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.

UFC 113: Machida vs. Rua

If you didn't already know, I'm a huge MMA fan. This was my 5th UFC pay-per-view. I attended UFC 83 in Montreal, UFC 97 also in Montreal, UFC 100 in Las Vegas, and UFC 101 in Philadelphia.

Now, what you see on television is just the tip of the iceberg. You you mainly will see are the main fights on the card, but going to the event is a whole different experience. This is my UFC 113 story.

Friday, May 7th, 2010, Craig and I left Ottawa and travelled to Montreal. We arrived around 10:30 am, parked the car, and headed to the hotel where the fighters were staying. Normally you would't be able to hang around a hotel if it were for a hockey team, but for some reason, the hotel lets you hang around without having a room for a UFC.

We went downstairs to where the fighters were trying to cut weight. Josh Koscheck went quickly wearing a hoody. Mike "The Joker" Guymon went by wearing only a towel and was having a tough time cutting weight. You almost feel bad for the sacrifice these fighters make just so that they can make their appropriate weight class.

The first fighter we met that we approached was none other than internet sensation Kimbo Slice. This was the second time I had met the guy, and though he looks mean, he is a really nice guy. He takes the time with his fans and appreciates exactly where he is.

Also hanging around was British fighter Dan Hardy, also a great guy. I even saw people taking video of personal messages for their friends from him. A real class act.

A few other fighters that we ran into were Jonathan "the Road Warrior" Goulet, and TUF 10 winner, James Wilks. Also, we ran into Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, who would fight for the Light-Heavyweight Championship the following day.

Craig and I then headed over to the Q&A with new Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar. He seemed like a very humble guy for having just won the belt. He talked about his old wrestling days and how much he hates that Jersey Shore show (he is also from Jersey). In the foyer, there was also an autograph session with Jorge Riviera, Ricardo Almeida, Kurt Pellegrino, and Pat Barry. Following the Q&A was a special announcement with Dana White and GSP. The announcement made it official that GSP would be one of the coaches on TUF 12. The winner of the Koscheck vs. Daley fight would be the other coach (Koscheck would win). Next were the weigh-ins.

After the weigh-ins, we headed back to the hotel to hang out for a couple of hours to meet more of the fighters and chat with other fans. We saw Randy Couture check into the hotel and then be quickly snuck out a side door. I will have to catch him at the Fan Expo in Vegas. We ran into Miguel Torres, Paul Daley, Joey Beltran, Mike Guymon, Pat Barry, Marcus Davis, Chandella, Arianny, John Salter, Yoshiyuki Yoshida, and Kimbo again. We also ran into one of the up-and-coming Brits, Andre Winner.

The fighter with the best entrances I've seen - Tom "Filthy" Lawlor - was also hanging around the lobby.

The night before every event, UFC President Dana White will tweet his location and give away free tickets until he has no more to give. Craig has his laptop at the hotel and so we were anxiously awaiting Dana's location. Finally it came....Esso at the corner of Sherbrooke and St. Laurent. Four of us darted for Craig's car in a panic. As soon as we got in the car, we heard the radio station announce the tweet. Balls. Everyone who was listening to that channel would now know that there were free tickets available.

It took us no longer than ten minutes to get to the location to find roughly 50 people surrounding Dana White. Tickets were already gone. It took a total of three minutes to get rid of them. I had to settle for a picture and an autograph.

After that, we called it a night.

On fight day, we got up early and headed back to the hotel for some breakfast. We then hung around the hotel looking for some more fighters who we had missed. The first guy we ran into was Seth Petruzelli, who was there to corner Tom Lawlor.

For those of you who don't know him, he was the guy that jumped into the main event at an Elite XC event when Ken Shamrock got hurt. He then turned around and beat Kimbo Slice in what was, at the time, a huge upset. He thanked me for the support and even wrote "Kimbo Killer" on the photo without me asking. It was awesome.

We also ran into Sam Stout, Jorge Rivera, TJ Grant, Maurillo "Ninja" Rua, Jeremy Stephens, Mark Dellagrotte, Tim Hague, and the champion, Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida. Machida was being moved around by his people and therefore was only signing and taking pictures as he was moving from place to place. I was fortunate enough to grab a quick autograph.

It was then time to head to the fights. I won't speak much about them, but lets just say that they did not disappoint. The undercard started at 7:20 and the main event finished at 12:30am. Five hours of fights was definately worth the money.

The highlight of the event was Mauricio "Shogun" Rua upsetting the undefeated champion by knockout in the first round to win the championship.

