that is good.
I used to look forward to them.
how did you initially gain interest? how long ago?
Back in 1997 I watched the original UFC superfights, with Royce Gracie, Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock (when he was unbelievably talented). It was the greatest thing I had ever seen. I had boxed for seven years at that point, and then my gym assimilated into a boxing/ muy thai gym. Muy thai is illegal in Texas (go figure, we are one of the few states that uses the death penalty and likes it) so we had to fight on a mat instead of in a ring to not get in trouble. I was pretty good at boxing, the best in my weight class in Austin, and decided to give muy thai a try. The first time I got kicked in the leg I was hooked. Blocking or feinting away from a punch was easy to me, punches are always telegraphed, but kicks were new and I wasn't trained to read them. Once I started watching the UFC I couldn't stop. It was raw and brutal back them, and McCain had a fit, which was the worst possible thing he could do if he wanted to sway the popularity of the sport. Now everyone that flipped past CNN knew what the UFC was, and it really started to gain momentum. Soon, Zuffa bought it out and clawed through the political battle to legitimize the sport. I joined Austin BJJ
http://www.austinbjj.com/ and trained in BJJ under William Vandry, a student of Carlos Machado. William is legally blind from being shot in the head outside a nightclub he owned in Killeen, TX (Ft. Hood) and didn't start studying BJJ until AFTER he was shot. Still, he won a gold, two silvers and a bronze at the PanAmerican Games in competition. Now I train with Rodney Solis at Competitive Training Center in Austin
http://ctcaustin.com/ which is a Miletich Fighting Systems certified gym. As a fighter, I look at MMA fights in a different way than the general public. I appreciate the technical aspects of the sport. Of course I love to see someone get KTFO'd, but I get really pumped when two really good fighters are in a chess match of a battle. I love being able to analyze the Lesnar fight and see weaknesses and strengths in fighters where most people only see violence. I understand that MMA is by far safer than boxing and that you never really get hurt that badly. The general public sees it differently.