BAMMA,the UK’s premiere mixed martial arts promotion, breezed into London to put on their 34th numbered event and what a fight card they brought. Stacked from the prelims to the main event BAMMA delivered one of their finest shows than they have done in a while. A true standard bearer in matchmaking and entertainment.
There were many talking points arising from the event which we’ll break down in our usual inimitable fashion. There were some good points some real high watermark achievements without a doubt throughout the show but also some bad points and some downright ugly sights.
The Good
BAMMA have always prided itself on its production values and they presented a polished, slick and altogether superior live experience. They have a big show look and feel that definitely competes admirably with those fight promotions at the top end of the MMA foodchain. Long gone are the baggy gaps between fights where the audience are left twiddling their thumbs. Taking their place are a continuous flow of back to back explosive fights. The matchmaking is geared towards entertainment which is a good fit considering there are alternative fight promotions available in the market place that cater to the MMA purists.
The Bad
The gravitas that should be given to title fights are an unspoken rule and MMA athletes should be given every opportunity to emphatically establish that they are he dominant fighter in each and every title clash. Given the main event at BAMMA 34 was a very close contest it underlined the need for BAMMA to adopt the five round championship status for its title bouts. Without this the promotion has the appearance of a small regional show with big show aspirations.
The Ugly
Whilst putting on an arena show looks impressive, having the majority of the space curtained off looks downright ugly. Despite the high standard of the card and the intriguing match ups the attendance was probably one of the lowest I’ve seen for a BAMMA show in a long while. Given the amazing main card BAMMA could have definitely doubled if not tripled the attendance figure.
Through clever and tight arranging of the deck chairs it possibly appeared on television that the arena was packed to the rafters but a cursory look around on the night revealed something far different. BAMMA need to up their game in terms of pre-fight promotion. Media assets, audio, video etc need to be made more readily available so that MMA media outlets can amplify the narratives and in turn enhance public interest to watch BAMMA’s live events.