UPDATE-- (WAAY)
Saturday night the Hartselle Civic Center was packed with fights fans of all ages! Robert Clairday brought his Cage Fighting event back after a bit of controvesy, but had a bigger turnout than ever an estimated 500 people. Some find the sport barbaric or brutal, but fighters like Jeremy Knytych believe that "if nay-sayers would give it a chance they would not see brutality, but a real sport that takes endurance and athleticism...stress relief with a referee".
Many fans feel the sport can be a healthy and controlled outlet for agression, especially Rod Stoud, partner in R&R Fight Productions, which began when kids started street fighting in surrounding areas. Trainers and fans find that the events give young men the opportunity to train properly in mixed martial arts and compete in the presence of referees and medical professionals.
The fans lined up onto the sidewalks outside of the event event anxiously awaiting what was in store. Traditional boxing matches lead to approximately fifteen mixed martial arts bouts keeping fans on the edge of their seats every minute. Mixed martial arts consists of boxing, kickboxing, muay-thai and jui-jitsu.
A few of the training centers with fighters in attendance were Clairday's Karate and Mixed Martial Arts(team taking title light weight belt), MMA Unlimited (1 belt), Hybrid MMA Academy (3 belts) and Fear None. Independent fighters from near and far came to test their skills and left with belts as well.
Mr. Clairday, the fighters and the community are clearly elated to be back in Hartselle. Clairday is excited to keep "doing his thing (because) MMA is not going anywhere, it's the hottest growing sport around" and is looking forward to his next joint event with R&R on Aug 16th in Cullman.
For more details and schedules check out Clairdays Karate's website.
Check out photo gallery from event!
---Jamie Knytych, web contributor
HARTSELLE, Ala. (WAAY) -- Some people may say it's barbaric, but get ready to rumble in Hartselle as cage fighting makes a return.
Last year, karate instructor and cage fighting organizer Robert Clairday moved his cage fighting events to Priceville after Hartselle refused to let him continue having them there. But nine months later, the sport is making a return to Clairday's hometown.
"The president of the City Council...Ken Thompson called and asked if I would be willing to bring my business back to Hartselle and put all the ugliness that happened behind us," Clairday said.
Clairday said cage fighting is the hottest sport growing in the United States. And it's a multi-billion dollar business that's also popular on YouTube.
Clairday said he thinks the biggest misconception comes from the name.
"Whenever I said cage fighting, the first thing they thought of was like two dogs, pit bulldogs in a cage fighting," he said. "But that's not the case."
Over 40 competitors showed up last month to fight in Cullman. Clairday says there are 33 rules fighters must follow. There are three side judges, a physician and paramedics on hand.
He called it a combat-type sport but a very controlled event, and there are always good fights.
"Hopefully at the end of each fight, the fighters will be able to hug each other and say congratulations and move on," he said.
Saturday's event will be held at the Sparkman Civic Center in Hartselle. It starts at 7:30 p.m.
Reporter: Laura Beth Ezzell
Web Editor: Dana Franks
(Copyright 2008 by WAAY-TV. All Rights Reserved.)
