MMA Cage Matches – Rocked The House

Two of our local martial arts students who participate in the MMA nights at class and who have honed their skills by hard work - cross training with local area Instructors, showcased their skills this past weekend in the Octagon.  Just as in Major League Baseball there is a farm system and the UFC is cleaning up.  They have been sanctioning smaller events around the country and buying out or creating smaller satellite companies to use as a farm system for the “Big Show”, when the cream of the young fighters begin to emerge, they’ll get the nod.

Fighters in these sanctioned events will keep their records if called up to the UFC.  This is a wonderful system, allowing those of lesser skills than we see from the pros on TV to develop into fighters with enough talent, that all they would need is some polishing by top notch trainers or camps, to fight competitively in the big events on TV or PPV.

We had a card with 12 fights.  The first 6 were featherweights and lightweights who just didn’t have the power or skills needed to submit or knock out their opponents – which made for a very long and at times, boring first half of the evening.  The highlight of the early evening being our local welterweight, who pulled off a submission by armbar in the second round.  Then came intermission.  Some went for food and booze and others for a smoke.   I called home and talked to my wife - what a putz ay?  I told her “honey this may take until dawn at this rate, we have 6 more fights to go!”

The call for fights to begin again had folks scampering back to their seats.  I didn’t mind as we had three local instructors who purchased our table - the first row table and ending at the cage door.  They gave me the prime seat on the aisle with the ring card babes seated – one next to me and one across the table from me.  I had good conversation and good company – no complaints from the Ronin as I sat there watching MMA and talking to the gals with my eyes glazing over.

One of the girls pointed to the card and asked where we were, when much to my delight - as I pointed down to show her the match, I noticed that we were starting with middleweights and working up to heavyweights.  Now some people were going to get hurt.  I was right – natch – and the fights blazed by in about an hour.  The final fight would be a fighter from our school, a heavyweight wrestler with some boxing  skills.  Very big and muscular but who knows – that doesn’t really mean you win in the Octagon.  He was green and in his first competitive “real fight” – not wrestling for points and all that and against a former Pan American games title holder!

His fight lasted 18 seconds including the count – I was told later.  At the referee’s command to “Get It On” he literally RAN across the ring – jabbed his opponent in the face and as the guy’s head turned away from that punch he hit him with a right cross, flush on the jaw and as they like to say - ”put him to sleep” – and soundly at that!  A great time was had by all including myself.  I will go again, but no offense fellas, that will be my last card of feather and lightweights.  I loved the power these bigger guys were landing with and knowing that any second could be the last – holds my attention a lot better.  If you haven’t gone I recommend it highly, just show up and have a great night (even a cheap date) as everything was very affordable too.  Good job guys – going out to my buds and students who went home winners!