so yea, i went to east rutherford this past weekend to check out the fedor event. here are some of the things i've picked up from the trip. media - most boxing events i've attended had media seats available at ringside, but i noticed this one (it may just be arena or strikeforce) had media seats way far back at the ground level. not sure what kind of view they had considering the cage is elevated from the ground and you can't really see much through the fence. mma fans (at least the ones in jersey/nyc area) - definitely a different breed than the typical boxing fans i've seen on numerous occasions when i covered fights in jersey/new york area. i saw a lot of young 'mma fighters/wannabees' sporting califlower ears and it felt like a fight could breakout in any minute. fedor fans - of course, most of them were russians and a lot of them were screaming racial slurs to silva after fedor lost. i recall one dude yelling at silva, 'go back to the fucking jungle'. some dude was carrying a u.s.s.r flag which i didn't even know that was legal. i got the fuck outta the arena as soon as it ended. main-event atmosphere - based on my experience of attending major boxing events, there was always this eccentric vibe right before the main event. call it a calm before the storm type of feel and i could sense the genuine electricity/nervousness among the crowd as the likes of bernard hopkins, cotto, roy jones, mayweather made their ring entrances. didn't really get that from this weekend's event, but then again, i've never been to a gsp or anderson silva fight. i stayed at the hotel where all the fighters were staying. ran into lavar johnson in the elevator but didn't know who he was until someone pointed it out. saw vitor belfort in the elevator and he seemed like a nice, good family guy. also ran into brett rogers in the lobby and he was pretty cool and let my friend take a picture w/ him. all in all, it was an interesting experience and tickets were moderately priced, so i guess i wouldn't mind going again.
oh and josh barnett - he's a funny guy. not sure why he's doing mma because he clearly belongs in WWE. when they announced each grand prix fighters, barnett was the only one who everyone pretty much booed and he gave crowd the middle finger.
I did a live King of the Cage show back in 2005. It's a terrible live sport, view wise. Can't see much through the cage, so if they're on the ground, depending where they are and where you are, you can't see anything.
when fighters were standing up, i tried to watch the cage but as soon as it got to the ground, i had to watch the screen. i went to a k-1 world grand prix in 09 when i was in korea and that was pretty much the same as being in a boxing event except it had much cooler production/ring entrances and shit. also went to some small korean mma show last year, but they fought in a traditional ring and i was at ringside, so i got to see some good action.
I shared the same feelings with you on most of the points except the electricity part. Maybe it's just Strikeforce shows, but when I went to the two affliction shows, the energy level as Fedor walked to the cage and tight after he ravaged Tim Sylvia was electrifying. I was actually very surprised at the ovation Fedor got when he just made his ringwalk. The place exploded not unlike some of the biggest shows I have ever seen. Although maybe it was just because of him, since no one else seemed to get such a reaction from the crowd.
Good stuff Joony. I've been to several MMA events down here over the last 5 years and I've attended live boxing at various times since I was 5. You are dead on about the crowd difference. I can remember being at Holmes-Cooney with all of the racial undertones and not feeling as spooked as I do walking by a group of twentysomething, Affliction shirt-wearing dudes at an MMA event.
yea, i went to gatti-mayweather expecting a holmes-cooney'esque atmosphere, but there were actually a lot of black folks supporting gatti. i guess times have changed haha. not sure why, but whenever i went to a tito or cotto fight at MSG, there were always rican fans fighting each other for whatever reason. anyways, i'd have to say i was impressed by the popularity of MMA as a sport. most fans in attendance were wearing hoodies or shirts that represented teams and gyms that i've never even heard of. also there were knowledgeable cats who sat in front of me who seemed to know every fucking undercard fighters that i've never even heard of. at last, i know that MMA is a popular spectator's sport, but i was suprirsed by the number of califlower ears in attendance. i guess i should go sign up for a gym and get my ears pounded so i can call myself an mma fighter ::
i went to UFC 37.5 many years ago in Vegas, same weekend of Barrera-Morales II. Headliner was Liddell vs. Belfort. A bit before UFC became what it is now... the event was still fun and had a good crowd etc. the view was a bit of a pain, but the card didn't have much wresting/mounting/grappling so it was actually not bad
REED's Only Been to Low Level Dallas Area MMA Events, but Joony is Spot On about the WANNABE's w/the Cauliflower Ears & Tapout T-Shirts...Bunch of Uriah Faber, Junie Browing Looking Dudes, that R Wound Waaaaaaaaaaaay Toooooooo TIGHTLY... Believe it or Not, when REED Namedrops, "Marcus Hicks" in those Circles, Dudes React like he's Bruce Lee, Steven Seagal or Something...Having Said All That, Marcus is a MOODY, TIGHTLY WOUND Cat Himself.... REED::
Weird. Uriah seems line one of the coolest guys in the sport. It seems to me that 80 % of the guys had shaved heads, goatees, tattoos, tapout/affliction shirts, and wallet chains. ::
True... Faber Seems VERY Cool, but Because he's a Certified CHICK MAGNET, Alot of Dallas Area MMA Wannabe's have MIMICKED the Muscled Up, Blonde Haired, Hat to the Back, Surfer/Skateboarder Look that Faber Rocks...The Stone Cold Steve Austin Look is Very Prevalent Too.... REED:hammert:
you went to a UFC event over barrera-morales II (although it didn't turn out to be a war like the first one, but it was a HUGE fight at the time)?
You want to see an electric crowd, check out strikeforce in it's home town of San Jose and throw Cung Le on the card. They frigging love that guy in SJ. The crowd goes ape shit for Cung. I was at the San Jose card where Fedor lost to Werdum and it was pretty crazy.
Watching on TV, only Montreal with GSP compares in terms of atmosphere to a San Jose card. And I'm sure Toronto will be the same. Apparently GSP is the most popular athlete from Canada. :Hanzkiller:
