08/04/2016

UFC 201: My Fight Night Experience

I grew up with a Dad who used to be a boxer in the army. AKA we grew up watching boxing, UFC, MMA and all of that good stuff. Since I was in college, I would try to find tickets to a UFC fight to surprise my Dad but they were always in Las Vegas – until this year. It was in Atlanta..an hour and a half from where I live. PERFECT.
I finally got my Dad tickets to a UFC fight for Father’s Day. UFC 201, main event Woodley vs Lawler. Needless to say, he was excited!! It was my dad, boyfriend (also a huge UFC fan – I sometimes get jealous of his love of Conor McGregor hahaha kinda kidding!), and myself who went. On our way to the Philips Arena, we actually walked right past Brian Stann, super cool! This wasn’t the first time we’ve run into him on a whim. Below is a pic from 2013 and please excuse the way I look..

I had a girls’ night out the night before and was working with 4 hours of sleep so I had to chug as much coffee as I could before we entered. We made it to the gates with a little less than half a cup of my grande Americano Starbucks left. People everywhere..in UFC attire, not UFC attire, dressed up, and casual. Really, people of all kinds who had one thing in common: they love UFC.

It was an experience – the way it felt to be there, the people everywhere, the fighters in the octagon, and even a few A-Listers like Vin Diesel, Dwight Howard, and others. I’m not going to lie to you, by the time the main card was about to fight my coffee kick wore out. But hey it’s okay because, by the time Lawler and Woodley came out, the adrenaline kicked in. A fight commenced in the audience, testosterone, and adrenaline everywhere. I whispered to Brandon, “I wanna get in the octagon and punch somebody now.” Haha! Shockingly, the fight ended in the first round by knock out in favor of Woodley.

We got a few cool pictures, ate overpriced and mediocre nachos and pizza, and got to experience the UFC culture. And to no surprise, we loved it.