MMA? What exactly is MMA?

This is usually the response I get when I mention the up-and-coming sport of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).  MMA is the fasting growing sport in the world right now.  Of the current crop of well-known promotions, UFC is the leader of the pack and, ultimately, the one that has made the sport mainstream.

Mixed martial arts are the mixture of various martial art disciplines including striking (boxing, muay thai and karate), as well as grappling (wrestling, jujitsu [particularly “Brazilian jujitsu] and judo, etc.)  Fights can be won through submission, knockout , or taking the fight to the full three five-minute rounds fought in an octagonal cage.

Now, that the history lesson is over, let’s talk about the biggest MMA event to be held in recent Michigan history (UFC 123).  This event makes history, not for being the first UFC event to be held in Michigan (UFC 9: Motor City Madness in Cobo Hall takes this honor), but the first sanctioned one.  MMA had been illegal in most states for a long time—until recently, when professional MMA was made legal last year.

The UFC took over Michigan starting on Wednesday, November 17, with a pre-fight press conference at MGM Grand Casino Detroit. Questions from the media and fans were answered by UFC president, Dana White, and the headlining fighters: Quintin “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, Matt Hughes, “The Prodigy” BJ Penn, Joe Lauzon and George Sotiropoulos.  Open workouts were held the next day at the Detroit Athletic Club in downtown Detroit for the media to see how the fighters would look before going into battle two days later.  Then, on Friday, at The Palace of Auburn Hills, the weigh-ins took place and fans were allowed to watch and cheer on their favorite fighters.

After all the pre-fight activities, the big event was finally upon us on Saturday November 20^th at The Palace of Auburn Hills.  The night started at 7pm with the preliminary fights, which only two of them were aired on cable’s Spike TV.  The main card fights were shown only on pay-per-view for the entire world to see the exciting fights.

The first headlining fight was Joe Lauzon vs. George Sotiropoulos.  This was a very exciting fight, which showcased all the MMA skills. Lauzon and Sotiropoulos went back and forth exchanging strikes and, then, took the fight to the ground. In the end, Sotiropoulos made Lauzon tap (submit) because of a kimura at 2:43 of round 2.

The second headliner fight, which was the co-main event, featured the rubber match between BJ Penn and the UFC legend, Matt Hughes.  This fight, which was the third of a trilogy of battles between these two fighters was the tiebreaker.  All of the hype surrounding this fight came down to 21 seconds in the octagon.

The fight started with Penn and Hughes trading punches, when all of a sudden Penn caught Hughes with a right hand on the “button” (knockout), which put Hughes down for the count.  Everyone was expecting a war that nonetheless ended before either of the fighters even broke a sweat.

The main event was the light heavyweight bout between former champions, Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida.  Now, this fight was the total opposite of the co-main event in terms of duration by going the full three rounds.

This fight was action packed from start to finish.  Both fighters didn’t want to lose this fight, as they’re both on the road back to the championship.  Both utilized what they were good at: Jackson using his strong boxing skills, while Machida used his elusive, unorthodox style that kept Jackson on his toes.  Throughout the three rounds, both fighters looked pretty much equal, since neither did much damage to the other, which is why the fight went to the judges. The fight ended in a split decision, ultimately, in Jackson’s favor.

All in all, I believe the state of Michigan showed the UFC and all of their fighters a lot of love.  Being an MMA practitioner, enthusiast, and supporter, I can only hope that this event’s success will bring back the UFC and other major MMA organizations to hold professional bouts in Michigan again.

Author: Salvador Cid III

Graphic: Salvador Cid III