNA.

Find the interesting brands, brand making things which were new and different, not just the popular brand of the day. Work with people who care about their products. Give fighters access to equipment they couldn't easily find elsewhere.
The website was small. The office was tiny.
But the idea was growing.
Before long, orders started coming in from across the country.

Then the problem became a good one…
We were running out of space.
The little room above the gym that started everything was slowly being taken over.
Boxes everywhere.Stock everywhere.
And the realisation that FightStoreMMA was becoming something much bigger than we ever expected.

Know someone who's passionate about fight sports?

Whether they're just starting their journey or they've been training for years, introduce them to FightStorePro.

Every person who joins our community helps us continue doing what we've done since day one — finding the best gear for fighters.

Next week...

The room above the gym wasn't big enough anymore.

The first FightStorePro store was about to be born.