Sophomore sports management major Joseph Treadaway poses with the MMA fighter that he manages Michael "Magic Mike" McDonald. McDonald's upcoming fight for the 145 lb belt is scheduled for Nov. 3. Courtesy of Joseph Treadaway

Sophomore sport management major Joseph Treadaway prepares for his chosen career path by managing the mixed martial arts fighter Michael “Magic Mike” McDonald.

Treadaway has managed McDonald for about a year. He discussed why he chose the management side of athletics.

“As an athlete, I knew I had to do something in sports,” said Treadaway. “The coaching side of it was there. I definitely could have coached, but being that I had knowledge from so many different aspects of sports, football, basketball, baseball, boxing, wrestling, MMA, I kinda grasped the concept of the business aspect of sports, and I don’t get caught up with the ideology of sports a lot of people get behind, like people live and die for football. I also understand that it’s the marketing, it’s the management of the players, it’s how you get sponsors, the right people behind the company, and for anything to be successful whether it’s a sport, a business or just about anything, that’s gonna take the right backing of the right team.”

Treadaway explained how he got into MMA management.

“My wrestling coach started coaching wrestling at an MMA gym, and once I graduated, he knew I was an athlete, and he knew I was searching for something,” said Treadaway. “He asked me to come check it out. I started doing MMA myself, so I trained myself. And then eventually, you know, I’m in school for sports management, so the idea just kind of clicked. What’s better than a sports manager that you can punch in the face? I’m your sports manager, but I’m in there in the gym with you every day. I put in work. I’m a face that you see. I’m not someone that takes your money and says I’m working for you. It kind of gives me a foot into the game.”

According to Treadaway, fewer requirements and regulations for management in MMA distinguish it from other sports.

“For Michael, he’s a great fighter,” said Treadaway. “He’s a really talented athlete, but he really doesn’t have the business side of sports, and you have to advertise yourself as well as be a great athlete in any sport. So I kind of just help him take that over. I got to train with him for a really long time where we became friends, so it opened up itself to the opportunity where I was actively looking to be a sports manager or sports agent in the next two to three years. He needed someone right now, so I kinda buckled down. I was like, ‘Well, I’ll do what I can for you.’”

Treadaway discussed how managing McDonald will help him on his career path.

“I’m gonna do my internship in one of the biggest sports management businesses in the country, and that’s a big part of why I’m managing and chose to do this on my own time,” said Treadaway. “I don’t make much money from managing Michael, but it’s a great opportunity to build my resume, and when I go to look for that internship at the end of the summer, it will really help to show that I’ve managed a professional athlete before. I’m familiar. It just helps me more than it does pays me. It’s a great opportunity.”

For Treadaway, the acquisition of money for McDonald is both a challenge and an enjoyment.

“I’m their legal representative, and I essentially do everything that makes an athlete money whether it’s contract negotiations, whether it’s getting sponsorships, whether it’s endorsements, whether it’s product endorsements, whether it’s getting him a different split on a pay check, whether it’s ticket sales, I handle everything for him,” said Treadaway. “If we can sell more tickets, if we can get a sponsor, then it really shows that I’m doing my job for them. It makes me worth the money that I make a percentage of because let’s say Michael fights on our next card and I don’t get him anything, well, then he’s paying me essentially to benefit him nothing. When I go out and I acquire him sponsorships, when I acquire him interviews, it helps get him exposure. It just really shows that I’m doing my job, and that’s the most beneficial part to me.”

Treadaway discussed the work of sport management.

“When you get a real athlete, someone that belongs in the top levels of the sport like Michael McDonald, you don’t want those guys to focus on having to worry about the business side of sports,” said Treadaway. “They have so much to focus on. He fights some of the top guys in the world. He fought a guy named Thanh Lee as an amateur and dominated for a little bit, and then lost, and Thanh Lee is one of the greatest fighters to come from this area. He’s a beast. They just need to focus on fighting, so I allow them to do that and then they appreciate the work. They don’t even necessarily know what goes into it, but they see that end product of having a bigger pay day, not having to have that focus on finances, on management, on what you’re gonna eat the day before the fight. I lay out everything for him.”

Managing McDonald has been satisfying work for Treadaway.

“I’ve never enjoyed the thought of working for a paycheck,” said Treadaway. “I believe in incentive. How hard you work is how hard you should be paid. I’ve enjoyed being in a position like that, in a position where how hard I work is directly reflected on how much I make from the show.”

Treadaway described the MMA fighters as “modern day warriors.”

“We abide by some rules, but it’s a way to do sports and not be necessarily connected,” said Treadaway. “You get that team feel, and you also are an individual. It’s very similar to wrestling. You’re a part of a team just like you’re part of a gym, but when it comes time to perform and to compete, you’re the only person in that cage.”

MMA fighting can lead to benefits beyond self-defense.

“I’ve seen more guys walk into that gym with confidence issues, you know low self-esteem,” said Treadaway. “In an intimidating situation, they aren’t comfortable, and it just teaches you to relax. It teaches you to handle situations more in a level-headed mindset than it does letting your emotions take the best of you because most people in a fight-or-flight situation they get this nervous sensation of ‘What do I do, what do I do?’ and when you train and you’re in a gym where you fight every day, you train every day, you not necessarily only learn how to defend yourself. You definitely learn to do that, but you just learn to defuse situations also. Mixed martial arts isn’t just two guys who know how to fight in a cage. It’s a lot of character that goes in behind it.”

Treadaway offered advice to anyone deciding on a career path.

“Going into anything, not only sport management, I would have to say you’d have to start with something that you love or something that you’re passionate about,” said Treadaway. “I’ve done, like I said, sports since I was a child. If I was to do anything that wasn’t involved in sports, I wouldn’t know what I was doing. Again, me becoming a sports agent partly was credit to me being an athlete. I wanted to learn to manage myself while also benefitting those around me, so my friends that were athletes, the future athletes that I manage, but not only for them, for myself.”

McDonald is scheduled to compete in the 145 lbs. professional championship at the Battle of New Orleans #26 on Friday, Nov. 3 at the Mel Ott Multi-Purpose Center in Gretna with doors opening at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $25 for general admission in advance and $30 at the door.

“He may be making his last local appearance,” said Treadaway. “We’ve got him scheduled possibly to go to Titan FC, which is a drafting pool for the UFC. The UFC essentially looks around at all these other minor organizations and picks guys up from those. We’re not one of those organizations. We’re a little bit smaller than what they would typically draft from, but for us, if we can get him a title, if we can get Michael a belt under the organization that I work for, we can use that to advertise Michael at a much larger level.”