Date Posted: July 2, 2011
Print Edition: June 24, 2011
By Trevor Fik (The Cascade) – Email
Other sports could learn from a UFC live event
Entering Rogers Arena Saturday afternoon for UFC 131 in Vancouver, the thing that was most apparent was the lengths the UFC had gone to entertain every single fan in the stadium.
The atmosphere was unlike anything I have experienced at a live event. Concerts, football, hockey – nothing has been able to meet and exceed my expectations quite like the UFC live. Several screens surrounded the outskirts of the arena, assuring nobody missed a second of the action. Likewise, a ten minute video precluded the main card action, complete with enough knockouts, submissions, and pump-up music to send the packed house into a state of near-frenzy. Afterwards, interviews with current heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez concluded a night that had most people on their feet for the better part of the evening: roaring with every hit, swaying to every grapple, and groaning at the more bloody affairs. And the best part? Nobody felt the urge to set fire to the beautiful city that had hosted the event, the ingredients for an unforgettable evening.
Best moment of the night
London, Ontario lightweight Sam Stout’s knockout victory over Yves Edwards in the first round. To say “hands of stone” lived up to his nickname would be an understatement. It took medical personal a good ten minutes to wake up Edwards before removing him from the ring after Stout was through with him.
Public enemy number 1: Kenny Florian
Making his featherweight debut in the co-main event of the evening, Kenny Florian had the appearance of a man who looked like he was being offered a hot meal for a fight, fresh off a stay at the Cobalt hotel. The weight cut to 145 pounds gave Florian the look of someone who was wrestled off the street moments before the fight.
Making matters worse, the Boston-native wore a Bruins jersey to the weigh-in. If he thought that the clever gimmick would get a pass from the hockey-obsessed crowd he was sorely mistaken. From his entrance, to his decision victory, “KenFlo” was berated and booed inside Rogers Arena.
The end of the super-heavy weight?
With Junior Dos Santos’s stunning victory over the heavier Shane Carwin, many are claiming the win to be the nail in the coffin of the era of the mammoth heavyweights. Men who have to cut weight to make the 265 pound limit were seen to be the future of the heavyweight division, and with the arrival of Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin to the UFC, the only men worthy of title contention.
When Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez meet this fall, the fight will be one where speed and agility rule. Neither will weigh close to the 265 pound limit, and both will be more then comfortable with the fight going the distance.
Will UFC be back to Vancouver?
With Dana White reluctantly conceding victory to the overwhelming hockey presence in Vancouver, it is difficult to say whether the UFC will return to BC.
The city has not exactly embraced the UFC with open arms, charging an exorbitant amount for insurance, and even going so far as to say that the UFC should pick up the tab for extra policing. With new markets in Ontario and New York emerging, the UFC has nothing to gain from coming back to Vancouver. While the decreased attendance at UFC 131 could be blamed on Brock Lesnar pulling out of the main event weeks earlier, the city’s love affair with hockey is the blow that will ultimately kill Vancouver’s chance to see UFC return. Several times throughout the evening fans broke in chants of “we want the Cup,” reminding competitors where they stand in the pecking order of sport favouritism in the city.
In the end it very well could be Vancouver’s obsession with hockey, and the reluctance of a few simple-minded and misinformed city council members, that limits British Columbia’s UFC hosting dates to two. If this is indeed the case, I am exuberant to have been a part of the show, even if it was only one time.
