THURSDAY, FEB. 11

Logan's third blog entry:

I'm currently on vacation, but I thought this might be a fun time to recount my first ever MMA match. I didn't start MMA until 2005, but in the Midwest, that was still the wild west days of the sport. We didn't have commissions, and we never knew what to expect going into a event.

The setting for this particular shindig was the Mower County Fairgrounds in Austin, Minn. I don't recall the name of the particular building, but I can tell you that it was the same building that is used for livestock auctions. I could tell you that without ever asking anyone because the sawdust still covering the main floor of the arena was a bit of a giveaway. I must assume that they had an auction scheduled for the next day and that the maintenance crew didn't feel like coming in on a Sunday to apply the sawdust. So the cage was set up on sawdust as were the table seats. This really cut down on alcohol spill based slip and falls, but it also set an upper limit on class for the night.

The venue was quickly filling as I arrived. There was one large set of concrete stands along one long wall while the rest of the building was open. The two bars were on opposing sides of the floor and the cage surrounded by 200 or so VIP table seats were in between. Locker room facilities consisted of a couple of rooms that could only be accessed by going outside. Good thing it was only October. The rooms also lacked showers and were shared with half of the other fighters on the event. I've never felt like such a well-respected athlete in my life, but, to be honest, the locker room facilities at the Hard Rock Hotel for the WEC weren't much better.

These not so distant days also had an interesting style for matchmaking. I had been told about a particular opponent, and I was happy with a little knowledge. But, when I arrived at the event, I was informed that my opponent had not arrived. With hindsight, I question whether the guy ever existed in the first place, but regardless there I was with no opponent and 45 people behind me who had purchased tickets from me for the event. That doesn't seem like many people to disappoint now, but it was a big deal for me at the time. The solution to my lack of an opponent?

How about we just line up all of the fighters and match up those who are still lacking opponents with other guys in the same position. The only requirement seemed to be that we were of a similar size. So I wound up being introduced to Caleb, my opponent. He had funny hair and didn't look athletic, but it still wasn't the most settling experience.

There was no weigh in. I'm pretty sure I was 185, since that was what I was told to make, but nobody ever checked it. I also mention the lack of blood tests, physicals and maybe even a doctor at the event. Who am I kidding? I know there wasn't a doctor. But at least there was probably an EMT.

As my fight neared, I started to get nervous, just as I did in my wrestling days. Good thing I have developed my mental game since then, or I wouldn't have lasted too long. I tried to put the nerves aside, went for a warm up jog, and tried to remember how to punch straight as well as keep my hands up and chin down.

Everything moved quickly as we walked to the cage and did the last-second prep with vaseline. I expected the world to shift into third person and the whole incident to feel like a video game, but it slowly dawned on me that I would actually have to do this myself.

My opponent came out of his corner quickly. A little too quickly I soon realized as he was suddenly flying through the air at me. I thought he was kicking and then I thought he was punching. It turned out that he was doing both while flying through the air at me.

I was kicked in the upper leg and punched in the ear, but just as suddenly my wrestling kicked into gear. You should remember that the guy was still flying through the air into me, so I just stuck out my arms and caught him in the air. A brief hesitation was followed by a slam to the mat and a quick pass to sidemount. I grew comfortable quickly as I began to lay down some GnP to soften up my opponent. Soon enough, I found myself locking on a particular armbar that I had just been taught the week before.

That was it. Winner by submission in 58 seconds.

I never imagined where I would go from there, but that was already an exciting enough start for me.

— Logan Clark