Joe Cavallaro was working as a doorman in a Boston hotel when he met a new bellman hire who eventually changed the story of his life.
The new 18-year-old bellman was a kid named Dana White, and he later took Cavallaro (known by practically everyone as āJoe Cavā) to places he never imagined heād be.
Nearly 40 years after meeting the future UFC president, Cavallaro admits his life took a wild turn, simply because he befriended a co-worker who shared a deep passion for combat sports.
āI had this fairy-tale life,ā Cavallaro told MMA Junkie recently. āā¦ Iām a die-hard fight fan. Iāll watch anybody fight ā as long as itās a civilized fight. I wouldnāt watch a street fight. As long as itās a competitive fight, Iād watch two nuns fight if they decided they were going to do it. Itās just the way I am.ā
While heās worn a number of combat sports hats over the years, Cavallaro is just that ā a fan ā more than anything else. It all started with karate for Cavallaro, who ripped kicks with the Revere Karate Academy in Revere, Mass., until he ended up at Nautilus, a behemoth workout gym that opened in the area.
While his kicks were powerful, his punches werenāt well-received at the new gym, however. One day, Cavallaro was called out by Joe Lake, who took him under his wing and taught him how to box. He entered Lakeās training circle and there he met Dana Rosenblatt, a future standout boxer whom Lake managed. Oh, and there was a guy named Joe Rogan, who trained taekwondo.
Sure, Cavallaro learned new techniques and skills. He implemented previously foreign aspects of combat sports into his repertoire. But more than anything else, he learned the business from Lake during the rise of Rosenblattās boxing career.While all of this was going on, White was far gone from the hotel. He was on to bigger and better things across the country in Las Vegas. Despite dozens of states of separation, Cavallaro remained in touch with White. The two traveled all over the world for not just UFC events, but boxing, too. Cavallaro even was in Whiteās wedding.
When White purchased the biggest MMA promotion in the world, Cavallaroās life trajectory really changed. Fandom became business, all in one.
āWhen he bought the UFC, I was selling technology for about 15 years,ā Cavallaro said. āHe said to me, āYou should think about managing some of these guys. Itās fun. You know the business and I trust you. Iād rather deal with you than anybody.ā I said, āYou know what? That makes sense.ā So I got a guy named Sam Hoger. He was the first guy I ever managed.ā
Hoger was featured on the inaugural season of āThe Ultimate Fighter.ā Notable names like Kenny Florian, Marcus Davis, Patrick Cote and Drew Fickett jumped on board with Cavallaro. His stable was growing, as was the sport.
āI had some of the top guys in the business,ā Cavallaro said. āWhat a blessing to be a part of that. What a cool thing. I was working full-time as a salesman, so I was traveling all the time. I was single and I would have an excuse every weekend to go to a fight somewhere, whether it was a local fight or the UFC.
āThe UFC was only doing it four times a year at the time. But Iād go to all the big fights. Iād have guys competing in the show. Not only was I enjoying the event and being part of it, Dana always treated me with respect. He was nothing but generous to me.ā
In 2007, Cavallaro had a conversation with his mother, which opened up his eyes to a void that needed filling. MMA was big time, but his region was missing the opportunity for fighters to build to the next level.
āI knew that there was an opportunity because my mother would be telling me why she thought Chuck Liddell was going to win his next fight,ā Cavallaro said. āPeople were starting to watch this. It was starting to become mainstream. So I said to myself, āIām going to start a promotion.ā I started a company called World Championship Fighting (WCF).ā
From 2007-2011, WCF held 11 events and produced notable names such as Jon Jones, Calvin Kattar and Rick Hawn. The events were popular in the region, and even attracted some celebrities like Kevin James and numerous members of the Boston Celtics to attend.
When real estate opportunities were too great for Cavallaro to pass by, he stepped away from promoting, a decision that was expected to be temporary. A year off turned into two, then four, then 10. The plan always was to come back, it was just a matter of when.
In 2020, Cavallaro finally made the decision to reboot ā poor timing. The COVID-19 pandemic foiled his plans before they even were finalized.
Now back in the saddle, Cavallaro has officially launched Combat FC. Its first event is Friday at Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, Mass. The event will stream on UFC Fight Pass.
Former Bellator play-by-play man Sean Wheelock and current UFC bantamweight Randy Costa will be on the call. Island Fights and iKon Fighting Championship headman Dean Toole will lead show-running operations.
āWeāre back and weāre back for good,ā Cavallaro said. āWith this UFC Fight Pass deal, it changes everything.ā
The inaugural event features Dana Whiteās Contender Series alums Rico DiSciullo and Tim Caron, as well as the MMA debut IBJJF standout Fabio Alano. More events already are in the works, too, Cavallaro said. To start, Shriners Auditorium will be the home, but other states in and out of New England are on the horizon.