After the fights we headed back to the hotel to hang out with fight club members and chat with some of the fighters. I was finally able to run into the new Kimbo Killer, and former NY Giant, Matt Mitrione. I also ran into Joe Rogan, Frankie Edgar, and former Light-Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans. I am pumped for Vegas so I can see Rashad finally fight Rampage.

Finally the champ came back, but was being moved quickly to avoid the crowds. I was able to snap a quick pic of the champ with his new belt.

So, as you can see, the main card is just the start of the weekend. Any fight fan needs to attend at least one event in their life and get the whole experience.

Alfie's 1000th game

The term "warrior" can figuratively be describes as "a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics".

Does everyone cheer for Daniel Alfredsson? Well, not if you're a Leafs fan. But, those that are a part of Sens Army know that even though there are haters out there, Daniel Alfredsson will always be a warrior.

Through the end of the 2009-2010 season, there were only 250 players that have played 1000 NHL games in their career. Daniel Alfredsson became number 251. However, only the 44th to accomplish the feat having played all of his games with a single team.

On April 10th, 2010, after playing his 1000th game on the road, a celebration occurred in the Senators first home game back. There was to be a special ceremony held before the game to commemorate the event.

Diane and I headed to the arena and met up with my sister to see if we could catch some of the players as they arrived at the arena. There was only one player left on the team that I hadn't met yet, but I really didn't expect him to stop. It was Chris Neil, and he was almost always one of the first players to arrive.

There were five of us waiting before the game and it was a gorgeous day. For some reason Neil was late to show up. Was he playing that night? Maybe he was going to be scratch and we wouldn't see him show up at all. A few players began showing up. Pascal Leclaire was nice enough to stop and sign for the others waiting. I didn't have anything for him to sign. After a few other players drove by, Neil showed up.....and stopped!!!! Wow, I couldn't believe it. I heard he had gotten a lot worse than he was before. He was nice enough to sign a couple of photos for me and let me take a picture with him.

It was great finally meeting Chris Neil, but we were all waiting for Alfie. Soon enough, a camera man came outside to wait for Alfie as well. This was great news because I knew Alfie would stop for sure. If he didn't, he would look like a total jerk on television. Sure enough, he stopped and signed and took pictures as well.

After all the players arrived, we headed to the Local Heroes located in the Scotiabank Place. When we walked into the arena, we looked at the seats and saw that each seat had been decked out with a "Alfie 1000th game" t-shirt.

I must say that the arena pretty awesome with everyone wearing the same colour shirt. It made me feel like we were in a playoff game. I really wish the Sens would pony up and give everyone a shirt for a playoff game a la Pittsburgh Penguins "white out". It makes the stadium look amazing.

The game had a great atmosphere. When the Sens took the ice, they all had their own number on their sleave, but all wore #11 on their backs. It was quite the site. Alfie's number was all over the arena... on the boards.... behind the net. Everywhere.

After a bit of game time, a special guest was shown on the jumbo screen. Olympic athlete and double medalist from the 2010 Vancouver game, Kristina Groves, was at the game! Those of you who know me know that I had to try and grab a picture with her. It wasn't hard at all. I went down to the 100 level and went near the box she was in and, much the same way with Gordie Howe, there was a small lineup beside the box for pictures and autographs. I didn't have anything for her to sign, but I got my picture with her.

Later in the game, my sister called me and told me that they had showed Cuba Gooding Jr. on the big screen. If you read my last blog entry, you know that I have already met him, but I figured I would try and find him and see if I could get a second picture with him. I quickly spotted him in a suite at centre ice in the 100 level. He was sitting his his bodyguard and stunt double. Unfortunately, they showed him on the jumbo screen also, and that was the end of me being able to get a picture with him. Now that everyone knew where he was sitting, it would be very hard to get near him.

I figured we should try anyways. We headed down to the 100s again to see if Cuba was in his box. Sure enough, he was....but, I did get a picture with this guy who happened to be in the same section.
Now, why is there a border around this photo you ask? Well, that would be because his people don't allow you to take a picture with your own camera. There is a photographer with him and you must then e-mail the person with the photo number they provide you, and ask for the photo.

Perhaps the best part of meeting the prime minister was seeing the look on his bodyguard's face when he asked Diane if she wanted a photo also and she told him no way.

It was a great game, unfortunately the Sens lost, but the game will be remembered more for the celebration that happened before the game.

Alfie is a true warrior and I hope he has many more games in him.