Cage Rage 12

I attended my first ever cage fighting show this weekend. So far I have ignored MMA as it seems rather brutish. But I have to say, it was a great show. There was considerable skill and talent on view. Yes, there was blood, yes there was a knockout that the squeamish may wish to avoid seeing, but overall, it was the skilled groundfighting abilities of those that train in BJJ that seemed to win the day. Of the 12 or so fights, at least 5 won by armbar and another 2 or 3 from choke. BJJ club regular Brad ‘one punch’ Pickett defied expectations by not living up to his name. Instead, the featherweight boxer won by submission (something called a corkscrew arm bar). There was also a huge Brazilian chap fighting. He looked like Jaws from James Bond. No, he was bigger than that. His opponent, big as he was, was no match and lost with a ‘verbal tapout’ – translate that as: HELP!!!
I very much admire the guts and courage it takes for any competitor to get in the Octagon cage. I can understand if armchair punters may not like the ‘boring’ elements (tight close quarter grappling) but it’s all part of the skill and in any case, how many boring time wasting boxing matches have you seen? So MMA deserves to get a wider audience and due respect. The only downer of the day was that my instructor Eddie was supposed to fight but his opponent pulled out at the last minute.
In other news, the Meerkat is awarded yet another stripe to his white belt. It must have been my newly acquired ‘hooks sweep’ from the butterfly, which is quickly turning out to be a favourite of mine. Well, it beats just lying there in closed guard and clinging on for dear life!