Octagon-side at UFC Fight Night in London
The last year since I decided to go full-time as a sports photographer has been a crazy one, with a lot of new experiences that I am so grateful for. Another one for the memorybooks happened this last Saturday at the O2 Arena in London - UFC Fight Night.
UFC London main event - Movsar Evloev vs Lerone Murphy
When I moved back to Monterrey, Mexico in November 2022 I was introduced to photographing combat sports, and mostly MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) both with LUX Fight League and Naciones MMA. I quickly fell in love with covering these events as they give you the opportunity to capture some amazing photos of intense action going on inside the octagon. So photographing an UFC event quickly became a dream of mine.
My good friends at PXImages Agency that I worked with a lot in Mexico and also at other events like the NFL match in London last year, are very big on MMA photos and they have a seat octagon-side at every UFC event. Getting a seat so close to where the action is not an easy thing to get. So when I saw that the UFC announced an event coming up in London, I reached out and offered my services as a photographer. I am super grateful to Leandro and Diego at PXImages for the opportunity and it was a great moment when I could see my request approved in the UFC media portal.
Media pass and main card information
The main event of the evening was Movsar Evloev vs Lerone Murphy, with some other good fights also on the card. The whole experience started the day before the event when I attended a Q&A with English fighters Lone’er Kavanagh and Arnold Allen, followed by the ceremonial weigh-ins. The fighters entered the stage, posing and staring each other down, with a little bit of action also taking place when English fighter Shem Rock gave his opponent Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady a push, more on this story later.
Me Octagon-side at UFC London
Come fight day Saturday the 21st of March and I make my way to the O2 Arena and the media check-in area. Super excited to be there, get my octagon-photo pass and a nice meal before we were brought down to our reserved places by the UFC staff. The price to pay to be there, is that I had to kneel down on a little padded box for 6 hours as the fights happened. When the night was over, I could feel it everywhere, but if that is the price to pay - I will do it. Another challenge was that my spot was right behind the door post of the octagon, which gave me a little bit of an obstacle to avoid as I was photographing, but challenges are a part of it.
Bruce Buffer - It is time
I could feel the chill down my spine as Bruce Buffer enters the octagon as shouts out: “ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you´ve all been waiting for. IT IS TIME”! UFC Fight Night started with Shanelle Dyer vs Ravena Oliveira where the former took the victory early on in the bout. The second fight was the one between Shem Rock and Al-Selwady, where there had been a lot of trash-talking from Shem Rock’s side before the match. Al-Selwady had responded that he would smash he face, and that is exactly what happened. It was very rewarding for me as a photographer to capture the moment, but even more the fighter telling me this story and saying that my photo is his most iconic fighting photo ever, because it told the story.
Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady smash Shem Rock’s face as promised
The night continued and there were some amazing fights, including the “fight of the night performance” by Mason Jones and Axel Sola, an intense one for sure. Other fights where not so action-packed, like the quiet one from Michael “Venom” Page and Sam Patterson.
In the end, we were at the main event of the evening, which went all 5 rounds and was a good fight between two undefeated fighters where according to the judges scorecards Movsar Evloev won it in the end.
This is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life, my very first UFC event, and hopefully not the last. I will keep working hard and put myself out there to continue this adventure that I have started on. The sky is the limit!