I posted this in the other thread, but I'm gonna give it it's own thread... I just got back from the weigh in, and it was awesome. I showed up about 20 minutes before it started, and in the biggest miracle of them all, found a parking spot on the street a block from the P Center. It was hot as ass out, and I was in work clothes, but I lived. There was about 200 people there. I was able to get right up to the barrier by the stage, so I was able to meet Jimmy Lennon Jr, who emceed, Matt Hughes, Frankie Edgar, Kimbo, Matt Serra, Bas Rutten, Mark Coleman, Robbie Lawler, Phil Baroni, Carlos Moreno and a bunch of others. Unfortunately, my wife has our good camera, so I was only able to take pictures with my crappy phone camera, but I'll post them as I host them. Everyone was very cool and very fan friendly. Even Matt Hughes, who has a bad rep, took picture after picture, signed everything people pushed in their faces, answered questions, and in general just made MMA look good. Coleman in particuliar was out there for a long time, doing interviews with anyone and everyone who had a microphone. I will say this, Coleman looks terrible. He is clearly off the juice, and his body looks like it's withering away. Granted, he's still huge, but he's a shell of himself, and you can see it in his face. Still, he was a cool guy, still walking gingerly, and legitimately bummed about not being able to fight Brock. Serra, as expected, had a crowd around him. He was only out for a few minutes to support his brother, but he had everyone laughing hysterically, and came off no different then he did on TUF. Of all people, Shaq showed up. I was told he was on his way to the airport, and decided to stop in. He is freaking enormous. E-fucking-normous. He didn't really even acknowledge the fans, and was only there for a minute. I was busting Jimmy Lennon's balls as he announced Shaq was here, about 2 minutes after he made his way through. I told him 'welcome to 2 minutes ago', as everyone already saw him, and he laughed and said 'I didn't see him', and everyone was like 'how could you miss Shaq?' Bas was one of the first guys I talked to, and he was very cool. Told him I loved the show and watch it every week. Matt Serra's manager was there and he was pushing to get Matt on the show. I told Bad they need to get some average MMA fans on the show, and volunteered myself. He said if it were up to him, he'd love to have a fan segment, but he doesn't make those calls. I completely forgot to tell him that just down the road are some of the world's finest Brazlian and Portguese restaurants. He probably would've appreciated that. For as huge as Shaq was, that's how small Frankie Edgar is. He looks like he should be fighting 145. Chris Liguori got a pretty good reception from the crowd when he was announced. He'll never be a 'great' fighter, but he gives it his all every time out. Carlos Moreno looked totally out of shape. He's another local fighter I've seen at small shows in the past, and he's just ballooned up. He probably won't last more then 90 seconds. More as I remember it. TFK <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
REED is Curious about that as Well...Particularly Matt Hughes Being There, when he's HEADLINING the Next UFC PPV, Knowing Dana is THREATENED by Elite XC... But like REED Said on the Other Thread, GOOD SHIT, TFK...:bears:.... R U Going 2 the Fight As Well??? REED:hammert:
Damn, Kimbo's beard looks like he could qualify to play with ZZ Top.. Any chance Elixte XC starts banning thick beards like that? That's gotta help his chin. That's about 7 inches of afro-cushion. Nice job TFK..ray:
Hughes was there supporting Lawler. Serra was there because his brother is fighting. Edgar is a local guy, so I'm assuming that's why he was there. MMA fighters are a fraternity, and many train with each other and get to know each other on their way up, and they don't let differences between companies and their owners get in the way of their friendships. Believe it or not, I'm not going to the actual event, just because I've done a lot of renovations on my house since I bought it last summer, and just didn't have the disposable cash to get real good seats. And for as much as I love the cage as opposed to the ring, unless you're up close, it's terrible live. The atmosphere is still balls out, but I wasn't shelling out a couple hundred bucks for a ticket, and wasn't gonna spend $100 to watch on the jumbo-tron. Plus, I'm curious as hell as how CBS is gonna cover this. But the weigh in was free, and I work in Newark anyway, so I had to go. TFK
The NEVADA Athletic Commission DOESN'T Allow Excessive Beards...@ the Weigh-In, Roy Jones had an INFANT Beard Compared to Kimbo's (Prior to the 3rd Tarver Fight), yet was FORCED N 2 Shaving... U Bring Up an EXCELLENT Point, Cause Kimbo WILL B Forced N 2 Shaving that Shit @ Some Point OR He'll NEVER Fight N the BIGGEST Fight Town on Earth... REED:hammert:
Off the top of my head, the only fighter I remember fighting with a beard was Scotty Olson. Whatever happened to the Bulldog? I remember everyone hyping up a showdown between him and Carbajal, and then he just disappeared. TFK
I just did a quick Yahoo search and answered my own question....He's selling cars! http://www.kentwoodford.com/sales/ScottyOlson/index.html TFK
Another thing I just remembered, and I should mention is, speaking with Matt Serra, he wants to fight GSP in a rubber match at the Prudential Center. He's a NY guy so he'd have a big crowd supporting him. He was like, and I'm paraphrasing...'Just imagine 22,000 Canadians all wanting to see you get your ass kicked. He owes me one.' TFK
Now that REED Thinks about it, Roy-Tarver III was in Tampa, Florida, NOT Vegas::...But MOST Athletic Commissions(Particularly Boxing & MMA) Follow Vegas Guidelines.... They DID MAKE Roy Shave his Beard & Eventually Kimbo WILL B Forced N 2 SHAVING his Shit, No Matter WHERE he Fights... REED:hammert:
He deserves it. They each dominated the other in their wins and a third match would be cool. Personally I think Serra can make a better go of things next time. He looked unprepared and shocked that GSP didn't want to stand this last fight. Now he knows. I still think GSP wins, but I would bet it's more competitive.
St-Pierre already told him that if he wants a rematch he'll give him one after the fight. He even thanked him for letting him have his revenge. Nice report BTW.
Actually I have a wrestling background. Nothing worth getting excited over, and not anything I've done in ages, but it is what it is. TFK
