bonnie & jason

Malace [sic] at the Palace!

This past Saturday, Felix, his brother, and I went to see a bunch of guys beat the crap out of each other at Malace at the Palace.  It was a MMA (mixed martial arts) event kind of like ultimate fighting championships.  The only difference that I could see is that they fight in a 6-sided cage instead of an 8-sided cage.  Maybe the UFC has a patent on octogonal cage fighting?

It was interesting to see the progression in skill from the first fighters to the last fighters.  The first fight was over in 58 seconds and even though it was quick, you could tell that neither of the guys had much technique.  But as the night went on, the fighters got stronger and faster and you could tell which ones were more adept at grappling vs. striking.  As it turns out, striking is a relatively minor part of the sport.  Most of the fights were won with submissions or ref stoppage.  Basically, it seemed like most guys’ strategy was to get their opponent in a defensive position (with grappling moves) where he could just have have his way with him until he cries uncle or the ref thinks he can’t defend himself anymore.  I think there was only one guy who got knocked out from an actual strike.

As an example, check out the picture.  This is from the main event where a local guy, Jake Shields (supposedly his real name) got Steve Berger (probably his real name) in a position where he could just pound on his head until the ref stopped the fight.  Cool, huh?!

Anyway, Malace at the Palace may not be an elegant turn of phrase, but it was kinda cool to see some real live fighting.