Here are my recommendations after working with pro wrestling. The needs are SIMILAR, but not the same.
First off, you want good wash on the ring or octagon or "area of mass destruction". That is your primary focus. Mainly, you want to have adequate wash to completely bath the ring and minimize shadows as much as possible. Shadows ad lighting IN the eyes of wrestlers is dangerous as they need to see what they are doing. As we all know, wresting is a show, and you do NOT want to impair their vision for THEIR safefy. In UFC, despite the fact that it is a real fight, safety is STILL an issue.
Technology? Your choice. I used 4 trees of 4 Par38's, one tree on each corner raised 12 feet up. It wasn't high enough. It also wasn't bright enough but that was because I gelled them Red, Green, Blue, and clear. Stick with white. Bigger lights are better, say Par56's would be good. LED's are OK if they are bright enough. My Par38's would have worked fine if I removed the gel's. It was OK, but it COULD have been better. The advantage taht Par38's have is a wide throw, that's about it. Check out I think November 2004 pictures on my web site for examples of that event.
Focus your main lighting on the ring. You can use trussing towers or crank stands(medium duty is fine). You're really gong to want to go at least 20 feet up and be at least 6 feet away. This is both for THROW(20 feet up) and fire requirements(6 feet away to maintain a walking path) Because wrestlers will go to that top rope, they ring can be 4-5 feet off the ground, with the top rope being ad additional 5 feet up, putting a 6" wrestler at head height 16 feet off the ground. Chances are they are taller AND their arms are gonna raise before they fly and hit that aerial. So, in the case of wrestling, you need the light that far up for suitable wash coverage. Plus, you need to cover the area outside the ring because the action WILL spill to outside the ring.
A note about wrestlers: They are gonna tell you want they intend to do in order to AVOID issues. They are also going to LISTEN to you in order to avoid issues. Fighters DO NOT need to do this, because their action takes place IN the ring or fighting area only.
Wrestling rings use 3 ropes and a somewhat shock-absorbing/springboard surface with padding. Fighting rings use 4 ropes and a stiffer framing and under the canvas is extremely minimal padding(if any, the trend is very minimal these days). I won't go into the various types of wrestling ring constructions, but let me say the guy I learned this stuff from, despite NOT being a big time wrestler, has a LOT of knowledge and was great to work with.
With fighting, you can use lower heights, mainly since the action stays WITHIN the fighting area. But, in the case of cage fighting, you need to clear that upper rail. You can move the lighting IN to practicaly onto the posts, but your audience sight lights are a concern and it's an ugly distraction no matter how pretty your wiring, cabling, trussing and fixtures on. You do want a fair amount of light OVER the top, but you can send some lighting through the cage.
With overhead trussing, you have rigging issues. You need to be a qualified rigger AND the facility have certified weight-rated fly points. You'll need to provide your own motors or some method of hoisting. Plus, the trussing, the fixtures, wire rigging cabling and all the goodies. None of this is cheap, but the biggest cost items are the sections of trussing. You can do all sorts of configurations: X, circle, multiple straights.... There is no single right way as long as safety is maintained and the loading is structurally sound.
The walkway can be cheated on. You can use movers or even spots aimed at it. Maybe a 10-foot truss with a curtain hung from it for entrance with a few attention getters hung on it. Some guys have "specific requirements" but at the level you're talking, they won't give a damn, they'll be thankful for anything you can give them. Honestly, most of these guys are not jerks and are very easy going. It's when you get into the elite ones that MAY give you issues. As long as they can easily see where they are going, they'll be happy. You might want a fog machine for those entrances and point some lights at it(the entrance) because it sure looks cool. Some guys don't like fog, most won't mind. Don't assume, ask around. Honestly, most of them won't mind. If they are wrestlers, they want fog. They want the SHOW no matter what unless they have a health issue.
An ADJ Crank-2 only goes to I think 10 feet. An LTS-2 only goes to 12-feet. After that, if you want more height, you really have to go to a medium duty crank stand or build yourself some towers from square or triangle trussing.
You can also go further out if you use LONG throw fixtures like optipars. But then you lose the ability to aim further INTO the ring from nearby. Really depends on your angles. Higher is better. Above is good too. Don't forget, you want to run your DMX signalling and power cabling out of sight and out of mind.
I don't know what you have. If it was me, and me knowing what I have and knowing what I know, I myself would NOT take the job UNLESS they had the power I need. I can sent up 4 trees of 8 Par38's each at each of the 4 posts or 4 locations near the ring. Put up a dimmer pack and I'm goog to go. Keep cabling nice and tight and taped down and it would be "sufficient" to get the job done with minimal onstruction. Not suitable for wrestling, but good for fighting. Give yourselve overlapping spread on all 4 corners and have some of the guys warm up before the audience get there, maybe even some warm-up sparring(non-contact). They are gonna point out issues, and DO fix them. Chances are you're only going to need to adjust the angle of a few of your lights.
Camera operators want it bright in there and a shadow free as possible and with as few obstacles as possible. Audience wants good sight lines. Fighters don't want to be blinded. You can compromise. If you can get good lighting, the camera people will work around the obstacles and the audience won't complain too much about obstructions. If you can make the fighters happy, you're done.
Wrestlers and fighters tend to be easy guys to work for. They tend to be very appreciative and wanting to help. Wrestlers will help more than fighters, but we're talking different mindsets, so don't expect much from fighters, that's just how it is. Do it right and you'll be called back. Do it horribly wrong and you're done.
I got screwed on a job because the repair shop wouldn't get my vehicle ready on time. Haven't worked a wrestling show since. Oh well. I am cancelling MINUTES before I would have to leave. I was angry. But they pay poorly so there ya go. But that was how that group ran. Nice guys, can't say anything bad about them.
