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Mixed martial arts is often an emotion filled sport, but last evening in Krakow, Poland, KSW took the term 'an emotional roller coaster' to a whole new level.



The show had a little bit of everything: fun, thrills, spills, and heartbreak. Last evening I left the Tauron arena having sat in a seat for the best part of five hours, but feeling like I'd run a marathon. It was an exhausting spectacle to witness, but an unforgettable one at the same time.



No expenses spared in the name of the spectacle

Many had told of me of the 'show' aspect attached to KSW fight nights, though I still simply was by no means prepared for the spectacle I witnessed last evening.

Microphones descending from the roof, indoor fireworks, dry ice smoke machines, strobe lights, LED screens bigger that most houses, a stage that descended the fighters to the floor. The fighters, whether in the main event or opening fight were treated like gladiators.



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Whether Polish, British, Brazilian or French, nationality, race, age or anything of the sort was left at the door like it should be. Every fighter brave enough to make the walk was treated the same and the audience was given every opportunity to know that these men were worth caring about.



Losing is bitter as it comes

Watching friends fight in the cage is never an easy thing, especially when things on the night don't go all that well. Impartiality has never been a problem of mine, most would say I'm too honest for my own good and last evening John 'The One' Maguire was beaten in every single second of his KSW welterweight title fight with Borys Mankowski.



Seeing his corner team, Luke Barnatt, brother Tommy Maguire and his BJJ coah Fabio bellow "You got to go John, You got to go, go John go", for the best part of 15-minutes was tough to watch to say the least.



After the fight, Maguire said to me he "felt asleep" in there and I couldn't disagree. Perhaps hypnotized by the spectacle or simply just not at the races, I don't know, but it was a tough watching a friend take a solid 15 minute beatdown.



Winning is sweet

To the contrary, Marcin 'The Polish Zombie' Wrzosek came to the party big time and has a new shiny KSW featherweight belt for his troubles.



My favorite moment of the year so far is witnessing Conor McGregor lifting both UFC title belts on top of the cage just a mere few feet in front of me and Wrzosek provided that exact same visual.



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Witnessing Wrzosek celebrate with his coach Lukasz Zaborowski and his other SHARK Top Team teammates was a nice moment, as was watching the new KSW heavyweight champion Fernando Rodrigues Jr receive his brown belt promotion just minutes after having the title strapped around his waist.



It was a night filled with highs and lows where the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat was as meaningful and raw as ever.



An unforgettable weekend

It's a funny set of times for mixed martial arts right now. Fighter unions, injuries, fallouts, buyouts, and promotions going under.



The sport is in a turbulent time but at KSW 37: Circus of Pain last evening that all felt like a distant memory.



KSW injected one of the most important things back into MMA last evening--emotion.



Promotions like Absolute Championship Berkut talk run with the motto 'less show, more fights'. That's great, that's their unique selling point, but not every MMA promotion needs to run with that and they shouldn't.



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Sometimes you just want to be entertained and Circus of Pain had it in spades. Plenty of lessons could be learned from this show by promotions all over the world and I include the 'elite' ones in that statement.



KSW 37 finished just a few hours ago, but already I'm contemplating KSW 38 and how Martin Lewandowski, KSW CEO and co-founder, can possible top a night at the circus.