MMA and Kickboxing in New Zealand

I went to my first real Mixed Martial Arts and Kick Boxing event here in New Zealand and I must say I was impressed by the sport and see it continuing to grow rapidly all around the world. Apart from a basic kick boxing event I watched in Phuket, Thailand I have never really seen pro fighting up close and live.

From the early lightweight bouts with full Muay Thai rules, which means the use of elbows and knees to the head are allowed were exciting and very entertaining.

The MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) stuff I see as a huge growth area, the excitement of virtually no rules and contrasting styles of fighting is simply amazing to watch. While the competitors I was watching certainly weren't world beaters, considering the sport is in it's infancy here in this country their showing was quite good. There were some quick wins, with some early submissions and a few battles that went the distance where the fighters were dead on their feet.

It was great to be close up to the ring, here in Nelson, New Zealand with such a tiny population the crowd total would not have exceeded 500 I think and we were only a few rows back from the ring itself.

Certainly different to what I am used, back in Sydney, Australia where I have lived most of my life - events such as this would be hosted in large stadiums or arenas to the tune of several thousand spectators. But, while the crowd atmosphere wasn't huge - it was nice not to have to line up for food, drinks and toilet stops.

While I don't get to watch too much UFC at present, it's something I really want to get into. I noticed popular blogger Shoemoney is soon about to release his own MMA style website on a good domain name: fighters.com - I wait with interest, as I said - this sport is going to continue to rise rapidly.