Empire MMA: The Long Way Around, and the Year It Finally All Clicked

There are easier ways to build a fight promotion than the way Empire MMA was built.

You can raise outside money early.
You can chase trends.
You can manufacture hype before you’ve earned trust.

Empire did none of that.

Instead, it took the long way around — through rundown venues, borrowed gear, exhausted fighters, sleepless nights, and years of believing in something that didn’t yet look like a sure thing. And now, after all that time, something unmistakable is happening.

Empire MMA isn’t just surviving anymore.
It’s arriving.

Last year was the turning point.
This year feels like the one that will be written about.

Hector Castro and the Cost of Belief

At the center of Empire MMA is Hector Castro, a man who has lived inside mixed martial arts for more than fifteen years, mostly without applause.

Castro is a New Jersey native, the son of Colombian parents, raised between two cultures that both understand sacrifice in different ways. Long before Empire MMA existed, he was managing fighters — learning the sport from the inside out, absorbing the realities that never make highlight reels.

Fifteen years as a manager teaches you one thing above all else:
MMA is unforgiving. It takes far more than it gives.

When Castro decided to build Empire MMA, he didn’t do it with investors lined up or safety nets beneath him. He did it the way many fighters start their careers — bootstrapped, all in, betting on himself and his relationships.

For years, Empire existed in that uncomfortable middle ground between dream and disaster. Every event was a risk. Every reinvestment was personal. There were moments when walking away would have been logical.

Castro stayed.

Not because it was easy — but because quitting would have meant abandoning the fighters, the culture, and the belief that South America deserved a promotion that felt authentic to its people.

That belief is finally paying dividends.

Freddy Serrano: Fighter First, Always

Years before Empire MMA found its footing, Castro met Freddy Serrano — a UFC veteran and Olympian whose career had already taken him to the highest levels of competition. Castro began managing Serrano, and over time, a deeper trust formed.

Serrano knows what fighters go through because he lived it. He understands the physical toll, the mental grind, and the business realities that often leave athletes feeling disposable. That perspective became foundational to Empire MMA’s culture.

As an owner, Serrano didn’t bring ego or nostalgia. He brought empathy. Empire’s fighter-first ethos — fair treatment, opportunity, and respect — is inseparable from Serrano’s influence.

Together, Castro and Serrano carried Empire through its hardest years, patching holes, leaning on relationships, and doing whatever it took to keep the doors open.

They didn’t build Empire to look impressive.
They built it to be real.

Gary DeFranco: The Outsider Who Stayed

Two years ago, Empire MMA reached out to Gary DeFranco.

DeFranco is no stranger to combat sports or high-pressure production. His résumé includes The Ultimate Fighter, Power Slap, Street Outlaws, and decades of major network television. The request was simple: come to Colombia, help tighten up production, shoot some content, offer guidance.

It was supposed to be a favor.

Instead, it became a turning point.

What DeFranco saw wasn’t a polished operation — but he saw something better: truth. Fighters with stories. Owners still in the trenches. A promotion that hadn’t been corporatized out of its soul.

He never went home.

Almost immediately, DeFranco became more than a consultant. He became a collaborator. Then a part owner. His presence sharpened Empire’s storytelling, elevated its production value, and brought clarity to a vision that already existed but hadn’t yet been fully articulated.

Crucially, DeFranco didn’t try to turn Empire into something it wasn’t. He refined what it already was.

That balance — authenticity paired with professional execution — changed everything.

The Roster That Gave Empire Its Identity

Last year, Empire MMA’s roster stopped feeling like a collection of fighters and started feeling like a statement.

Carlos Tardio raised the professional baseline. Calm, disciplined, and technically precise, Tardio fights with structure. His presence alone elevated the level of competition, setting a standard that others had to meet.

Jhon “Tacha” Rodríguez became the symbol. His championship run wasn’t just about winning — it was about defining what Empire champions look like. Pressure, patience, and inevitability. When Tacha fights, the room feels different.

Francisco Hernández brought resistance. The grinder. The test. The fighter who makes divisions real by refusing to give easy minutes. His fights are honest, exhausting, and essential.

Then came Juan Pablo Gomes — and his arrival changed the energy. Dangerous everywhere, confident in chaos, Gomes didn’t debut quietly. He announced himself as part of Empire’s future, not a temporary chapter.

On the women’s side, Lina Nábarez and Laura Cannon anchored a division that matured in real time. Nábarez brought control and composure. Cannon brought power and urgency. Together, they gave Empire something rare at the regional level: contrast, credibility, and depth.

These fighters didn’t just win fights.
They clarified who Empire MMA is.

The Circle Grows — and No One Leaves

Over the last year, Empire MMA’s ownership group expanded again. Not through pitches or recruitment — but through the same organic gravity that has defined the promotion from the start.

Everyone who joins hears the same warning:

This will cost you money.
It will cost you sleep.
It might cost you relationships.

No one is sold comfort. No one is promised ease.

And still, they come.

They arrive to help. To consult. To “see what it’s about.” And then they stay. They get pulled into the chaos of fight week, the emotion backstage, the feeling that this isn’t just another project — it’s a living thing.

Empire doesn’t just gain partners.
It gains believers.

The ownership group didn’t grow wider — it grew deeper. Aligned. Committed. Battle-tested.

The Year That Will Be Remembered

For years, Empire MMA felt like a puzzle missing a few critical pieces. Talent was there. Heart was there. Vision was there. Timing never quite was.

Now, the pieces are finally locking in.

The roster is mature.
The production is sharp.
The leadership is aligned.
The identity is clear.

This isn’t the year Empire MMA tries to become something else It’s the year it becomes fully itself.

Years from now, when Empire MMA is spoken about as something established — something permanent — this will be the chapter people point to. The year belief met structure. The year momentum replaced survival.

The year no one went home.

Empire MMA didn’t take the shortcut.
It took the long way around.

And now, at last, it’s exactly where it’s supposed to be.