Meerkat in the CAGE!

Boy oh boy! What just happened? One minute I'm at home, next, I'm whisked off to the Excel Centre in Docklands and fighting in the cage in front of an expectant crowd.

This Saturday I joined BJJ instructor Eddie and the rest of the gang to the very first 'Weekend at Dave's' themed exhibition. Sponsored by Fosters and the lads mag 'Nuts' the venue was packed full of everything lad, from hot cars, to hot chicks. And I mean DAMN hot. Everywhere you looked, glamour models and PR girls were flaunting their wares. None of us knew where to look, it was all, so, erm, distracting.

Anyhow, back to the cage. There it was, in all it's blood splattered glory, the famous Cage Rage ring. Our gang was to give the public a demonstratrion of BJJ and MMA. After a warm up, we spent the next half an hour just following techniques that Eddie showed us. The crowd ambled by, not really showing much interest. Then, after the technical class, Eddie paired us up for sparring, one-one-one in the ring. Me and Adam got off to a flying start, a blur of adrenalin pumped kimonos, arms and legs. It probably looked scrappy, but me and Adam always go at it like a ton when sparring. I managed some sweet escapes and turnovers but eventually he caught me with an armbar and then it was over. I couldn't believe how quickly the adrenalin dump hit me. during normal class, sparring is no problem, but in front of a crowd, suddenly funny things happen. Other members were paired up and they seemed to do very well, I hope our demo impressed the audience.

Next came the MMA part of our demonstration. It was straight into sparring as we were again paired up. The 'Lizard' demonstrated just why he loves it in the cage. A storming cage fight with the big Romanian Remus, the growing crowd seemed to really enjoy the show and cheered loudly. I was next and again paired with Adam and after a shaky start, I managed to throw a few frankly useless punches and kicks. Adam took me to the ground and worked another armbar. Boohoo, game over almost as soon as it finished. At the end Adam finally and deservedly was awarded his blue belt. Thank goodness for that cos he nearly always subs me and frankly its embarassing to lose all the time to a white belt.

So there you go, Meerkat gets his first taste of cage fighting in public and I must say, despite my rather tragic performance, I really really enjoyed the buzz of fighting. There is another chance to demo our skills tomorrow. I just hope I am not too distracted from the buxom eye candy everywhere. If I do, Mrs Meerkat, who has offered to come with me, wil certainly have something to say about that.

Photos to come soon.