Cage Warriors 47 - Sonic Blastman

I'm not one to throw around the obvious and the cliche when they're not required but I feel justified by writing what I'm about to write.

Cage Warriors 47 was the most intense show I have ever worked in my entire life.

It was my seventh show for Cage Warriors and before I got there I was faced with arguably the shortest flight on record.

The event took place in Dublin and as soon as I was afforded the opportunity on the plane, I put on my headphones and my Ipod picked me Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

The song finished and as it did I saw a shape enter my peripheral vision. It was the stewardess telling me to take my headphones off as we were preparing to land. I've had good cups of tea that last longer than that flight but I'm certainly not complaining you understand. It made a nice change.

We got to the hotel, which was nice in an understated kind of way, and found out we'd be staying in an adjacent house because there was a wedding this weekend at the hotel.

It'd be Dean, Rich, Tony and myself which, as it happened, was a perfect cocktail for tea, trash talking, the occasional coffee for Dean and all kinds of merriment.

The fight night came round fast and as soon as the first bout started I could sense something different. The crowd, although still growing, was gloriously vocal and I truly wasn't prepared for what was to come.

Then this happened.

Photo by Dolly Clew/Cage Warriors

I've never ever seen a place erupt like that in a very short time before. I've seen many displays like that but not for a second was there a sense of danger in these proceedings; there was nothing but intense celebration from the Irish fans.

This wouldn't be a weekend recap however, without a bullet point list and a niche videogame link so here's both for you good people.

• The mental game is so overlooked by some people in mma but I'm fast realising that it's probably the most important part of the whole puzzle somehow. It's like having a 1000bhp engine but no clutch. You can't translate that power and ability into anything without it.
• If you're all about The Young Ones metaphor in that house then I think I was Rick Mayall, Dean was Vivian, Tony was Neil and Rich was Mike.
• Train rides are really underrated somehow. If they weren't so expensive I'd do more of them.
• I started reading my dad's book last night briefly. I really hope I've got that in me somewhere.
• UN Squadron with anyone apart from Greg Gates is unfeasibly hard.

Why Sonic Blastman?

As a kid growing up the noisiest machine in any arcade was the Sonic Blastman machine. You'd get crowds of would be tough guys surrounding it trying to hit that pad to get the biggest score, or headbutt it which I saw once, to impress whoever was watching. There was a special noise that surrounded that machine. It was crystal clear yet ear splittingly loud.

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.”- Jack Kerouac

Mutant Fighter - CWFN6 & UCMMA 28

This may very well be the most miles I've covered in a single weekend and that's saying something.

Last week's crazy schedule went something like this.

Mon: Work
Tue: Work - Fly to Abu Dhabi
Wed: Fly to Bahrain, Arrive 9am
Thurs: Judge Cage Warriors
Fri: Fly to Abu Dhabi
Sat: Fly to Manchester, Arrive 7am, Drive to London, Call UCMMA 28.
Sun: Drive to Star City. Win Teddy Bear on grabbing machine for Alison.

The best part is that, this weekend, I get to go on another Cage Warriors adventure as I fly to Ireland to judge yet another stacked card but, without any further delay, lets bullet point this bitch.

Cage Warriors Fight Night 6 - Bahrain - Thursday 24th May

• Most obvious but yet endearing comment of the trip? "It's hot here isn't it." It's in a desert, in a heatwave at 1pm. Yeah it's hot. 
• If you don't know who you're going to be rooming with. Always open up with an offer of a cup of tea. It's usually always plain sailing after that.
• On that note a big shout out to Rich Mitchell who cracked me up throughout the trip. The dude's good people.

UCMMA 28 - London - Saturday 28th May

• Very exciting night of fights throughout. Great work from the UCMMA team who, as always, made Alison and myself very welcome.

Why Mutant Fighter?

Seriously watch UCMMA this Wednesday.

I'm off to play some Super Hang On but I'll no doubt be in touch very soon.
Take care
Ben

Also this:

Wrestlefest - NOTG11 & Lockdown FC 3

Another two shows this past weekend as 300 miles, a load of debates about Hendo's H Bomb, a tasty muffin and some great fights happened in a very short stretch.

Night of the Gladiators 11 - Saturday 21st April - Hanley

• Noisy fans were well behaved. Good stuff.
• Ant Bailey does indeed look like a marginally more portly BJ Penn. 
• It's nice finishing an mma show and walking home. Simple things :)

Lockdown FC 3 - Sunday 22nd April - Hatfield

• Good friends and good conversation make a long drive seem very short.
• Mark Handley's leopard print thong LMFAO entrance was pretty sick. It was the way he had to walk down stairs to get to the cage that made it a bit surreal though. He looked like he'd just got out the bathroom.

Why Wrestlefest?

It's simply not because I'm trying to one-credit it at the minute it's simply the fact that this weekend reminded me that, at any level of the game, wrestling is so overpowered.

