August 9th 2008

August 9th 2008.

This was a date in which I fell in love with a sport that I did not know existed.

I was coming home from a night out and turned on the TV to see what was on as I wasn't really tired.

I turned over to ESPN to find this Ultimate Fighting Championship on. I had never watched or heard of it before, however I see that Brock Lesnar was on it and as I used to watch him in WWE when I was little I thought I would see what this was about.

I fell in love with it instantly. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is the sport and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a promotion company that holds MMA bouts. The first fight that I watched was between Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta. The build up and Pre fight promo was really interesting, they both had good story lines, Florian was the runner up of the first Ultimate Fighter and Huerta was on a 16 fight win streak and had only lost once in 23 fights at the time. I was hooked instantly.

The Fighters have to learn all different disciplines of Martial Arts in order to become well rounded and a more complete fighter. From grappling  work such as Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, Judo to Striking such as Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay-Thai etc.

I was only going to watch it because Brock Lesnar was on it, but once I watched some of the action I haven't stopped watching it to this day. I watched Brock Lesnar just demolish Heath Herring. He was a monster. So big and very quick for someone of his size. And in the main event this was the first time I watched Georges St-Pierre (GSP). He put on a masterful performance by dominating number one contender Jon Fitch who was also on a 16 fight win streak. GSP made it look easy.

You could say that the reason I am now a fan of the MMA is because of Brock Lesnar. Yes, he was the reason I kept the channel on, but it was down to the fighters and the skills and heart that they showed that night that captivated me and made me become and instant fan. I am quite sure that I am not the only one who got attracted to the UFC just because Brock Lesnar was involved. He certainly made me aware of the UFC and it was a great move for the UFC to sign such a huge well know Sportsman.

August 9th 2008, my first UFC.

UFC 87

Brad