UFC 114: Saturday

Saturday was a little different than Friday for us. There wasn't much research that we could do for that day so it seemed like there would be a bit more running around that day.

Me met up with John again in the morning. He joined us in line and we discussed our plan of action for the day. John said that he only really needed Machida that day and that was basically it for him. He promised his wife that he would go for lunch with her that day. Understandable.

When the gates opened, we parted ways with John and headed directly to Tito Ortiz's booth. He wasn't scheduled to sign until noon and it was only ten am. I waited in line to start while Jordan went and grabbed an autograph from Forrest Griffin. When he came back, he waited in line and I left to go and get in line for UFC legend and hall of famer Ken Shamrock. I had no idea that all of these vets would be there. It was really an experience getting to meet all of the guys that paved the way for MMA.

Ken was great to meet. He was really friendly and signed a Muay Thai bag for me and signed Jordan's program for me as he was still in line for Tito.

I then went back to wait with Jordan. As we got closer to noon, we noticed that Matt Hughes had stopped in the booth right next to us. He wasn't doing a formal signing, but was headed to his induction ceremony and had wondered by. I couldn't get my photo out in time for him to sign it. He was gone fast.

Finally Tito arrived and thanked everyone for waiting in line for him. By now his line was huge again. Was I ever glad that we were second in line. We went up and I asked him if he could sign a couple of photos for me. He said of course.

I asked him if he thought that Ken would sign my photo of Tito kneeing him in the head as well and he laughed about it. I think he realized after that Ken was at the expo also and clearly showed that there is still some hate that exists between the two.

He looked at my second photo and commented on how swollen his face looks. He had a pretty good shiner in the photo so we asked him about it. He said that he had broken his orbital bone about a week before the fight. So when asked why he decided it was still a good idea to fight, he responded, "I had to feed my family". How crazy is that. I also asked him how his injury was doing. Tito was forced to pull out of his fight with Chuck Liddell because he needed neck surgery. He said that it felt so much better. He didn't have numbness in his arms anymore and he didn't have pain when he slept. I can't wait to see him back in the ring.

After we left Tito, we saw a short line for Stephan Bonnar. While we were in line, I remember that he used was from Chicago. It was the night of game one of the Stanley cup finals between Chicago and my Philadelphia Flyers. Needless to say, we had a good chat about the series as I was wearing my Flyers shirt.

We then grabbed a photo with Jeff "the snowman" Monson. Another oldie from MMA.

We decided we should meet Guy Mezger also, so as we started to head to his booth, we saw Jay Hieron with nobody in line. We grabbed a quick photo with him. Jordan asked him if he was going to get the other sleeve done. He said that he had other stuff he needed to do first.

Guy Mezger was another legend that used to train in the Lion's Den with Ken Shamrock. It was after Tito Ortiz beat Guy Mezger that he put on a shirt the read "Guy Mezger is my bitch". Ken Shamrock was furious thus starting the hatred between Ken and Tito.

It is always nice to meet the old guys. There were a lot of people at the expo that had no idea who these older guys are. It is only the hardcores that really knew. I guarantee it.

We then went and got in line for Shane Carwin. His lines tended to be pretty big, but we were in line early for him. I told Jordan I would be right back and went and got in line a the Spike booth just as Antonio Nogueira and Stephan Bonnar arrived. When I got up there Bonnar immediately remembered me and said "You Again". I grabbed a photo with both guys and then asked "Minotauro" if he could sign my photo. I asked him how come he wasn't at his brother's workout on Thursday when all of the other teammates were there. He said that he was moving and wasn't in town yet. He appologized to me for not being there. I told him he had nothing to appologize for. I then headed back to meet up with Jordan.

Its amazing how last year nobody knew who Shane Carwin was and he had short lines. Everyone knows him now and his lines were big. I guess when you become champion people know your name. I can't wait for his brawl with Brock.

After meeting Shane, we went back to our hotel to drop off our things as it was getting close to fight time. After the fights, I was walking out of the arena and was able to grab a quick photo with Vitor Belfort as he was walking directly in front of me.

All in all, a really good weekend for meeting people. I got a ton of things signed and a lot of pictures. Next up, Boston!