The Good
- Dramatic alto Lyn Bueno’s powerful acapella rendition of the Philippine National Anthem which reverberated throughout Circuit Makati’s event grounds
- Unlike other events which featured different nationalities, this one paid respect to the foreign nationals by playing the anthems of USA, Sweden, Pakistan, and Czech Republic
- The lone female MMA fighters of the set which were Dolores Meek and Jennylyn, who were the first pair to reach Round 2
- Ahmed Mujtaba’s speech upon winning the championship belt in the featherweight division: “I dedicate this fight to the martyrs of Bacha Khan University who lost their lives in another barbaric attack a few days ago.”
- The “Pick Your Poison” intermission number
The Bad
- Pinoy contenders for the titles were beaten by 2 Pakistanis and an American.
- The event was supposed to start at 7pm. It was already 7:16pm but the venue wasn’t even 5% full. Apart from that, a small fire broke out an hour and a half later. The event finally started at past 10.
- Most of the fights ended in a single round. There were a few pairs who made to round 2. At least the main event which was the fight between Mark Palomar and Brad Robinson, both from the middleweight division, ended at round 3.
The Ugly
- The event was not well-organized and people were obviously lacking in public relation skills, particularly in thanking the bloggers and photographers who went there. I understand that UGB is allegedly referring to itself as a poor man’s gym but a little thank you wouldn’t hurt. It doesn’t cost anything. Oh yeah, no one even offered any refreshments. It’s a good thing that a fellow thespian was a volunteer there and he got me food. The owner of Powcast.net who sent out the invites just said hi, engaged in small talk, and was not interested obviously in introducing any of us to the organizers (except his people).
