Posted on 03/06/2007 6:38:04 AM PST by SShultz460
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The president of UFC would kick your ass.
His name is Dana White, he's a former amateur boxer and he's planning soon to fight one of Ultimate Fighting Championship's baddest men -- former light heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz -- in a private sparring session. Why? Just because.
The lead referee of UFC would kick your ass. His name is "Big John" McCarthy, he goes 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds, and in his spare time he's an LAPD officer who trains other officers how to kick ass.
If this is the president and a referee of UFC, then you know the fighters of UFC can kick some major ass. Late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, I saw it for myself when "UFC 68: The Uprising" came to Nationwide Arena. More than a million homes bought this fight for roughly $40 each on pay-per-view, but I watched from just outside the Octagon -- close enough to get hit by the flying blood.
I'm hooked. And if you've read me at all, you know I'm not hooked by much of anything. Show me a sport, and I'll make fun of some part of it. The unethical coach, the egomaniac player, the stupid GM. I don't like anything or anybody. I'm proud of that.
After taking in my first UFC event, I can still say I don't like anything. Because I don't. I don't like UFC, either.
I freaking love it.
Read on, please. But I've got to warn you. I'm going to write longer than I normally do. We have a lot to talk about.
• • •
The Gizzard was willing to die in the Octagon, and he almost got his wish.
The Gizzard, a pasty Indianan named Jason Gilliam, was fighting Jamie Varner in the first bout when he found himself on the wrong end of a choke hold. Choking is legal in UFC, with fights called off when a fighter taps his opponent or the mat in submission.
The Gizzard did neither.
Whatever window of time Gilliam had between surrender and consciousness came and went without any tapping. Finally the referee -- not McCarthy -- ended the fight with The Gizzard maybe 20 seconds from death. How do I know he was 20 seconds from death? I don't. But his face was purple. One of his feet had been crammed almost completely through the chain-link fence. He wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing.
Varner, whose nickname is "The Worm," climbed off The Gizzard and pantomimed a sleeping chicken before launching into a solid rendition of "The Worm" dance. Behind him, medical personnel were prying the mouthpiece out of Gilliam's clenched teeth.
It was over in 94 seconds. And Varner wasn't happy about that.
"I just wanted to throw down," said Varner, who had double-wrapped his right hand in anticipation of doing some heavy punching. "I was disappointed it didn't go longer."
I freaking love UFC.
• • •
Only a tragedy can derail this train.
The UFC is everything professional wrestling once was, only with real punches, sleeper holds and blood. World Wrestling Entertainment calls its top shows WWE Raw, which is a joke. The WWE isn't raw. It's Broadway on steroids. It's a farce. Scripted.
Which is why UFC has blown past. Fake violence isn't enough anymore. People want the real thing, and UFC is providing it in a distilled way that boring boxing can't. UFC grossed more than $220 million in pay-per-view in 2006, the most lucrative year for any event -- wrestling and boxing included -- in PPV history.
And 2007 will be better, because UFC is heading east. Founded in Las Vegas and nurtured out West, UFC made its Midwest debut Saturday and hits Texas next month for UFC 69. After that it's on to England. Already amateur UFC gyms are popping up around the country, grassroots dens of mayhem siphoning off talent once drawn to boxing.
UFC is going to become a miniature version of NASCAR unless something horrible happens, and by horrible I mean a scandal outside the ring or a death in it. Already UFC has had one fighter (Stephen Bonnar) caught using steroids. Bonnar admitted it, served his suspension and is back. End of scandal.
The other worry is UFC's Las Vegas roots. Although main-event fighters are believed to make more than $1 million per PPV fight, White keeps his finances a secret. Not good, considering UFC is co-owned by Las Vegas casino magnates Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. That raises eyebrows. We know the score. We saw Bugsy.
As for what goes on inside the Octagon, no fighter has been seriously hurt -- a broken arm or nose doesn't count -- but if someone dies in there, the outcry will get loud. A decade ago, the UFC survived Sen. John McCain's attempts to get it banned in the United States, but a death would give grand-standing busybodies like McCain another shot.
