Hello ladies and gents, my name is Matthew Ryan Bankston and I’m here to give you the rundown on the latest news and fights from MMA competition/reality show BodogFight. Now for those of you who are new to the sport of Mixed Martial Arts or hardcore fans new to watching, BodogFight was created and produced by entertainment mogul and longtime MMA fan Calvin Arye. The show aires every week Tuesday and Saturday nights at 11pm (ET/PT) on ION Television featuring exciting MMA action. As part of their goal of “repackaging” MMA, BodogFight has many of its fights featured in exotic locations around the world. Their first and current season’s fights took place on location in Costa Rica and their second season of fights took place in St. Petersburg, Russia. The fighters competing on BodogFight fight do so with the hopes of being featured in a pay per view event that airs live at the end of every season.
I must confess that when I first heard about BodogFight I was very skeptical. With the mainstream success of the UFC there have been a number of MMA promotions popping out the woodwork attempting cash in on the world’s fastest growing sport. But after watching the fights, I got to admit that if you’re a fan of MMA then there’s a lot of things you’ll definitely like about BodogFight. The quality of the production is very good and think it’s great the way they do in-depth pre-fight interviews displaying the training and personalities of the fighters. This better allows the audience to understand them, their mentality, and why they fight which in the long run works great towards a fighters marketability. The commentary is expertly done by people knowledgeable about the sport and training. Some of the commentary features MMA fighters and trainers such as Paul Lazenby, Josh Barnett, Kid Peligro, Denis Kang, Phil Baroni, Erik Paulson, Megumi Yabushita and even Royce Gracie.
BodogFight also has a very international vibe to it. Not just with their locations but with their fighters. Their roster features both veteran and up and coming fighters from North America, Japan, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Russia just to name a few. And if you’re a fan of Women’s MMA then you’ll enjoy the many female bouts featuring fighters like Rosi Sexton, Tara LaRosa, Amanda Buckner, Carina Damm, Kieko “Tama Chan” Tamai, Windy Tomomi and others.
With the UFC dominating the market it’s essential for the fighters to have other avenues to take in order to get the fights they need in an organization that will take care of them. From what I’ve heard from fighters Bodog does a very good job of that. But the one thing that I absolutely love about BodogFight is the way in which they promote MMA as the respectable sport that it is. One of their commercials starts out with several fights talking about how they’re not thugs, bullies, or bar room brawlers but rather fighting athletes. The show provides great exposure for the sport of MMA and Calvin Ayre knows that such exposure and diversity is a necessity for this sport to further grow.
I’ll be bringing reviews of the weekly BodogFight shows to Inside Fights, and if you have any thoughts or suggestions, please email me by clicking the feedback button below.
