“This isn’t just a sporting event,” Tyler Sory says. “It’s an event
for Memphis.”
That event is the mixed marital arts bouts presented by Empire
Fights on Friday at Minglewood Hall.
Sory is a Germantown High grad and former tennis pro. He got into
mixed martial arts while living in Florida. Looking to lose some
weight, Sory began training with a man who got him not only in shape
but hooked on the sport. Sory started promoting fights in Biloxi and
recently was lured by investors back to his hometown to start Empire
Fights.
According to Sory, Empire is scheduled to have regular events at
Minglewood and Harrah’s Tunica. Friday night’s fights will feature the
top amateurs from around the region competing to be on the card at the
Harrah’s event in October.
Sory says that Empire Fights’ bouts are on a “different level” from
those of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). “The UFC is
basically the Coca-Cola of the world,” he explains. “We’re San
Pellegrino.” Instead of a UFC-style spectacle of loud music and mayhem,
Sory envisions something more like the boxing matches of the 1960s for
Empire, where patrons will “get dressed up for an evening’s
entertainment, bring their wives and girlfriends.”