Enjoy UFC fight nights? MMAjunkie Radio experienced a truly unique one

This past weekend, MMAjunkie Radio was invited back to Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE) for a morale visit, culminating with a UFC 223 viewing party with the troops. My co-host Brian “Goze” Garcia and I have done these trips before, and it’s always a great experience.

However, this trip was slightly different, and I believe that stems from the energy that was in the room at Fort Eustis, where we hosted the viewing party with UFC fighters Derrick Lewis and Jorge Masvidal, along with Xtreme Couture general manager and coach Eric Nicksick.

Here we are almost a week later, and we’re still on a high from the buzz those soldiers created with their energy and enthusiasm for MMA events, and I think I know why.

In recent years, the military has had a stronger push for physical fitness. Aside from that, all young military personnel are taught basic combative skills that are very similar to skills that are learned in MMA gyms. Elite forces take their training to another level, just as MMA fighters do as they continue to gain experience and their careers flourish. And what is beautiful is the willingness from both sides toward learning and evolving.

There is a tremendous amount of mutual respect, I’ve witnessed it firsthand. Even though fighters are fighting for a prize, and military personnel could be fighting for their lives, the appreciation is there for what is taking place in the confines of a cage between two men or women, completing the task at hand by taking out the opposition.

The group with whom we had the pleasure of watching UFC 223 was mostly men and women in basic training. The length of basic training in the military (for most) is around 10 weeks. If you’ve followed MMA closely as a fan, you’ll note that many fighters have training camps that are about the same length. As you can see, aside from the fight itself, the preparation for a fight has that parallel as well.

Sometimes @thebeastufc and I Titanic. @jblefss @mmajunkieradio @MMAjunkie @eustisreccenter

A post shared by Goze Garcia (@thegoze) on Apr 5, 2018 at 11:07am PDT

MMA is one of those sports that is not hard to get up to speed on, even if you’ve never seen a fight before in your life. We have rules, but not many of them. As long as a fan knows the duration of the bout, scoring criteria and who is who, it’s on. Also, the younger generation has gravitated to extreme sports such as MMA in part due to the rise of the UFC in the past 13 years, roughly around the time that Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar had a good knock for 15 minutes at The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale.

MMA fans have long gotten together in homes, theaters, casino ballrooms and popular bar/restaurant chains to watch UFC events. And I’ve been to all of them. But nothing compares to watching fights with the troops. Their collective MMA IQ is already higher than most places where you are guaranteed to hear classics like “kick his ass, sea bass!” and “get him a body bag!” which is then followed by a high pitched cackle.

The last reason for this epic night had to do with the unofficial theme that this card had. I’ll give you a hint: U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! UFC 223 had seven fights that featured Americans vs. fighters from other countries. In case you’re wondering, the U.S. went a disappointing 2-5. While the results could’ve been better, the soldiers appreciated the effort.

I’ll never forget this night of fights. Despite everything that happened during the week with Tony Ferguson getting hurt, replacement Max Holloway getting pulled from the fight, and Conor McGregor’s antics that forced the cancellation of three additional bouts, the nine contests were well-received. In fact, my ears are still ringing, and you can see (and hear) why in the video above from UFC 223’s conclusion.

For complete coverage of UFC 223, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

“Gorgeous” George Garcia is an MMAjunkie Radio host and MMAjunkie contributor. Follow him on Twitter at @MMAjunkieGeorge.

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The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly seriously, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.