Them's Ultimate Fightin' Words

The biggest mixed martial arts organization makes its Philly debut.

by Charles Cieri

[ action ]

UFC Photo BLOOD LUST: BJ Penn secured his lightweight champ title in a match that ended with him licking his opponent's blood off his gloves.

Mixed martial arts is surging. The brutal, once fringe sport that combines Thai, Southeast Asian and Brazilian fighting methods — and which has been said to resemble a "human cockfight" — is now a billion-dollar industry. It may soon have a place in the Olympics. And it's broken pay-per-view's records for a single year of business, surpassing boxing and WWE.

This Saturday, the mixed martial arts organization Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its Philly debut. Featuring 22 fights, the event is headlined by lightweight champ BJ Penn and Kenny Florian, the man looking to snatch his crown. (Read our interview with KenFlo.) It will likely attract a divided crowd: Penn is popular, but Florian has local connections — he trains at Jenkintown's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu United gym. United owner Jared Weiner describes his style as "constant aggression."

"[He] goes after the fight, the submission, the knockout, the action," says Weiner. "Even in training, he's nonstop, not giving his opponents any breath." It's with these tactics that Florian claims he's going to "kill the master."

That "master" — Penn — has joked that Florian didn't seem to want to kill him when they met privately. Statements like this have led people to criticize Penn for not taking fights seriously enough. But that's hardly the case: He earned his lightweight title at a blood-soaked match against Joe Stevenson, which ended with Penn literally licking his opponent's blood off his gloves. Also, while prepping for matches, or "crossing over," as Penn calls it, he won't see his daughter. "It makes you soft," says Penn. "If you love your daughter ... don't hang out with her before the fight."

This harsh sentiment was echoed by fellow UFC fighter Kurt Pellegrino, one of the two locals on the undercard. "I'm a father," he says. "And [it] makes me a weaker person." Hailing from Point Pleasant, N.J., Pellegrino faces the favored Josh Neer. "My mother is going, my father is going," says Pellegrino. "There is no way — in front of my home crowd — that I am going to lose."

The second local to look out for is Ricardo Almeida, out of Hamilton, N.J., who aces off against Kendall Grove and his 6-inch height advantage. Almeida's especially fascinating to watch because he's lived through mixed martial arts' evolution — his first UFC fight was in 2001, shortly after Zuffa LLC acquired the company for $2 million. (It's currently valued at more than $1 billion.)

While impressive, there's a price to the sport's rapid growth, which has been reflected in everything from its increasing profits to its changing rules and players. "If you aren't constantly learning," warns Almeida, "you're going to get left behind."

(editorial@citypaper.net)

Ultimate Fighting Championship 101 | Sat., Aug. 8, 7:15 p.m., $50-$600, Wachovia Center, 3601 S. Broad St., 215-336-3600, ufc.com.