It was right around the time I moved to New York City that I became obsessed with mixed martial arts.  I'd followed it sporadically in college, but my development as a fan was hamstrung by the fact that I never really had money for ordering pay-per-views.  The weekend I moved to Brooklyn I saw BJ Penn's utter dominance and spider-like finish of Jens Pulver, a man he had lost to in a fight I'd seen a few years before.  Penn was a totally different fighter this time around.  I realized the sport had evolved rapidly in a few years, and I shouldn't blink again or I'd miss even more.  I couldn't allow that.  The irony is that I greedily devoured every fight I could find after moving to a state that wouldn't allow me to see it live. 

When I heard MMA was coming to Jersey City it sounded too good to be true.  It might not be New York, but it was close enough.  This was just what the doctor ordered.  Finally, I could watch fights up close, surrounded by a venue full of people who love the sport as much as I do.  I could stand and cheer a good pass to side-control (or even half-guard) with others who understood why I was cheering.  In short, I could be a fight fan among fight fans.  And there was certainly no shortage of great fights at the Jersey City Armory Friday night.

 

Foster wins unofficial KO of the night

 

It was obvious from the start of the lightweight bout between Marcos Rodriguez and Kenny Foster that someone was going to get knocked out.  These guys were going for broke as soon as the bell sounded.  After the first exchange I thought either looked capable of something fantastic.  Kenny Foster proved this intuition correct.  Or half-correct at least.

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Within seconds of taking Rodriguez to the ground, Foster was unleashing some of the most vicious elbows I've ever seen.  It happened so fast I hardly had time to cheer.  One second I was sipping my beer and jotting down notes, the next Rodriguez was lying battered and unconscious.  Incredibly, he got up and walked out of the ring after only a few minutes.  I'm almost a full foot taller than Rodriguez and I'm positive those elbows would've put me in a body bag.  The guy was obviously tough, not to mention quick.  But he was also taking risks against a fighter with serious finishing power, and he paid for it.  I hope to see the 7-1 Foster fight for the UCC again in the near future.  The 24-year old is on a six fight win streak.  Nice to see New York producing talent like this despite the archaic views of the sport displayed by the state legislature.

That stance looks familiar.....

Maybe this was just a coincidence, but it looked to me like Renzo Gracie product Dave Branch was channeling Lyoto Machida.  His opponent, the much more experienced John Troyer out of Louisville, had a more common stance: shoulders hunched, head down and forward with hands out front.  Branch was in an unorthodox straight-up stance.  At times it looked stiff, but his head was safely out of range of all of Troyer's strikes.  Troyer was a gamer, but the outcome of the co-main event was never in doubt. 

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I'm sure there were many other factors involved. Still, I couldn't help but think the differing stances had something to do with the way this fight went down.  With his head safely out of reach, Branch was free to throw devastating liver-kicks and dangerous head-kicks.  These set up explosive take-downs.  Troyer had no answer.  I struggled to think of one myself.  Machida succeeds largely because his opponents can't seem to get at him.  Branch has that same quality.  At 5-0, nobody has been able to solve the puzzle he presents.  None of his fights have even made it past the second round.  The Gracie Team has got to be happy to have the dynamic middleweight aboard.

 

Robert Rodriguez a pleasant surprise

 

I have to admit, after the first round of the light heavyweight fight between Glenn Sandull and Robert Rodriguez, I thought I had Rodriguez pegged.  I saw he wasn't from a camp I knew, didn't have a lot of experience, and was throwing early hay makers.  "Brawler," my inner monologue condescendingly chided.  I assumed he didn't have the skills to go with what were obviously heavy hands.  I was wrong.

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Rodriguez got sharper as the fight progressed, stalking Sandull, harrying him, and delivering beautiful leg kicks.  Sandull's only option was to get Rodriguez to the ground and try to get to a decision win.  But even that strategy went awry when Rodriguez flashed some surprising ground skill with a quick guillotine win.  I was impressed.  This was only Rodriguez's second professional fight.  He's obviously still raw, but between the leg kicks, aggressive striking and lighting-quick guillotine, he's got an intriguing set of tools.  They could make him a formidable fighter if properly developed. 

 

Local favorite Jimmie Rivera gives the crowd what it wants

 

One of my favorite fights of the night was featherweight Jimmie Rivera's 3-round unanimous decision win over newcomer Claudio Ledesma.  Ledesma was no slouch, but Rivera was fired up.  It wasn't hard to see why.  The Tiger Schulmann team had an impressive presence in the crowd, and they were fully behind Rivera.  It was fun to see a fighter feeding off the crowd like that.  His confidence was visibly enhanced by the noise.

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Rivera was able to control the fight standing and on the ground.  In round three, when Ledesma started to fade, Rivera was still applying pressure.  He wanted the finish, you could tell.  But his fanatical following was just happy he was fighting well.  They cheered his every take down, pass, and strike (whether or not they connected).  And then after the fight the screaming mob whisked him away to the land of winners, amid cheers of victory (from them) and looks of envy (from me).  Rivera and his crew were on cloud nine.

 

Final Thoughts

 

This was a night chock-full of good fights and good fighters.  What impressed me as much as anything is that many of the losing fighters were obviously good mixed martial artists in their own right.  Featherweight Denis Hernandez, lightweight Joshua Key, and the aforementioned John Troyer and Marcos Rodriguez all came out on the losing end of their fights, but are all still fighters I definitely want to see again.  That's a testament to the continued evolution and advancement of the sport, particularly locally.  Much of the talent on this card was local, either from NY or NJ.