Okay, this is a full week late, but I just got back from Vegas. After seeing my first UFC event live (not my first MMA event, though), I figured I'd share some random thoughts...
-the security at the event was intense. As you walked up the main hallway towards the event center, there was a line of burly security guards. There to check people and maintain the peace...? Apparently not so much. Their sole role was to tell everyone that if they were bringing a drink, it had to be poured into a plastic cup to be taken inside. That was it. Gotta love Vegas.
-watching the event live has a weird flow to it. More like, it really has no flow. On the main show, there is often a break between fights and you never know how long it will be, as they are likely showing an undercard fight on the PPV broadcast. It makes it very different than a standard intermission at another sporting event. Some of the undercard fights didn't have entrance music, which was also disconcerting.
-I assume it was noticeable on the PPV, but did the crowd ever turn from cheering for Johnson to Koschack during that fight.
-speaking of the crowd, this is something I've always noticed on PPV broadcasts but it becomes all the more apparent live - the way that many of the woman are dressed. Obviously not every female in attendance is dressed to the nines, but many are. Even up in the nose-bleed sections, many of the ladies are wearing outfits that would be right at home at a strip club, but which also look expensive. That's something you see all around Vegas, but what I found strangest about it at the UFC is that most of these women were there with guys, and almost all of the guys were dressed normally. So you have these women, most of whom are attractive, look somewhere between ready for their senior prom and being a high class escort but they're with guys in jeans and Affliction Ts who just blend into the crowd. Weird.
-there is something entirely disheartening to overhear the guys sitting behind you talk about all the different MMA events they've attended over the past two years (and not in a bragging way), yet obviously have no clue about what they're watching. Nothing wrong with casual fans, but still...
-I have to admit, heading into the event, I was a bit disappointed about the main event. Not that the original HW title fight main event was the reason I was going, but I was looking forward to seeing Brock and Carwin go at it. I should have expected the Ortiz-Griffin fight to deliver. Because that was awesome to watch. Don't know if it was as fun to watch on PPV, but I'm guessing it didn't disappoint.