Fight Night in Belfast

Last night was the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC 72), and it was an experience to say the least.
There is no denying that Belfast is a city of contrasts. With a collection of "former" IRA members and Red Hand Defenders/Commandos present (usually distinguished by large forearm tattoos) I wasn't sure what to expect. [Please excuse the fact that I didn't get any pictures of said tattoos, but in the interest of my personal health I decided to avoid any possible confrontation with these guys]. It didn't help that my co-workers looked at me like I was a complete idiot going to a fight in Northern Ireland. The area has become more of a tourist point-of-call in the past few years as the Peace Process has strengthened, but there are still places you avoid, and things you just don't do (like getting into a discussion of religion/politics with these guys and taking pictures of them as if they were some sort of attraction.)
That being said, I have never seen a better group of fans.

I got to the city around noon and just walked around taking in the sights. Doors were at 5, so I went over around that time to find that they had formed ONE line to the front gate. Now, the Odessey Arena isn't all that big (capacity ~10,000), but when you get all of these people in single file it becomes quite a scene. I guess everyone has been trained by the hundreds of hours waiting in line at ATMs, because even though it snaked all over the field in front of the entrance, it moved fairly quickly.

I grabbed a beer (which was actually the same price as I would pay in a pub in Dublin, about $6), and made my way to my seat to people watch and wait for things to get started. Just before things were set to begin I saw that someone was walking around with a bit of an entourage and everyone ran down to the middle of the area to take pictures. I decided to join in and ran down the stairs with my camera - Dana White was making his rounds. He ended up signing autographs and talking to people for almost an hour. I think Joe Rogan might have been on the other side of the ring, but I couldn't quite see.

The night opened up with Irish themed preliminary bouts, featuring a few fighters from the Belfast area, as well as an American that goes by the names Irish Hand Grenade and The Celtic Warrior. They weren't great fights by any means, but it got the crowd whipped into a frenzy like you wouldn't believe.

The first three fights of the Main Card were pretty decent, with Ed Herman living up to his own ego and taking a second round win by rear naked choke. I was surprised, but happy, with a win by Jason MacDonald (from New Glasgow, NS - fighting out of Edmonton) over Rory Singer - what was especially entertaining was the crowd singing Old MacDonald throughout the fight, haha. The best fight of the night, in my opinion, was between Tyson Griffin and Clay Guida. Being lightweights they had insane stamina and fought hard and fast through the entire match. Clay was the definite favorite as the fight progressed and everyone was shocked when a split decision awarded Griffin with a win. I think Guida probably could have edged out the win if he had cut his hair beforehand (see picture) - he took more than a couple shots to the face as he was trying to combing it away from his eyes... Still, the fact that it was such a close match, and that he was a fan favorite, will ensure he'll fight another day.

The headlining matches were a bit of a letdown, but the atmosphere of the Forrest Griffin fight was unreal. Forrest seemed to win without all that much contest, but would move in for a few shots then back off and re-set, just as he had Ramirez in a position to finish things. He even said at the end of the fights that he is a bit hesitant after getting knocked out in his last match against The Dean of Mean, Keith Jardine.
The crowd was vocal the entire time with chants and soccer songs, cheering on Forrest.

The final fight of the night was nothing special and ended in a decision for Yushin Okami over Rich Franklin. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see the end of this fight - I only stayed for the first round before running for my bus. I'm not sure if it was something I ate or just quite what, but I had a bit of a headache through the afternoon, which broke into a full-blown fever/cold-sweats by the end of the preliminary fights (and yes Mom, I only had the one beer . . .). I sat tight, as there was no way I was going to duck out on things at that point, but decided after 5 hours in the area that the 11pm bus back to Dublin was looking a whole lot better than waiting in the rain until 1am for the next one, feeling the way that I did. I passed right out on the bus, woke-up in Dublin and staggered home to crash in bed. Still not feeling the greatest, but at least it's Sunday and I have the whole day to lounge around.

Did anyone catch the fights at home there? Was it aired live, or held over?

Happy Father's Day Dad.