Ben Evans Portfolio

That’s What They Call a Perfect Saturday…

The best part about someone’s ‘perfect Saturday’, is that everyone’s is different. Everyone has their own version of perfection. It’s subjective. However, with that in mind, this is the perfect Saturday.

Waking up, comfy, in your bed, knowing that you decide what you do today, is essential. After a full week in work, a Saturday morning requires a special breakfast. A full English fry-up gives you all the energy you need to have a successful weekend. Sausages, hash browns, bacon, toast, the works. Food, surprisingly, plays a bit part in achieving my perfect Saturday. Alongside our breakfast we’re going to need a homemade smoothie. Now, you can mix and match your fruits but for this particular day, we’re going to go with, mango, orange and banana. Stunning.

Once breakfast is out of the way, it’s time to get active. Now there are a lot of options here. We could go for a run, we could go for a hike, but if we’re talking perfection, then football has to be involved. Whether it be a game or a simple kick-about at the park, some early morning football will always be a yes from me.

We’ll take it easy after that. Time to head home, take a shower and get into something a bit more relaxing. If I’m lucky, the early morning football on BT Sport will be a good game and one to actually look forward to. It wouldn’t be a perfect Saturday without some midday sports. It would definitely be nice weather outside, so, once the game has finished, I feel like I would need to sit outside in the garden and read my book in the sun. If you’re not relaxing on your Saturday, you aren’t doing it right. At least not all day.

The time is about three, maybe four o’clock at this point and now we’re ready to get out the house and do something. I’d pick my girlfriend up from her house and take her for a nice drive or walk along the beach and grab a classic ice cream van 99, with the flake, of course. At this point, the weather would be looking its best and that means a quick trip to the pub for a well-deserved pint. I think it’s always a win if we can make a quick stop at a plant shop or garden centre and pick up a nice new bit of greenery for the house.

After heading home and dressing into something a little more formal, or at least something more formal than my classic shorts and t-shirt combination, we would head out for a meal at one of my favourite restaurants. It would more than likely be something Italian. The Italians just get me, that’s for sure. The smell of a good Bolognese or the crunch of a well-done pizza crust. That’s the way to do it! I feel like a nice way to round of an afternoon like that would be something classic, like mini-golf or bowling, something you’d alm0st consider wholesome.

At this point, the day is almost done. The sun begins to set, light begins to fade and the day feels like it’s coming to an end. However, this is a perfect Saturday and that means it’s a big fight night. I’m a huge fan of mixed martial arts and the UFC and so, I would get all my friends round for a busy night of top quality combat sports.

A perfect Saturday is perfect because it’s everything you want it to be. There’s no stress, there’s no worries, it’s exactly as it should be. Mine involves; good food, great company and usually, a lot of sport. That’s what they call a perfect Saturday…

Ben Evans

“Never Stop Moving” – Live Sports Reporting

I learnt a lot after my first two MMA events that I worked in 2021. It was great experience and the feedback I’ve gotten made the work I did at the event I worked in March of 2022 so much better.

The first two events I did, I sat there, I watched the fights, I made notes on them all, who I thought would be a fighter to keep an eye on, make sure I had enough information to write a piece or two on the event and its fighters.

However, after all the feedback I’ve had, I know that I could have been doing so much more and truly taking advantage. Doing more. That’s why for the next event, myself and my colleague conducted several live interviews, recorded snippets of the fights, ran the site social media and got a lot more stories out there.

After a lot of the fights we approached the winners and asked if we could get a quick interview with them. Those, along with the video clips I recorded on the night were then made into a post-fight video uploaded to the site Youtube channel which showcased all our work from the night. As seen here:

We thought about more of the pieces that we could get on the night and got them out for everyone, we were active, we were always looking for something that could help us.

“Never stop moving” was a good bit of feedback I got which told me that if you keep moving, you can find even more stories, or you’ll run into someone with something you need.

Running the social media on the night too was a great learning experience. The feedback I got on that was all promising, I kept it consistent, kept the layout of the posts the same and provided content that I, as a fan, would want to be seeing.

Whenever I report on my next one, I’ll make sure to try and go the extra mile once again.

“It’s the best way to get views” – Your Story’s SEO

Here’s something I didn’t really know about before being told about it in some of my work’s feedback. You can write your stories and share them on your social media pages all well and good but you could truly boost numbers if you take proper care of the SEO.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and it is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines.

