The first current UFC Champion has visited Australia’s shores and one of his first stops was the most unlikely of places.
At the Marrackville PCYC yesterday the UFC surprised the locals by running a clinic on martial arts with the Rabbitohs sponsored “Souths Cares” reach out program.
The Souths Cares program was set up to support the disadvantaged, marginalised and indigenous youth and their families with a specific focus on education, training, health and employment.
Middleweight World Champion Chris Wiedman spun the Steeden in his hand and looked to weigh the dimensions of the ball.
John Sutton, Captain of National Rugby League Championship winning South Sydney Rabbitohs stood next to him.
Two titans of the toughest sports on the planet.
“How do you pass the ball?” asked the UFC Champion. “You have to pass it backwards?”. Sutton nodded with a bemused look on his face.
“Not forward then?” grinned Wiedman, cocking the ball like Eli Manning, Quarterback of his beloved Giants. “Nah” grinned Sutton “like this” as he worked a ball across the body.
“Rugby is a tough game man” said the New Yorker with genuine conviction.
Sutton nodded at the mark of respect. When asked if he was a fan of the sport as Weidman posed for photos with his Championship belt “Yeah. Alot of the boys like to watch it and really get into it” referring to his Rabbitoh teammates.
“It is great to see them coming down here and doing stuff for Souths Cares”.
In the background Uriah Hall, the Ultimate Fighter finalist was taking the locals through some martial arts drills. “It would be frat if they could keep coming down because the kids are loving it ”
Sutton’s good friend Richie Vaculik was there and was the link that helped organise the event with the UFC.The UFC fighter and professional surfer is active in the community due to the effect Martial Arts had on his life as a young kid from Maroubra. Sutton will be at the fights on Saturday to cheer his mate on.
Although wrestling and Brazilian Jui Jitsu has been used in some rugby league club teams as a way to improve fitness and grappling in the tackle it is predominantly done as a novel way to break up the monotony of strength and conditioning programs that are drilled through out the season.
With the current Middleweight Champion taking photos with kids in Marrackville; you would presume that the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and its largest promotion the UFC has gone main stream here.
To do so completely would take an acceptance from the larger sporting public that has been tolerant at best up to this point.
Richie Vaculik agreed that the growth of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu looks to be the base sport for identifying talent in the country for the UFC. Most of the fighters from Australia have played the traditional sports before finding martial arts. “I was a pretty small dummy half” laughed Richie.
Maybe the final step for mixed martial arts is the cross over sports star – like the way Anthony Mundine brought attention to boxing.
Yet today was all about the kids and their smiles who posed with giant smiles next to the World Champion and his belt.
Sutton could be seen looking along with approval and, perhaps a hint of curiosity reserved only for that athletes of his pedigree.
Perhaps wondering “What if?”
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