What got you into MMA? An event, a favorite fighter, or a particular promotion?
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- Thread starter OhWhopDaChamp
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The Ultimate Fighter 1 got me interested, Griffin saying 'Everyone has a game plan until they get hit in the mouth.' made me laugh & I stole the line. I'd tell co workers that shit if they came into my cubicle bothering me.
Then Tito Ortiz was entertaining. Just grew from there.
Then Tito Ortiz was entertaining. Just grew from there.
A mate at work used to kick box and told me to watch TUF as the Tito Shamrock TUF was being repeated on TV every night. 3 months later I was booking tickets to Chuck v Wandy which was a pretty sweet first event. Been to a few more since then in the UK and US, my interest isn't quite as mental as it used to be though, I will say.
I saw a magazine in a giant supermarket. It covered the first UFC and had a preview for the next one. I was intrigued but skeptical of the skinny Brazilian. After watching 2 I was not questioning Royces fighting spirit and teqnique. I was hooked on the spot. I started ordering event videos from everyone. I wanted to see every fight, I mean all of them.
Started getting instructional vids, and turned our HS wrestling room into submission practice when possible. Worked strikes.
Like Liuke Beston Gracie, I to "Respect all Styles".
Started getting instructional vids, and turned our HS wrestling room into submission practice when possible. Worked strikes.
Like Liuke Beston Gracie, I to "Respect all Styles".
TUF saved the UFC and perhaps MMA at the scale in which it currently exists. Don't hate the game...
As for MMA.
I had a friends older brother that used to bootleg he UFC on vhs somehow and we were hooked. Half because of the fighting and half because it was so looked down upon and hard to get.
Then Pride came along and the internet and things got much easier.
I loved TUF hittingnat the right time. Suddenly my friends wanted to know about mma instead of just this one friend of watching alone.
As for MMA.
I had a friends older brother that used to bootleg he UFC on vhs somehow and we were hooked. Half because of the fighting and half because it was so looked down upon and hard to get.
Then Pride came along and the internet and things got much easier.
I loved TUF hittingnat the right time. Suddenly my friends wanted to know about mma instead of just this one friend of watching alone.
I was in elementary school, maybe middle school and I was with my parents and siblings up the street at some family friends house. I had no martial arts background what so ever but the family who's house we were at were all turning side kick experts like
@Joe Rogan and they had ordered the ppv for us kids to watch. I had no fucking clue what I was watching but I was hooked and watched the next few with them as well. I sort of kind of not really followed it after that for a few years. Fast forward many years to my time in the military and that's when I really got into the sport.
@Joe Rogan and they had ordered the ppv for us kids to watch. I had no fucking clue what I was watching but I was hooked and watched the next few with them as well. I sort of kind of not really followed it after that for a few years. Fast forward many years to my time in the military and that's when I really got into the sport.
This is funny because I asked my brother Why the fuck is Joe Rogan here? He gave my the down low & I was super surprisedI was in elementary school, maybe middle school and I was with my parents and siblings up the street at some family friends house. I had no martial arts background what so ever but the family who's house we were at were all turning side kick experts like
Similar to me, I got it on VHS in 1995 after my first student loan hit my bank account.
I didn't watch another on until early 2000's.
Been more than a casual but not super hardcore or anything ever since.
I was taking Aiki-Jiujitsu and Ninjitsu when I was in college in the early 90's, and some of the guys I trained with bought a VHS tape of of UFC 1 or 2 that I got to watch. The Gracie Jiu Jitsu fascinated me, and I decided if I ever lived somewhere that I could learn BJJ I would train. Fast forward 10 years, and I finally moved somewhere that had a BJJ school. The BJJ was at the time taught as part of the MMA program, so I signed up. It turned out that the head BJJ instructor had just left, and the MMA program was 99% kickboxing. It turned out I liked kickboxing. A little while later, the BJJ program ramped back up with a new instructor, and shortly thereafter MMA became legal here in SC. I have been hooked ever since.
I took Karate from an early age and then the first UFC happened when I was in Junior High School. From that point on,
@Kneeblock and I trained in no-gi grappling and dabbled in MMA. We actually did challenge matches against our HS wrestling team and low-level local Long Island dojo-storms- this would be like '96 and on. I competed in the second NYC Grappling Challenge in the intermediate division.
Initially I was a Pancrase fan and early UFCs. Not many people into it nowadays know about the stigma attached to guys that trained to fight back then... People tended to think you were weird or sadistic. Then Fight Club came out and it became a joke. At the same time, Pride took off and that's where the titanic fights happened. Until TUF brought it back to the UFC and the advent of the Casual MMA Fan...
I'll always be a fan of fight sports in any form. I can't get into team or ball sports the same way. I feel like throwing a ball in with a bunch of dudes is just civilizing combat. Just let'em fight.
