Sazzy and I really need to watch what we agree to cover. A few weeks ago we agreed to cover Two World’s Collide. A Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Boxing promotion down in Primm, Nevada.
Neither one of us had ever covered a sport like this and thought it would be something fun to at least try. Figuring it would be a fun evening out. Grab a little dinner with our second shooter, see a bunch of guys get beat up and we would be done. Another sport covered…… Besides, Las Vegas is home to UFC, one of the hottest growing sports there is. So we thought we knew sort of what we were getting our selves into… Yea, right!
If you are wondering what MMA is like, think street fighting with a padded ring, some gloves and a referee that keeps you from killing one another. That’s MMA in a nutshell. It’s Intense…
For Sazzy and myself, we had kind of a rude awakening…. Not only do you find that you enjoy the sport, you actually get wrapped up in it. Sucked in is a better term for it. You quickly graduate from innocent reporter to full fledged fan almost instantly. Cheering on the contestants as they beat the tar out of each other, forgetting about the camera or the objective. You start acting like you’re the coach in the corner hollering orders to your fighter. You don’t want to enjoy it because it is so brutal, yet its intensity makes it so riveting that you can’t help yourself from getting wrapped up in the action.
Last night, we went to Tuff-N-Uff at the Orleans resort. This was a pure MMA event and this raised the intensity level a few more notches than what we were used to. When you have nothing but MMA fighters and they are all after a shot at the title, the action gets a bit more brutal and a bit more intense. It’s like watching a car accident that just happened. You know you should stop looking and drive on, yet you can’t because you are drawn in to it all and want to hang around to see how it all ends. See the carnage
In MMA, that wait is very short. Last night you had 16 bouts that were set for 3 rounds at 3 minutes each. Out of sixteen bouts, I think four lasted beyond the first round. Some never made it past the first 20 seconds. The big fight at the end lasted less than 7 seconds. Bell rings and they go at it almost immediately. That’s intensity… Yet after the final bell was rung, they all shook hands, congratulated each other and left the ring happy to have survived another day. Ok, a couple needed some extra time to get their head screwed back on their shoulders right and time for their eyes uncrossed. We were happy to be standing… And wondering why we enjoyed it so much. And finding out when the next fight is.
If you want to join us, the next one is set for May 31 and I am sure we will be there ring side… Listen to more about MMA on this weeks upcoming Podcast
Mark Anthony
