Longtime MMA fighter manager and current CEO of the Legacy Fighting Alliance, Ed Soares, has announced that he will no longer be managing fighters as of early 2017.
Soares is current representing such fighters as former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida, current UFC Interim Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, among others.
Soares recently appeared on The MMA Hour to talk about his decision to leave his fighter management role.
"Starting in the beginning of 2017, I'm going to finish out my duties…Listen, guys like Anderson, guys like Nogueira, guys like Lyoto — these guys are my friends, these guys are my family. I'm still going to be there with them. But as far as managing, my partner Jorge [Guimaraes] is taking over Tough Media, which will be the management company, and I'm going to be focusing 100 percent on the LFA” said Soares.
Soares is now going to be focusing primarily on the Legacy Fighting Alliance, a new promotion that has merged the Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Legacy Fighting Championships together. Their first event is scheduled for early 2017.
"It's a bittersweet day," he said. "I've had an incredible management career. I've had a blessed career. But what it really boils down to, I feel there's really not much more that I can get from the management business that I haven't already gotten. I've managed one of the greatest of all time. I've managed various champions. Being a manager has been a blessing. But I'm really excited about this new chapter in my life, helping guys to where they want to go. Because I had to really dig deep and think about why I got into this business. When I got into this business, it was really for one reason, and that was because I really enjoyed helping guys get to where they want to go. And as a manager I was able to do that with a lot of different guys."
Soares previously ran the Resurrection Fighting Alliance, a promotion that provided the UFC and Bellator MMA with plenty of fighters in the last few years.
"Like for instance, in the RFA, we've put 52 guys into the UFC in the past three years," he said. "And out of those 52 guys, only six of them were guys that we kind of worked with [management wise]. And that's what helped me to see, you know what, I'm able to help so many more people and touch so many more people's lives as a promoter than I was able to do as a manager. And that's what makes me feel good. That's what fulfills me, is helping these guys achieve their goals. When guys fight in the RFA, and now when guys fight in the LFA, it's like a fraternity man…For the rest of your career we're there supporting you, helping promote you, even after you leave because for us it's not about getting the guys to the UFC or Bellator, it's about keeping guys there. And that's what's important to us."
