January 7, 2008 Observer Newsletter: UFC 79 recap, Ric Flair vs. Triple H in Greensboro
So at around midnight or so in Las Vegas on 12/29, a few hours after the end of UFC, after people had eaten their late dinner, heading up the elevator at the Mandalay Bay, some drunk guys were still buzzing. “Man, we saw history.”
A few hours before, in a different world and a very different place, the Greensboro Coliseum, fans may have also seen history, although most won’t know it until they look back. To hardcore MMA fans, Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva was their Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair, or maybe Ray Leonard vs. Marvin Hagler for those who haven’t been to a live UFC show and realize it’s so much like 1970s pro wrestling in intensity and 1980s pro wrestling in atmosphere that it’s almost scary. If there was one thing evident quickly while attending the weigh-in, is that Liddell’s two losses this year, and Silva’s two losses, may mean they were washed up on the Internet boards, but those people and the hardcore fans who come to the weigh-ins are completely different animals.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.