Travis "Diesel" Wiuff became YAMMA Pit Fighting’s first ever heavyweight champion at last nights "YPF 1" event at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ.

Those who witnessed the event were transported back in time to the early days of the UFC and had the privilege of seeing the old school 8 man elimination tournament once again come to fruition. The major difference I noticed between the old tournaments and this new tournament was the fact that fighters only had to compete for one five minute round in their first two fights if they made it through.

Back in the early UFC tournaments there was either unlimited rounds or no time limits which made it a lot tougher on the fighters.

The new revolutionary "Yamma" pit was unveiled at last nights event. So did it live up to the hype and excitement surrounding the new surface? In my opinion it did the complete opposite of what it was meant to do which was keep the action going non-stop. The steep incline at the outer edge of the canvas aided wrestlers when taking down their opponents and helped keep them on the ground. For example when a fighter would shoot and drive their opponent to the incline, their opponent wasn’t able to stand up against the fence to attempt an escape. Instead they would lose their balance and be taken down on the incline.

Both of the "Master’s Superfights" were complete spectacles. The winner was extremely obvious in both bouts. In the first Master’s fight you had Oleg Taktarov taking on an out of shape and overweight Mark Kerr who tipped the scales at 266lbs at the weigh ins. It was no surprise when Oleg finished Kerr off with a first round knee bar. In the second Master’s fight Pat Smith took on 416lb Eric "Butterbean" Esch. Amazingly Smith exploited Butterbean’s ground game and submitted Esch with strikes from the top.

The winner of the 8 man elimination tournament was no surprise. I think everyone pretty much knew that Wiuff or Rodriguez would take it. Seven of the tournament fights went to a decision mainly due to the fact that fighters only had five minutes to finish their opponent. All in all I don’t think it was an extremely strong showing for the new organization. Of course everyone wanted to watch it out of curiosity but will they fork out another $35 to see YAMMA II? That will be the true test and should determine YAMMA’s future success in the sport of MMA.

For those of you who are interested in YAMMA II, the event has officially been announced and will take place on June 21. The 8 man tournament will feature the 185lb weight class and "Master’s Fights" will be featured in both male and female divisions.