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

Shock and Awe 10 - Smash TV

Sunday was, in every sense of the word, a day of pure win.

I woke up nice and early and drove up to Active Fitness in Holmes Chapel to teach a circuit training class that was all kinds of fun.

Drove home, went shopping, went for something to eat, walked home in the sun and then fell asleep under a Hello Kitty blanket.

This sleepiness and general good feeling was bought on by another great mma show that it was my pleasure to work on the night before.

Shock and Awe 10 was another great show by the south coast promotion and like last time, I was blown away with how many amazing fighters there were representing the lower weight categories and the professionalism and hospitality of the outfit.

My official report of the evening is here but, in true North Star fashion, it's all about a bullet point breakdown of my unofficial take on the event.

• Hospitality was, as always, fantastic and I was made to feel very welcome by the team down in Portsmouth in a great venue.
• The drive was nice and it's a sign that Alison and I are getting good at the mma road trip as she'd prepared sandwiches and all kinds of goodness. I do however, need a travel cup. That was sadly overlooked in this trip.

Also one of the funniest bits of commentary in a while came from my good friend Lloyd Clarkson.
Ben: I'm impressed with this level of transitional grappling. Every submission attempt used to set up superior positions and techniques.
Lloyd: Certainly at this level it's a lot like Chess but with tattoos, punches in the face, blood, submission holds, slams and ground and pound.
Ben: So not at all like Chess then.
Lloyd: No not really.

Cage Warriors on Friday.
Off to Dubai I go.
ONWARD!!!!
Take Care
Ben