Meantime, we have spectacles like Drew McFedries-Martin Kampmann. Kampmann is a middleweight from Denmark, and after 30 seconds his Nordic face had been punched into a bruised tomato. This'll be over soon, I wrote in my notebook.
Right idea.
Wrong winner.
Kampmann took McFedries to the ground, snaked an arm under his chin and began tightening like a python on a pigeon. The referee pulled one of those moves you see in pro wrestling, lifting McFedries' arm once, then twice and watching it fall to the mat.
But this was real. McFedries was out cold. The referee tapped Kampmann's shoulder to end it, but got no response. He smacked Kampmann's shoulder. Nothing. Finally he shoved Kampmann off McFedries, whose legs were beginning to convulse.
McFedries ultimately walked out of the ring, but that was a scary moment.
I freaking love UFC.
• • •
Ken Griffey Jr. was in the house. First row. So were a handful of his teammates from the Cincinnati Reds, including Adam Dunn. And the people at Nationwide Arena didn't care.
UFC/MMA Ping!
More Mainstream coverage for MMA
I thought Dana and Tito's bout had already happened? I would be inclined to think I could at least hang with White in the ring, but I could be wrong since I would NOT step into the ring against Tito. White needs skills, enormous stones, or both.
Is there bread with these Circuses?
The Government isn't providing bread and circuses.It's providing Health care and Stipends to the old. Go figure that one.
Dana White comes across as rather "ghey" if you ask me, maybe even gay. I mean, he's probably a great guy, but there is something kinda Andre Agassi-ish about the guy..
Huh?
Look here, I am 6'4" and go about 220lbs. I have been in my share of rumbles.
Sometimes I got the better of the guy, sometimes I got my ass kicked.
I never went looking for a fight, but I never backed down and let someone disrespect me either. I always looked for a way out instead of fisticuffs. I always minded my business.
With that said, THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I WOULD MESS WITH ANY THESE PEOPLE. Not even the guys in the 155lb class. Not the referee, not Dana White, none of them.
I am just being realistic. These guys fight for a living. They wake up thinking about the most efective way to hurt someone and work all day long perfecting it.
I wake up and think about morning traffic and the best way to kill a hangover.
I'm not sure I could kick the ring-girl's ass.
They're like to veloso-raptors of the MMA world. Small, spidery, quick, nimble and violent. I'll stick to the 180-200 Lbs. I never did like fighting the little guys.
They remind me of the "monkey-guy" from Bloodsport.
"I'm not sure I could kick the ring-girl's ass."
Or "Octagon Girl", to be more accurate.
As soon as you square up to those little guys, they will spin around you three times and have you in an arm bar before you throw the first slopping punch.
I'm a 2-hit fighter. I get hit, I hit the floor.
OK, not exactly, but I'd run like a schoolgirl away from any one of these UFC dudes. Not even in my best shape could I take 10 hits to the head and not have it phase me like these dudes. There has to be something lacking upstairs to really want a career in pugilism.
Thats true but I like watching them beat the hell out of each other.
I used to watch the payperview fights at the bar or someones house that had a bigscreen HDTV and a couple cases of beer. Ten or so of us guys would chip in $5 each.
Now you can see the payperview fights on youtube an hour after they are over.
Beats the hell out of looking at a football game or soccer.
There were some issues with the Nevada Commission over it and then it became timing, as anything but an absolute KO over White in a boxing match early might have made Ortiz look bad (he also was training for a fight against Shamrock).
That said, this wouldn't be the first time White stepped in with Tito, many years ago, the 2 of them used to spar on a regular basis. From what I understand, White was able to hold his own in those sessions.
These guys have an amazing tolerance for pain. I watched a bit over the weekend, not pay per view, and it's some sick stuff. It's like watching a car accident or street fight. It seems so wrong but I can't look away.
One of the very cool things about MMA is that it is possible to walk into a gym and train with the stars of the sport. You can join the Team Quest gym and train with real UFC fighters. No other sport is like it. Try getting a game of one-on-one going with and NBA star.
A friend of mine rolled with Forrest Griffin just the other day. I boxed 5 feet away from a guy on a Monday who had fought in UFC 67 on a Saturday. I hope that kind of down to earth vibe never leaves MMA.
That is your first mistake. ;o) and you are right.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.