UFC 185: My Hometown Experience

By: Dylan Smith (@FightMartian)

This past Saturday the UFC returned to Dallas, TX for the second year in a row and I was lucky enough to be able to attend the blockbuster event they brought to my hometown. This marked my 6th UFC event I have been too and I must admit it was one of the most exciting. 

We started out at the UFC Fan Village on Saturday, which was basically an event before the fights for the fans to meet and greet some of the UFC's best fighters and included other contests and activities if you didn't have the patience to wait in a long line to meet someone. The fighters appearing at this particular fan village were Donald Cerrone, Jake Ellenberger, Uriah Hall, Tecia Torres, and Raquel Pennington among others. Also the beautiful Octagon Girls Brittney Palmer and Arianny Celeste were there signing calendars and posing for pictures with lucky fans. 

 

Here is Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone doing what he does (second) best, drinking a bud light at early in the afternoon. He was awesome with fan interaction and by far had the longest line of people waiting to meet him. 

 

 

This is me and Jake "The Juggernaut" Ellenberger. He was super chill and nice to everyone and I'm glad I got to meet him. 

 

 

Here is (former) champion Anthony Pettis getting introduced. The Dallas crowd was really supporting him, and was definitely disappointed with the outcome of the fight.
 

 

As for the event itself, the Dallas faithful came out in full force with plenty of energy which made the fights even more exciting. There were some huge upsets as both champions lost their titles, but all of the local fighters like Johny Hendricks, Jared Rosholt, and Ryan Benoit walked away with dominant crowd pleasing victories in their hometown. I definitely got my money's worth as the excitement of live MMA never gets old and I will continue to go anytime they come to Dallas. I also encourage any fan who has never been to a UFC event to do themselves a favor and go. The energy and excitement the crowd brings along with the intensity of the fighters is a can't miss combination that will have you counting down until the next one, and that's a promise.