(Some weeks, when there’s nothing going on in the fight world, the lads at Undercard Superstar will do a roundtable about something that interests them. This is one of those times. You can find previous Roundtables here and here.)
What Fight Got you Into Combat Sports?
Earl Montclair: I used to work with a dude who loved MMA and boxing and he would not stop raving about this one guy. He showed me a YouTube highlight video of this man’s path of destruction. I didn’t even know his name and I knew I had to see his next fight. All I knew was: Cro Cop. So I recorded what would be the first full event I watched: UFC 70. I wanted to see this Cro Cop guy behead a man. I wanted to see the artist paint his next masterpiece. What I ended up seeing was irony at its finest and the sheer unpredictability of the sport in the rawest, most amazing fashion. I remember asking my co-worker, “So, who is the sacrificial lamb they are throwing in there with Cro Cop?” Man, was I ever wrong on that one. From the instant I saw the finish of that fight I knew I had found my new most favorite thing. Watching Gonzaga deliver what still counts as one of the most violent and earth shattering knockouts of all time was truly an impactful moment in not only my sports fandom, but in my life. I was more than happy to dive into this new world and I have the mystique of Mirko Filipovic and the horrific violence of Gabriel Gonzaga to thank for that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrGrA3nJpCk
Nolan Howell: There had been events that I had seen before it. I had seen Urijah Faber dethroned from what was believed to be his unstoppable featherweight reign. I had seen Brock Lesnar punch Heath Herring so hard he rolled back in time. The knockouts of Chuck Liddell, Mirko Cro Cop, and Mark Hunt. The grappling of Miguel Torres. These were all things that got me hooked.
However, it all started clicking for me at UFC 94. The entire main card is etched into my memory, sitting in front of a big, but still new standard definition TV in what were then spotless reclining chairs. I saw grappling and scrambles in bunches in Guida vs. Diaz. I learned the heartbreak of a judge’s call In Parisyan vs. Kim. I saw the degeneration of the old and the brightness of new in Jones vs. Bonnar. I caught a glimpse of technical mastery carrying one to greatness in Machida vs. Silva.
Yet still, I was in for the biggest lesson of the night. I was in to see sheer domination. I was going to see a legend be broken by an immortal. Georges St. Pierre vs. BJ Penn was not a fight of beauty for me at the time. It was a man simply not having an answer for the greatness of another. Looking back, it was much more. It helped me to understand that athleticism and power matched with superb technique could break the toughest of the tough. It taught me that coasting on natural gifts can get you far, but not far enough to best someone who put in more.
Georges St. Pierre made me understand martial arts and perhaps taught BJ Penn a little lesson, too. Georges St. Pierre made fighting click for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiURhr7HFfY
Lucas Bourdon: The fight that got me into Kickboxing was the rematch between Kamel Jemel and Samir “Petit Prince” Mohamed. Fantastic fight, a beautiful clash of styles between Samir’s Full Contact and Kamel’s Muay Thai/Dutch kickboxing style. It’s still one of my absolute favorite fights and Kamel Jemel became one of my favorite fighters (The simplicity and aggressiveness of kickboxing already appealed to me more than the flashiness of Ful Contact). I had seen kickboxing fights before but that was the moment it all started to click and it was more than two dudes beating the shit out of each other.
Similarly, I got into MMA after an afternoon watching every Genki Sudo fight I could find online. Watching Genki fight blaw my mind and like Kamel Jemel made me fall in love with kickboxing, Genki made me fall in love with grappling and MMA.
Tim Hickey: As a child of the 80’s, my first exposure to combat sports (aside from classic mid-80’s WWF) was through none other than Mike Tyson. Predominantly through Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out and reading Sports Illustrated, I became encapsulated by this ferocious killing machine. These were the days when unless you were watching PPV live, you had no other means of seeing someone as popular as Tyson fight. So I had to live vicariously through highlights, and SI magazine.
This all changed in 1995. In the days before digital cable, you could get a “black box” which allowed you to get free (by free I mean stolen) PPVs. My father ended up obtaining one of these (through what I can only assume was the most legal of means) which helped change my love of sports.
Tyson was fresh out of prison off of his 1992 rape conviction in March of 1995, and they set him up with a tune up fight against a club fighter named Peter McNeeley. McNeely, who came into the fight with a 36-1 record with 30 KOs, was basically a sacrificial lamb. That record looks less impressive after you see that only 3 of his opponents had winning records. Anyway, no one really thought that McNeeley had a chance, but it didn’t stop people from tuning in to see it. I stayed up well past my bedtime that night, excited as all hell to get a chance to watch Tyson live.
I remember being on the edge of my seat as they brought the fighters to the center of the ring after the introductions. McNeely smiling like a big goof, while Tyson stared holes into him, his eyes flicking back and forth following McNeely’s as he bounced back and forth in front of him. One man looked like he was just happy to be there, the other looked like he was going to deliver a vicious vicious beating. I was so pumped up, and was ready for some real life, big boy violence.
Then they actually started the fight…..and well, lets just say it didn’t last long. McNeely charged at Tyson swinging for the fences. He winged a few punches, then ate a right hand and dropped on his ass. He bounced up quickly, and I figured that this would just be a war and the first strike was Tyson’s. I mean, this guy had 30 KOs! He only lost once, he has to be pretty good right?
Judge Mills Lane gave a standing 8, then both guys got right back to standing in the pocket and throwing bombs, until Tyson caught McNeely with an uppercut that caused him to do a Ric Flair like faceplant on the canvas. He stood up after a brief couple of seconds, but his corner had seen enough and stepped in to stop the fight. I was shocked. I had this sudden burst of adrenaline watching these two, I wanted to see more! How could they stop this! I demanded BLOOOOODDDDDD!!!!!!!!!
