The evenings biggest snags came from fighters being late. Director of MTDAR, Mike Mazzulli, had a firm word or two with several men who dropped in about an hour or two after the 5 o'clock start time. One unfortunate man was told he had to call in the morning to see if he could fight. That would mean another agonizing night of dehydration and unappetizing meals. As Mike stated early in the evening,"If you come late it makes you look like an amateur." After the weigh-ins there were only two men unaccounted for Nathan Oses and James Raymond. Mr. Raymond has made it a habit of taking fights, four in fact, and then either pulling out a few days before or not bothering to call or show up to events. He will be suspended permanently after tonights no-show. It is amazing at this level that anyone would do this without a solid reason. The training is grueling for most and the energy spent can't be regained. If you sign on to an event, be there.
Kip and Joe expect a full house tomorrow night and also a television audience as well. Kip announced that the local cable access channel will be filming for live broadcast in area towns.
Our local man Nate Nadeau made weight today at 155lbs solid as did many of the fighters competing. His opponent PJ Linder did not however make the 155 mark, but rather came in five pounds heavier at 160. Nate was given the choice of going on with the bout and of course he said yes. PJ better hope that 5lbs does something short of a miracle in the cage cause he'll need it after that ref says "Go".
Speaking of refs. Big Dan McCarthy will be in the cage keeping order to the chaos sure to ensue and enthrall.
A few things to point out if you ever think you want to fight at Mohegan are:
- Each corner can only send one of its three into the cage.
- No wrappings other than tape and gauze are permitted unless specifically authorized by Big Mike
- And always bring 2 mouth guards
- No jumping onto the top of the cage after a bout is stopped, ie; straddling the cage
- Obey the Mohawk Rule as it is strictly enforced here. No hitting in an area where a Mohawk would encompass
- Ground n Pound will be allowed for Amateurs, but be certain that if you aren't able to defend yourself after approx 3 strikes the bout is going to be called
- Pros fight 3x5min rounds and Ammys fight 3x3min rounds
That about does it. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the show when you get there. Tickets are still available at the box office and are reasonably priced. Thanks to all the fighters who let me photograph them today. I look forward to seeing a real battle in the cage.
Joe Leonard is a contributing author for WesternMassMMA.com and a student of Team Ravenous MMA at ATA in South Deerfield, MA.
Special thanks goes out to Dave Thomas who made the slide show and will be helping me out with video editing so we can get all the great fights we cover up in a timely fashion.
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