WHEN/HOW DID YOU START WATCHING MMA?

I got into MMA in a very weird way, I was a HUGE pro wrestling fan and I'd listen to a combat sports radio show. The problem was that they'd talk 1h 40 min of MMA and then end the show with 20 minutes of wrestling talk. I was so into wrestling that'd I'd wait through the MMA talk to listen to the MMA talk and I did that for at least 2 years. When someone brought up UFC and GSP (he's huge here), I'd be talking about guys like Gegard Mousasi and Rousimar Palhares (they were the coolest names so they were the easiest to remember) and they'd assume I was a huge MMA fan. But then I'd tell them I've never watched an MMA fight before and they'd be like what the hell.

Eventually I watched some fights but I really started getting into it in the summer of 2010. What really launched me from fan to super fan was the GSP-Kos Ultimate Fighter season.

First MMA fight watched: GSP vs Matt Hughes I
First PPV fight watched (illegally): Shane Carwin vs Brock Lesnar
First full PPV watched: UFC 124
First epic shock: Watching Brock Lesnar look like a ***** against Cain Velasquez
First Live event: hasn't happened :/

i started watchin ufc n other orgs about 6months ago was in to boxin but once i watch ufc with rizla.....i havnt looked back not sure wot i would do with out it now ....lol

UFC number 1. near denver colorado. i remember the kickboxer knocking out the teeth of i think that 600 pound guy. gracie chokes out said kickboxer in finals for either 25,000 or 50,000 dollars.

Near Denver?

I like many others was first exposed to UFC during the TUF 1 finale. The following week on Max Kellerman's show I can't remember the name and Chuck Liddell was on there interviewing for the 2nd Randy Couture fight I became a fan then but it wasn't until I discovered Sherdog just prior to UFC 97 that I evolved into the uber fan that I am today. The first UFC PPV I watched straight through was UFC 98 and I haven't missed one since. Shocking to me how many people such as you on this site are so new to the sport. 

 i thought it was a suburb of denver. (broomfield?)

* Edited at 12.29.2011, 3:15 PM ET *

mcnichols sports arena denver colorado.

The first 2 UFC events were in Denver...UFC 1 was in McNichols Arena which is where the Nuggets and Avalanche played before the Pepsi Center opened...and UFC 2 was at Mammoth Gardens which is now The Fillmore a concert venue

my first real intro was was seeing TUF 3.  A wrestling teammate of mine showed me a bootleg version of Sherk vs Hughes and I was hooked.

hackney-yarborough was one of the first fights I watched, But it was the 2000 Pride Open GP that hooked me.  Sakuraba-Gracie is a fight that would hook anyone.  

The first MMA I ever watched was the first season of TUF and the TUF 1 Finale live. After that I seen a few PPVs like Royce Gracie v Hughes and BJ v GSP 1. I started watching every event starting with UFC 80, haven't missed one since.

I'm just going to copy and paste my response from a similar thread from a month or 2 back.

...

I was vaguely familiar with the sport at a pretty young age.  I was only 9 back in 1994 when the McDojo I went to put a poster up by the bathroom advertizing UFC 3.  We even had a seminar with Relson Gracie once.  He taught us the triangle.  I thought it was stupid, and would clearly never work in real life. 

At this point I was curious about the UFC, but I didn't actually see a fight until a couple of years later.  I forget where I saw it, but the first fight I did see was Pat Smith vs Scott Morris.  I was still only maybe 11 or so at the time.  The rules were crazy back then.  The fight only ended because Pat Smith stopped hitting Morris with elbows from the mount, and walked away.  It was totally brutal, and scared the crap out of me. lol

I sort of forgot about the UFC after that for a few years.  Then TUF came out.  I didn't watch the whole season when it first aired, but I caught a few episodes, which was enough to peak my interest.  I went online, and started looking up whatever UFC fights I could find.  I found Matt Hughes, GSP, and BJ Penn.  I watched Hughes vs Trigg 2, Hughes vs Newton 1, Hughes vs GSP 1, GSP vs Heiron, Penn vs Uno 1, Penn vs Thomas, and finally Penn vs Hughes 1, which instantly made me a die hard BJ Penn fan.

After that I started watching TUF 2, and ordering the PPV's.  Shortly after I discovered Pride, which really made a hardcore fan out of me.  I started buying all the MMA DVD's I could get my hands on.  Nowadays I'm obsessed.  It's the only sport I really care about other than boxing.

First event watched: PRIDE 24

Dad was telling me about a guy named Dan Henderson. Then after watching Pride 24 I fell in love with the sport. I was only about 11. MMA has been in my life ever since.

@Anik Dude I came across MMA basically the same way that you did.  I watched the GSP/Kos season of TUF and then my first full UFC event was UFC 124

About 4 years ago, they were showing WEC reruns on VS. Just so happened to see Condit take out John Alessio. That was the 2nd time I had seen cagefighting, and the first time it was interesting. Got hooked on WEC, and watched a lot of the fights from the WEC and now watch UFC, and if I can find other promotions to watch, I watch those as well.

I dabbled in it over the years, just randomly seeing replays on cable TV. Pride, older UFC stuff, IFL. I thought it was cool, but only knew a couple of big and obvious names at the time, I wasn't huge into it, just would watch it when it was on. I got absolutely hooked when the WEC was gaining popularity, seeing some of the fights from the smaller weight classes. Occasionally saw a PPV, but still watched a lot on cable. Been a few years since i really became a hardcore fan, i've probably missed two or three PPVs in the past two or three years.

Well I have always been a fan of martial arts so I guess it started with like old bruce lee flicks, bloodsport, segal's older movies stuff like that. I think the first mma I remember seeing was some vitor fights online somewhere. I think I started watching the UFC religiously around UFC 55 or so and havent missed any since then

First MMA fight watched : Diego Sanchez vs Clay Guida
First PPV fight watched : George Sotiropoulos vs Kurt Pellegrino
First full PPV watched : UFC 116
First big shock : Lesnar surviving!
First live event : UFC 138 :)

• First MMA fight: I don't remember
• First PPV fight watched: Kendall Grove vs Alan Belcher (assuming since it was the 1st fight on the tv portion)
• First full PPV watched: UFC 69
• First big shock: Serra/GSP!
• First live event: WEC 51
  

@FresnoMMA That's awesome.

First Fight Watched: Matt Hughes VS Royce Gracie. (UFC 60)
First Card: Georges St. Pierre VS Matt Serra II (UFC 83)
First Live Event: UFC 129
First Big MMA fighter I found out about: Matt Hughes



I don't even remember how I got into it. Highschool was one big drunken blur.

* Edited at 12.29.2011, 6:39 PM ET *