Column: ‘Border Wars’ MMA event was great fun, congrats to Corbin’s own Scott Hope

This From the Sidelines column appeared in the May 10, 2017 edition of the News Journal…

A brief comment before I get started…I have been uploading all kinds of pictures to our brand new photo reprint site lately. If you would like to purchase prints, or have a picture turned into a neat gift, then go to instantimagegallery.com/iig/c/917 to check out what we have. Currently in sports, I have the following:

2014, 2015 and 2016 Woodbine Rebels Softball Shootouts
2014, 2015 and 2016 Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classics
2014, 2015 and 2016 NIBROC 3-on-3 basketball tournaments
2014 Whitley County First Priority Volleyball Classic
2014 Corbin Little League baseball
Photos from this past weekend’s MMA event at the Arena

There will be much more to come, so please, keep an eye out!

Now, let’s get on with what I’m really here to talk about, shall we? If you do happen to visit the aforementioned MMA photo gallery, you will see for yourself that Saturday night’s Warrior FC vs. Valor Fights: Border Wars was an action-packed event that gave fight fans their money’s worth, and then some.

I will admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of MMA. I’ve watched pro wrestling for years, but I just never got into MMA. Going and seeing Saturday’s event up close and in person may very well have changed that, however.

I had a fantastic time, and I honestly can’t wait to see more from these promotions – Warrior FC out of Kentucky, and Valor Fights out of Tennessee. I commend everyone involved for working together to put on a top-notch show at the Arena. Let me tell you, this was the real deal. Production value was high, fight quality was high and if you couldn’t be there for whatever reason the show was even available to watch on pay per view via the FloCombat web streaming service! It was all very cool…

Personally, I was most excited about the fact that I got to be there for Corbin’s own Scott Hope’s final professional bout. I spoke to Mr. Hope backstage before his fight, and he told me about his intentions to leave his gloves lying in the ring at the conclusion of his match – win, lose or draw.

When Hope, owner/operator of the Corbin Martial Arts studio, entered the cage later on that evening, it was clear that he had plenty of support from the fans. And after his first round knockout victory over Valor’s Doug Williams, I thought the roof might come off the building. It really was a special moment for a beloved hometown fighter, and I consider myself very lucky that I got to be there to witness it first hand.

Overall, I was at the Arena for about five hours Saturday, but I was still left wanting more. If you would like to find out when and where you might be able to catch some of these fighters in action again, then I urge you to look them up at WarriorFC.org and ValorFights.com. Both promotions can also be found on Facebook. Best of luck to promoters Jimbo Collins (Warrior) and Tim Loy (Valor) in the future, as well as all of the athletes that they are, or will be, associated with.

For more from Saturday’s “Border Wars” event, including additional photos and full results, pick up a print copy of the May 10 News Journal.