So, as you know, the Moai Martial Arts crew was live and in living color at UFC Fight Night 50 this past Friday. This rare dual post will cue our faithful readers in on some of our favorite moments and observations from the show.

So, Boss, what was your most memorable moment from Friday night?

Bill – Spending it with you, buddy! The fights weren’t bad either.  I gotta say J-Lau’s ability to get everyone in Bridgewater, MA to come to his fights is pretty awesome.  The sea of red shirts surging the cage after his win was pretty great–a real [insert sports movie here] kind of moment.  Inspiring, given all he and his family have been through lately.

Your ability to hold back the tears after Reem got KTFO’d again was pretty inspiring, too.

ALar – Well, that’s all fine and dandy, but witnessing Jacare’s dominance in person was something to behold.  While all the drunken imbeciles were demonstrating their displeasure with the Brazilian’s threatening and utterly commanding top control, I was enthralled. Few fighters are electric when on the mat, but Jacare certainly fills that role.

Oh, yeah, and that whole thing where I was a mere foot from the Gator after the fight was pretty cool. The lucky dude in front of me was gifted Jacare’s shirt because he was shrieking in Portueguese. I guess I’ll have to pick up Rosetta Stone before the next fight…

The picture isn’t blurry, I swear. Jacare just emits an aura!

So what did you think of Foxwoods as a venue for a UFC event?

Bill – This is my third UFC show.  The first two were at Boston Garden (or the Fleet Center, or TD Bank North Garden, or whatever non-New Englanders call it now).  The excitement of watching great fights in a packed arena can’t be beat.  The crowd chanting “MMA!, MMA!” when Couture choked out James Toney at UFC 118 was great.  Conor McGregor’s uproarious reception in Boston for UFC Fight Night 26 was ridiculous.  Turn up the volume and check it out!

That said, The Grand Theater at Foxwoods was a better experience.  Far better.  Imagine seeing your favorite super-star artists like Jay-Z or One Direction or Cher playing a club show after they became famous (I know, I have weird taste in music).  That’s what watching the UFC last Friday night felt like.

We were so close to the cage it was silly, and we had the cheap seats.  We were at cage level, and we could hear all the thudding leg kicks and smashing takedowns.  Security was also really cool about fans standing cage-side, which was so awesome (see above).  

Aside from the DJ who mixed “Tequila” with dubstep–a toxic cocktail that induced mental images of PeeWee Herman twerking–it was an amazing night! 

ALar – The Sensei is right, the intimate venue provided a magnificent setting for my first UFC event. For a company that can pack 55,000 people into an arena in Toronto, this show in front of 5,000 people didn’t miss a beat. It was simple to monitor my favorite journalists mid-fight actions (I’m looking at you Mindenhall!) and even catch a glimpse of Chuck Liddell and Chris Weidman trading tips cageside.

The crowd itself was mostly intelligent, which was mildly surprising. Well, besides Mikey, Vinny, and Joey who sat behind us for the prelims. I knew they were well rounded fight fans when they dropped remarks like, “These seats suck” (Which they didn’t…), “He’s doin’ all da basic moves, you can’t win like that,” (In the midst of Chas Skelly working an armbar… His mom was also sitting in front of us which was pretty cool. You haven’t lived until you have watched a mother watch her son fight in a cage for money.) Those guys were losers, and I’m assuming they found a gold chain and V-neck combo sale sometime before the Main Card started and were never heard from again.

These seats don’t suck, Vinny!

So let’s throw out a bold prediction or two for one of the Main Event fighters.

ALar – For me, I can safely say that SHOULD be Alistair Overeem’s last MMA fight. The man has accumulated so many hits to the head that it only takes a soft breeze to ring his bell. Walking out of the building, we likened Ubereem to a kit car. He has the build of a Ferrari, but the engine of a Camry. There is nothing left for him in the sport; if he needs to fight, he should go back to kickboxing where the gloves are bigger and the careers are longer. Even if ‘Reem still thinks he can be a viable MMA fighter, my slightly less bold prediction is that we witnessed the Dutchman’s last UFC fight…

Bill – I second that.  He seemed okay when we saw him in the lobby after the fights (no pic–two dead iPhones, really?), but when it’s time it’s time.  The sad thing is, he looked like a new fighter out there.  Long, low stance, lots of movement, some creative striking.  Dare I say it?  The Reem looked a lot like Bones.  I hope he has the sense to hang it up, but if he dropped a weight class and took on a few fighters left in Jones’s wake, I’d tune in.

Here’s an easy prediction I know ALar will second.  Let’s get Jacare in the ring with Weidman after he demolishes the diminishing Belfort, huh?  Why does Vitor get a title fight anyway?

Our collective reaction to UFC 181…