Friday was the first day of the fan expo and would prove to be a busy day. A lot of the day revolved around the experience that I had gained at the UFC 100 expo last year. That being said, we woke up at around 6:45 am to make sure we were at the fan expo for 7:30am. We then waited in line until around 10am when the expo started.
Research was key to this fan expo. There was said to be around 100,000 people that visited the expo over the weekend. If you don't know where a fighter will be until after he has already started signing, you don't have a chance. It is a lot easier to work when you have numbers. Jordan and I started talking to a guy in line who was at the expo by himself. The three of us all agreed that it would be better if we worked together. Have one guy wait in the long lines while the other two meet other fighters and then switch.
All that being said, Jordan and I immediately went to Randy Couture's booth while John went to the Bony Acai booth to meet Lyoto Machida. I missed Randy last year, and I only knew that he would be at the expo for sure on Friday. He was scheduled to begin signing at 10:30. We were about 7th in line and quickly grabbed a photo and an autograph from the UFC hall-of-famer.
Jordan and I then went to wait in the Tapout line. It was clear that the line would take awhile so I went to try and grab another autograph from Machida with John. He wasn't signing until 11am so I figured I had enough time. The bad part was, we would wait until around 11:30 and Machida would not show up. The guy running the booth told us that Machida would not be there until tomorrow, but Junior Dos Santos would be by. We left and went back to meet with Jordan. By now the lines were getting long, but the Tapout booth always has six or so guys signing at a time, so its worth the wait.
Jordan and I then went to wait in the Tapout line. It was clear that the line would take awhile so I went to try and grab another autograph from Machida with John. He wasn't signing until 11am so I figured I had enough time. The bad part was, we would wait until around 11:30 and Machida would not show up. The guy running the booth told us that Machida would not be there until tomorrow, but Junior Dos Santos would be by. We left and went back to meet with Jordan. By now the lines were getting long, but the Tapout booth always has six or so guys signing at a time, so its worth the wait.
We slowly moved to the front of the line and met Shawn Thompkins first. We then met Brandon Schaub. He had a few stitches over his eye so we asked him what happened. He said that "Big Shane" (Shane Carwin) did that to him during training. He must've caught an accidental headbutt or something. Great guy though.
After Brendan Schaub was politician and #1 middleweight contender Chael Sonnen.
Next was Ryan Bader again. I just grabbed one of his handout as I didn't want to just walk by him. Kenny Florian was next. He was dressed in a full suit. He is always a great guy to talk to and had no problem signing my photo for me.
After Brendan Schaub was politician and #1 middleweight contender Chael Sonnen.
Next was Ryan Bader again. I just grabbed one of his handout as I didn't want to just walk by him. Kenny Florian was next. He was dressed in a full suit. He is always a great guy to talk to and had no problem signing my photo for me.
Finally, after Kenny was Martin "The hitman" Kampmann. He could be in line for a title shot soon also.
We then walked around to see how the Tito Ortiz line looked. It was MASSIVE. At least an hour and a half wait. We figured it might be a good idea to grab a photo with MMA legend Bas Rutton and then get in line for Georges St. Pierre before that line got too long.
After meeting Bas Rutton, John told us that he would wait in line for GSP while Jordan and I walked around for a bit. We were able to quickly grab a photo and autograph from Cheick Kongo as there was no lineup at his booth.
I then snagged a photo with John Fitch. John has only lost one time in the last eight years and that was a decision loss to Welterweight Champion George St. Pierre. Really nice guy. He signed a couple of photos for me and loved looking at them.
We saw Forrest Griffin signing autographs. His line was pretty big and he looked really bummed that he couldn't fight that weekend. He needed shoulder surgery and was forced to withdraw from his fight with Little Nog.
Lastly, Jordan and I grabbed a photo with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. He was a quiet guy, but was really nice. He is pretty big and Brock Lesnar makes him look like a child. I hope to one day see just how large that man is.
