LAS VEGAS -- Hello, and welcome to KevinIole.com. I am grateful you’ve found me and I hope you become a regular visitor to my space in the online world. I’ve worked hard to launch this site, and nearly 30 years in newspapers and almost 17 years at a major online outlet have brought me to this point. Now I have my own site and can implement my vision for what I’d like a combat sports outlet to be.
I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that this site wouldn’t have been possible without the brilliance of Melissa Lloyd and Adam Bertram at BoomPress, as well as the encouragement of my friend and former colleague, Josh Cooper.
I have written about fighting for most of my professional life, dating back to while I was in college in the late 1970s at Point Park College (now University) in Pittsburgh.
But as I always worked for someone else, I was always executing on another person’s vision and another person’s idea of what fight coverage should be. Now, I get to make those calls.
I will focus the majority of my coverage on mixed martial arts and boxing, but I will also provide coverage of Power Slap and Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, as well. As I’m a one-man show, I’m going to spend most of my time focused on those sports. I will consider occasional stories on other forms of combat, like karate, grappling, etc., but I’ll handle those on a case-by-case basis.
Because this is a combat sports site for combat sports fans, I can do anything fight-related I believe will be of interest to you. My goal from a written standpoint is to provide quality opinion and analytic pieces, engaging feature stories, news of the day and event coverage.
KevinIole.com file photo
Kevin Iole at Madison Square Garden in New York while covering UFC 295
I’m going to travel as much as my budget will allow. If there is more than one card on a night I feel deserves fight night coverage, I may wait until the following morning, to write about it. I am open to suggestions and would love to hear what you think. You can email either editor@keviniole.com or info@keviniole.com with any suggestions or questions.
I want KevinIole.com to be a site for all fight fans. The comments will be open on all stories and there will be forums for you to start discussions on specific fight topics. I will respond in the comments as often as I can.
One thing I will enforce vigorously: You must keep your comments on topic, meaning about fight sports. There is no discussion of politics or religion, no insulting or badgering anyone and no belittling them for their opinion. We will ban you quickly for any kind of personal attacks.
Whether you’re a hard core fan who watches every fight, or one who just watches every once in a while, I want you to feel at home when you’re using KevinIole.com and free to express your opinions. You can disagree with me or another user all you want, but as soon as it crosses the line and becomes personal, I will take action.
Importantly, the site will be free and supported by advertising. I have set up a tip jar and I’d appreciate anything you could give to help support me and grow the site, but it’s not required. You are free to read any story or watch any video on the site. You will have to create a free account, though, if you want to comment.
Not everything is ready as I launch the website today. The folks at BoomPress are developing apps for iOS and Android that will be available soon, and I believe they will enhance your user experience. I will have two podcasts weekly, one on boxing and one on MMA, but those won’t begin this week.
There have been business issues I have had to tend to and all sorts of things besides watching and writing about the fights, so we are not what we will be in a few short weeks.
If you see a typo or an error in a story, please let me know. If you find something wrong with the way the site works/performs, point it out and we’ll get it fixed.
I can’t wait to talk about the fights with you as we move forward. Thanks for stopping by, and I would greatly appreciate it if you make it a habit.