I slowly got up and went to find a security guard and see what was the deal. I was now wondering why he was there and how they let him in with this knife. Right as I was about to say something I noticed a 12' blade on his belt. Now I was not to happy to have a person standing 2 feet in front of me blocking my view. Right before the fight one of the mongols came over to the side of the ring and stood right in front of me.

Then it was time for Rick's fight with Leo Pavlushkin. The event started and several of the fights went off and everything was great. I was pumped and ready for a great night of MMA. Shortly after sitting Rampage and Debbie Purcell sat in the seats Right next to us. We entered the arena and took are seats front row next to the ring. I watched the bikers get escorted though a back entrance at the event that had no security or metal detector. That's when things started to not feel quite right. Then I heard 'all guests of Rick please come this way'. I didn't think much of it and they began opening doors and putting us all through metal detectors. I had seen him around many times at other events and from all reports was a good guy with a rough past. Rick was a rough looking fully tattooed fighter from San Diego. So I started talking with a couple of them and find out they are friends of Rick Slaton. At the time I had no idea who they were and was used to wild crowds at those early events anyway. After waiting in line for a minute or so I start to notice a large group of Mongols bikers well over 100 get in line behind me. As we approach the tent we notice a line that we get into. So the day of the event comes and we arrive at casino about an hour early to get in line for the best seats we can get. They were the ringside seats and like all sections of the arena/tent were first come first serve seating. So I called up my friend Joe and minutes later ordered tickets. Taking a look at the card names like Hallman, Southworth, Marsh, and Brink brought a sense that this might be a fun local event with a big event feel. One day in early 2002 I saw a tv commercial for an event called Ultimate Athelete that was taking place at a Indian casino about an hour from me.

Many of those events were local talent that was great to watch but sometimes lacked that big event feel. Between KOTC, Cobra Challenge, and other events it seemed like there was an event once a month. In 2002 MMA was really starting to pick up in southern California. However nothing stands out in my mind like the events that took place at Casino Morongo in Cabazon, California. So as many as you know I have attended over 100 live MMA events.

Casino morongo