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Thursday, April 1, 2010
Live Reviews / Jeff Hahne / News UFC event rocks its way into Charlotte
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 11:05 AM
For the first time since 1995, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) brought an event to Charlotte. Yep, the last time they were in town, it was a little more lawless inside the octagon.
Anyway, I went over to Bojangles Coliseum last night for my first opportunity to see a live fight — Fight Night Live. More on that side of it in a moment. What I noticed during the four-and-a-half hours that I was there is that music plays a big part of events like this.
Fighters select a variety of music for their entrances — rock, hip-hop and metal are definitely the favorites.
Gleison Tibau entered the ring to Black Sabbath's "Iron Man." His opponent, Caol Uno, walked out to a remixed version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that had a little more of a tribal drum beat.
Jacob Volkmann chose AC/DC, while Dennis Siver chose Papa Roach's "Last Resort." Nate Quarry picked the mash-up for "Encore" done by Linkin Park and Jay-Z. Jorge River walked to the ring with a "Free Weezy" t-shirt on.
Others walked out to songs with more motivational lyrics. Rob Emerson's song had lyrics asking "Did you ever believe?" Kenny Florian's music talked about getting back up after being knocked down.
Then again, the odd/humorous choice of the night went to Roy "Big Country" Nelson who walked out to Weird Al's "Fat."
It was interesting to see, and hear, what music fighters were picking to get charged up or find a piece of motivation to get their heads into the fight.
In the meantime, between fights, a DJ was spinning a variety of music to keep the crowd entertained. Although I'm not quite sure what he was thinking when he played Kris Kross followed by Vanilla Ice. Seriously.
As for the fights themselves, they were fantastic to watch in person — at least the parts you could see. With all of the ring padding and camera men it makes it very difficult to see what's going on inside the octagon. I found myself looking up at the video screens countless times to see the action — especially when things went to the ground. Or wondering if I was seeing blood or just a red mouthpiece from 50 yards away.
However, if I'm going to sit and watch the screen, I can do that home on my own couch. Of course, there is a different energy when you're in the arena as opposed to watching with a few friends or only your dog by your side.
Some people say the sport is brutal, but to the fan, it's more of a chess match. Jiu Jitsu masters have a counter move for every attack and are always aware of where their opponents limbs are when they're wrestling on the ground. Seeing those moves in person is near impossible from the outer regions of the arena though.
It doesn't mean I wouldn't go again.
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