MACAU, CHINA — UFC Macau is in the books and Zuffa’s first trip to China ended up as a success. Apart from having that arena feel, commercials may have cut out several minutes of your viewing experience. To make up for that, here are several tidbits from being live at the Cotai Arena that you may have missed out on during the FUEL TV broadcast:
– Macau is a popular tourist spot which is just a few short hours away from several countries in Asia. This was one of the primary reasons the UFC chose this location to start with their Asian expansion, as they knew a lot of people would fly in to see the event while also catering to a very young Chinese market at the same time.
They were right on the money with this one, as a huge percentage of the crowd were indeed from several different nations. This led to the crowd being split during several bouts with huge contingents from countries like the U.S., China, Brazil, and South Korea cheering on their countrymen.
– Like a lot of events in the U.S., the judges in Macau all had monitors they can use cageside.
– During the prelims of Caceres vs. Tezuka, Motonubu’s cornerman was slapping him in the face multiple times. in between rounds to wake him up, I guess. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t work as Caceres cruised to a split decision. Speaking of, judge Bass Singh scored that for Tezuka. Did he accidentally turn off his monitor?
– Following the fight, Motonobu Tezuka’s left eye was swollen shut from the bout against Caceres.
– In what I can only assume to be unique to this Chinese event, celebrities who attended the event were announced, and personalities such as action movie stars Donnie Yen and Daniel Wu were introduced to the crowd in different languages. Speaking of multiple languages, the promo videos where Jon Anik gives previews before every fight all had Chinese subtitles.
– TUF veteran, Andy Wang was in Mac Danzig’s corner for his fight against Takanori Gomi.
– Also, a tidbit that wasn’t shown on the FUEL broadcast, right before the decision was announced, Danzig & Gomi had a bro-hug while they were both being carried by the shoulders of their cornermen.
– Korean ring girl Kang Ye Bin was seated for most of the event, but when it came to Dong Hyun Kim’s bout, she was standing, intently watching and cheering for his countryman.
– With all the Asian fighters on the card, it’s funny that it was the scary Bulgarian in Stanislav Nedkov who decided to walk out to the popular Gangnam Style song.
– In the UFC’s history, they have hosted over 200 events and there has never been a card that had every single fight go to a decision. Saturday’s event seemed to be going that way with the first seven bouts left to the judges hands, but Thiago Silva and Cung Le put an end to that securing the card’s only submission and knockout. That automatically won them the fight night bonuses.
– Prior to getting the third round submission, all three judges scoring the Thiago Silva vs. Stanislav Nedkov fight had Silva winning the first two rounds, even if Nedkov scored a big knockdown and controlled most of the fight on the fence. Had the Bulgarian not gassed and got finished, it could’ve been a very controversial issue right now.
– Lastly, do you remember the Japanese lady doing translation at UFC Japan (UFC 144) with those cool, fluffy pens? She’s back in Macau, doing translations for Gomi and the other Japanese fighters.