Big Dog Sponsorships News & Updates

Announcements, fight-night notes, and gym-visit reports from the road — straight from Joey Barlow and the Big Dog Sponsorships corner.

Big Dog Sponsorships Launches — Fighter Sponsorships With No Fees, Ever

Big Dog Sponsorships is open for business. Founded by Joey Barlow — a salesman with twenty-plus years in media, advertising, and automotive sales, and a former college wrestler and football player — Big Dog is a sponsorship brokerage built for one job: matching paying sponsors with combat-sports fighters.

The model is simple on purpose. Fighters never pay a fee — not to sign, not monthly, not ever. Big Dog earns only when a sponsorship it built actually pays a fighter. Every sponsor is approved by the fighter before anything is sold, sponsors a fighter already has stay protected, and photo proof of every banner, walkout, and social placement lands within a week of the fight.

Big Dog works the Midwest fight scene — MMA and combat sports across Ohio, Michigan, and the surrounding region — from the gym level up. If you fight, start with how fighter sponsorships work at Big Dog. If you run a business and want your brand walking to the cage, see how to sponsor an MMA fighter. Sign with the Big Dog — win your belt.

Road to AFP 10 — December 5 in Cleveland

The next fight weekend on the Big Dog calendar is AFP 10 on Saturday, December 5, 2026, at the NEO Sports Plant in Cleveland, Ohio. Joey Barlow will be in the building in his separate role as a Sponsor Ambassador for American Fight Promotions (AFP), working the event sponsorship side of the night.

While he is in Cleveland, Joey will also be stopping in at Cleveland-area gyms to introduce Big Dog Sponsorships to coaches and teams in person — the same handshake-first way every Big Dog relationship starts. Gyms that want on the visit list can reach him through the Big Dog Sponsorships contact page.

One thing stays straight, in print: the AFP ambassador work and Big Dog Sponsorships are two different things. Big Dog Sponsorships is Joey Barlow's own separate business — it is not part of AFP, and AFP does not endorse it. Event sponsorships run through AFP; fighter sponsorships run through Big Dog. Watch this page for the Cleveland trip report and the fight-night footage after the event — the same kind of seat-level video as AFP 9 Through My Eyes.