I experienced MMA at Resorts World – and Wolves fighter was star of the show

There were a multitude of accents at the Oktagon MMA event at Resorts World.

North, Brummie, South Brummie, Scouse, Geordie, Cockney and Eastern European, sorry I can't distinguish between Slovakian, Czech and Polish.

And all of them would have been able to repeat the three words which enshrined Birmingham's place in MMA history two years ago. "Head shot, dead!"

Leon Edwards', from Erdington, first words after winning the UFC welterweight title with a knockout kick to the head of the the champion. Those words and the Conor McGregor walk are in the public consciousness, as the sport has entered the mainstream in the last ten years.

UFC is MMA's dominant competition, then there are other alternatives, not really rivals which are getting bigger and bigger, Oktagon is one of those and already big enough to be at NEC's Resorts World arena.

The videos projected above the octagon revealed the Oktagon MMA promotion is huge the other side of the Danube. Footage of entire stadiums packed full of fans screaming as chiseled-jawed Slavs pummelled each other into oblivion.

Resorts World is usually the middle stop of the fair-to-middling tour of a middle of the road band who are only touring because their accountant during the glory years was on the fiddle.