What’s Your Favorite All-Time MMA Fight?

Especially if you want to see if it is someone you want to keep talking to about MMA.

Mine is Matt Serra vs. Karo Parisyan at UFC 53 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was in June of 2005, I was training in Isshin-Ryu Karate at the time and it was the fight that made me want to add Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to my little hobbyist toolbox of martial arts. 

Usually when I tell an OG fan of the sport that, I get a nod acknowledging that the answer is good but it also lets the person listening know that I know what I’m talking about when it comes to the sport of MMA. 

If someone gives you an answer like, “Conor McGregor vs Chad Mendes, UFC 189” the answer is still good because it lets you know where their fandom began for the sport.  It’s a good answer because again–you can feel like when you talk to this person they still know what they are talking about when it comes to the sport of MMA. 

If someone tells you they don’t watch it, and you happen to like the sport, that conversation is pretty much over, right?

What if that someone was a promoter?

The same question was asked to UFC President Dana White, and his answer was good too. He cited UFC 300 and countless others that were too many to name, which is probably the best answer a promoter could give. It not only shows that he loves his brand, it shows he loves the sport.

There are plenty of reaction videos of him, cage-side reacting to what happens in his promotion. You can tell Dana White loves what he does and loves the sport. He’s mostly there after his events to address the media and watches other events to pick up fresh talent. 

Scott Coker loves the sport too. I don’t know if he was ever asked what his all-time favorite fight was, but I know he loves combat sports because of what I’ve seen him do.

I covered a lot of Bellator MMA events at the Mohegan Sun Arena. One night after it was all over I went to one of the restaurants in the casino to eat. Coker was there too, with a few of the others, let's call them “suits” that helped him run a fight night.

I didn’t bother him, the event was over, I submitted my work for the night and we were both off the clock. So, I figured I’d leave him alone, we were both getting a late dinner anyway.

This was when Bellator Kickboxing was still around, one of the events was playing after the live Bellator MMA event was over, and it was on one of the TV’s in the restaurant. When I finished my meal, Coker’s party had already finished theirs and left. Coker was still seated at his table, alone watching the kickboxing event. He was focused, head up and eyes locked on the screen as if watching his favorite movie.

That’s how I know Coker loves what he does.

I don’t think Donn Davis loves the sport, and while he doesn’t do much publicity for it, I don’t think Peter Murray does either. 

I’ve covered PFL events too, I actually like the format and think it’s probably the best for fighters but the folks running the shop aren’t doing their due diligence to keep the interest of fans.

Ray Sefo is always front and center for the PFL’s fight nights and if you asked him, he would probably give a good answer for his all-time favorite MMA fight. As a former fighter turned promoter, we know he watches, because he’s been there watching since the WSOF days. 

Davis, Murray, and whoever the investors are, remind me of Paulie Cicero in “Goodfellas” when they take over The Bamboo Lounge from Sonny Bunz.

Bunz is under financial strain and goes to Cicero for help, he asks him to come in the business with him to stay afloat. Cicero is reluctant at first and says, “I don’t know anything about the restaurant business,” but decides to go in anyway and pass the reigns to Henry Hill.

What happened?

If this analogy sinks in, when the joint gets busted out the fighters could be left wondering what to do just like Sonny. 

How long does something last if the folks running it don’t care?