Friend of MMANews.com Robin Black, who co-hosts No Shit MMA with Jonathan Baldock every Tuesday on Thatchannel.com, is on location this weekend for The National Post and is blogging about his experiences during the weekend. You can check out part one of his blog below and be sure to check back over the weekend for more updates.
By Robin Black
Friends, I thought I would just do a quick wrap-up of UFC 97 in Montreal. As a fight nerd, I enjoyed myself immensely. I appreciate you guys coming along for the ride.
Photographer Glenn Dextras and I are really hoping to make our UFC coverage an ongoing thing here at nationalpost.com. We enjoyed covering the event, and we hope you found it interesting. If you enjoyed our coverage, please recommend it to your friends.
The highlights? Being able to see Chuck Liddell's last fight, even though it didn't go the way he would have wanted. It was genuinely moving to see and hear the appreciation and applause from the crowd. Everyone felt lucky to see the most famous UFC warrior one more time. They gave him maximum love.
Incidentally, at the press conference after, UFC president Dana White confirmed that it was definitely Chuck's last fight. He also said there would always be a place for Chuck in the UFC in a dfferent role.
We did catch a special moment; Dana whispered to Chuck at the press conference, Chuck hugged him and left, and Dana handled all the questions about Chuck's future, presumably to spare Chuck the emotional impact. Classy.
That fight did also signal the re-arrival of Shogun Rua, a tremendously exciting young fighter who, this weekend, re-established himself as a real threat.
It was also great to see the young Canadians TJ Grant, Denis Kang, Sam Stout and Xtreme Couture Torono's Mark Bocek have great performances and get sweet wins.
The low points? Seeing good guy and great fighter David Loiseau have a very disappointng performance in front of his home town. I felt for Dave. Here's hoping things turn round for him.
Also, the main event was a big letdown. Anderson Silva and Thales Leites put on one of the worst main events in recent memory. But, with so many great fights that night, I got past it pretty quick.
Overall though, the fights, the weekend, and all the excitement that the UFC brought of the city of Montreal was great. It was a real privilege to see these warriors put on a show. Again, I'm glad you took the ime to check out my blogs. With your support, we can make this coverage an ongoing thing.
Also, please take some time to check out Glenn Dextra's photo gallery of cage-side action shots, and exclusive moments from UFC 97 that are posted here. Glenn is one of the best fight photographers there is.
I'd like to give special thanks to Crash MMA for bringing me. They are a class organization to travel with. Good people.
Also, if you get a chance, please check out my Web show, “No Shit MMA” on Thatchannel.com on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. And find us here on Facebook.
One more thing. Not everyone realizes, but the sport of MMA really is for everyone. I would encourage anyone interested in the sport to come train with us at Xtreme Couture Toronto. This is a wonderful sport that can improve your life, and it's for everyone; men, women, kids. It's cheap, we'll make you feel welcome, and we specialize in all skill levels, including beginners. See you at the gym. See you at the fights.
