Last Saturday, I attended the first sanctioned professional MMA event in our nation's capital. The event, dubbed "The Revolution" by its promoter, Mixed Martial Arts Championship (MMAC), took place at the DC Armory. Here are some of my thoughts on the event.

Production

While no one would mistake this for a UFC event, fans also didn’t have to pay UFC money to enjoy the fight card. Ticket prices ranged from $30 to sit in the bleachers to $100 for ringside seats.  One-third to one-fourth of the Armory was curtained off to provide a staging area for the fighters, but the ringside seats appeared sold out as well as much of the lower level of the available bleacher seats.  The attendance estimated by the event PR staff was about 2,000 fans.

The event had an underground feel to it, harkening back to the early days of mixed martial arts.  The live event production was raw, with less polish than is seen in major promotions such as UFC.  But, this was to be expected for the promotion’s first major fight card.

On the other hand, all the seats -- both ringside and bleacher sections -- were close to the ring, providing an intimacy not generally available to most fans at UFC events.  Fans with ringside seats often stood on their chairs for better views when action inside the ring got hectic.  Some fans even rushed toward the ring out of pure excitement.

In addition to being close to the action, fans also enjoyed the two video screens in the arena that allowed them to continuously follow the action, even when hindered by bad viewing angles or blocked sight lines to the ring.  And TV cameras filmed all the action, which will be televised in HD this summer in three installments on the TV One network.  Based on the video displayed on the screens in the arena, the production value for the televised program promises to be quite good.

Fight card

Fans in attendance were treated to entertaining action between some quality fighters.  The fighters on the card represented countries from all over the world as well as famed fight camps such as Team Quest in Oregon, Lion’s Den in Nevada, American Top Team in Florida, and Brazilian Top Team.

The promotion even brought in a big gun to referee some of the matches.  Veteran UFC referee Mario Yamasaki refereed about half the fights, while his brother Fernando refereed the other half.

One of the notable fighters on the card was former Green Bay Packer running back Herbert Goodman, who won his light heavyweight fight over Shane Dezee in just 36 seconds, using a guillotine choke to force a tap out.

Baltimore was represented on the card by Antwain Britt, who won his heavyweight fight with a decisive first-round knockout of Patrick Barretine.  While Britt’s knockout earned cheers from the crowd, his self-congratulatory post-fight comments received a smattering of boos. 

Along with the expected fight night storylines, the D.C. event also presented fans with a bit of the unusual.  At one point, heavyweight Rocky Batastini was thrown through the ropes by his opponent Jose Edson Franca, first landing on a ringside table before eventually falling to the floor.   When Batastini returned to the bout, fans chanted “Rocky!! Rocky!!” in appreciation of his courage, though he would eventually lose by unanimous decision to Franca.

Another unusual moment came when an incident outside the ring during the Killa B. Niimi-Chris Manual fight diverted the attention of most of those in attendance.  A couple of members of the crowd were involved in the incident, which temporarily halted the fight in the ring.  At least one female member of the audience was led away by event staff.

Fan reaction

Fans at the event appeared to be knowledgeable about MMA and most – if not all – came because of their love for the sport.  As Jeff Faberman of Rockville, Md., explained, “I’m a huge MMA fan.”

And the fans I spoke to genuinely seemed to appreciate the night's fight card.  As Joon Oh of Alexandria, Va. said, “They got a lot of good fights in ... a lot better than some of the fights I’ve seen on TV.  I was really surprised.”

The most common complaint expressed by those in attendance was that the heat inside the Armory was overwhelming at times.  As Oh’s friend, Dee Chu, said succinctly, “It was hot” in the arena.  Faberman concurred, saying the event could have used some air conditioning.

In addition, some fans were miffed by the lackluster ending to the final fight of the night -- the co-main event bout between Homer Moore and Fabiano Capoani. A few minutes into the first round, Moore appeared to call timeout and was declared the loser as a result of “verbal tap out.”  Apparently, Moore aggravated a pre-existing knee injury and was seen sitting in the ring, ice on his injured knee, long after the conclusion of the bout.

As Michael Beauvais of Manassas, Va., said, “Most of the fights were cool.  I enjoyed [them].  This last [fight], I don’t know what happened.”

Still, MMAC appeared to win over fans with the event.

While Beauvais hopes MMAC brings bigger name fighters to its next event, he did admit, “They’ve got a fan in me.”

Oh agreed, saying, “I’m glad they brought [MMA] to D.C.”

And what about MMA sanctioning in Maryland? While Faberman believes MMA sanctioning in Maryland will occur soon, for now he's OK with traveling to events in D.C.  For someone who has traveled to New Jersey to watch sanctioned MMA action, D.C. is an appealing alternative.  In fact, Faberman said he can “take the subway [to D.C.] and get [to an event] in half an hour” from his home in Rockville.

What does the future hold for MMAC and D.C. MMA?

MMAC Director Omar Olumee has already stated that the promotion will hold its next event sometime in September.  And, as mentioned earlier, last week's event will be shown on TV sometime this summer.  These developments -- along with a nice first event and the audience's positive reaction to it -- make D.C.'s MMA scene worth following closely over the next six months.