Former St. John's star hired as MMA matchmaker

Image courtesy of Eric Nakamura

In mixed martial arts news, Guam's Richard Chou has been hired by Strike Force to be the first-ever official matchmaker. Chou, a former star for the St. John's Knights in volleyball in the mid-90s, got his start in the business with Hawaii's Rumble on the Rock and has been in the MMA game for about 10 years.

Chou has relocated from Hawaii to San Jose, California to assume his new position where he will be working with powerhouse television networks such as Showtime, CBS and ESPN.

Chou told KUAM Sports, "That just led to big and better things and it led to where I'm at today. It's definitely been a grind, it's a very tough business to be in." Asked how he felt when he got the phone call, and what his job duties are, he said, "It was a real process to get on board with Strike Force, I worked three events as a consultant before eventually landing a full-time position, which at the moment is match maker for the organization and truthfully I never thought I would be working for them, but it all just came together. I guess my experience and my relationships that I have established throughout my career really came into play here and I'm just really grateful for the opportunity."

He also endorsed the potential of Guam's fighters making it on the big stage, saying, "That's something on a personal level that I've always wanted to do and pave the way for one of the boys back home to get some national TV exposure and move up to the big show, there's been a few occasions where we had a opportunity to have given someone a shot, but things didn't fall through, but we are not going to give up, that's for sure.

"I'm in touch with all the local promoters on Guam and most of the fights camps over there. I think it's only a matter of time, but there is definitely a lot of talent over there, so we are going to keep working at it."

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