About two months ago, a man walked into The Salamanca Press office and asked to speak with me. At that point, I had no idea who he was or what he wanted. I remember wishing that he didn’t have a bone to pick with me over a story a column I wrote. That, however, is the most bittersweet thing in this business. No one really likes to be critiqued, but a critiquer would have to read something in order to critique.

Anyway, that man turned out to be Michael Tome, affectionately called ‘Snake’ by his friends and fellow fighters, and he wasn’t there to critique me. He asked me to come to the Knockout Factory and talk to some of the guys there about the gym and the then-upcoming Golden Gloves boxing tournament. I obliged and proceeded to write a pretty darn good story (well at least I think so) on the gym and the boxing tournament. It’s so good, in fact, that the Knockout Factory has a copy of it on their main desk. But enough gloating.

When I learned of an event, a mixed martial arts (MMA) competition called ‘There Will Be Blood 2,’ sponsored in part by the Knockout Factory, I knew Snake was the guy to talk to. I went and talked to him, and you saw the resulting story in last week’s issue as the lead sports story. The Seneca Nation has the only legal MMA in the state of New York. Because of that, I felt it was important to cover.

This past Saturday night, May 23, ‘Blood 2’ took place at the Jo-Jo Redeye Building in Jimersontown. I received a complimentary pass to attend the fights, even though I was never a big fan of ultimate fighting or mixed martial arts prior to the event. I even debated not going because I simply wasn’t interested in that form of entertainment, similar to thoughts I would have if I had a free ticket to a NASCAR race … simply not my cup of tea. I much prefer professional wrestling. Yup, you know, where the fights are staged and ‘fake’ and the storylines are as plotted out as a soap opera.

Regardless, I did make the drive to the Redeye Building on Saturday night, and after sitting through over three hours of quality fights, my opinion on the sport has drastically changed. No, I won’t be ordering any of the upcoming UFC events on pay-per-view. And it’s possible I won’t become an avid fan of the sport. But the next time I’m flipping through channels and it’s on Spike TV, I might sit down and watch it for 15 or 30 minutes.

I can honestly admit I had a great time at ‘Blood 2.’ It was impressive and exciting, and I wasn’t the only one in that building that night to share those feelings. A great time was had by all, men and women, people of all ages … which brings me to my next observation.

I was shocked to see an abundance of women there on Saturday night. There were some young kids there too, which also shocked me. It’s probably not something I would take my wife or pre-teen to witness but hey, there are some lessons to be learned from it. Humility, above all, is instilled in the fighters from Day 1. Tome told me this way back at our first talk. Also, a sense of self-pride within oneself is important. If you don’t believe in yourself, you’ll achieve very little and you certainly won’t do well in a steel cage against a very competent opponent. Two guys step into a cage with the same goal in mind – beat the h-e-double hockey sticks out of the opponent. They are all good athletes (without question) and they are out to prove how good they can be. These would all be good qualities to encourage a young kid to have, though.

Mixed martial arts is the fastest-growing sport in America. First of all, anyone and everyone can and will enjoy a good fight between two built men. After watching ‘Blood 2’ this past Saturday night, I can definitely see why this sport is ever-expanding. I may not understand the rules to perfection, but it’s darn popular. It was an exciting scene in the Redeye Building.

Without a doubt, mixed martial arts is entertaining. It takes a unique skill to be good at it. It’s much more than punching and kicking a guy. It is a better sport than wrestling or boxing, because it involves both of those arts (plus many more) into one in a cage for supremacy. I know this sport involves hurting your opponent, making him bleed and forcing him to submit with a wide array of moves. But that’s what makes this sport so appealing … and, yea, ok, to some, appalling.

And that’s how it all went down at ‘Blood 2.’ I was immediately drawn in by the ‘Round Card girls,’ absolutely stunning women who carry signs around the ring and the arena notifying fans of what round the fight is in. These six women competed in their own right, as VIP fans got to vote on their favorite. Shannon, one of the Knockout Factory’s prizes, won a cash prize for winning the vote. She then proceeded to take the microphone and announce that she would donate half of the money to the Roswell Cancer Institute. Who says gorgeous, beautiful women can’t be philanthropists?

Also, the emcee for the evening, Big Poppa Schnake, riled up fans throughout the night with his microphone skills. A man dressed like Roddy Piper (complete with a suit coat and a Scottish kilt) with a voice like Michael Buffer entertained the fans in his own right with his excitement and enthusiasm throughout the night.

The fights were all good, and especially my vote for match of the night, Jarret Caparra against Patt Bennett. Patt, out of East/West MMA, delivered a stunning punch nine seconds into the match and Jarret was declared knocked out a second later. It was arguably the best 10 seconds of the evening.

The main event for the evening, a 205-pound light heavyweight title match between Chase Minor and Chris Howard, proved up to its billing when Chase won in the third round by technical knock out, referee stoppage, winning the belt.

As I walked out of the building close to 10 p.m. that night, I knew that I had just seen a great show. The only thing I can do now is wait for ‘There Will Be Blood 3.’ I hope to be in attendance.