Interviews
MMATorch Interview: Filmmaker Dem Marquez on MMA, MTV UK's "Caged"
May 24, 2012 - 2:25:21 PM MMATorch Interview: Filmmaker Dem Marquez on MMA, MTV UK's "Caged"

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By: Dan Moore, MMATorch UK Contributor

MTV UK recently began airing MMA reality TV show Caged, a series that focuses on a group of Mixed Martial Artists trying to make a name for themselves over in America. Whilst I wasn't exactly enamoured with the product itself, MTV heavily promoted the show, which included a series of short videos covering three MMA fighters here in the UK. The videos were produced to educate potential new fans, and were created and directed by filmmaker Demetrio Marquez. I got the opportunity to discuss them with him earlier this week:

Dan Moore: Hi Dem thanks for taking the time to speak to MMA Torch. Before we move on to the MTV videos you've made, how did you get involved in both film making and MMA?

Dem Marquez: Well my dad was a photographer, and I grew up my whole life around photography, so that was my background. When I got to 17, I had failed at school, I did kind of did nothing. Later I sort of reset myself. I'd always been interested, and good at design stuff so I thought I'm going to give this a go, something I'm interested in. I went to university and did a documentary degree. I started freelancing for MTV and an opportunity sort of fell on my lap to do a film on Paul Daley, before he fought Tyron Woodley in Strikeforce last year so I jumped at it. As a hardcore MMA fan, I was like you've got to be kidding me, (and saying to MTV) there's a market for this, and it all went from there.

Dan Moore: Are you exclusively working for MTV now or still freelancing?

Dem Marquez: Still freelance. The stuff I do for them (MTV) is all mainly MMA, but that is like a full time job at the moment (laughs).

Dan Moore: How did you get involved in the Paul Daley vs. Tyron Woodley fight? Did that involve you working for Zuffa?

Dem Marquez: No it was through Paul's PR team with Izzy Carnwath (BAMMA publicist and lovely lady) who approached me as she knew I was a huge MMA fan. They set it all up. They went to MTV and said do you want to do this video on Paul Daley. MTV asked me if there was a market for this kind of stuff over here, and knowing that MMA is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, they agreed with me on it. I really wanted to meet Paul, he's one of my favorite MMA fighters. We went for it, nothing major it was just a small video, and to be honest I didn't really have any control over it. But after that I was like, can I do more please (laughs).

Dan Moore: You've said you are a huge MMA fan. How and when did you start following the sport ?

Dem Marquez: I was always a boxing fan and when I was in my final year of university my best mate introduced me to it. He said to me you've got to watch this Ultimate Fighter show and the UFC. I think the first show I watched was UFC 86 which was about 3 years ago I think, and I was hooked from there.

Dan Moore: You chose three different fighters to feature in your MTV videos, all from the same team (London Shootfighters). What was the reasoning behind that decision?

Dem Marquez: Well it took me two hours to get to their gym. I'm in London and it still took two hours. In my car it normally takes 45 minutes, but London transport either by bus or tube for some crazy reason, takes me two hours. Getting from North London to North West London is the hardest thing to do in the world. That was my closest option! It was partly for that reason. If I need to go and get something like this done, I can't be doing with traveling across Britain. Also the three guys covered all had a different story, and it was the blend I was looking for. They are all good fighters, who are all with big promotions and also happened to be part of the same team. Perfect.

Dan Moore: There is also a very diverse mixture of personalities with the three who were chosen aren't there?

Dem Marquez: For sure, I wouldn't have chosen these guys if they were just good fighters. My brief is to make stuff that is engaging to a new audience who don't know anything about MMA. Whilst doing that i've also got to draw in the hardcore fans like myself and it can be really difficult. Michael Page is someone that people always say to me "I want to know what's happening with him," because they love him. Also when you look at him, that's not what you would associate with MMA if you're watching for the first time. He is great as an example of someone who has just got into the sport. He's having fun, laughing and joking. They all had different stories with Misiek as a real family man. John who views himself as an athlete, and not as a fighter. I chose them as characters being a film maker, and I go with whatever I know is going to work the best.