Despite the disappointing finish, I had felt this feeling that I had never had watching other sports. Watching people play facepunch was pretty awesome. I was all jacked up, despite the late hour. I became hooked, primarily watching Tyson fights for the first while due to the raw aggression. Despite this being a squash match, I was hooked on combat sports from that point forward.
Josh Hall: Like Tim, I am a fellow child of the 80s, but my intro to combat sports came gradually over my youth. I saw The Karate Kid when I was four years old, and I wanted in. I started studying Okinawan Goju Ryu when I was five, and did that for roughly 8 years. Fun fact: The kata he does at the end of the terrible third movie was actually the main part of the test for black belt at the time. I got out of karate but got into amateur wrestling shortly after I started high school.
I have watched MMA since UFC 1, but only very casually and when I had the chance until it became more accessible. Back then, if I had some money to spend on a PPV it was much more likely going towards a WWF PPV rather than a UFC one. I actually got into kickboxing first, watching late night tape delayed K-1 and ISKA shows on ESPN2 back in the 90s/early 2000s. I remember as a kid getting really excited anytime I saw a Michael McDonald fight pop up, and he was probably the first person I became a big fan of in combat sports.
What really got me into all of it a serious basis was when UFC Unleashed started popping up on Spike in 2004ish. As soon as I had a way to get steady access to it, I was all in. Funny enough, the first fight I remember standing out in MMA once I started watching was actually the HW title fight between Ricco Rodriguez and Tim Sylvia from UFC 41. I saw it initially on UFC Unleashed, and from my early memories of the sport I fully expected the BJJ of Ricco to take Big Timmeh apart. Clearly, I didn’t know shit.
When Sylvia floored him with a right hand and quickly finished him with ground and pound, I was stunned. He was everything I did not expect out of a heavyweight champion, but it didn’t matter. He had only had one UFC fight, and that didn’t matter either. I realized very quickly that there was way more to MMA than I had given it credit for, and I couldn’t get enough. Seeing someone that looked like Sylvia winning the biggest title in the sport really hooked me, because he was everything I didn’t expect a champion to look like. It was everything I wanted out of a sport. The most athletic fighter was far from guaranteed a victory, and there were so many different ways to win that I couldn’t get enough. 10 years later, I still can’t.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcwyYfE4rT4
Daniel Galvan: Whenever anyone has asked me about which fight entranced me with MMA, I’ve always been hesitant to honestly answer that question.
The reason being is that I found that saying you just recently became a fan of the sport would basically disqualify you from conversations or demean your point of view when talking about two dudes punching each other in the face on MMA forums.
Regardless, I can now rest easy telling the world that the fight that got me hooked on MMA was Brock Lesnar vs Randy Couture at UFC 91.
Letting that information out in the world is almost as freeing as the day I decided that my nipples were going to show through most of my t-shirts. From that day forward, I just wore whatever t-shirt that I desired, and it left me comfortable. Less attractive? Sure. Comfortable? Hell yes.
The story on how I watched the Lesnar/Couture fight isn’t a story at all, just another example of my impulsive nature. I just saw an ad one day promoting a fight between Brock Lesnar, a name that resonated me with since I was a huge wrestling fan at the time, and Randy Couture, who was hyped up as this UFC veteran that would spoil Lesnar’s improbable run in the sport. For whatever reason, that dynamic was intriguing to me, so I impulsively bought the pay-per-view.
All five of the main card fights ended the first round, and each bout really enamored me. After watching a couple of hours of Mixed Martial Arts, I was addicted, and I wanted more, like a young Dana White discovering expletives.
Luke Irwin: I’ve spoken before about the importance and joy that watching fights at a young age with my father and uncle had on my young sports-brain. Those were wonderful, wonderful times and cherished memories, and one particular fight really made me click on and realize that this was for me. June 11, 1993, your eight-year old editor is at a Howard Johnson’s meeting room with my dad and my uncle (who managed the place, so we got it to ourselves), it’s the rematch to one of the greatest fights I’ve ever seen, Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II.
I realize that time has not been kind to either man. Holyfield is now a bankrupt, brain-damaged Christian fanatic who can’t stop pumping kids out, and Bowe is an out-of-shape bitter curmudgeon (and an apparent Toronto Maple Leafs superfan, so that probably has something to do with it), but in 1993, these two were gods. Bowe, an unholy combination of size, speed, and power, was undefeated and had defeated Holyfield in their first bout. Holyfield, the greatest cruiserweight of all time, always undersized, never truly blessed athletically, but with a chin, body, and heart of pure iron, rebounded from his loss to defeat Alex “The Destroyer” Stewart and earn his rematch.
This was a real-life Balboa versus Drago, albeit with less Brigitte Nielsen and more Don King. So let’s call it a wash.
The electricity was palpable and it was the zenith of a big-fight feel. Like their first encounter, Bowe started off strong, then Holyfield started to come back after taking a beating, leading to the seventh round, both men about equal, when it happened.
I’ve never seen anything like it before or since. A maniac parachuted into the ring at Caesar’s Palace. My dad and uncle’s complete “WTF” expressions clued me in that this was not, indeed, a normal occurrence. It was so, so surreal. The fight resumed eventually, and you would think both fighters would be a little hesitant or unnerved, but no! They went right back to friggin work, with Holyfield winning rounds and Bowe, getting more and more desperate, trying for the knockout and Holyfield refusing to go down.
The bell sounded, twelve rounds were complete, Holyfield had avenged his loss, was the heavyweight champion of the world, Fan Man was beaten unconscious by Riddick Bowe’s entourage and was in a Clark County jail after a brief hospital visit on “Dangerous Flying” charges, and I was in. Hook, line, and sinker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJKHv1ouPh0
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