By Alvin Benjamin Carter III, MMA Torch Specialist
UFC 118 and the UFC Fan Expo were incredibly exciting. I have been to a number of live MMA events, but this by far is the biggest of them all. Watching pay-per-views, cable broadcasts, and writing about the sport and the business surrounding MMA has always been a passion of mine; but live events remind us all that we are fans of the sport first and foremost.
On Saturday August 28, I made my way to the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA for the Fan Expo. This was a bit surreal for me because I used to live right across the street from this venue a few years back, and now this building became the hub of the MMA universe for a weekend. The first stop was the Grappling Quest tournament. It was almost setup as its own world within the Expo.
Next, it was time to check out the exhibition booths. While you are able to meet just about anyone and everyone in MMA, you sort of feel like you are in a giant t-shirt mall. Every major and minor brand that is truly in the game was there and in full effect. TapouT had one of the largest booth display areas. Silver Star and Dethrone Royalty also had very active booths. The autograph booths gave fans the chance to meet fighters like Chuck Liddell, Mauricio ?Shogun? Rua, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, and many more.
It was great to see the fighters hanging out as well. A number of them were walking around the expo and town seeming to enjoy the fans and Boston. I ran into Ben Saunders at the subway station on the way back to the fights, and various fighters were rolling at the gym I train at in Cambridge, MA.
Ryan McDermott & Alvin Benjamin Carter III
(Fighters & Writers)
One of my co-hosts on Fighters and Writers, Ryan McDermott, joined me and a couple of friends from the gym to see UFC 118 after the Expo. Ryan and I had great seats about five rows back from where the floor began. The seats were excellent because you could actually see in the cage, which can be difficult if you are sitting further back on the floor. The vibe was electric in the Garden as Boston fans were so excited to have the big show in town.
I have to say, I was there as a fan as I was into a majority of the fights with more enthusiasm than normal. Some of the more lackluster bouts, like Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard and Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda, were well balanced with fights like Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger and the co-main events of Randy Couture vs. James Toney and Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn. Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis was also an enjoyable fight because Marcus Davis trains in the area, and it was interesting to see Diaz use a number of his tools.
Joe Lauzon really had one of the most impressive performances, as he smashed up Ruediger a bit, and then submitted him in the first round. At this point I was feeling the same way I did when I was eleven years old at WrestleMania XI.
I lost my attraction to professional wrestling somewhere back in high school, but I do keep a strong watch of how the WWE markets their product. The whole UFC Fan Expo and UFC 118 package was very reminiscent of that WrestleMania XI weekend I enjoyed in Hartford, CT. The WWE, then the WWF, had a Fan Fest where I got to meet one of my favorite wrestlers in Bret ?The Hitman? Hart. I also had the opportunity to do commentary of a prerecorded match with Harvey Wippleman and face off against other fans with jousting sticks and in sumo suits.
The UFC Fan Expo was structured the same way, except the diversity of product was different. Surprisingly, the Expo was very much about the sport, not just the UFC. The difference is fans of MMA often participate in the sport in some way. Exhibitors had supplements, training equipment, and instructional videos available at the Expo. It is as if the Expo showcases the MMA world, and the UFC gets credit for being the facilitator of such a large spectacle.
The trick is to not do everything yourself. Let others come in and bring their notoriety to the table while you benefit because it is your house. This can also be seen in how UFC President Dana White operates. It appears Dana White is the captain of industry as he does a lot more than most company presidents, but he also excels at delegating responsibility.
As the UFC expands, White is picking people that he can trust to run a tight ship in another country. The announcement of Mark Fischer, former NBA China exec, becoming the head of the UFC?s Asian operations division is a prime example. Fischer brings his notoriety and expertise to the table which will help the UFC reach their world expansion goals. The concept is simple, and it works. With Asia?s huge market, we are seeing what may be the turning point in MMA as a world sport.
Now, I am not saying that UFC 118 was the greatest event of all time, but I was able to see first hand how the ship is run. It is amazing to see the the live event production that is silently happening around you at all times. This event was more than a set number of fights to me. It was an experience that will be hard to match by other promotions.
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Follow Alvin on Twitter: @AwwwSnap
Alvin Benjamin Carter III is an MMATorch Specialist columnist focusing on the business and statistic side of the sport of MMA. He trains in SanDa / Shan Shou (Chinese Kickboxing) and MMA at Redline Fight Sports. He also has a business background in music production, management, and clothing. He has launched two companies which cater to niche markets, giving him experience in examining trends and attitudes that can affect a particular business model, which he applies in his weekly column for MMATorch to the sport of MMA.
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