Amateur MMA

On Saturday, August 21, 2010 staff photographer Mallory Mejia and I were guests of G2 Fight Nights promoter Breea Gilbert at G2 Fight Night 3 in Tinley Park Illinois. G2 provided a 12 fight card that was both efficiently run and well matched. They provided the estimated 700 people in attendance a professional quality show with a party atmosphere. G2, which stands for Gilbert Grappling, provided the majority of the blue corner bracket, and that’s normally a big issue. G2 had the good sense to use an outside matchmaker to book their fights which allowed them to book their own fighters without being open to accusations of favoritism. They also lack the validation of an outside sanctioning and officiating body but again prove to be an exception as they went to great lengths to ensure that they provided impartial officiating for every bout. The show itself was a bit overdone, with money spent of dance platforms for go-go dancers, projection screens, and a film crew that had the sole purpose of feeding the fights directly to the projection screens, but the whole of the production was centered on bringing attention to the fighters which is exactly how an amateur show should be.