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A look at the fans of Summer Slugfest 2 |
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Columnist's Corner
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MMA News Written by Kira "The Killer" Curtis
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Tuesday, 19 August 2008 |
"Kill 'em! Let him have it... raaaawwwww..." the big guy in his early 20s yells from behind the gate of the beer garden, the fights haven't even started yet. He then turns to his friend in the two-sizes-too-small Affliction shirt and high-fives him, yelling inaudibly and spilling beer.
Summer Slugfest 2 was here, and with it was this sport’s most eclectic range of fans. Are there problems in having this cocktail of fans? And does it matter if you're a "true" fan or not? Are you worthy of watching only if you can recall all 18 seconds of Tank Abbots KO of John Matua at UFC 6, or get excited when Rumina Sato's flying armbar is brought up?
"I only like it if I can see it and feel the blood spatter," said Jimmy Wingfield. He has never watched PRIDE, M-1 or even the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He knows none of the fighters on the card tonight, but his uncle got him a front row ticket, and there's nowhere else he'd rather be. But Wingfield is probably one of the few people, out of the more than 3,500 that filed in, that doesn't watch the sport.
Even the gaggles of 18-year-old girls screaming Shane Wilson's name, watch the UFC. Tahsis Crane is 18, "19 in a month, whooo." She came through the gates about 20 minutes before the fight, found her pack of equally tanned friends, and is heading into the stands to find a seat. This is her first live fight, and yes, she's here to see Shane Wilson too. "He's gonna win for sure," she cheers.
So how many of Summer Slugfest's fans are the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) crossovers -- the ones who know all the moves but never trained -- and how many are a real true fans? Does it matter?
Not if their thickening up the fan base in Victoria to a size large enough to get a professional event here. The question is, are they the ones giving the true fans a bad name? Are they the ones the police picture getting drunk, rowdy and picking fights? The so-called tough guys?
Sanjeev Sharma fought his first competition fight that night in a decision loss to Corey Hastings. "It's a whole different experience when you get in the ring," he said. Sharma could see the line of guys from the ring that were just there to get drunk. All one can think of seeing them is -- like the YouTube favorite, 'Get in my guard' -- watching the UFC doesn't mean you know how to fight. Sharma thinks it's about half and half, fans to flakes, but thinks it's getting better.
Realistically you can't have a show with a girl walking around the stage with a see-through camel-toe (if you were there you know the one), and not have the kind of guys that will get wasted, whistle at the chicks, and yell "kill 'em" to fighters who want no part in any killing.
For the true MMA fans, is it worth having the tough guys and the girlies jumping on the bandwagon if it pays for bigger venues? We do it for the Canucks.
Additional event photo's by Kira "The Killer" Curtis
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