Small Shows Are Well Worth Going To
Posted by Bill Thompson on June 15th, 2008
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Mixed martial arts is a sport that is dominated by one big organization and a few others that seek to grab the headlines. Most fans of the sport get drawn into every little thing that happens involving the UFC or any of the other relatively bigger orgs like EXC, Dream, etc.. There is a whole nother world of MMA out there and fans need to discover it and revel in it. UFC 85, 89, and 1,001 aren’t the only fights in town and they aren’t the only fights worth seeing. There are small orgs all over the world that offer you the chance to see the stars of tomorrow, exciting fights, and deliver a more personal and up close experience.
Xtreme Fighting Organization, XFO, is the local MMA organization around me. I will preface this with the fact that I do train for the man who runs and organizes the shows, Jeff Curran, and do train with a lot of fighters that participate in the events. However that doesn’t stop the events from being well worth the price of admission and a fun all around experience to partake in. At earlier XFO shows you would have been lucky enough to see Clay Guida square off against Bart Palaszewski, Rory Markham lock horns with Jason Guida, Terry Martin battle it out with Chael Sonnen, Roger Huerta take it to Naoyuki Kotani, or Jeff Curran face Rafael Assuncao. Along with those fights future and former TUF fighters like Wayne Weems, Kerry Schall, Luke Zachruich and Josh Rafferty in action. But most of all a nice assortment of established talent and hot prospects like Eric Schafer, Mark Miller, Tara LaRosa, Nick Thompson, Chase Beebe, Matt Hamill, Clay French, LaVerne Clark and Shonie Carter could all be seen in action along with many more. Your local show may not have as many big name fights or fighters, or it may have more. The point is that the fighters of today and yesterday are present at local shows along with the fighters of tomorrow.
Big name fighters aren’t enough to sate any fight fan and that is where local shows can deliver in spades. They can’t afford to toss any match-up out there because they don’t have a big brand name that the people will come back to see no matter what. They survive by bringing in big names to supplement the young talent and by making sure that the fights on the card should be exciting and end in a decisive fashion. It’s very rare that a local card will be filled with decisions or boring fights.
The biggest draw to a local card would have to be the viewing experience. At bigger shows it can cost you an arm and a leg to get a seat where you have trouble seeing what it going on in the cage/ring. Local shows aren’t cheap per say, general admission for XFO shows runs at $45, but for that price you can get a seat anywhere in the house that offers a good view. You are also afforded the experience of close proximity to the action and the fighters. You can hear every corner instruction, every strike that connects and every slam that lands. If you want to you can walk over and shadow box with Clay Guida, trust me, he will indulge you.
With all that being said there is no denying the disparity in talent found on smaller local shows. A majority of the guys are toughman level and do nothing but slug or grapple at white belt levels. The reason this is only a small issue and not a major one is because most promoters don’t hide this fact. They highlight the established fighters and prospects that they expect to put on technical showings and call the other fights like they see them. Not every fighter is fluffed up to be the greatest in the world and not every fight is billed as a fight in the making.
For those that are into the sport of MMA and are looking for more of a fix than what TV can offer local shows are for you. For the fans that want to go to a live show but can’t afford the UFC ticket prices then local shows are for you. For anyone that is a fan of MMA then local shows are for you. I can’t guarantee that you will go to a great show every time out, but then again neither can the UFC. Check out your local MMA organization and see what you have been missing, both the good and the bad.
June 15th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Small shows are great for MMA fans to have that Floor experience. It really opens you eyes to a bit more of what these fighters go through. It’s great!