After writing a few stories I was reminded to start taking advantage of the SEO. At the bottom of the work you upload to the dashboard, it will offer you the chance to review the readability of your writing and may suggest you change things like, shortening sentences, improving grammar and ultimately helping to make your work flow better.

As well as this, you can also change and improve the SEO. This is how your story will be searched for online. What comes up when someone finds the story, what exactly they are seeing. Here’s an example of what comes up.

So, you are able to alter the slug, keyphrase and meta description, all things that are going to help you gain greater views on your story. It also analyses what you put to ensure that they are reliable.

It has a green, amber and red system to tell you when the readability and the SEO is too a good level and after some feedback I will always make sure that both of mine are green.

Little things like this have improved my writing skills and encourage me to think more about my work. It seems that not every site allows you to do this but I do believe it is a very useful tool.

“Listen and Respond” – How to Improve Your Interviews

During my time working with Combat Sports UK/Overtime Heroics, I’ve been able to speak with some of the countries best fighters. I’ve interviewed a number of fighters for the website and it’s fair to say I have developed a range of different skills as a result.

Interviewing is something I enjoy. It is something I want to be doing throughout my career. Therefore, I need to ensure that I am always on top of my game whenever I am interviewing somebody.

There are several different skills that you need, however, for me, my editors and colleagues believe that the skills I have had to develop most over the last few months have specifically been: my researching and my cognitive response skills.

Firstly, my research. Of course I research when I do my interviews, you must if you are to prepare good questions and be ready for whatever may come up. But, I’ve been told there are levels to this. You can do a quick google search and find all the basics that you need, or you can take that one step further.

This can be mean, checking out the interviewees social media pages, delving deeper into their google searches and finding out more about them from things they used to do in the past. I’m always surprised how much more you can find out about a person when you get all-out with the research that you do.

For example, if I am speaking with a fighter who has a bout coming up in the next few weeks, I’ll go back and look at who they’ve already fought and how those fights went.

If I see that a fighter has beaten someone who has since gone on to be a world champion, then I know just how good my interviewee must be. You can find out about the fighter but finding out about the fighters that they have already fought is now a necessity.

Because my knowledge of the sport and its combatants has grown so much over the past couple of years, I understand the sort of things I must look for when I am researching a fighter or a promoter.

The other skill was my cognitive response skills. Listening to what my interviewee is saying and responding to it. If I hear them say something that I did not expect, nor plan for then responding to that in the correct manner is really important.

You could a story just from their response that you least expected. But, it’s how you look at that and fully appreciate it in a way that you can get a thorough follow up.

Since this feedback I have taken it all onboard and am now a more confidence and arguably more skilled interviewer.

Paralympic Gold-Medallist, James Roberts, Retires after Incredible 2021

Tokyo 2020 gold-medallist, James Roberts, experienced a remarkable 2021. A year that saw him win gold in the wheelchair rugby event, a year that saw him be awarded an MBE, and a year that has seen him retire from his sport.

Incredibly, Roberts only began playing wheelchair rugby in 2013, and by May of 2014, he was already selected to be part of the Great Britain wheelchair rugby squad. The Welshman has both his legs amputated below the knee and had limited movement in his arms and hands after contracting meningitis toward the end of his first year at university.

Considered Great Britain’s primary playmaker, at the time, he helped inspire his side to the 2015 European title thanks to a riveting 49-48 defeat of defending champions Sweden in Finland.

He was also the standout offensive player for Great Britain at Rio 2016, who narrowly missed the semi-final stage with a two-goal loss to Australia and a heart-breaking one-goal defeat to Canada in overtime in the pool stage.

After all that, he finally won his first gold in Tokyo and said that the feeling afterwards was “relief”.

“My feeling at the time was probably one of relief, one for the games that had actually gone ahead and relief that we were good enough and then a little bit of relief that it was sort of done and dusted for me to be honest.

“Now that I’m retired I can look back on it a lot more fondly I guess, but it was a massive relief at the time but obviously that relief has turned to a lot of celebration.”

Roberts also expressed his disappointment for the Japanese people who were not able to show off their country as much as they could’ve been able to.

“I’m gutted for the Japanese people. They didn’t get to show off their country more to all spectators and fans that were there supporting. They’re brilliant out there, the Japanese and they would’ve put on an even better show than they did.”

