Yesterday some friends and I went to Road FC, Korea's MMA league. It's very similar to UFC and almost all the same rules except that there were no elbows and kneeing a downed opponent WAS allowed. Interesting. The venue was the Jangchung Gymnasium where Judo and Taekwondo were hosted at the '88 Olympics. There was a decent attendance, though not a full house, and many of the spectators including the noisiest, were westerners (Americans I guess). 
Overall it was a pretty good show. An amateur section first, seven fights. And then the pros later, seven more fights, stretching out over five hours. They had octagon girls and famous Korean comedians to entertain us between fights.
Most of the fighters were in the lower weight classes as can be expected. So there weren't many knockouts, but there was plenty of heart and technical skill. Even one substitute fighter who took his fight on two days notice against an opponent fifteen kilos heavier. He lost, of course.
There was some international competition; two Japanese, a Brazilian and a Canadian, but mostly Koreans.
One of the cool thing about events like this in Korea is that you can bring in your own food and beer. My friends stocked up on convenience store Cass before the fights and I a bottle of Gatorade.
The other cool thing about this event was the Korean audience. Most of my western friends and I have the opinion that Korean guys are a bit feminine and quite vain. Many of them seem to spend an awful long time looking in the mirror and fixing their hair. Not to mention the masses of young to old men that are fashion-conscious, trend-following, hair-dying and cleanse-tone-and-moisturize-three-times-a-day-ing. So, to see guys with cauliflower ears, misshapen noses and not sporting skinny jeans with New Balance sneakers was a breath of fresh air.
The atmosphere was pleasant enough, even when Japanese fighters were competing. However, I guess there might be trouble occasionally as there were half a dozen police buses lined up outside.
I would definitely go back and hope the next event is soon. Our 25,000 won tickets (cheapest seats) were perfectly adequate as the stadium is small.
Overall it was a pretty good show. An amateur section first, seven fights. And then the pros later, seven more fights, stretching out over five hours. They had octagon girls and famous Korean comedians to entertain us between fights. Most of the fighters were in the lower weight classes as can be expected. So there weren't many knockouts, but there was plenty of heart and technical skill. Even one substitute fighter who took his fight on two days notice against an opponent fifteen kilos heavier. He lost, of course.
There was some international competition; two Japanese, a Brazilian and a Canadian, but mostly Koreans.
One of the cool thing about events like this in Korea is that you can bring in your own food and beer. My friends stocked up on convenience store Cass before the fights and I a bottle of Gatorade.
The other cool thing about this event was the Korean audience. Most of my western friends and I have the opinion that Korean guys are a bit feminine and quite vain. Many of them seem to spend an awful long time looking in the mirror and fixing their hair. Not to mention the masses of young to old men that are fashion-conscious, trend-following, hair-dying and cleanse-tone-and-moisturize-three-times-a-day-ing. So, to see guys with cauliflower ears, misshapen noses and not sporting skinny jeans with New Balance sneakers was a breath of fresh air.
The atmosphere was pleasant enough, even when Japanese fighters were competing. However, I guess there might be trouble occasionally as there were half a dozen police buses lined up outside.
I would definitely go back and hope the next event is soon. Our 25,000 won tickets (cheapest seats) were perfectly adequate as the stadium is small.
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