Xbox MVP Club 108 reports back from Canada`s first UFC event
It all starts at Toronto Pearson Airport 12:30 AM...the next flight out to Montreal ETA 7 hours...
After trying to get some sleep at the airport from my trip back after attending the MVP Summit I decided to just walk around the airport aimlessly and check out the cafeteria. The lighting was dimmed and there were literally bodies laying everywhere (sleeping). It was like I woke up in a scene outta "Dead Rising!". After dozing in and out of sleep while making sure nobody was trying to bite me it was finally time to hop on the plane towards my final destination.
Saturday 04/19/08 8:50 AM...Right after getting my bag it was another mission in itself to try to bring up all of that French I took back in High School to guide myself around. I had to find a way to get to the Bell Centre in the most affordable way. I went outside and I found a charter bus decked out in RDS (TSN) Montreal Canadiens vinyl (the Habs were playing in the play-offs that night). I somehow communicated with the bus stand attendant with my worst Jean Cretien impersonation to get on the bus. On my way to the Bell Centre realized how beautiful the city was and how much history was still preserved! I would suggest planning a Montreal get-away for those who want to crunk it up this May 24 weekend! There were a ton of Clubs/events for all music lovers to have a good time.
Montreal welcomed Club 108 with open arms.
I then checked into my hotel room...number 108! This was completely random, I swear this set of numbers has micro chipped me or something. And then I was off to meet my Yahoo Canada informant who was holding the "package".
The meeting location was at a restaurant that specialized in dishes with Fries being the main ingredient. This was a perfect location for me to get a personal achievement unlocked. I ordered a large Putin combo aka artery-clogger #1! This place had a bunch of different toppings/putin variations. The putin I got had pepper corn in it for a little spice which I didn't expect. After missioning down that dish it was time to go scope out the secret locations. The streets were as clogged up as my arteries were after eating that authentic putin! But man was it ever worth every cheesy bit of it! Everywhere you looked there was a Montreal Canadien flag being hung in pride, Hab chants, and a sea of Canadien Hockey jerseys.
After visiting the informants around Montreal it was time to finally pick up the "package". The package was tickets to UFC 83: Serra vs St-Pierre and that the show was about to start at any moment! So the Yahoo Canada operative and I had to somehow catch a Taxi to the Bell Centre AND beat the crazy traffic! We ran out into the mass of people and just our luck a Taxi was just about to take a right turn on our street! We then flagged him down and luckily he had no fare so it was ok to hop in.
Once we made it we were greeted by a press truck with LCD screens showing Elite XC fights/promos. But we swiftly ran past the Kimbo Slice bread maker and headed for the entrance. Again to our surprise there were many entrances to get into the Bell Centre so the line-up was really short in our area. Finally the time was ticking down before the show went LIVE! We heard the crowd reacting to what sounded like a fight! We ran up a few flights of stairs to get to our seats and to our surprise the Canadian Sam Stout vs Rich Clementi fight was on! The crowd sounded amazing and the arena wasn't even packed since this was the unaired preliminary fights.
The Bell Center was Electirc!
Once the arena got filled up to the roof with people the energy of the crowd was unexplainable! Every fight was great accept for 1 sleeper BUT the crowd let the fighters know how they felt about turtlers a.k.a. back-peddlers. But the energy level was about to get a 4x multiplier! Georges St-Pierre's intro music hit! The crowd wouldn't stay quiet at all. Every punch St-Pierre landed had 20,000 fans behind it! I have to give some repect to Matt Serra for even agreeing to this fight under these terms, he never backed out! Then St-Pierre dominated the first round it was just a matter of a few minutes into the second round that he won the UFC Welterweight Championship belt via TKO! I couldn't imagine fighting for the belt AND winning the belt in your hometown.
After that crazy unbelievable event it was off to the Forrest Griffin after party hosted by Yahoo! Let me be the first to tell you. Yahoo knows how to throw a party! The party had a bunch of Mixed Martial Artists there. They had the guys from TAP OUT clothing, Forrest Griffin (1/2 of the current TUF season coaches), Matt Hamil, and the hilarious "Texas Crazyhorse" Heath Herring! All of the fighters were extremely nice to everyone! They were great examples of what a Mixed Martial Artist is all about. It's not always about fighting 24/7, they have families too. Great ambassardors for the sport that's for sure!
Forrest Griffin vs. Club 108
Then it was off to catch my flight at the airport back to Toronto with no sleep at all and an unforgettable experience. All of this wouldn't have been possible without Xbox Canada and Yahoo Canada for sponsoring the event! I think this is a huge step in the right direction to help legalize Mixed Martial Arts here in Ontario and the rest of Canada (where it's not already legalized by the local sports committee already). And the UFC is getting another game for the Xbox 360 to add to it's current list of released titles.
From my experience at the event I would expect to the game to have amazing crowd chants and sound effects just like the real event! It should try to capture the immense energy that is in the air that you feel at an UFC event. Personally I would like to see a few features in the game. One of them being a mode where we can work our way up to the UFC by fighting in The Ultimate Fighter series and there could be mini-games on how to improve your skill level in the gym before your fight and at the house too. It would be even better if it would have online Xbox LIVE houses that is filled with real players from around the world. The houses would change day by day and players can participate in it every day and eventually the fight of the week will happen between players from around the world! Also another great mode would be the ability to stream an Xbox 360 LIVE fight card with real people from around the world. Maybe have the top ranked fighters go at it and have regional champions? (high ranked 205lb fighters go at it in the battle of Ontario etc). And people can hop in and view it like PGR TV or Sega TV. And if the fight card could have 2 lucky viewers with Mic's that select the option to be announcers for the fight/card. Then everyone who is watching can toggle player commentary off or on. In my humble opinion I think these would make great features in the upcoming UFC game.
Yet another fighter challenges Club 108
Interested in getting into picking up some MMA fighting skills? Check around in your home town - as the popularity of the sport increases more and more coaches are opening gyms. It's a fun and exciting way to spend your time when you're not throwing a virtual punch on your Xbox 360.
I'm Club 108 -Look for my tag on LIVE and we'll have a game.
