May 31 From the Cubicle to the Cage: New show looks to change average joe's into fighters

When you work an average nine to five job, there are daily frustrations at times makes you want to beat up your boss. While you may be fired if that happens, this is where  Cubicle to the Cage comes in. It is a new idea for a show that will train average joe's into becoming mixed martial artists. The show is an idea from Halifax mma trainer Peter Martell and Boyd Sharpe,  an I.T worker who will be one of the contestants on the show The whole idea for the show is to help get a wider audience range for the sport.

"This is our way of saying that hey the average person can do this, it's just the matter of training. Obviously if your going to be a world champion your going to have to be a dedicated gifted athletic but to participate in the sport doesn't mean you have to be the best physical person in the world. I always tell the fighters when there going in saying hey I am not ready. I say hey you are not fighting Chuck Liddell your first fight. This guy has just as much experience as you. What were trying to do is say hey if you can train, you can do it. You may not have 20 fights or even no fights. You can train, get in shape, lose weight and get confidence. The average person is taking Tae Kwon Do, boxing or wrestling. They don't think of mixed martial arts is a sport for them but it certainly is."

While it is not easy for people to have a successful career in the sport, it did not stop people from thinking they could be a fighter. Over 150 hopefuls tried out for the show under two weeks ago. While there was some promise in the crowd, there were also hopefuls who had troubles going through the exercises and having to puke in trash cans. The participants got put through crossfit training, striking drills, wrestling and grappling. The work from the day of tryouts will be used for footage for the pilot show that they will be using to get potential buyers. While the show has not found a home yet, things look promising.

"There has been interest but they wanted to see a product," says Martell.

"We shot a pilot to get the word out there. It will be screened at the Banff World TV festival, this promo piece. Maybe it's the case of the chicken or the egg. We get a network and then get sponsors or we get sponsors then get a network. Worse case , if it doesn't go anywhere, we had some fun."

While nothing is final yet. The crew behind the show are hoping to get things started early in the summer or in August by the latest. They will be picking  people for the show and start putting them through mma training along with following a nutrition program and going through a strength and conditioning program. After one year of training, they will be put into a mixed martial arts fight. Martell who is also a promoter and co owner of the Halifax league Extreme Cage Combat wants to use one of his events as the platform. The top competitor could also receive up to $100,000 if the show does make it to a commercial television network.

Tags: average Joe \ Boyd Sharpe \ Cubicle to the cage \ MMA \ Peter Martell \ reality show