A good Ryu will beat a good Guile or a good Zangief any day of the week.

Also I bought some chinos and a cardigan today so I'm pretty sure I've turned into a bad guy from a 1980's martial arts film.

On that note it's time to hit the hay
Speak soon
Take Care
Ben

Double Dragon 2 - UCMMA 27 & CWFN 5

Another double header this time as a break in this pretty crazy schedule affords me the time to record a hectic few weeks.

The Cage Warriors trip home was suitably titanic as I got a coach, two planes, two trains and then walked a mile and a half to my front door. I slept for 13.5 hours on Friday night though so I think I'm over it now.

April 7th - UCMMA 27

Down to London for some UCMMA goodness a few Saturdays back and a card that wasn't rammed full of huge names ended up being one of the most exciting events I've seen for a long time.

• Easy night for the judges huh? Some huge finishes and massive knockouts which is always good for the fans
• Hotelling it was pretty sweet as well and driving down and driving home at a regular speed was both financially rewarding and quite relaxing.

April 12th - Cage Warriors Fight Night 5

Off to Amman, Jordan this week to judge for Cage Warriors as Fight Night 5 took to the airwaves on MMAJunkie.com with an immensely deep card. It was, once again, a pleasure and an honour to judge such amazing bouts.

• I really could mooch in hotel receptions for a living. Every night I planned to go to bed at a reasonable hour and every night I ended up chilling out till 4 am drinking tea on those comfortable sofas and hanging out. Awesomes.
• Business class on a small plane means a free cake and a cup of tea. This was immense.
• That Fisherman's platter I had from TGI's in the mall nearly finished me off. Looked like the season finale of Deadliest Catch.

That just about rounds it up for a little while anyhow. I'll be back in the saddle again next week as I do Night of the Gladiators on Saturday and Lockdown FC on Sunday so expect a similar update.
I'd call it Double Dragon 3 but I recall that game being garbage.
Anyhow till next time, take care of yourselves. I'm off to grab some lunch.
Ben

BAMMA 9 - Slice and Dice

Another weekend and another motorway trip, this time with Lethaby, as we went to the NIA, Birmingham (eventually) for BAMMA 9.

Wifi was good, seats were comfortable, Aundre Jacobs tweeted his little heart out and Mick Bower was funny in a way that only Northern types can manage.

The fights were good fun and thanks to everyone who tuned into MMAHQ for the live play by play which chronicles all the fights. Get reading if you've not seen the events yet.

Here's what I noticed watching MMA this week:

• Gaps between fights aren't as noticeable in a live event when it's warm.
• I've been to a lot of fights with atmosphere but I've never heard anything like Marshman vs. Watson. Intense doesn't even begin to cover it.
• More people should walk in to music that isn't metal or rap.
  

Videogames and the Vision Quest

I spend so much time embracing the past while continually trying to look to the future and this blog is a perfect illustration of said ethos.

It's been around three years that I've been writing seriously and the opportunities and experiences that have come about as a result of it have been unreal to say the least.

Anyone who reads this understands how much SNES I play but this week I wandered to WHSmith after a quick game of F-Zero. It was sunny, I had some big sunglasses on and all was well.

I walked into the shop and picked up Fighters Only, in front of a tutting clerk, and opened it up. I've had quite a bit of magazine work published but this prospect was somehow different.

This month's issue featured a column I put together about videogames and mma. You read it right. The second I wrote it I was reminded of the first times I read Gamesmaster magazine and I wondered what it would be like to write at all.

I'm trying to not use the word epic anymore because this generation of kids seem set to do to epic what my generation did to awesome but that's the first word that came to mind.

Please go and buy it.
Then read it all.
Then tell me what you think.
Take Care
Ben

P.S I'm all about trying to full clear F-Zero this week. Mute City 2 is beast.

CWFN 4 - Tank Command

It's time for yet another show wrap up written from the comfort of my surprisingly comfy floor.

I was picked up early this morning from Manchester Airport by my lovely girlfriend after a through the night flight from Abu Dhabi.

Cage Warriors Fight Night 4 in Dubai was a spectacular event with some truly insane finishes. There was just about everything you could wish for from a live show and chilling by the pool, catching some rays and listening to Copeland before the event was pure serenity.

Amazing opportunity once again and, in true North Star fashion, it's time to relive the highlights via the medium of the bullet point.

• Judging is amazing because there's nothing else but the fight. In an arena of screaming fans it's incredible how you hear none of them once the fight starts and the mental scoring calculations begin.
• I knew this show was going to be sick when the hotel porter asked me if Bret Hart was wrestling on the card.
• It's cheaper in Dubai than you'd think. It was only 80p for a Toblerone and 9 quid for a pair of Randy Savage looking sunglasses.
• Watching a film about a bacterial disease epidemic on a crowded plane is one of the stupidest things I've done in a while.
• I played a load of Sunset Riders on my DS emulated to a SNES. Loads harder than I remember.

Speak soon
Ben