āIām all-in. Iām 100 percent in,ā Cavallaro said. āWe want to be like LFA. We want to be like CFFC and Titan FC. We want to be on an even playing field with those guys. I know all those guys. Theyāre all really good guys. They all do tremendous shows. They all have tremendous fighters. We want to be the same type of promotion in the same type of light. ā¦ Once we get it going, weāre going to have the best fighters, especially in the Northeast.ā
Oh, and the 18-year-old kid he met nearly 40 years ago will be watching, too. Unable to attend in person, White has made it known he planned a remote viewing party to see if āJoe Cavā still has his promoter touch after all these years.
āThank God I have great people working for me,ā Cavallaro said.
Combat FC 1 takes place Friday at Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, Mass. The main card streams on UFC Fight Pass.
Actually,I am not familiar with this guy.
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Sounds like Fight Pass kicks down a few bucks to the promotion that they are showing.I could see the greedy fucks asking for greenbacks to be shown on Fight Pass.
Joe Cav is old school on the New England scene. His WCF shows back in the day were legendary.
And he may or may not be the first openly LBGQTI promoter in the nation (not that it matters)
Decent show last night.
A few hiccups like 
No lights in the dressing room to warm up or tape fighters.
Show started late which is pretty common.
The level of fighters were pretty low as compared to what Joe Cav used to produce. (That said, CES was having a show the same night so that could have been a factor.)
The show started late? Iām pretty sure the guys were walking to the cage at like 7:05-7:07, and thatās about as on time as we ever see in local MMAā¦and the Fightpass broadcast started at the scheduled time of 9pm.
As for the quality of fighters being pretty low, I disagree but I supposed it depends on what you like. Main event was a contender series vet with a 10-2 record fighting a former gladiator challenge champ with an 8-3 record. Co-main was another DWCS and bellator vet fighting a guy from AKA with a 7-2 recordā¦featured fight was a guy whose last fight was a win in a co-main at another local show against a main event winner from the last show in maine.
Lots of other cool stuff on the undercard like a 3x BJJ world champ making his MMA debut against a super tough prospect that came into the fight 4-1, a high level black belt under florian that nobody wanted to fight against a tough opponent, pro debut of a prospect Iām really excited about, a BKFC guy fighting a guy whose primary weapon is his boxingā¦along with several other really exciting fighters. I thought it was a really fun card on paper, and in person.
Overall card had 8 pro fights and 5 amateur fights, all MMAā¦no grappling matches, no amateur kickboxing.
yes, they still do shows. They had been doing 2 a year down in CT for a while before the pandemic, and appear to be back on that schedule.
Rick, the show started about 7:20pm which like I said is normal for local shows.
Letās be honestā¦the quality of fighters was on the lower end. But yes there was some good fighters on the card. Tim Caron, Sanad Armouti, the 3X BJJ fighter was impressive.
Locker room had no lights. We can agree on that.
Again, I love the old WCF and I know you guys will be back to where you left off back in the day.
When you say the quality of fighters was on the lower endā¦compared to what? Many of the local promotions are putting on shows that have a mix of amateur MMA, amateur kickboxing, grappling, and a few pro fights at the top of the card. Some local shows donāt have any pro fights at all.
Turnout was really good. The production was awesome.
Rick, youāve been around forever. Some of the fighters were low level. Iām not talking Rico, Caron, Sanad etcā¦You know what I mean. Again, you guys were competing with CES and we all know how they do business. I thought it was a decent first show. I had a great time with my fighter winning and all the beer I had after.
Iāll be at the next one with my fighters again and hopefully get more on.
Also, I was happy as hell to see Denning get that win. Heās a good dude. Plus a chance to see alot of old friends there.
āsome of the fighters were low levelā is a different comment than your initial comment of āthe level of fighters were pretty low.ā
If youāre saying that there were some lower level fighters on the show, sure. I took your original comment to mean overall the quality of fighters suckedā¦and I strongly disagree with that.
Which guy was yours?
Great to see Joe Cavs and crew back!! Shows back in the day used to be lit. Missed this one as I was out of town but definitely will hit the next one.
Old shows were crazy as pre-commission/sanctioning. I remember one time guy was fighting the local hero. Landed a beautiful knee at the bell that stole sould of opponent. Would have won if he and his corner didnt jump in the ring like fools thinking they won and cause like a 2 min delay between rounds allowing the other guy to recover 100%. Think he came back to sub the dude.