Hey guys, I was at the event yesterday, it was an excellent experience, it was my second time at an event in Rio, the first being UFC 224 in 2018. I'd like to talk (a lot) about the event from my perspective:
- I live about 30km from the arena, but it took me only a few minutes to get there, the road was clear because many people ended up going to Madonna's concert in another part of Rio.
- The arena overall was quite crowded, but there were some empty spaces in the lower levels due to the average ticket price being around the country's minimum wage, understand our situation.
- Yeah, it was quieter during the fights, I think people seemed more engaged in watching. I even felt like I was at an event in Japan, lol.
- I wanted to see all the Brazilians win, but their losses were against really tough guys, and honestly, they were the three losses I expected given the level of the opponents. The only one that was kind of "surprising" because of the speed of the defeat was Petrino's against Smith.
- Aldo's fight was the most explosive from the crowd's perspective, which seemed to have drained the energy for the Main Event. We still tried to rally during Pantoja's fight, but the feeling was more like "mission accomplished" because Aldo's fight was the most anticipated due to everything he represents, plus the nervousness and the expectation to see if he could still fight at a high level again.
- And speaking of the fight, it was one of his best that I've seen in years, I've never seen him so focused, so sharp, everything was on point: the technique, the strategy, I literally didn't blink the entire fight.
Regarding the crowd leaving after Pantoja's fight, I'd like to explain my point of view:
Many people don't live in the area where the event was held, Barra da Tijuca is a great location, but for those who live relatively far away, it's not a good idea to be out and about late at night, it was already around 3 am. I myself waited for Pantoja to finish speaking and then rushed out.
You may have found Pantoja's way of speaking to the crowd a bit rude, but cariocas have that somewhat threatening style of speaking, many people laughed and waited for him to finish speaking because they understood the context.
For me, it was an excellent night, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the next event.