Dan Moore: I've seen both Michael Page fights in UCMMA and I was impressed. Not only in the performance, but his exuberant personality makes him stand out as someone fun to watch. How was he to work with?

Dem Marquez: Michael's great, he really is. He and Jack Marshman (BAMMA British Middleweight Champion) are probably the easiest guys to work with. Michael loves the camera, he's an absolute showman. He's got such a natural persona and aura about him. He's a very smart guy though and he's got his head screwed on properly. As far as like his brand, and where he needs to go, he's in amongst the new generation. He knows he's all about the business and he's got the MVP moniker. He knows exactly what he wants and the guy is going to go far. You can't tell me another fighter, who after only two fights has brought something unique to this sport. He's found something that no one in the last 15 years has been able to do, he really is a great talent. Michael was the perfect person I was looking for.

Dan Moore: Having witnessed him up close, how much potential do you think he has?

Dem Marquez: I've seen him spar and he is very good, very good. He's so creative, he doesn't even think about the stuff he's doing it's natural. Some guys will stop and think about things, where as he'll just go for it. He has that creativity and sort of flair that many just don't have. He's also someone who's grounded. That's the good thing about Michael, he knows that he's only had two fights. He knows he's got a lot of buzz around him, he's got an MTV film. He knows everyone is talking about him and UCMMA are promoting him a lot. He's not sat there thinking I need better opponents, or to fight for a better organization, just because of the hype after only two fights. No one at Shootfighters is patting Michael on the back, those guys are on him all the time, and he has still got lots to learn yet.

Dan Moore: If he's being hyped to the moon and back, surely thoughts of BAMMA or even the UFC must be on his mind?

Dem Marquez: I don't know. One shame for him is that the Ultimate Fighter (UK vs. Australia) show is coming around soon. As you know, you need to have a professional record of 3-0 to qualify and his third fight isn't until August, whilst the try outs are in June. He's got a long way to go though and it's not about if he joins the UFC, but more like when he does.

Dan Moore: The Misiek profile was superb. It really summed up what is required to be a professional MMA fighter, and the struggles involved when they have families. Was it hard to get across that kind of dedication with the videos being so short in length?

Dem Marquez: Yeah for sure, but I felt like everything that needed to be told was, all within the two minutes. If something is say one hour in length, you watch it at the weekend when you have the time. If it's only two minutes you watch it right away, so I kept them short for that reason. I was tempted to make them slightly longer, but in terms of the product, yeah it's good, but I still know I can do a lot better. The big pride in that video for me, is the fact that Misiek was never covered or profiled before in his entire career. My pride is in the fact I gave Misiek the chance to tell his story, something that no one had done for him before. I was aware that he had a great story. I could have just gone through a list of well known names to feature but what's the point in that. I didn't want to talk about some of the darker stuff involved, I kept it more kind of light hearted with him. He's a great guy, and no one has ever really given him the time of day, and I knew he was keen and happy to do it with me.

Dan Moore: Are you looking to go to any other gyms in the future to profile more fighters?

Dem Marquez: I am doing more, it was something we were talking about today with MTV actually. It might be done week on week but I'm not entirely sure yet. Timing is the hardest thing of all, doing the last lot was difficult because they all had fights coming up. They were also all at different stages of their preparation. I couldn't be at the gym one particular week, or another week for a different reason, and it was very tough. Misiek also got a cut on his head and wasn't available for two weeks, to allow it to heel up, little things like that made it challenging. As long as the timings are OK though, in the next couple of months there will be a few more to come.


Check the videos out at http://www.mtv.co.uk/sports/mixed-martial-arts and keep up to date with future announcements by following @demetriomarquez

Feel free to follow me @MMATorchDan