Amber Miller © Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC Photography by Joshua Hedges Well UFC 50's main event may not have been The War of '04 as some had hoped, but there was plenty of action in other bouts. Perhaps, with hindsight, the show should have adopted Jimi Hendrix's title Are You […]
© Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC Photography by Joshua Hedges The Ultimate Fighting Championship events just keep growing, and although UFC 49 was moved to a larger MGM Grand venue, the show was still a sellout on 21 August, 2004. And everyone in Las Vegas knew the world’s greatest fighters were […]
© Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC Photography by Joshua Hedges UFC 48 was billed PayBack, but as Spence Johnston stated after the event, there was little payback to be had on June 19, 2004. However, the only score that possibly needed settling was between Evan Tanner and Phil Baroni after UFC […]
© Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC Photography by Joshua Hedges “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are Live from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada. “Tonight, Zuffa presents an incredible night of action with the finest Mixed Martial Artists in the world, who will all compete in the […]
© Marc Wickert Photos copyright Zuffa, Photographer Joshua Hedges THE BATTLES: Matt Serra 11-3-0 v Jeff Curran 17-5-1 (Lightweight) Matt Serra, a Renzo Gracie BJJ black belt, entered the Octagon with impeccable MMA credentials. And as UFC announcer Joe Rogan stated prior to the opening bout, “Matt is top of the food chain in Brazilian […]
November 21, 2003, Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville Connecticut © Marc Wickert All photos © Zuffa LLC – Photography by Josh Hedges Celebrating Ultimate Fighting Championship’s 10th Anniversary, UFC 45 was planned to be a special event for MMA fans. And it was just that: a special and unique night. Some critics were disappointed with the […]
September 26, 2003, Mandalay Bay Las Vegas © By Marc Wickert Once again, thousands of MMA fans surrounding the Octagon, and millions worldwide watching P-P-V, were summonsed by Bruce Buffer's velvet voice announcing, "Ladies and Gentleman, we are Live!" Amongst celebrities in the full house were Shaquille O?Neal, Fernando Vargas, Bobby Jackson, Michael Clark Duncan, […]
© Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com photos by Joshua Hedges In the lead up to UFC 43 Meltdown, the Ultimate Fighting Championships promoters promised to deliver an 8-fight, Mega-Star event for fight fans to enjoy the world over. With some of the biggest names in mixed martial arts history on the card, such as Tank Abbott, Kimo […]
Since the beginning of time man has tried to get faster and stronger. While athletics maintains a considerable profile, especially international meets broadcast on television and the Olympics, the same could not be said for weightlifting and powerlifting. Come every Olympic Games I personally wait patiently for weightlifting events and outside the Olympics regularly scan […]
Boxing can be a strange business at times. Take the case of Neil Nili Ta’ala. In 1986 Neil won the Auckland Provincial amateur middleweight title. Myself and Gil Sullivan were promoting boxing at The Mainstreet Cabaret at the time and because of his crowd pleasing style and good fan base offered Neil a professional bout […]