Everybody has arm wrestled at one time or another. I know I have, more than once. More times than I can count to be honest. Well now there is a new league that incorporates that and a few other things and it’s called XARM.

“We bill it as the roughest three minutes in sports,” said UFC creator, Art Davie. “I had considered going back into MMA, and as I dawdled and didn’t move quickly on that, the UFC finally gained traction under the new owners did a good job getting it into the mainstream especially with the deal with Fox.

“About that time (2008) I got approached by a TV production company in Seattle and that had this very basic raw idea. If they wanted it to be turned into a sport they were told to contact me. They were told if they wanted it to be a spectacle then to contact Hulk Hogan, or if you want to make it a sport talk to Art Davie,” he said. “They made a tape, it was a little goofy, it even had Danny Bonaduce in it.”

But he went back to the drawing board; got MMA fighter’s opinion’s and emerged with a new direction.

“Three weeks later I emerged with a table appropriate for what we’re doing, rules, 10-point must system,” said Davie.

Television viewing has changed and people’s appetite for athletic competition has as well.

“It becomes very easy to videotape. We’re even experimenting with putting lipstick cameras on top of the table,” Davie said like a true innovator.

Now for those who have arm wrestled trying to recover and do it again quickly is very hard to do because of the amount of lactic acid that builds up afterwards.

“You can’t do 3-5 minute rounds. Too long and too intense. Three-1 minute rounds with one minute of rest between rounds,” Davie said. “Three minutes is perfectly fit for digital.”

When the economy got bad Davie decided to make sure this idea didn’t die.

“Then the recession hit and things slowed down. I then decided to buy it. We were given $300k by Endemol to develop a mobile game.“

Machinima is another partner and they helped them create a reality show.

“We have six weight classes, four for girls and we are moving forward,” said like a true promoter.

You might see this on Pay-Per-View in the future but that’s a process too.
“With a cable pickup I go Pay-Per-View, without it I don’t,” he said honestly.

You aren’t just arm wrestling or punching for that matter.

“Some of our best knockouts have come from kicks.”

There is a certain amount of built-in brutality.

“Here you have to concentrate on scoring a pin, in a 10-8 round, concentrating on an arm-wrestling pin while somebody is throwing a punch at your head.”

They have strict rules, they trained the fighters they have taken precautions for safety. PED testing could happen in the future.

“This can be an adjunct to MMA.”

He knows some will oppose this like they did early on in MMA. They have applied for sanctions (including California and Nevada) which could take up to 3 years. Right now they are performing on Indian reservations in Casinos.

“Now there are 100 million homes in the United States and Canada wired with a box. There really is no PPV in Japan and Europe. In the next 5 years it will all be online through the computer. You will be able to offer all of this through a phone or a pad. That’s where this is going, “Davie added.
You can make some money if you can get on a card.

“For every event I have an overall purse. I have 24 fighters and two alternates. You get a minimum if you lose a maximum if you win. Everybody gets paid.” (Plus there are some other bonuses as well)

There are 13,000 amateur MMA fighters in the US and Canada.

“I’m in this long term,” said Davie.

Checkout the action here:
http://www.xarm.com

To sample the game first-hand, download Free iTunes Game: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xarmf.u./id474856720?mt=8