Two men in a cage. Super trained and muscular to the marrow. Small gloves, bit in, tok on for protection. Scantily clad except for bermuda shorts. Some reinforcing tape wrapped around a joint here and there. At Stockholm's Tele2 Arena, a 30,000-plus crowd screams like mad. This modern gladiatorial spectacle is the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
"It's TIME!!!" roars ringmaster Bruce Buffer. Swede Alexander Gustafsson and American Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson stare at each other. Coolly. Soon after, they engage each other, surfing ahead on the ferocious energy of the crowd. A few minutes later, over 30,000 Swedish hearts are broken. Their Alex goes down heavily. Johnson rules. Only one can be the winner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfKvlmcC-NI
"30,000 people or 30 people in the audience, it doesn't matter to a fighter," says Remy Bonjasky, one of the Netherlands' best-loved kickboxers and a three-time K1 World Grand Prix winner. He grins: "There is someone facing you who wants to knock your head off, so there is no room for doubt." Bonjasky is a big fan of the UFC. He travelled to Stockholm together with fellow combat sports BN-er Remco Pardoel to get a sneak preview, as the UFC is coming to the Netherlands soon. On 14 March, the UFC was shown on FOX for the first time, and from 11 April the event - with Dutch commentary - will be also broadcast live.
Mega-event
The UFC is the largest mixed martial arts organisation in the world, a multi-million-dollar industry that organises mega-events like really only the Americans can. With spectacular bombast, music, light shows, projection screens, voluptuous ring girls, super slick and exciting promo videos, smooth expert commentary and - perhaps most importantly for television - fantastic live camera direction. Almost every week there is a UFC event somewhere in the world, to be ordered as pay-per-view. Since 2011, the weekly UFC Fight Night can also be seen live on US channel Fox Sports. Soon, therefore, it will also be the Netherlands' turn.
Amsterdam or Rotterdam?
David Allen (director of brand, events and communications at the UFC) agrees with the UFC's further ambitions. "Yes, we want to bring the UFC to the Netherlands as an event as well. Yes, we want to make that happen in 2015. And yes, we are considering the Amsterdam ArenA or Rotterdam Ahoy as potential venues for that. Whether that is feasible? Listen, this event, UFC Fight Night - Gustaffon vs Johnson, can be seen in 140 countries tonight and we reach one billion households with that. We have fighters of 44 different nationalities under contract, including Dutchmen like Stefan Struve and Gegard Mousasi. This is truly an international sport. So I'm not afraid to fill those Dutch arenas."
MMA? WTF?
For the well-versed: Mixed Martial Arts is an amalgamation of the world's most effective martial arts. With at its base Brazilian jiu jitsu, Greco-Roman & free-style wrestling, (kick)boxing and muay thai. Sometimes supplemented by elements from disciplines such as judo, sambo, karate and tae kwon do. Fighting takes place in three phases. The standing fight (kick, knee, punch and elbow techniques), the clinch (the body-to-body fight, dirty boxing, including throwing and throwing techniques), and ground combat (holds, control positions, strangulation and clamping techniques). All three phases constantly flow into each other, making it - you have to take it from me - one of the most spectacular sports in the world. In the early days of the UFC, fighters were specialists, each with their own discipline. Over the years, the nail-biting recreational mourners of the early days slowly gave way to a new breed of professional. Today's fighters are absolute all-round top athletes, ultimate fighters who have mastered various styles with excellence.
Lifestyle
Not surprisingly, MMA also has a particularly fanatical fan base. Through internet forums and facebook groups (The Dutch community UFC Netherlands is over 30,000 strong) are feverishly monitoring the latest developments, results and interviews with the fighters. Because MMA is more than a sport, it is a lifestyle. A large part of the fans also trains, and almost every major city in the Netherlands has an MMA school. Allen: "In addition, the heroes of the sport are almost without exception very approachable, sympathetic and fan-friendly. That is different in football. Try having your picture taken with Ronaldo as a fan. You hardly see that kind of star power in MMA."
Royce vs Mastodon
The first UFC in 1993 marked the start of the true revolution in martial arts. Representatives of different fighting disciplines went at each other, almost without rules (the catchphrase was: 'There are no rules'), to fight out once and for all which style was the most effective. The event was one big victorious showcase for the fighting style Brazilian jiu jitsu, epitomised by the petite Royce Gracie - scion of a Brazilian fighting clan, the Gracie family - who effortlessly gave up one mastodon after another in the ground fight with fabulous control through strangulation and clamping techniques. After the early years, more and more rules were added to shape the grim spectacle into a strictly regulated yet safe contact sport. By now, almost all events apply the strict 'unified rules' From the California State Athletic Commission.
Pioneer Pardoel
Brabander Remco Pardoel fought in UFC 2 (1994), won two matches, and eventually had to lose via strangulation to Royce Gracie himself. Pardoel, himself an expert in judo and traditional jujutsu, was converted to the effectiveness of Brazilian jiu jitsu and dedicated himself to learning this new fighting style. He was the first to bring members of the Gracie family and other representatives of BJJ to Europe and the Netherlands. And he is still active in the sport, with several titles to his name.
Pure tactics
Pardoel will provide live commentary for Fox Sports' Dutch broadcasts. Because interpretation is needed, says Pardoel. "MMA is a very spectacular, but also very complex sport. It is chess with your body. So it is an enrichment for the viewers if you can explain what exactly is happening, what strategy the fighters are applying. It is not stupid violence, but pure tactics. I think it is a great honour that they have asked me."
"When I once signed up as a fighter in UFC 2, I could never have imagined that the sport would become so big. I was just a farmer from Oss who wanted to test himself. I still feel that adrenaline when I see those matches now. The Netherlands has an incredibly rich martial arts culture. Well-known martial arts like Judo, karate and kickboxing are practised here at world level, among all walks of life. I think the UFC can become very big here."
On Saturday 11 April, FOX will report live from UFC Fight Night in Kraków. The broadcast starts at 20:20 and is presented by Bas van Veenendaal. Guests include MMA fighter Marloes Coenen, former judo world champion Dennis van der Geest, Bob Schrijber (MMA trainer/coach and actor) and Raemon Sluiter (tennis player and UFC enthusiast).
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