It was also reveleaed that James has been included on the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list and will receive his MBE for services to sport.

“It was definitely very special getting that letter, it’s something that some amazing people have achieved before me and I’m honoured to be named amongst that elite group of people.”

After what was certainly a memorable year. The gold-medallist has recently announced his retirement from sport and will now take time to be with his family and friends, as well as, getting back into the professional working life he had before he became a professional athlete.

“It feels much more special than anything I’ve ever won”, Paralympian, Paul Karabaradak, Reflects on his 2021

At the fourth time of trying, 36-year-old, Paul Karabaradak finally picked up his first medals at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo and reflecting on the year he’s had, believes it’s his most “special” as a professional sportsman.

The Swansea-born para table tennis player suffered a massive stroke at the age of 10 and since then got a real passion for his sport after playing in his local youth club.

He went on to represent his country at a number of events, that have taken him across the world. However, it was the medals he won last summer in Tokyo that have meant the most to him.

“It was a big relief. It was fantastic. I’d worked towards it for such a long time, and you start to think it will never happen. I mean, I’d been to three Paralympics and I’d always wanted to win a medal so to have all my years of hard work and sacrifice pay off was fantastic.”

Although the experience of being in Tokyo was “a bit strange” to Karabardak, whilst we are all in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it did not take away from what he achieved whilst out there.

When comparing the medals that he has won throughout his career, his bronze and silver medals from the games will always mean the most to him.

“The Paralympics is the pinnacle. I’ve won a lot of great medals; World Championships, European Championships, I’ve won a lot of opens that have been special medals in themselves but to win medals in the games is extra special and I think it’s ultimately, it feels much more special than anything I’ve ever won.”

Paul won the bronze medal in the men’s class 6 singles and a silver in the class 6-7 team event, alongside his teammate, Will Bayley. Bayley being a six-time Paralympic medal winner.

Speaking about his teammate, Karabaradak was full of praise: “It was fantastic to play with Will. He’s one of the best in the world and he’s won a lot. He’s a big name in the sport and we’re really good friends as well, so, to play with him is a huge honour. It was really special.”

Looking ahead to the future, the Welshman isn’t slowing down yet.

“This year, I’m just training hard because I think there’s still a while before my first competition so I want to do well in them but the big one this year is the World Championships in Spain.

“Obviously, I want to try and win a medal there, in singles and doubles. I think the future holds; training hard, gaining more Olympic success, working hard and most importantly, enjoying what I do, and the sport that I love.”

“Share it Everywhere!” – The Importance of Social Media

During my placement with Overtime Heroics/Combat Sports UK, one of the first pieces of advice/feedback that I received was about taking full advantage of my social media platforms.

Particularly towards the start of my work with the site, I was mainly writing stories for them to share on their site and although they obviously share them on their socials, they naturally expect the writer, in this case, me, to share them just the same.

This means that once the story goes live on the site and is posted on the site’s Twitter/Facebook and Instagram, I am expected to share it everywhere too. Get as many eyes on the work as possible.

I will usually quote retweet their original tweet with a little message teasing the contents of the story. I’ve kept this strategy to this day. Since receiving this feedback I have also gotten into the habit of sharing my work to my Instagram.

The reason that journalists get views on their work is all down to their promotion of that work and social media is pivotal to this.

I have also noticed just how important to support your colleagues in the industry. There are approximately 20/30 writers working with the team and we are naturally expected to share each others work too.

If you share/like/comment on another’s work, will usually result in them returning that favour, which means your work gets some more traction. Having a good relationship with the team has been really helpful for growing my brand and my social platforms.

Since my start with the site and since I began sharing my work, to the extent that I do now, my followers and views have gone up a great deal. I’ve grown a great many contacts that I work with regularly also.

The site is split into departments and of course I work with the combat sports department but the entire team and their socials have grown a lot and it’s given me some great experience so far.

Another thing that is helpful is sharing to specifically targeted groups on Facebook. ‘Welsh MMA’ and ‘Welsh Fight News’ are the best ones to share my stories to as they are regularly viewed by the exact set of viewers that I intended.

There’s logic to every share nowadays.

The Story of how Welsh-Woman, Storm Trentham, Helped Bring Lacrosse to Kenya

Storm Trentham and two of the Kenyan girls.

