He’s stomping on his foot…

In preparation of Saturday’s EliteXC broadcast on CBS, the Boneman is taking a trip down memory lane. Where did it all begin?

Ironically enough, it started with the exact opposite of what MMA stands for. It started with the then-WWF and a wrestler known as Ken Shamrock.

Yep, that same Shamrock. Ken and his brother, Frank, are icons in the MMA world. But it’s when Ken crossed over to the WWF that I actually learned about MMA.

Shamrock entered the WWF in 1997. By then, UFC was yoinked from my TCI Cable in Manhattan, Kansas. So my first memories of UFC are all from VHS (hey, remember that?).

I did all I could to try to get footage of Shamrock at his best and on the way, found a lot of other fighters I happened to like.

But the first event that actually had me hooked from beginning to end was UFC 7: The Brawl in Buffalo. It took place in September 1995 in, you guessed it, Buffalo.

The Superfight was Ken Shamrock vs. Oleg Taktarov. The Superfight was the equivalent of a title fight but not really, if that makes any sense. The first competitions were eight-man tournaments with one Superfight.

I’m a big fan of both Shamrock and Taktarov and Oleg has parlayed his success into a halfway decent movie career. The bout was declared a draw after 33 minutes.

But it was the eight-man tourney that was the real deal. You had good (Marco Ruas) vs. evil (Paul Varelans). Without rounds in the early events, fights could get downright boring at times. Ruas and Varelans went more than 13 minutes and had my interest the whole time.

Maybe that’s the best compliment I can give a fight. Ruas had this not-seen strategy of attacking the legs and an unheard of method of attacking the feet.

It proved to be great strategy as Ruas kept pounding and pounding Varelans’ legs. Finally at around the 13-minute mark, Varelans collapsed because he couldn’t stand. He had these nasty welts on his thighs and was pummeled into submission.

Ah, the glory days.

I lost touch with MMA for quite a few years, especially during my four years at OU (2002-2006). Ultimate Fighter on Spike and EliteXC on Showtime have brought me back.

What were your first memories of MMA?

Next: Remington Park has a boxing card Tuesday night. I’ll have some thoughts from the pugilistic science. Also, take note as I will be blogging live Saturday night for EliteXC on both Showtime and CBS. After each bout, I will post my thoughts.