UFC 114: Friday

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.

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.

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!

UFC 114: Thursday

So much happened at UFC 114 and the fan expo that I decided to make it into three parts. I will try and give a day by day account of the things that happened and the people that I met while in Vegas.

This was my second trip to Vegas, with the first time being last July for the historic UFC 100 and first ever UFC fan expo. On thursday morning, the UFC was holding open workouts for some of the fighters that were going to be fighting on the weekend. Jordan and I decided this could be a good chance to try and meet some of the fighters that wouldn't be at the fan expo. We got to the open workouts at around 10:45 am to wait in line as the open workouts were to begin at 11:30am. When we arrived I was surprised to see only a few people in line ahead of me. I guess the workouts weren't promoted very well.

Rampage was scheduled to be the first fighter training followed by his Wolfslair teammate, and my favourite fighter, Michael "the count" Bisping. I was glad to see these two fight, however I was a bit disappointed that this might be my only chance to meet the two all weekend as they wouldn't be at the fan expo.

Slowly the time started passing and Rampage still hadn't shown up. Finally around noon he showed up with Bisping. There was only around 100 people waiting to watch. I couldn't believe it. Both fighters took turns punching bags and practicing kicks. I was really impressed with Rampage's power and with how well rounded Bisping looked. After the two were done working out, Rampage came around and high-fived everyone standing at the barriers. Now, I had briefly met Rampage at the fan expo last year, and it was my belief that he was a complete jerk. He might have been having a bad day, but I know that he doesn't like all the attention he gets as a fighter.

I told Jordan that we could probably give up our spot at the barrier and head outside to try and get and autograph and a picture. We headed outside the hall and I was able to snag an autograph of a belt-shot, and a good photo with.

Rampage seemed like he wanted to meet fans, but also that he wanted to get out of there. He would take pictures with people and slowly walk towards the stairs to leave. When I went to put my arm on his shoulder to grab a photo he said "whoa, we ain't prom dates". It was histarical.

We then headed back inside and saw Bisping signing autographs and taking pictures with people. The best line I heard jokingly from him was something along the lines of "there is no way that all of you are fans of mine because I never hear any cheers when I fight". Again I was able to snag a picture and autograph from him. He loved the picture I had.

Because of the delay in training, we had missed a chance to meet Dan Miller. I was kinda bummed because I had never met him, but then again, it was Dan Miller. He isn't really a huge name.

We went back into the event and were able to watch Rashad Evans train for a bit. He was practicing his wrestling with Strikeforce light-heavyweight champ, "King" Mo Lawal. When people started asked King Mo for a picture after he was done training, he seemed surprised and responded "I'm not in the UFC you know". He was a cool guy.

We were then able to grab a photo with Rashad. He spent a long time meeting with fans and taking pictures and signing autographs for them. He stood around for almost an hour or so after his training was done.

Minotauro Rogerio Nogueira was scheduled to train soon. This is where the star power showed up. His Black House teammates showed up to watch him train and the names were big. Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, Jose Aldo, and Junior Dos Santos were all there to support Little Nog. Through some work, I was able to grab an autograph from Anderson Silva before he entered the training area. He signed my photo and I said "thank you so much". He responded "you're welcome" with no accent at all like he was perfectly fluent in english. It really surprised me.
Jose Aldo was a great guy and was happy to sign and take photos.

Machida was being rushed by his managers, so I wasn't able to meet him before. After the training had started, I got a photo with Efrain Escudero, winner of season 8 of the Ultimate Fighter, who was just finishing up his workout.

After Little Nog was done training, members of Team Black House started to leave. I was able to grab a photo with Lyoto Machida and a quick autograph that I gave away.

I then grabbed a photo and autograph from Junior Dos Santos.

Finally, Little Nog came out and I grabbed a photo and autograph from him.

I thought that was all, but Anderson Silva was still inside making the rounds talking with everyone similar to the way Rashad Evans had done. I guess that when your fights are starting to get booed you need to do some PR work. I grabbed a photo with him.

Along the course of the day a few fighters had walked by that I grabbed quick photos from. Todd Duffee came by. Too bad he got knocked out in one of the greatest comebacks I have ever seen.

Melvin Guillard, a promising lightweight who was also fighting stopped by the workouts. He will have a tough fight next as he called out Jeremy Stephens after winning his fight.

Ryan Bader and a few of the other Arizona boys came by as well. He was a cool guy.

We also saw Clay Guida walking in the hall on his way to check in. He was in a bit of a rush but I grabbed an autograph from him and Jordan was able to snag a picture.

Finally we saw former featherweight champion Urijah Faber. He is always a great guy to talk to.

Jordan and I then headed to a signing that was being held at the Las Vegas Fight Shop in the Luxor. The Luxor was attached to the hotel we were staying at so it only made sense to hit up the signing on the way back to the hotel.

Walking around the Luxor while we were waiting in line were Jon "Bones" Jones, an up and coming fighter who might one day be champion, and Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields.

At the fight shop was Josh Koscheck. I can honestly say that I am not a fan of his. I guess he had another place to be as he was hurrying through signing posters so that he could leave early. I was lucky to grab a photo and autograph from him.

Also at the signing was Cain Velasquez who I had met a few times before. I didn't have anything for him to sign. Lastly was Ultimate Fighter 11's Jamie Yager. This guy looks tough.... right up until the first episode after we got back when he quit his fight. He will be back in the UFC though. Plus he looks like Sideshow Bob.
That ended a Thursday of meeting fighters. I got around 17 photos signed that day and the expo was still to come. Stay tuned for new blogs about the Friday and Saturday of the trip.