Former Welsh lacrosse player, Storm Trentham, achieved a lot in her playing and coaching career in Wales, but the story of how she helped bring the sport to Kenya is nothing short of life changing.

After a successful playing and coaching career in both Wales and briefly in Australia, Trentham had decided she wanted a new challenge. A challenge that led her to Africa.

In 2007, she volunteered for a sports charity in Kenya and every trip to the country, highlighted the fact that the boys had plenty of sports to play, whilst the girls did not.

What began as just taking some lacrosse equipment out there whenever she got the chance, turned into so much more. “I never intended for it to turn into an international setup, it really was just to give the girls something to get involved in”, said Trentham.

“I was still heavily involved with Wales [lacrosse] during these early years so, there was no way I could get involved with two international programmes. It was the 2015 World Cup that changed my thoughts to get it from a recreational sport to making history”.

After years of hard work, over 400 young women have now signed up and are playing lacrosse regularly within Kenya. Not only that but in 2019, Storm and the girls made history when they travelled to the Under 19s World Championships in Canada to compete.

Speaking on the experience in Canada, she said: “Every day was a first for the girls. From using washing machines to toasters, for some going into a big shopping mall and all sorts. So many things we take for granted in the western world, yet for our girls, it was fascinating.

“Once we got to the World Champs venue, the girls were more than celebrities. Everyone wanted to meet them, have photos. Even the likes of the USA and Canada, who were the big guns of the event.

“It was pretty special, and the players deserved every bit of it. What I really loved was that they weren’t just the all-singing, all-dancing Kenya team. When they got on the pitch, and particularly when we narrowly lost to Germany by 1 goal, who finished top 8, that result really made people think ‘wow Kenya are here to play too!’. I was proud of how they conducted themselves in an alien environment and situation.”

After what was a life-changing experience in Canada, the girls are now aiming to compete at the next World Championships in 2022, which will take place in Shamrock, Ireland.

Storm’s work has saved the lives of so many young girls. Girls whose lives now revolve around the sport, and this can be seen from the pride that each and every one of them radiate.

From Wales to Kenya, she cannot say enough nice words about her experiences. “I’d take being in Kenya, in our slums, with these kids over any 5* holiday, I’d rather give a child a year of school fees than receive birthday presents, etc, it just changes your mindset as to what is important in life.

“It makes you realise that so many people need support, and not in a huge way, but we can really change lives, without really having to change ours.

“The kids of Kenya have impacted my life more than I have impacted theirs and I’m truly grateful for each and every one of these players in my life.”

Five ranked fighters who could retire from the UFC in 2022

2021 saw the end to some glistening UFC careers. With names such as; Carlos Condit, Paul Felder, Marion Reneau and Joe Benavidez, being just a few to hang up the UFC gloves this year. Let’s look ahead to to some of the currently ranked fighters who we could be seeing inside the octagon for the final time in 2022.

Frankie Edgar

Former lightweight champion, Frankie “The Answer” Edgar entered the UFC back in 2007 and it didn’t take long before he started attracting some attention. In 2010 he fought for his first title, where he got a controversial judges decision win over BJ Penn to become lightweight champion and shock the world.

Edgar held on to the belt for two years after eventually losing it to Benson Henderson at UFC 144 and after failing to reclaim the title in a rematch between the two, he made the move down to featherweight. His time in the division saw him fight for both the interim and unified titles, losing on both occasions and also saw him pick up wins against, Charles Oliveira, Urijah Faber, Cub Swanson and a number of others.

Further down the line, “The Answer’s”, 2021 hasn’t gone to plan with both his bantamweight bouts ending in defeat and at the age of 40, it’s fair to anticipate that we may not see the number 11 ranked 135 pounder compete inside the octagon for much longer. Whether 2022 will see the end of his journey or not, with a record of 18-10-1 under the UFC banners, we’ll all remember just how good he’s been in the sport.

Rafael Dos Anjos

Another former champion and veteran of the sport in Rafael Dos Anjos. The current number six ranked lightweight has had a terrific career fighting in the UFC. A slower start, in his quest for UFC gold, which saw him wait nearly seven years and compete in 18 fights before getting his shot at gold.

He won the lightweight strap in a classic between himself and Anthony Pettis back in 2015 but could only defend it once before losing it to Eddie Alverez just over a year later. The Brazilian then spent a few years competing at Welterweight, taking on the likes of Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington and Leon Edwards. He finally returned to lightweight at the back-end of 2020 when he beat Paul Felder by UD.

