I have so much still buzzing through my head about the weekend, and nobody would /startaroom. So here it is!
Future Ange here. As I wrote this out I realised it’s gonna be a long post so I’m breaking into a few. Hope you enjoy 😊
This past weekend, I took a trip to London to attend my very first UFC event LIVE (Bruce Buffer voice). I’ve been a UFC fan since around 2015, Conor McGregor brought me in. And whilst his career has stalled a bit lately, my enthusiasm has not. Mostly because I tune into BT Sport in the wee hours of a Sunday morning to watch the events, which usually finishes between 5 and 6 am. For the past year, my watching has been accompanied by a group of people I like to call pals now. I ‘met’ them via The Ringer MMA community (on the Spotify Live app), brought to us before and after each UFC PPV event by Ariel, Petesy and Chuck, with wonderful producer Troy. You can catch the podcast here
I’ve been in online communities before. Like, in the early Twitter days I attended meet-ups and on Instagram I attended several instaphoto-walks when they were a thing, but this one feels a little different.
Back to the trip. Settle in, this could be a long one.
Early Friday morning I drove to the airport with a group of pals chatting on the car sound system. As it was around 6am it could only have been a room led by the inimitable Killashaw. The conversation was about various topics including planes and flying, and as I was about to step on a plane for the first time in 5 years, I asked if they’d redirect the topic! Please.
My flight went smoothly and it took a little over an hour before I was making my way through Heathrow and onto the express train to the city centre. I headed to the One Hundred Hotel in Shoreditch and thankfully was able to check in early. My room was lovely but I did not have a view so I quickly got changed, freshened up and headed out into the city to begin my weekend.
Friday - The press conference and ceremonial weigh ins
I’d decided to immerse myself in the full UFC weekend so first up was the press conference and ceremonial weigh ins at the O2. A short but sweaty overground and underground train ride away and I was inside the venue in half an hour. A queue had already started forming at the main entrance to the arena itself, but as I hadn’t had any breakfast, and it was already 1.30pm, I decided that a Five Guys burger was needed. I chilled there for a bit eating the juicy burger and salty chips before heading out to the queue. By this time there was not just one queue, but several snaking around and so I joined the shortest one.
In front of me were two little boys with their dad’s. Both wearing dungarees and Marvel trainers, but one had the Khabib Papakha hat on. Cute! Elsewhere in the queue were various arrays of UFC t-shirts and lots of different personalities. But all seemingly good company.
After about an hour they opened the doors to let us in. A cheer went up! Through the security gate and with yellow neon wristband attached, I ran up those stairs as quickly as I could and into the arena itself. Wow! My first taste of what it could be like on Saturday evening. There were videos playing on giants screens of past and present champions, I could see Paul Felder and Alan Jouban over to the left getting ready for their show and all the while the crowd piled in. I got a decent seat just above stage height view and sat there patiently waiting.
Before long the lights went down, the music started and actual Michael Bisping was announced on stage to host the press conference. I love Bisping. He then introduced Belal Muhammad and Suga Sean O’Malley. But the biggest pop, I kid you not, was for Brazilian lightweight champ, Charles Oliveira. Ok he’s technically not the official champ due to missing weight by a millionth of a pound, but still. My champ!
The black curtains opened and out he walked. Slick as ever in his immaculate pale blue suit, bleach tip dyed hair and huge smile. The guy is a superstar. You could feel that electric energy from him.
Some press people start asking questions, Charles first up. And what I loved about this was that he had an earpiece in, so when the questions were asked there was no translation and he began his answer straight away. The translator then translated his responses. It made the operation much smoother and didn’t lose momentum with the crowd. To be honest I can’t remember much of what Belal and Sean were saying except that I recall Sean seeming much less cocky than usual.
Next up were fan questions. Two mics were placed at each side of the aisles then more queues starting forming. I’d been relaying back information to the group chat on Telegram. Just as I saw a message from Ross (one half of the Energized Show duo) saying he was going to ask a a question, I looked down and saw those famous green glasses atop his head. “You just passed me!” I typed into the chat. He turned around and gave a wave. This was my first meeting IRL with anyone from The Ringer MMA podcast, or Greenroom, as I still affectionately call it. He didn’t get to ask his question but on the way back to his seat he stopped for a chat and a picture. Lovely Ross, as usual.
By this point I couldn’t actually believe I was sitting here, at a UFC event. Soak it all in Ange.
Next up was the ceremonial weigh ins. I can’t tell you how many time I’ve watched this take place on YouTube. The music starts and fighters come out one by one to ‘weigh in’ and face off. It didn’t start to ovine up until Scottish fighter Paul Craig walked out. It’s something else. He’s all hyped up with face painted Braveheart style, rips his Venum UFC top and gives that look to his opponent. There were a fair few Scottish flags in the crowd and everyone seems to be supporting him. C’mon Paul!
Fever pitch was reached when Molly McCann came out and then of course Paddy ‘the baddy’ Pimblett. The most unlikely looking fighter with a mop of golden blonde hair, sunken eyes, and cheeky personality. It was clear he was the one people were most excited about. I enjoyed seeing legend Alexander Gustafsson come out and then main event, Tom Aspinall. Folk in the crowd started his chant, you know the one! He slowly strides onto the stage, looking confident and in good shape for a heavyweight. Game on!
Check back soon for: Saturday - The main event, UFC London
Thanks for reading.
great stuff angela. 🏴🏴🏴
Thank you for taking me with you on this trip. Fabulous read.