For some reason, people in general like to watch a trainwreck happen live as it happens. In MMA, it's no different for many people, and YAMMA could very well prove to be a trainwreck of action. YAMMA's weigh-in took place on Thursday with all fighters making the weight. Not surprisingly, Ricco Rodriguez came in overweight, but cut down to 264.6 pounds to make the 8-man heavyweight tournament complete. Eric “Butterbean” Esch weighed in at a whopping 416.2 pounds, but I doubt his weight will be a huge advantage considering he'll be trying to box with Patrick Smith.
With all of the fighters making weight, Mark Kerr being miraculously cleared to fight, and “Butterbean” being featured in the main event alongside an 8-man heavyweight tournament, this could either be an epic event of pure awesomeness... or a complete wreck of mass proportions. Of course, like all MMA events, it could also be a mediocre event that drags on for hours.
Will you be watching YAMMA? Are you actually excited for this event? To be perfectly honest, I'm definitely interested in seeing the 8-man heavyweight tournament. While Ricco is the clear favorite, three fights in one night for the two finalists will definitely create a survivability factor. Ricco didn't look horrible against a gimped Antonio Silva, and maybe he is actually improving toward something more, but it's obvious that barely making weight can't help matters.
There are some quality fighters in the tournament that could present problems. Travis “Diesel” Wiuff at 49-11 overall is a good test for anyone in the tournament. He has an excellent wrestling background, and should be able to get some quick wins against greener opponents. Undefeated George Bush and Chris Tuchscherer, former Bodog fighter Alexey Oleynik, Tony Sylvester, and Sherman Pendergarst will also compete in the event with Ron Waterman serving as an alternate. The sleeper pick could possibly be Marcelo “Pato” Pereira who runs a Gracie Barra academy in the San Diego area. A black belt in jiu-jitsu, he's won the Pan-American championships four times.
I think Waterman is an interesting alternate. If someone goes down during these fights, Waterman could make an appearance having one less fight than the rest of the field. Also, Waterman's size is definitely an issue for many fighters. There also happens to be a small storyline in that Waterman has an ongoing history with Ricco Rodriguez, defeating him in WEC 16, but losing in his next fight against Ricco via TKO at the end of round 1 at WFA: King of the Streets in late 2006.
Weigh in in our comments section. I'm curious to hear what people really think of the event and if you'll be watching.