Martin Smith was on hand to witness a great night of MMA for the XFC…

Having followed the build-up, preparation and all round hard-work put in by the XFC for their “Salute to Our Armed Forces 5″ show, I was almost flattered when asked to be a part of the online press coverage for the show. With our iFight365.com site located in the UK, I was forced to follow the action online via their site. Let me tell you, it was an experience.

I arrived to the site at around 11pm to get my head around the card and what to expect. It looked interesting. Of course, my interviews with Johnathan Ivey and Gan McGee had led me in no doubt as to what our main event was going to be like. It was going to be a hard-hitting battle between two contrasting fighters.

As the night began to build up towards our show, the chat room filled with MMA fans and family of the fighters discussing their son, brother, nephew, boyfriend and husbands chances of winning. I even managed to catch a quick word with a very nervous Diana Palant, mother of fighter Brandon Palant, who told me she was “very proud” of her son and “very excited and nervous”.

The one thing I loved about this build-up, in between the sound and picture problems, was the hands-on, work-man like approach to this event. We got inside the trenches, we saw how these guys set this thing up and we saw how the XFC got business done. Honestly? I wanted to be there! The show hadn’t started but it already looked great. I was ready for a fine night of MMA action.

With around forty people in the chat room watching online, the event started. However, it wasn’t without problems. With the sound quality fading in and out and with the picture shuddering a little, I kind of knew already that this was going to be one of those nights were something was going to spoil the party. With the chatroom getting annoyed already, they quickly began to demand refunds – without the fights even starting.

Our first fight, which saw Brandon Palant taking on Justin Goodall had the full support of the chat room. After all, Palant’s family and friends had crammed into the room to watch their fighter. Palant took a very well deserved victory after a number of fantastic punches rained down on Goodall in the first round. The fighter can take much confidence from this victory going into his next fight. It should be noted here also, that Palant had the trademark Evan Tanner beard in memory of the former UFC middleweight champion, who sadly passed away a few days before this fight card.

While the fights came thick and fast, I found myself wondering if we could find a stand-out fighter throughout the night. The type of fighter who I would hopefully see in years to come. This fighter came in fight four between Tony Harvey and Josh Cate.

Harvey, weighing 155lbs and with a record of 7-3, looked a very good all-round fighter who certainly looks like he has a bright future ahead of him. While he has shown weaknesses in the past, he could certainly be one to watch outside of the UFC in the coming years.

Two other men who definitely impressed me where Corey “CT” Krebs and Dave “Pay Me” Yost, both of whom look like they could step up into the spotlight over the next twelve months. While the UFC might be out of the league right now for these gentleman, I can definitely see them at least making themselves known to the big men in the UFC – particularly Yost – who looked like he had fantastic striking ability.

Krebs, who defeated Jermain Wilson in sixteen seconds, also looked a gifted fighter and will certainly be one to watch as 2009 rolls round.

Of course, rumours have began circulating already that Yost and heavyweight Johnathan Ivey will face off in the future. With nothing confirmed, it is just speculation for now but already, I can sense that is going to be one big fight for both guys. Let’s hope we can see something between the two soon.

To be fair, they were the only real stories to come out of what was a very average night of MMA action in the octagon. Too many fights ended far too quickly and that left everybody in the chat frustrated, annoyed and bored. Let’s face it, a lot of people stayed in on a Saturday night to watch this show – and it wasn’t exactly fascinating stuff.

With less than forty minutes MMA action in three and a half hours, our main event was upon us and boy, have I ever seen a mis-match. Johnathan Ivey couldn’t handle former UFC heavyweight Gan McGee and lost by TKO in round two. The size difference between the two men was unbelievable – with McGee standing at around thirteen inches bigger than his opponent.

At times, I actually had to look closely to believe my own eyes. It was the most mis-matched fight I think I’ll ever see. In fact, that summed up the night. While the likes of Yost, McGee, Krebs and more looked great fighters against their opponents – they we’re already comfortable favourites before a punch had been thrown. In terms of ability, they were much stronger on paper and therefore, common logic suggested that they win their fights without a problem.

