UFC 62: Sobral Vs. Liddel

[Kagemaru]

I was really surprised that I got a cageside photo spot for this show. I came prepared but it was an interesting challenge. Shooting through the fence was more difficult than I expected. I got a lot of blurry shots and now I'm convinced I need to get the Mark IIN!

I shot everything with a 70-200 2.8IS at 2.8.

Some of my favorites here:
http://kagemaru.smugmug.com/gallery/1824835/

[MegaTron]

Lucky, ive always wanted to shoot a UFC event. Ive shot a few local events when my friend was fighting on the card. Youre right, its tough shooting through the fence sometimes, and its tough following the fighters around. Were you shooting for an MMA website?

Careful with the pics, might be some copywrite issues with the UFC.

Thanks for sharing though.

[OceanView]

Nice shots!
Shooting through the fence can be tough on the AF system.
Did you try some manual focus?

[MrWills]

Great job, you can barely see the cage in the pics.

[MitsuJDM]

Sweet shots. I watch UFC on TV all the time. I can only imagine doing photography for it has to be a tough job. Good shots :)

[dshootist]

Careful with the pics, might be some copywrite issues with the UFC.

Wouldn't they have stopped him at the door with his 70-200 poking out of his jacket if they didn't want him shooting fights? Just askin'.;)

[InfamousDX]

Wow... how'd you pull off the cageside spot? Great shots... shoulda gotten the one where Babalu tried to wrestle down the ref, LOL!!!

[NothingmanPhotos]

Awesome event to shoot and you definitley got someawesome shots.

[daclozer]

Great shots, they didn't ask you for press credentials or anything? Also, I have had good luck shooting through fences by switching to manual focus and focusing on the subject. It seems in af that the sensor never totally focuses out the fence...

[MegaTron]

Wouldn't they have stopped him at the door with his 70-200 poking out of his jacket if they didn't want him shooting fights? Just askin'.;)

Im assuming that he had a press pass, thats why I asked if he was working for a website. Usually pictures like these are watermarked with the websites name though.

Ive been to a ton of UFC events, and I tried to bring in my camera a few times. No luck. I had a short lens on it too. "No professional Cameras."

Ive shot a few local smaller shows, like King of the Cage with no problems. I just walked right up to the cage, and pretended I knew what I was doing. No one stopped me.

[MegaTron]

BTW, some good shots on your site. Shows Forrest's cut, and Babalu's eye. I didnt know Babalu got tagged in the eye. Thanks for the different perspective, the replay just showed him eating a nice upper cut, and then eating a few good shots on the ground.

[Kagemaru]

Yeah I had press credentials but I won't say who they are through.
I didn't realize Babalu was tagged in the eye until I reviewed the pics. It seems strange that his eye became that swollen in less than 90 seconds.. eye poke? Who knows..
The 70-200 is a little long sitting cage side but having the extra focal lengths helps tighten the DOF and almost elimnates the cage. It makes focusing really difficult. I just had to pick a spot between the fence work quick. I tried manual but it was next to impossible since the guys move around way too much.
I just bought a Mark IIn so I hope this will help with the focusing.
Thanks for looking and thanks for the comments.

[daclozer]

Chuck is known for his eye pokes, he did it to Randy C twice.. That was a good capture though and I like the ones for Forrest too. Do you have more of this or other MMA events online anywhere?