I recently got that chance to speak with Michael Carini who is the co-owner of the Elite MMA Shirt Club. Michael fills us in on what him and his team are doing, how you can become a part of his “members only” club, and what they hope to achieve going forward.

Jay Cee: Hello Michael, great to have you on TheMMAReview.co.uk! How are you doing?

Michael: I am doing great! Thank you so much for having me on The MMA review! Everyone here at Elite MMA Shirt Club loves the website.

Jay Cee: Thanks buddy. Tell me a bit about yourself and what your role is at Elite MMA Shirt Club?

Michael: Well I’m from Abington, MA, born and raised and love it here. Although right now it is cold. Waking up to 20 degree weather is getting a little old. I have been an avid martial artist since the age of nine and have been a follower of the UFC and mixed martial arts since its inception. I am currently the co-owner of www.elitemmashirtclub.com with my partner in crime TJ Jessep. TJ is an amazing Artist/Web Designer. You can check out his work at www.tjessep.com.

Jay Cee: For our readers who have never heard of it before, please explain what the Elite MMA Shirt Club is?

Michael: Elite MMA Shirt Club is a unique service, offering our members a t-shirt from a prominent MMA gym worldwide. Our goal when starting the Elite MMA Shirt Club was not to be another “t-shirt” gimmick, but a company for true fans that appreciates where the sport came from – the gyms. We believe the fighters that grace the Octagon don’t just decide one day to be a fighter. It all begins in a gym.

Jay Cee: When did the it first launch and how did you guys come up with the idea for the company?

Michael: We have been in business for exactly one year now and we are loving it. The people we have met along the way is unimaginable. The idea started when I was eating lunch with a friend of mine who was telling me about this really cool t-shirt club he joined recently. He was explaining how he pays $20.00 dollars a month and he gets a t-shirt in the mail from a fishing business around the world. Knowing his passion for fishing and listening to him explain to me that he now never has to go to the store to buy shirts again got me thinking. As we all know, there are no other fans out their more passionate about their sport then MMA fans, right?  Hence we were born!

Jay Cee: What are the fees to sign up and become a member?

Michael: If you are a US or Canada resident it is $20.00 dollars a month, we also offer monthly packages or a 3,6,and 12 month package. These prices include shipping! If you are an international customer it is $29.99 a month just to cover the extra cost of shipping overseas. Since we love you guys at The MMA Review if anyone signs up and mentions the website we will add a free month to your pre-pay membership! Thanks guys! As an added bonus, since this is our one year anniversary we went back to our roots, and where it all started, at Lauzon’s MMA the home of UFC fighter Joe Lauzon and Joe Proctor and we will be giving away a free autograph from Joe Proctor to all new members! It’s not a bad time to sign up!

Jay Cee: For anyone interested in joining what is the process and where do they need to go?

Michael: To sign up just go to www.elitemmashirtclub.com and click on the “join the club” tab. Once there you can choose your location and payment can be made by PayPal, Visa, Mastercard and other major credit card companies. You can also send us an email at: [email protected] and we will help you through the process!

Jay Cee: You work with a lot of different gyms, tell me a bit more about that side of things?

Michael: This is the best part of our job. Meeting the gym owners/fighters and seeing how they dedicate themselves to the gym makes us realize that there is so much more behind their fifteen minutes in the cage. We help out every gym we deal with as much as we can. If you haven’t noticed, our advertising in Fight Magazine features Joe Lauzon’s gym shirt along with Jeremy Horn’s gym shirt. We also were a sponsor of Bas Rutten’s gym when he hosted his Art of MMA event. We try and educate the MMA fans by writing about each gym we feature in a monthly article and post about them on all of our social media pages.

Jay Cee: Is membership limited to U.S. residents only or can anyone become a member?

Michael: Absolutely not! We ship all over the world each month and it always amazes us how powerful the internet is. Every month when we think we have touched the furthest spot on the planet someone else signs up and I have to turn to my globe to find out where in the world they are from. Just kidding…We have Google Earth…Haha!

Jay Cee: Lastly, what do you guys hope to achieve as a company during the next 2-3 years?

Michael: We have recently been adding interesting things into our monthly packages. Our members are now getting things other than our awesome shirts. Torque has been great giving us autographs of Urijah Faber and Sprawl gave every member some stickers. We have also had MMA books and other interesting things provided to our members. What we would love to see happen is more companies getting on board providing stuff to our members. If you have something shoot us an email! Growth is always important as well. Without a loyal fan base we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.

Jay Cee: Ok, great. Well, thanks for taking the time to speak with me. It definitely sounds like you guys are doing something awesome for MMA fans around the world and I wish you the best of luck. If there is anything you would like to add that I have not covered then please go ahead…

Michael: Thank you first and foremost. I loved speaking with you! For everyone out there click this link and we will send you out a free sticker for just checking us out! Make sure you follow us on FACEBOOK and TWITTER. Have a great day! Keep Kicking!

Thanks again to Michael Carini for the time, I appreciate it.

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