Sarmiento cousins live dream during UFC 100 in Las Vegas

CEBU, Philippines - While I know that there are many Cebuano fight fans, never did I really expect that some of them would really take time and spend money to watch the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) 100.

Cousins Marko and Robin Sarmiento were Las Vegas the other weekend for what is arguably the biggest mixed martial arts competition – UFC 100.

Featuring two championship bouts – heavyweight and welterweight, the event was sold out.

Well, the results have long been out and former wrestler Brock Lesnar won the heavyweight title via a technical knockout at 1:48 of the second round over fellow American Frank Mir while Georges St. Pierre of Canada defeated Brazil’s Thiago alves via a unanimous decision.

There were several other featured bouts, but a few clicks on the web can lead you to the complete results of UFC 100.

Marko, one of Cebu’s top amateur golfers, said that they got interested in UFC because of their friend Jon Syjuco, who is a huge fan of the UFC.

“Around three years ago, we were chatting and surfing the net and he (Syjuco) was telling me about this big fight between Chuck Lidell and Tito Ortiz,” Marko said.

“I was making fun of him saying that the UFC is just like the WWE, buthe argued and forced me to watch it…I’ve been hooked ever since.”

Robin said that the UFC gives fans more than just the action on the arena as it also provides “all-access” and “behind the scenes” video blogs, which allows fans to get an “inside” look.

“We’re much bigger fans now after meeting Dana White (UFC president) and GSP (St. Pierre),” Robin said.

“The UFC is exactly what it is – mixed martial arts. You never know what to expect while watching UFC as the fighters bring in so many disciplines into a fight,” Marko said.

Robin said that UFC 100 was “stacked” as either of the three big fights – Lesnar vs. Mir, St. Pierre vs. Alves and Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping in the middleweight division – could have headlined any card.

“It was like watching three events in one,” he said. “In addition we go to see some up and comers like Bones Jones, (Yoshio) Akiyama and (Alan) Belcher.”

The Akiyama-Belcher bout in the middleweight class that was won by the Japanese fighter via split decision was picked as the fight of the night.

As to the followers of UFC in Cebu, Marko said that he knows many friends here in Cebu who follow UFC and in fact White predicts that in ten years UFC will become the number one sport.

Robin said that even “non-hardcore fans are starting to recognize the superstars.”

Being there for UFC 100 was a great experience for the cousins seeing the fighters live.

The cousins were in good company at UFC 100 as they were with Syjuco, who introduced them to the sport and former RP national football player Christian Lozano.

As for the Sarmiento cousins, you won’t see them drop their golf clubs yet to don gloves and head up the fight arena. They are just all-around sports fans, who also dig Manny Pacquiao. -  THE FREEMAN