Inside TapouT's Mixed Martial Arts Theater
By Tom LeBlanc
Integrator builds custom speakers for MMA company’s Gladiator-themed Charles "Mask" Lewis memorial theater.

Punkass is how Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fans know him.

He’s also known as Dan Caldwell, co-founder and CEO of TapouT, a company embedded in the MMA industry.

The fighter/executive set out to have an elaborate theater built at TapouT’s Grand Terrace, Calif., headquarters and enlisted San Bernardino, Calif.-based Audio Video Evolution (AVE) to install the electronics.



Why does a corporation need an elaborate theater? Well, TapouT — which says it manufactures a “countercultural” clothing line and produces a “raucous” reality show — isn’t a typical corporation.

A Little Background
Caldwell and a fighter called SkySkrape are both TapouT-sponsored MMA fighters.

A third TapouT-sponsored-fighter, Mask, a.k.a. TapouT co-founder Charles Lewis Jr., died after a car accident in March 2009.

“Movies have always played a big influence in Charles’ and my lives,” Caldwell says. “Movies can be escapism and have helped influence creativity. When everyone else was out partying and hanging out, me, Charles and Skrape would be watching the newest flicks at the theaters.”

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