eRUPPtion Throwdown

Our photos just went up today from the eRUPPtion event his past Friday. There are some load-in shots, some shots “from the stands,” as well as some excellent photos from our house photographer, James Crisp. There are some really cool action shots that show the intensity of the matches, from well places kicks and punches to carefully controlled body holds. There are photographs of their entrances that included but were not limited to smoke, Hannibal Lector replica masks, and even a live rapper. The “bombshell beauties” are even shown displaying the round cards around the caged ring. In addition to the photos, our Video Event Technician, Joseph Lloyd, put together a great video recapping all the matches and the feel of the whole night. Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ntQxIcPdU]

Head on over to our Flickr page to have a look at all the shots. If you were able to attend the event and took some photos then be sure to email them to us at rupparenablog@gmail.com.

eRUPPtion Recap

Last Friday, Rupp Arena played host to a mixed martial arts cage fighting event where local and national competitors sparred off against each other in a kick-boxing/wrestling type format. Mixed martial arts is a combination of various kick-boxing techniques as well as wrestling. It is definitely a violent and intense sport, but it much more than just thrown punches and swung legs. Lots of training is required to become proficient at the sport, as well as a large amount of physical endurance. Boxing is quite possibly the most physically exhausting sports. Combine that with wrestling and trying to pin someone to the floor, and you can quickly figure out why all the competitors were toned and muscular.

With cage fighting, people automatically think of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. There is a certain barbaric association to that arena. It also may not help that the fighters themselves sometimes act barbaric and often don multicolored hair with Mohawks. All preconceived notions are cast aside though, when you see the professionalism of the fighters during their match, as well as the amazing sportsmanship after it is all over. You have to have an incredible amount of respect for someone who could match wits and fists with you for nearly 15 minutes.

There will be lots of shots from one of our house photographers, James Crisp, as well as a bunch of photos I took “from the stands” that should be available in the next few days. Until then, here is a taste of the photos to come. If you were able to make it, we would love to know what you thought as well as see any photos you took. If you weren’t able to attend then take a look at the photos, and perhaps you will consider coming next year.

Calm Before the eRUPPtion

Things are in place for everything tonight. The stage is set, the lights programmed, and there are willing people ready to beat the snot of out each other, gracefully of course. It was very interesting watching them setup since a cage match isn’t like any other show. It is sort of like the offspring of professional wrestling and boxing. It has an entrance stage which leads to the cage where the fight takes place, but has less emphasis on the performance and dialog, and more on the fight itself like boxing.

I hope to see you all there, but regardless of your attendance, you can check out a recap and photos I will put up in the next few days following the event. Be sure to post your comments and let us know what you thought of the show, good or bad. We are always looking for honest feedback. To tide you over, here are a few shots of the ring from the floor.

eRUPPtion Load-in

Things are coming together for the eRUPPtion event tonight at Rupp Arena. The mixed martial arts (also sometimes referred to as “ultimate fighting”) event will be going on at 8 PM tonight. If you would like to attend then you can buy some tickets online or grab some at the ticket office when you walk up. They are setting up the stage now as you can see in the photo above. It should definitely be an exciting night. Be sure to take lots of pictures if you go and send them our way. I will likely post some more behind-the-scenes shots today, and then will have a recap of the event up in the next few days.