We then headed back to the GSP line again to meet up with John. We got in line at around 1:30 pm for a 4pm signing. We had put in our time greatly to meet the fan favourite Canadian. The only problem was, GSP's booth didn't count on the disaster that would happen when GSP arrived. Immediately after he showed up, people that weren't even in line just stormed the area to grab a photo of George. It was a total disaster. After about twenty minutes, the staff finally got things organized by handing out stamps and making sure that nobody tried to jump in line. Though I had already met the champ, it was still worth the wait to get my belt shot done. That one will probably go in a frame.
We chatted to George in french a bit and right away he knew we were Ontarians. It was incredible.
We had finished getting GSP when we walked around a bit more. We saw that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was signing at a booth but the line was huge. We decided to try for him the next day. We grabbed a photo and auto from TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson instead.
If you have ever seen him fight, you know that he is a little pitbull when he fights. He is definately one of my favourite fighters.
Lastly, we grabbed a photo with Joe Stevenson. I had met him in Philadelphia at UFC 101 when we were both drunk. He was just as nice sober and hammered.
After the expo, Jordan and I decided that we would try and go to another autograph session that night at the LV fight shop in the Luxor. Again, it was on the way back to our hotel so it only made sense to stop. Who was there that night? Jon "Bones" Jones, who was sigging along to almost every song that played, and welterweight contender Thiago Alves. I was really excited to meet "Pitbull" as it was the first time I got the opportunity. He was a great guy. After signing my photo I asked him if I get get a picture with him. He said sure and then for some reason held up the photo he had just signed in my picture with him. Strange, but funny.
That ended our Friday experience at the fan expo. We met a ton of big name fighters and there was still Saturday to come!
We then walked around to see how the Tito Ortiz line looked. It was MASSIVE. At least an hour and a half wait. We figured it might be a good idea to grab a photo with MMA legend Bas Rutton and then get in line for Georges St. Pierre before that line got too long.
After meeting Bas Rutton, John told us that he would wait in line for GSP while Jordan and I walked around for a bit. We were able to quickly grab a photo and autograph from Cheick Kongo as there was no lineup at his booth.
I then snagged a photo with John Fitch. John has only lost one time in the last eight years and that was a decision loss to Welterweight Champion George St. Pierre. Really nice guy. He signed a couple of photos for me and loved looking at them.
We saw Forrest Griffin signing autographs. His line was pretty big and he looked really bummed that he couldn't fight that weekend. He needed shoulder surgery and was forced to withdraw from his fight with Little Nog.
Lastly, Jordan and I grabbed a photo with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. He was a quiet guy, but was really nice. He is pretty big and Brock Lesnar makes him look like a child. I hope to one day see just how large that man is.
We then headed back to the GSP line again to meet up with John. We got in line at around 1:30 pm for a 4pm signing. We had put in our time greatly to meet the fan favourite Canadian. The only problem was, GSP's booth didn't count on the disaster that would happen when GSP arrived. Immediately after he showed up, people that weren't even in line just stormed the area to grab a photo of George. It was a total disaster. After about twenty minutes, the staff finally got things organized by handing out stamps and making sure that nobody tried to jump in line. Though I had already met the champ, it was still worth the wait to get my belt shot done. That one will probably go in a frame.
We chatted to George in french a bit and right away he knew we were Ontarians. It was incredible.
We had finished getting GSP when we walked around a bit more. We saw that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was signing at a booth but the line was huge. We decided to try for him the next day. We grabbed a photo and auto from TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson instead.
If you have ever seen him fight, you know that he is a little pitbull when he fights. He is definately one of my favourite fighters.
Lastly, we grabbed a photo with Joe Stevenson. I had met him in Philadelphia at UFC 101 when we were both drunk. He was just as nice sober and hammered.
After the expo, Jordan and I decided that we would try and go to another autograph session that night at the LV fight shop in the Luxor. Again, it was on the way back to our hotel so it only made sense to stop. Who was there that night? Jon "Bones" Jones, who was sigging along to almost every song that played, and welterweight contender Thiago Alves. I was really excited to meet "Pitbull" as it was the first time I got the opportunity. He was a great guy. After signing my photo I asked him if I get get a picture with him. He said sure and then for some reason held up the photo he had just signed in my picture with him. Strange, but funny.
That ended our Friday experience at the fan expo. We met a ton of big name fighters and there was still Saturday to come!
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