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All Business - Carter ALL BUSINESS: A Production Take on Moosin: God of Martial Arts PPV - Massachusetts' First MMA PPV Event
May 23, 2010 - 2:54:14 PM
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By Alvin Benjamin Carter III, MMA Torch Specialist
Moosin: God Of Martial Arts on pay-per-view took place this past Friday at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA (Outside of Boston). This event was historic only because it was the first professional MMA pay-per-view event in the state of Massachusetts. That is about it for the historic factor, the rest was something else. The production quality of the event differed greatly depending on if you were present at the event or watching it on pay-per-view.
Integrated Sports Media distributed the event in North America on cable and satellite pay-per-view via in Demand, DIRECTV, TVN, and DISH Network in the United States. The pay-per-view event was available in Canada on Viewer's Choice, Bell TV, and Shaw PPV in Canada. The suggested retail price was $29.95 and event was available in HD. Those outside of the US, Canada, UK, and Poland could watch the event on www.GoFightLive.tv.
The play-by-play announcers were Bas Rutten, Jeff Gorman, and Tom Megalis. I did not get hear the commentary, but from what I hear it was interesting to say the least. (I will have to watch a recording to hear the commentary for myself.) The ring announcer got off to a mixed up start and announced the wrong fighter for the first non-PPV bout and that through a few people off a bit. Eventually, it was obvious a heavyweight and a middleweight were not fighting each other, so everyone figured it out. Again, I did not see the PPV broadcast but I have been told that the fighter info was often displayed incorrectly. These are some of the production values that make a difference, and make people wonder what they are paying $29.95 for the PPV.
Those who paid $35.75 - $250.75 to watch the event in person might have felt a bit better about shelling out their hard earned cash. (Still, I am not sure about the higher end of the ticket prices.) The crowed was very excited the whole night.
The venue was full of Polish flags, scarves, and signs to show support for Mariusz Pudzianowski and a couple of other Polish fighters on the card. There were not a lot of frills at the venue, but the walk in ramp for the fighters was the theatrical focal point of the event. When fighters walked out there were drastic bursts of flames erupting from the stage. I was sitting in the press box probably about fifty yards away, and I felt the heat. It was a bit much and seemed a bit dangerous, but maybe the flames just looked larger from my seat.
The fights themselves were very good which is the one of the most important factors in having a well-received event. Still, it is not the only factor when your event is on pay-per-view. The "Fight of the Night" for me was Roxy Modafferi vs. Tara LaRosa. This was an action packed bout, and it moved at a great pace. A highlight of the fight is when Modafferi had LaRosa in tight triangle that least’s for almost half of the third round.
The fans in attendance had been enjoying the match ups, but did not have much to feed on in the way of theatrics besides the flames and a couple of pre and post fight interviews. The problem with the interviews was it was not completely clear as to when they were happening. Some were live in the backstage area, some were pre taped, but it seemed a little bit confusing for those in attendance.
The theatrics came to a head with the entrance of main event fighter Mariusz Pudzianowski. He came out to fight Tim Sylvia, but first there was mini concert. I kid you not. A hype man came out rapping over an industrial style dance beat, and the crowed went wild. The flames (again) burst out of the entryway a number of times. I thought I was in a remake of a Rammstein music video. The fans went nuts, but I all I could think about was does Pudzianowski have the skills to back this "entertaining" entrance up.
This event was interesting, and had some production characteristics that need to be addressed before future pay-per-view events. Still, the quality of the fights was where it needed to be. The most disappointing fight of the night was the main event. I enjoyed seeing the spectacle, but it was not a fight. It was two giant men in a cage, and only one seemed to know how to fight.
With that said, I would go to see another Moosin event. I have to keep going back to the quality of the fights. Some of them were better than a number of recent Strikeforce fights that I have seen in the past couple months.
Massachusetts will host another professional MMA PPV this August when UFC 118 comes to Boston. This event will feature a main event rematch with Lightweight Champ Frankie Edgar defending his brand new belt against BJ Penn. The state has a large number of fans, fighters, and trainers that make this state real hotbed for MMA. It seems that more quality promotions will be coming to Boston and Worcester, MA. Bellator had a great showing in Boston, and Moosin delivered solid fights. If bigger promotions come in an continue to showcase local fighters in the prelims, the seats will start to fill up faster and, in the case of the UFC, even sell out.
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Follow Alvin on Twitter: @AwwwSnap
Alvin Benjamin Carter III is an MMATorch Specialist columnist focusing on the business and statistic side of the sport of MMA. He trains in SanDa / Shan Shou (Chinese Kickboxing) and MMA at Redline Fight Sports. He also has a business background in music production, management, and clothing. He has launched two companies which cater to niche markets, giving him experience in examining trends and attitudes that can affect a particular business model, which he applies in his weekly column for MMATorch to the sport of MMA.
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