This is definitely an area the XFC need to work on. They need to match fighters with those of a similar ability. Nothing should be held against those fighters that lost – some of them showed great heart in the octagon. However, until the XFC match them against guys of a similar ability, most of these fighters are going to continue to plunge into negative MMA records – something which looks horrible for a fighter.

In all respect to Billy Colon, he should not be fighting in the co-main event against a guy like Dave Yost when he has a 0-1 record. His place on the card was unjustified and more so, his opponent shouldn’t have even been near him. Yost is one of the XFC’s best fighters and Colon is still learning his trade in MMA. The fact that the undefeated Yost was taking on a guy who had only fought once before, and lost, was a bit embarassing. He needed to be matched with someone with similar ability.

The fight between Gan McGee and Johnathan Ivey might not have been a classic but it certainly kept me hooked to my computer screen. At times, I thought Ivey could pull off a submission and let me tell you, he was close. However, the size of McGee proved the difference in the end and as “The Giant” pounced round the ring, you could see he was ready to take the bait and move in for the kill. After rocking Ivey with some great punches, he managed to dominate on the floor and take the win by TKO. Ivey, although disappointed, should take huge credit for agreeing to this fight, in what was your typical “David versus Goliath” battle.

When it ended, the chat room flooded with complaints. The fight stopped suddenly and that was it. It was over. Over four hours of coverage and just over forty minutes of MMA action. Many felt Ivey could’ve done better but I wasn’t so sure. McGee was just huge. Then the feed went, and we were left with no audio, so basically it was just a chatroom. Many complained, bitched and moaned, and to be fair, I could see what they meant but at the same time, this wasn’t going to be a night like a UFC PPV. This was XFC. The card had disappointed me but at the same time, I know these guys have the will to go very far. It’s just ironing out the cracks for now.

So, what exactly can we expect from the XFC and Gan McGee in the future?

While McGee will probably move on to bigger things, the XFC will continue to grow at the incredible rate it has already. Let’s make no ridiculous assumptions here – this is not the UFC. This company hasn’t got the budget of the UFC and will probably never reach the heights of the UFC. But, when these guys got things right, it was a nice night of MMA. It wasn’t spectacular but it was a great experience.

The downside was, when things went wrong, they spiralled spectacularly down the drain. The advert breaks, the sound and picture problems, the mis-matched fights and the break dancing male cheerleaders, let this event down badly. While you can appreciate some things not going to plan, the thought of hundreds of bodybuilders sitting in the crowd watching three men break dance in the middle of the octagon is one that fills me with embarassment.

That said, the XFC can take a lot of positives out of this and for their inexperience, they should be ridiculously proud of how well this event went. In time, these guys will see out the problems. I have no doubt about that.

For McGee, it will be a case of where next? The big man is back and it’ll be interesting to see where he goes over the next eighteen months. Is it worth ruling out the UFC and Affliction? Probably not. McGee might need to show more dominance in big fights to attract those two, but there’s certainly a hole there for him to fill.

If he works off the dust and gets back to his prime, then he’s certainly a guy who could light up the heavyweight division. Ladies and gentleman, “The Giant” is back and in 2009, he’ll certainly let you know it.

Feedback: martin@ifight365.com

Results:

- Brandon Palant defeated Justin Goodall by TKO, 3:36 in round one
- Justin Flood defeated Brandon Watts by TKO, 1:36 in round one
- Frank Sharipov defeated Shah “Hollywood” Bobonis, unanimous decision
- Tony Harvey defeated Josh Cate by TKO, 27 seconds in round one
- Robert Turner defeated John Holliman by TKO, 1:05 in round one
- Corey Krebs defeated Jermain Wilson by TKO, 16 seconds in round one
- Donny Wallace defeated Richard Boyd by tapout, 1:22 in round one
- Dave “Pay Me” Yost defeated Billy Colon by TKO, 2:55 in round two
- Gan “The Giant” McGee defeated Johnathan Ivey by TKO, 59 seconds in round two

Martin Smith
martin@ifight365.com