@Kneeblock and I trained in no-gi grappling and dabbled in MMA. We actually did challenge matches against our HS wrestling team and low-level local Long Island dojo-storms- this would be like '96 and on. I competed in the second NYC Grappling Challenge in the intermediate division. Initially I was a Pancrase fan and early UFCs. Not many people into it nowadays know about the stigma attached to guys that trained to fight back then... People tended to think you were weird or sadistic. Then Fight Club came out and it became a joke. At the same time, Pride took off and that's where the titanic fights happened. Until TUF brought it back to the UFC and the advent of the Casual MMA Fan...
I'll always be a fan of fight sports in any form. I can't get into team or ball sports the same way. I feel like throwing a ball in with a bunch of dudes is just civilizing combat. Just let'em fight.
P
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Being a Kiwi, I was hooked on Ray Sefo from about '96. Followed his progress into K-1, and found Mark Hunt on the way.
Started training Muay Thai in '98. Some of our guys that I was working a door with were entered into a Shoot tournament which was lots of fun outside of the regular gym cards. Still remember having the rules explained, and going "you can do fucking what?!?"
There were a couple of "NHB" fights on some of our cards in '99. I didn't fully appreciate the importance of what I was watching at the time.
Started training Muay Thai in '98. Some of our guys that I was working a door with were entered into a Shoot tournament which was lots of fun outside of the regular gym cards. Still remember having the rules explained, and going "you can do fucking what?!?"
There were a couple of "NHB" fights on some of our cards in '99. I didn't fully appreciate the importance of what I was watching at the time.
Cosign this post except to say thatI took Karate from an early age and then the first UFC happened when I was in Junior High School. From that point on,
Initially I was a Pancrase fan and early UFCs. Not many people into it nowadays know about the stigma attached to guys that trained to fight back then... People tended to think you were weird or sadistic. Then Fight Club came out and it became a joke. At the same time, Pride took off and that's where the titanic fights happened. Until TUF brought it back to the UFC and the advent of the Casual MMA Fan...
I'll always be a fan of fight sports in any form. I can't get into team or ball sports the same way. I feel like throwing a ball in with a bunch of dudes is just civilizing combat. Just let'em fight.
@peter_weyland trained much more consistently than I did from start to finish and it shows. He also got me into all of this stuff so I owe it all to him.Shout out also to my pal
@RedDragonUK who perhaps unknowingly saved me from losing interest in the sport completely and
@Leigh who shepherded me over to this forum.
When I was about 4 my old man took me and my older bro to the video store and rented us WrestleMania 4 and Bloodsport. From there on out, hand to hand combat was where it was at for a very young Beard. When I was 9 or 10 my bro came home with a VHS tape of UFC 1. Fully expecting some striker to wreck house we were a little confused by what we saw, but we were hooked enough to watch the next 5 as they became available (no way our parents would get that on PPV for us) From there the novelty started to wear off a little bit as it became obvious that in that rule set, or lack thereof, grappling was king. For a young guy it became predictable so interest started to wane, until the family got our illegal sattelite....Then my brother and I discovered Pride in all of it soccer kicking, head stomping, over produced glory. As Pride went away, so did most of my interest, although I still watched it off and on, but Gonzaga's KTFO of CroCop shattered my illusion of what Pride had put before me. A few more years had passed, and I decided I was going to finally start training BJJ as I'd wanted since first seeing it almost 20 years before. From the time I walked onto those mats I was back to watching MMA and studying grappling in all its forms as often as I could. Life's gotten in the way a little bit over the part year or so (more of my training than of my MMA watching) but a Maia or a Gunnar Nelson match is almost always enough to get me back on the mats at the next opportunity.
Cosign this post except to say that
Shout out also to my pal
@Leigh is good peopleI've always been into martial arts since I was a kid. I started watching very early on, 1993 or 1994, can't really remember which event I saw first (ufc 1, 2 or 3) because I wasn't expecting it to be something that would be a major part of my life. Dropped out somewhere in the ufc 20s and then found out about Pride and became a bigger fan than I ever had been. That was legendary MMA fighters in their prime, in the prime of MMA.
My love started dying out after Pride ended, then picked up with Strikeforce when they signed Fedor, then died when zuffa bought Strikeforce. I actually like MMA the least I ever have right now but I still stick around for my old favorites. Honestly, once they are gone I will be too unless something major changes. I still love martial arts and training though.
My love started dying out after Pride ended, then picked up with Strikeforce when they signed Fedor, then died when zuffa bought Strikeforce. I actually like MMA the least I ever have right now but I still stick around for my old favorites. Honestly, once they are gone I will be too unless something major changes. I still love martial arts and training though.
if it wasnt for a pirated bell expressvu dish i would have missed out on k1 and pride all together as well as king of the cage and so you think you can fight
It was the consensus in my circle that our thing would never be the same. Everything we had worked for and supported as fans. But it was bitter sweet. Every Tom,Dick,&Harry would now be MMA experts. At one time for a fortunate few of us this whole thing was all ours. (Make sense of this post as you will). Not directed at you splint.
Star thrower right here brother. Black pajama boy since I was a wee lil' lad.
@BJTT-Sgt606 borrowed my best kitana months ago. I fear it has been used for lethal action. The guy is strait wicked welding a blade.