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And he's back
26 Oct 2009 12:40PM
wow, it's been a busy couple of weeks! Recently I have noticed how many events there appear to be. Every weekend there are 2-3 shows on up and down the country. It's incredible how far the sport has come in the last 10 years... or has it? I'll get back to that later. In the meantime, what have I been up to?
I started the a couple of busy weeks by being in the lucky position of being cage side for one of the best domestic fighters this country has seen. Sinclair v Sass on OMMAC, was quite simply awesome. It really demonstrated how exciting a fight could be, without relying on two guys swinging haymakers at each other. Sass and Sinclair showed incredible grappling skills, swapping submissions for the full three rounds. Sass got the nod on a split decision, just showing how close the fight was. After a great night at OMMAC, I found myself heading up the motorways to Gateshead to commentate on Strike and Submit. Along with my partner in crime, Ian Butlin, we enjoyed a night of calling the shots to some hot fights on a stacked 19 fight card. I have to say, Michael Surtees certainly knows how to put on a show, the house was packed with a very vocal crowd.
Shortly afterwards Ian and I found ourselves side by side and working with P4TV Sports Network (got to love these guys, check 'em out on www.p4tv.com, there are some awesome fights on there.. including Cage Conflict, OMMAC and Fight Ikon), at Cage Conflict 3. The promoter on this show is Rick Belcher, who runs the type of domestic show that is key to seeing the best of local talent. A great show with some superb fights. Also got a chance to chat with Paul Rimmer from Next Generation. We haven't spoken for a while, so it was good to see he was doing well. If you are in the Liverpool area, check his gym out! Worth noting, his fighters were the pick of the crop on the event.
Now, back to my point earlier about the amount of shows on at the moment. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? It's difficult to be sure, but it's certainly great to see a lot more opportunities to start their MMA career. On the downside, the competition for fighters hots up. There are only so many to go around. Most of the shows that have started up are AM/SP levels shows, with 1 or 2 pro fights. This is great, but it means that whilst we have lots of opportunities for up and coming fighters, there are less top shows for the elite pro fighters to compete on. With only 1-2 top level shows in the UK, will our fighters struggle to get the competition they need to make the leap up to international level? I don't have the answers here... in fact, I am probably not making much sense! I do have some concern that with so many AM/SP shows and so few top pro shows, do we have the structure to prepare a new breed of fighter for their international career? Plus, are we leaving some of our top fighters out to dry, with only international events capable of paying the purse and providing the level of competition. It's just something to think about! :)
Until next time
Chin down, hands up
Aaron
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