Double Life of an NIL Agent & Director of Fighter Operations ft. Matthew Guidi

In today's episode of The Business Behind The Game, I sat down with Matthew Guidi, a sports agent and operator building a career across two completely different worlds at the same time. By day he's an NIL agent in the basketball division at First Round Management, helping college athletes navigate deals and protect their name. By night he's the Director of Fighter Operations at Dirty Boxing Championship, overseeing everything that happens on fight night for a growing MMA promotion in Miami. He's also just completed his Master's in Sports Management at Florida International University, all at the same time. In this episode, we cover how Matthew broke into sports business through internships and volunteer work, what it actually takes to be an NIL agent representing college basketball players, and the red flags he looks for before letting a client sign a deal. We also get into the completely different world of combat sports operations — what fight night actually looks like behind the scenes, how a smaller MMA promotion competes for talent against the UFC, and where he sees the future of combat sports heading. Plus his advice for anyone trying to break into sports business from the ground up.