On Thursday, December 17, 2015, Star Wars: The Force Awakens finally released in theaters much to the delight of fans of the epic space opera. They’ve been waiting for more than two decades to see what happens after Return of the Jedi and a little over a decade to get the bad taste out of their mouths left after Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith . Apparently, Walt Disney Studios sees the seventh episode as the one to truly break ground for the series given the fact it is the beginning of a new trilogy. Disney has done all they can to make the film appeal to an international audience. For example, Disney partnered up with SM Entertainment to hype up Star Wars: The Force Awakens , especially through a K-pop song performed by EXO titled “ Lightsaber .”
However, the biggest promotions for Star Wars: The Force Awakens did not come from either Disney, Lucasfilm, or any promotional partnership. Most of the best promotions for the film came from fan interaction. With that in mind, Star Wars: The Force Awakens received attention during a UFC weigh-in when Jim Alers And Cole Miller engaged in a lightsaber duel.
The impromptu lightsaber duel happened during the weigh-ins for UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2 (also known as UFC on Fox 17 ). According to Bleacher Report , Jim Alers handed Cole Miller a blue lightsaber toy after Miller weighed in. Alers, then unleashed a red lightsaber toy to commence said lightsaber duel as their staredown pose . Needless to say, all the Star Wars fans in the building found it quite entertaining.
ICYMI: A @starwars lightsaber battle broke out during #UFCOrlando weigh-ins! https://t.co/na3FcIUJKX
— FOX Sports Live (@FOXSportsLive) December 19, 2015
Apparently, the lightsaber dual Jim Alers and Cole Miller had was a green light for UFC to find out if either fighter had other preferences of the “geek and nerdy” kind. It soon became evident with Miller, who opened up about his nerd side in an interview in which fans learned he named his 11-month-old son after the protagonist of Legend of Zelda , Link. As a matter of fact, Miller opened up about his love for the game too.
“I think it’s just a complete game, and I like the idea of this hero. The hero is Link and he has within him the Triforce of Courage. Once you get into the timeline, you’re always Link, but you’re a different version each time you play and I think that’s cool too, that it stays with the same character. I also like the fact that the puzzle solving and the dungeons can be challenging sometimes, and the sidequests always have very unique, kind of comical and funny side characters.
“A lot of people have that nostalgia, and what do they want to play? They want to play the original Mario. But every single time a new Mario comes out or, in my case, a new Legend of Zelda comes out, it’s almost giving you that nostalgia. Personally, I don’t want to go back and play an 8-bit game, but I like playing as the characters I played with in 8-bit games, and that’s probably another reason I’m so into the Legend of Zelda.”
Though Jim Alers and Cole Miller had a staredown at the UFC on Fox 17 weigh-ins, their fight at the venue ended in disappointing fashion. It looked as if Miller was on his way to earning another win until Alers poked Miller in the eye. Miller told referee Herb Dean that his eye wasn’t opening and probably wasn’t going to, forcing Dean to wave off the bout. Thankfully, Miller’s eye injury wasn’t as serious as the eye poke itself (which some say was two knuckles deep).
[Image via Screen Capture of UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2 Weigh-Ins]