My first live MMA event – ONE FC 7: Return of Warriors

I’ve been a fan of mixed martial arts (MMA), especially since they began showing UFC matches on FOX. I had heard of ONE FC, an Asian MMA league and when they announced their fight in Stadium Putra on 2 Feb, I jumped and bought tickets for myself and Pei Chyi. (Shhh, Pei Chyi is a fan too 😉 )

Click to view full-sized images with captions

There were 10 fights on the fight card. We took our time in getting to the destination because we assumed the event wouldn’t start on time (you know how Malaysians are..) but it did. By the time we found our seats the undercard fights were already over. The event turned out to be superbly well organized, most probably because they were broadcasting live from the event. Fights started immediately after the previous one ended, and everything went smoothly. The most annoying thing was the female ring announcer – please don’t use her again.

The fight format and event felt like it borrowed a lot from UFC like this promo video. However I think they also put their own touch to things and I thought that ONE FC put on an excellent event. I would definitely attend another fight again 😀

The fights were also entertaining and so much more visceral than on TV when you watch live. While I really didn’t know almost all of the fighters that night, they were serious pros. Maybe the first few were kinda amateur, but in general they hit hard and employed all the techniques I have seen from UFC. I thought they were on par with any of the pro MMA fights that I’ve seen on TV.

I was also happy to see that the Malaysian fighters were very able. Adam Kayoom and Peter Davies dispatched their opponents easily. Adam Kayoom is also very eloquent; that and his fighting skills has won him lots of fans. My favorite fight of the night is probably Colossa vs Tynanes (kinda funny that the American couldn’t really speak much English) or Docyogen vs Kojima.

The main event turned out to be a let down. Honorio Banario and Eric Kelly were definitely great athletes. They were super quick and they definitely had skills, but they seemed very cautious, neither really going for the attack. In the end the match was stopped when Kelly covered his eye and went down to the mat. MMAmania reports that he was unable to see out of the eye after a punch.

All in all, ONE FC 7 was an entertaining event. Not something I would attend every other weekend – I’m not that bloodthirsty! – but I would definitely go watch another fight when they next return to Malaysia. Come join me next time?

Picture credits: ONE FC Facebook Page and Josarine’s blog


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