It’s good to have friends in high places. When it comes to mixed martial arts, the city of Bangor, Maine, has one of the highest friends it’s possible to have.
That’s the only reason why UFC Fight Night 47 went down from this staid New England town, population 33,000. For comparison, the UFC’s previous event, Fight Night 46, happened in San Jose, California, which has 945,000 residents.
And this isn’t just conjecture; Dana White has admitted as much. See, the UFC prez keeps a summer home in the beauteous New England burg and has personally lobbied for a Bangor event for some time.
That’s a pretty good lobbyist to have in your corner.
So here we are. The lineup for the event was a bit reflective of its host. Not a lot of high wattage involved, but no small amount of natural attraction for those who are naturally attracted to fighting, if you take a moment to look.
The evening’s main event was pretty tame by main event standards, as wrestler Ryan Bader and dynamic up-and-comer Ovince Saint Preux battled to see who might possibly compete for a title fight someday.
Other main card matchups held more stylistic intrigue, however, and the undercard—topped by flyweight contenders Zach Makovsky and Jussier Formiga—was nutrient-rich by any measure.
As usual, the final stat lines only reveal so much. Here are the real winners and losers from this “Maine” event, if you see what I mean.