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UFC 85 post-event thoughts

• Every UFC event should have a Mexican wave.
• A UFC doesn’t have to have a title on the line for it to be a good event.
• The standard of catering backstage was high, but no tea or coffee?  WTF?
• Never lose (or have stolen) your media pass at a UFC event, it is hell. I felt like my identity had been stripped from me.
• Watching Matt Hughes get KO’d live and in person is a magical experience.
• Swearing in a post-fight interview is not big and it is not clever, but it is totally fine in my book.  Fucking ay.

Power Player

Ed Soares, flanked by Asseurio Silva (left) and Lyoto Machida (right)

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He’s quiet, modest and unassuming, but he is also one of the major power players in MMA. Ed Soares is one of those guys whose achievements go widely unnoticed. Those with a keen eye will have spotted him as the translator for fighters such as Anderson Silva, side-by-side on camera with the marauding middleweight pre and post-fight. Cage Potato have just done an excellent interview with Ed Soares, which will hopefully highlight what a great job this guy does.

Ed’s role is far greater than that of a simple handler and translator. As he explains in the interview, he is a former nightclub promoter-turned-manager who moved from looking after hip hop artists to fighters. Ed also set up Sinister Clothing, one of my personal favourite MMA brands. Yeah yeah, I’m not supposed to have favourites. Well when it comes to MMA clothing I don’t, because I can’t decide between Triumph United and Sinister. They both rock.

Anyway, Soares is one seriously hard-working individual. He is another of the characters in MMA I keep seeing (and writing about every month in the magazine), the self-created businessman who carved out a spot for himself with nothing more than a love for the sport and a shitload of determination. Kudos to him.

A Hidden Love

I’m not supposed to have a favourite fighter. Being a journalist means you’re meant to adhere to a certain code of ethics. You’re supposed to be objective at all times. It’s these traits that set you apart from being ‘just’ another fan.

Photog Blog - Muay Thai

I’ll admit it outright. I’m not a huge Muay Thai fan. The music drives me crazy, I dislike how kicking is favoured over punching by the judges, and my inner MMA geek screams “takedown!” every 20 seconds or so. But MuayThai is one of the most entertaining (not to mention devastating) combat sports out there. I don’t follow Thai so much as have a passing interest in it purely on a visual level. I prefer watching K-1 MAX as I love the speed, kickboxing skill and athleticism. But I love taking photos of Muay Thai. Here are a few from local shows here in Manchester.

Highs and Lows

One of those days…

Everyone knows you can’t always be 100%.

But when you’ve been riding the wave for a couple of weeks, slaying people on the mat left right and centre, it’s hard not to feel like you’re pretty invincible. But it’s never permanent. Every high is balanced out with an equal or greater low. Peaks and troughs. That’s life, baby. Jiu-Jitsu is full of metaphors.

Amateur Hour

They’re not getting paid, but they’re by no means amateurs

Back when I first started going to live MMA events in this country, I was not much more than a fan. I had the eye of someone familiar but not intimate with the techniques and moves, but a few years of UFC videos had given me an idea of how fights should play out.

What happens if [insert name here] loses?

Everyone is so transfixed on what is going to happen during the big fight tonight, few people have really stopped to consider the fallout.

You can only guess how this fight will play out. But let’s look at what happens should either Silva or Henderson lose.