While we watched the fights, Hamil and Mike kept buying everyone Colt45. At some point Ward put his cup down, declaring, "Baka mag-tap out ako!"
...Half-naked, grown men beating each other up!
This was the first time I ever got to see a mixed martial arts (MMA) event live. The Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC), which presented the event, is like the local version of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). If you've heard names like Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, and Georges St-Pierre, then you probably have an idea of what UFC's all about. And yup, there's a local version!
The whole event was called "Reckoning," and the main event featured SEA games wushu champion Eduard Folayang, who had greatly impressed my husband in previous fights. He battled Korea's Dooje Chung, a Brazilian jiu jitsu dude who was also a former member of the Korean gymnastics team. (That explains his showboat flip before the fight started!) Out of the ten fights we witnessed, it wasn't the main attraction that impressed me. (Folayang won, pretty easily at that.) The fights I remember most were the one featuring a 42-year-old doctor who beat a 28-year-old (ahh, experience!), and the one featuring a 20-year-old Alvin Ramirez beating an older opponent in 21 seconds flat (the vid only shows 19 seconds of the "fight" though)!
So how was it, seeing this thang live? Well, it felt like what it must have felt like watching gladiators. I half-expected lions to be released after the first bout! It definitely wasn't easy seeing all those punches and kicks and blood. And it was painful to see the look of disappointment and frustration on the losers' faces. But the thing is, after a while, you kind of get desensitized. (Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I haven't quite figured out!) I guess I just had to tell myself that these guys chose to do this. And they knew that there was a big possibility that they would get beaten to a pulp.
My husband used to train for these things, and I think his coach wanted him to fight--but this was right before our wedding, and we didn't want him to have a busted lip as we exchanged vows! I did find the idea exciting--me cheering for Hamil as he battled it out in the ring. But after seeing fights up close and personal, I'm not sure I can handle seeing him up there. You can get desensitized to many things--but not to seeing the love of your life get hurt!
This was the first time I ever got to see a mixed martial arts (MMA) event live. The Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC), which presented the event, is like the local version of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). If you've heard names like Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, and Georges St-Pierre, then you probably have an idea of what UFC's all about. And yup, there's a local version!
The whole event was called "Reckoning," and the main event featured SEA games wushu champion Eduard Folayang, who had greatly impressed my husband in previous fights. He battled Korea's Dooje Chung, a Brazilian jiu jitsu dude who was also a former member of the Korean gymnastics team. (That explains his showboat flip before the fight started!) Out of the ten fights we witnessed, it wasn't the main attraction that impressed me. (Folayang won, pretty easily at that.) The fights I remember most were the one featuring a 42-year-old doctor who beat a 28-year-old (ahh, experience!), and the one featuring a 20-year-old Alvin Ramirez beating an older opponent in 21 seconds flat (the vid only shows 19 seconds of the "fight" though)!
With Cheng. We went with our husbands and our teammates Czar, Ward, trainer (and my one-time teammate) Xtian, and his girl after disc training.
So how was it, seeing this thang live? Well, it felt like what it must have felt like watching gladiators. I half-expected lions to be released after the first bout! It definitely wasn't easy seeing all those punches and kicks and blood. And it was painful to see the look of disappointment and frustration on the losers' faces. But the thing is, after a while, you kind of get desensitized. (Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I haven't quite figured out!) I guess I just had to tell myself that these guys chose to do this. And they knew that there was a big possibility that they would get beaten to a pulp.
My husband used to train for these things, and I think his coach wanted him to fight--but this was right before our wedding, and we didn't want him to have a busted lip as we exchanged vows! I did find the idea exciting--me cheering for Hamil as he battled it out in the ring. But after seeing fights up close and personal, I'm not sure I can handle seeing him up there. You can get desensitized to many things--but not to seeing the love of your life get hurt!
oh my... i don't think i can handle seeing my man getting beat up too... parang baka il scream and cry. i dunno.
ReplyDeleteI think you have to trust that it's your man who'll do the beating up. Hehe
ReplyDelete