Jeremy Couball’s home MMA Museum

If you are a fan of MMA, you probably have at least one TapouT shirt that you wear proudly, and maybe you wore it to an autograph signing and it has some great memories. Others might have some autographed gloves or event posters, but just about 95% of the MMA fan base can not hold a candle to this man.
Jeremy Couball has one of the largest, if not the largest, and most complete collections of MMA merchandise and memorabilia in the world. His house in Southern California is the closest thing MMA fans have to a Smithsonian Institute for fighting with some items dating as far back as the very original UFC event. I had a chance to talk with Jeremy to learn more about this obsession and get an up close look at this enormous collection.

- What got you hooked on MMA?
UFC 3. I saw the first one with my dad after hearing about it and seeing an ad for the pay per view. When i saw it, I was shocked to see this raw fighting really televised. It was ufc 3 and the plans for ufc 4 were in the mix already. I thought that this was something I want to see them all. So I followed this sport from then on. I did not start collecting until later on around ufc 20 something.

- Give us a rundown on what your collection is like from room to room?
I had one room where I would hang items as i got them. this started with one or two posters and as I got more, the walls filled up. i then was hanging all the passes i found with the posters. as the room ran out of wall space, I had to then hang just my favorite posters and store the rest. So just one room had a lot of my stuff. that was way back when i first was collecting. Now that stuff is all in storage and waitting for something bigger.

- What was the first piece of merchandise you bought?
A sweatshirt and a ufc 27 poster came free in the box. i ordered a sweatshirt from full contact fighter. i guess they used to send out the smaller posters when you made orders. the ufc posters at that time were the small ones.

- What do your friends think of your collection?
They like it. everybody would like something cool mma related for their house, room, garage, etc. I’m just a cat who went looking for it. All my friends like to look at some of my stuff on display in a glass case in my living room. They all come over to train and or watch the fights at my house.

- Do you buy everything related to MMA like a completionist or only for certain fighters or shows you like?
I’m into all things mma. well, im not looking for the backwoods super amateur mma posters, but I love some of the smaller shows like battlecade and KOTC. ufc is like home town, so im more partial to them, but yes mostly all things mma.

- Whats the one item that you regret not buying?
Oh man, where do i start with this one? i have passed up so many things for so many reasons. sometimes it was because i didnt have money, or simply didnt want it at the time. i started out collecting just the posters and wanted to complete a full set of ufc posters from ufc 1 to modern day. i was so focused on the posters, i didnt even look into anything else. i passed on everything that wasnt a ufc poster. NOW i want everything! i had to go back to find the other mma items i passed on and sometimes they were gone. one item? cant say, there have been sooo many along the 8 years of collecting.

- What is the holy grail of MMA collectibles that you do not have yet?
Royce gracies gi from ufc 1 or ufc 2. there are things that other people will consider the holy grail, but to me it would have to be that.

- What is the most expensive piece in your collection?
That’s a hard one to answer too. at todays prices i would have to say some of the more rare posters from pride and ufc. I also have a light weight tourney medal from the early ufc days. That has to be worth in the thousands!

-What is the most valuable piece to you?
War of the worlds poster. this was the first poster ever made for what is now called the ultimate fighting championship. most people dont know that the ufc was originally going to happen in Rio de Janiero, brazil. and that it was originally called war of the worlds. there was 1 poster made for that event. everything fell out and the name, date, location, and fighters all changed. I have that vary first poster “WAR OF THE WORLDS”

- Best purchase you ever made for an item?
UFC floor canvas, and some posters. the ufc floor canvas i stumbled on by accident. Big John Mccarthys wife used to work for the ufc. I met her and him a long time ago at a show and talked ufc stuff. She told me they were moving soon and didnt want to take a lot of stuff with them. She had floor canvas’ at their house. She was going to leave some behind to let the new tenants trash. i made arrangements RIGHT AWAY and went up and got one. John decided to keep them later on, but if I had not got that, it would have been left there as trash.

- HAO vs Round 5 MMA figures – which do you prefer?
I prefer the HAOs myself, but the round 5 figures are cool. I dont like any of the other figures out there now. ufc has jakks figures and I don’t like them. HAO figures because they are so realistic to the fighters and they have held their value over the years. they are hard to find now. I have all the round 5s and most of all the HAO figures.

- Any funny stories of having a fighter sign something for you?
I’m not really into the signing stuff that much, but lately with the passing of carlson and helio gracie, I have looked to have certain things signed. certian guys are impossible to get a autograph from. I once took a seminar just to get the sig from one of the teachers. Bas Rutten signed a ufc 18 poster on the hood of my car and burned his hands it was so hot. He then told me to burn my hands on the car like he did for me. I burned them and we both had burned hands.

- Are there any plans for your collection such as selling them, making a museum or just keeping them in your house to enjoy?
MMA MUSEUM coming soon! It’s been a slow process but yes there is a MMA MUSEUM in the mix. I think I have enough stuff to one day open a museum. there is so much that people havent seen in pictures and online. I think there arent to many people out there who can pull that off. baseball, football, and basketball all have a hall of fame and museum. why dont we have one for MMA? This is my goal. this has been an idea of mine for some time when I started collecting. Nobody is doing anything like this for our sport nor can they now I don’t think.

- What are the next pieces of merchandise you plan on buying?
Whatever comes my way. because my collection isnt just ufc, I look all over the world for items from shows nobody knows about. With that being said, I want a pride ring canvas right now. There are some rare posters im looking for and finding them is super hard to do these days!

- Any tips or advice for other collectors?
Stay out of collecting! Nah just kidding. But my advice would be to get the items when you can. I don’t know how many times I said “I’ll get one of those later” and never did. Now I can’t find one. if its there, get it! Hell, get 2 of them.

If anyone is interested in learning more about Jeremy and his collection, you can contact him at jnlcouball@hotmail.com or on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1358689183