At 37-years-old and still calling out every fighter on the roster, this one is arguably the least likely, but with a lot of inactivity and limited wins over the last few years, we may be witnessing the last of RDA in the UFC.

Holly Holm

We’ll never forget when Holly Holm made the impossible possible at UFC 193, when she knocked out Ronda Rousey, handing her a first ever defeat and making her the women’s bantamweight champion. So, to think this could be her final year at the highest level is disappointing.

Holm’s time in the UFC saw her do the unthinkable against Rousey, and fight some of the world’s best, but having not fought since October of 2020, her days may now be numbered. She was scheduled to fight on two occasions this year, against Juliana Pena and Norma Dumont but had to withdraw from both.

Still number seven on the women’s pound-for-pound fighters list, we can certainly still see the 40-year-old bow out in style in 2022. A potential rematch and shot at redemption against former champion, Miesha Tate could be a great spectacle for fans to experience.

Glover Teixeira

It is crazy to think that Glover Teixeira is the light-heavyweight champion of the world, given the obstacles he has had to overcome to get there. Losses to fighters such as; Jon Jones, Alexander Gustafsson, Anthony Johnson and Corey Anderson made us think his dreams would never be made a reality, but after going on a fantastic five fight win-streak, he got his second shot at gold.

Fighting for the title at the age of 42 isn’t something you see often, but winning it is even more impressive. A second round submission against Jan Blachowicz saw him become the oldest, first-time champion in UFC history. To think that it may be his final year with the promotion is a sad thought, which is what makes his win at UFC 267 all the more glorious.

The champion is expected to fight in first title defence against Jiri Prochazka sometime in the upcoming year. Whether it is a win or a defeat, we can’t expect to see the Brazilian compete for many more fights.

Stipe Miocic

Arguably the greatest heavyweight fighter of all-time, Stipe Miocic, has just four losses in his entire career, most recently at the hands of Francis Ngannou, who won their rematch to become heavyweight king. Beating almost everybody he’s fought, at least once, during his time in the UFC, this one would probably be the most difficult fighter for fans to say goodbye to on the list.

A career that’s seen him get the best of fighters like, Mark Hunt, Fabricio Werdum, Allistair Overeem, Daniel Cormier and Ngannou. The former champion has made it clear that he isn’t finished yet and was openly disappointed by the fact he was not asked to fight for the interim heavyweight title against either Ciryl Gane or Derrick Lewis, but approaching his 40th birthday, he may not have many fights left in him.

It is rumoured that Miocic is very interested in a heavyweight super-fight against Jon Jones but if that fight doesn’t come into fruition then perhaps a final crack at regaining his title could be the perfect way to finish what’s been a fairy tale story in the UFC.

Which ranked fighters do you think we could be seeing for the final time in 2022? Let us know!

Dana White believes Nunes-Peña rematch will be ‘biggest women’s fight of all-time’

UFC President, Dana White has stated that he believes that the inevitable rematch between Amanda Nunes and Juliana Peña will be the biggest fight in women’s MMA history.

At UFC 269, the impossible became possible when title challenger, Juliana Peña beat the GOAT of women’s MMA, Amanda Nunes, via a second round rear-naked choke. Her victory already being regarded as one of the biggest upsets of all-time.

With many wondering whether it was just an off-day for the former two-division champion, we are poised for a rematch of epic proportion in the upcoming 2022 calendar year.

Looking ahead at the rematch, White has since said: “The Peña rematch with Nunes will probably be the biggest women’s fight of all time, that rematch will be the biggest women’s fight of all time. (Right now) it’s Ronda Rousey and Holly. Every way that it could possibly beat it, it will. I don’t think it. I know it. It will crush that fight.”

Holly Holm’s victory over Rousey back in 2015 was the previous benchmark for upsets inside the octagon, when Holm’s brutal head kick won her the women’s bantamweight belt.

Both Nunes and Peña have expressed interest in a rematch and fans of the sport can be expecting this fight sooner rather than later.

With the stakes so high for both of them, there’s every chance this will main event a pay-per-view instead of being put as a co-main – highlighting how much White values this feud and the potential of Julianna Peña vs Amanda Nunes 2 to be.

Can Juliana Peña shock the world once more or will it be business as usual for the ‘Lioness’? Let us know!