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A chance viewing – and something of a conversion to MMA

There are some strange things that one can get up to in the dead of night.

On Saturday evening – or to be precise, very early Sunday morning – in line with my normal practice, I awoke, rose, made myself a vat of black expresso coffee and toddled along to my office in order to fire up the computer and begin what we Rust columnists describe as the “day shift”.

About two hours into the process, I suddenly remembered that I had heard mention on the radio earlier last week of the upcoming UFC (mixed martial arts) world heavyweight title clash between Cameroon’s Francis Ngannou and France’s unbeaten Ciryl Gane that was to make place in the wee hours (UK time).

Having at that moment reached something of a dead end as regards touring the world’s news websites for inspiration and/or ideas for a blog – and then having checked where I might find any “live” television coverage of the bout  – I decided to take a break, move across to the sofa and the television upon which we recently set up subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime and BT Sports amongst other services and see if I could find the correct channel on which to view the same.

To my own amazement and no small sense of satisfaction I managed to find it in record time – and suddenly I was joining the action about halfway into a flyweight contest that was taking place immediately before the main event.

I have to be honest here – I had never viewed a mixed marital arts event (as represented by an UFC bill) previously, although by chance I did once come cross a “highlights version” of one of Connor McGregor’s bouts about three years ago and stayed with it to the end.

Watching the balance of that flyweight fight – and then the main event itself – I was suitably impressed by what I imagine are the key attributes of the UFC version of mixed martial arts.

The arena was packed. The whole set-up of the promotion was clearly well-thought out and created without regard to expense, not least the octagon in which the action took place.

To a man – on this occasion there were no women involved – those brave enough to participate in this type of MMA fighting were plainly supremely fit. You won’t see a Buster Mathis or Dillian Whyte-type physique inside a UFC octagon.

[I am generalising big-time here]. What I liked about it was the “no nonsense” aspect of the promotion.

Whereas classic boxing (as I’ll call it here) traditionally plays up the theatrical side of a big promotion, with national anthems played etc. – and in a championship bout of 12 rounds duration the contestants spend two or three rounds “scouting” or gradually working their way into the heavy duty action of the middle rounds – in mixed martial arts fighting (championship bouts lasting five rounds of five minutes each) the fighters are going at it with extreme intensity from the first bell to the last.

Literally, at any moment, a spectacular lunge by one contestant might result in the other being “taken down to the floor” for some full-on wrestling – or a swinging right hook, or a lightning-quick karate-style kick to the side of the head or chest might turn the course of a contest completely on its head.

Anything that leaves a fighter temporarily stunned, or confused, or even simply in a vulnerable position against either the wall of the octagon or on the floor, will immediately result in a full-out attack by his opponent designed to render him unconscious and/or prone to a wrestling hold that will prompt a “surrender” in seconds.

Any bout – whichever way it is going at any particular time – can end with a spectacular turn-around of fortunes in an instant.

That is why in the early hours of Sunday morning – well, about 4.00am to be precise – I found the main bout of the evening so compelling to watch.

[For the record, although in the main event both men had their chances and the sheer violence of the exchanges was thrilling, Francis Ngannou – known for his boxing knockouts – eventually prevailed by concentrating upon his wrestling moves and gaining a points victory.]

 

 

 

 

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About James Westacott

James Westacott, a former City investment banker, acquired his love of the Noble Art as a schoolboy in the 1970s. For many years he attended boxing events in and around London and more recently became a subscriber to the Box Nation satellite/cable channel. His all-time favourite boxer is Carlos Monzon. More Posts