UFC 119 Weigh Ins...

Friday was really cool. I didn't get much sleep the night before, again, and it took me minute to get up, but I was excited to go to Conseco Fieldhouse for the weigh ins. I called the arena to confirm the schedule, but they had no clue. I decided to trust the UFC's website and figured I'd just wait if I got there too early. Mom dropped me off, then I made my way into the building. At the security checkpoint, I was informed that I couldn't bring my water in with me, but they only saw one of my two bottles in my backpack, so after a couple swigs of the one they saw, I dumped it and made my way inside. I made it up the stairs, which was more difficult than it should have been because I almost tripped and fell a few times, probably from leftover wooziness and fatigue. As soon as I stepped onto the concourse, I saw a guy I met at the Press Conference on Thursday. He was with some buddies in line for autographs from fighters who weren't on the card, and I just stuck with them. The line was hella-long, so I saved myself 90 minutes catching on with them. Aside from just being closer to the front, it was cool talking to them about the fights. They're all good guys. I got some Halo Reach/UFC/Marines dogtags while in line as part of a promotion. I also signed up for a credit card that I know I'm not going to get in order to procure a UFC T-shirt.

We made our way through the line, which took awhile to get going, but moved along quickly enough. I don't mind waiting as long as there's a payoff in the end and that the line progresses at a reasonable pace. I was digging talking with my new friends, too. The fighters who were signing were stationed in Legends. Junior Dos Santos, a Brazilian heavyweight who will fight for the title soon, was up first. He was really nice, and maybe a little shy since he's still learning English. Not that he was small, and he was behind a table, but I thought he'd be a little bigger. He was very personable and seemed happy to be there.

Next up was middleweight (185 lbs.) Alan Belcher. He has the best tattoo in MMA, Johnny Cash's face on his arm. He was a cool dude, too. He detached his retina training not long ago, and is having some issues with that. It's possible he may not fight again, which would be a real shame. He's young, talented, exciting, and a good guy. I told him a bit about my eye troubles and how I could relate to having messed up vision. It was empowering to connect with a world class athlete, a fighter no less, on that level.

Matt Hughes was the last fighter signing. He's a former champion and maybe the best 170 pounder ever, though Georges St. Pierre is nipping at his heals for that title. While I respect his accomplishments, I'm not the biggest Matt Hughes fan, but he was very cordial with me. He's a legend in the sport, and I'm glad I got to meet him.

It was so awesome to meet the fighters, spend a little time with them, and to get their autographs. They all had their pictures at the table, so if you didn't have anything of your own to get signed, you could at least have a nice 8x10 to take home. It was all FREE, too. The UFC knows how to put on a show and treats its fans really well. Big thanks go out to my new buddy for hooking me up with the pictures! That was very gracious of him.

After getting the autographs and talking about how crazy cool it was to be able meet the fighters, we made our way to sit down for the weigh ins. There were a lot of people there, but we had decent seats. There was about an hour to kill before things got started, so we just talked about how great it was that UFC was actually in Indy and how cool it was that they had all of these free events. The weigh ins, themselves, went by quickly. Each fighter made weight and it all went very smoothly. Jeremy Stephens (accidentally?) mooned the crowd as he took his shorts off to get on the scale. Luckily,I missed it since my head was turned talking to the guy next to me ;). His staredown with Melvin Guillard was intense. Most of the other staredowns were rather jovial. Chris Lytle and Matt Serra had fun with theirs. The crowd was great. I didn't think there'd be that many people there, though, but I'm happy Indy showed up. It bodes well for a return from the UFC. There were definitely some boos, but I'm surprised that Serra didn't get more of them since he's fighting the hometown boy in Lytle. Serra's actually a good dude, and he doesn't care about the boos, either. He knows he's in Lytle's backyard. Frank Mir got the most heat from the crowd for some reason, which I didn't understand at all. Maybe they were all just CroCop fans, I don't know. Mir's a good guy who has been very accommodating with his time with the fans, making himself available to sign and chat. You can watch watch the weigh ins here: http://www.ufc.com/media/ufc-119-weigh-in-replay.

It was awesome being able to take part in all of that, especially since I won't be able to go to the fights.The access that the UFC and the fighters give you is a very welcomed surprise. They know who pays their bills and they have a healthy respect for the fans. It's really nice to see and experience. It's very cool how closely knit the fight fan community is, too. Everyone that I've talked to have been very amiable and friendly. I really hope that as the sport gets bigger, that the camaraderie among the fans, fighters, and promoters doesn't change. I fear that it may as more casual fans take notice and as the fighters make more money (which they deserve). I'm enjoying it now, though. It's been really fun taking part in all of the festivities.

There have been tons of UFC related events around town. Radio stations and UFC sponsors have been doing a lot of promotion leading up to the fights. The fighters have been part of many of those, along with just being out in the open in the city. I wish I'd have been able to go to more of those, but not driving or being able to walk around a whole lot put a damper on that. I was able to go to Buffalo Wild Wings downtown Friday night. Bud Light had some trinkets they were giving away, as well as a raffle for 2 tickets to the fights. It was my last hope for tickets, so I made it out. Tequila Cazadores was also there. Both groups were giving away tons of stuff. I got a few shirts, a hat, shot glasses, key chains, magnets, koozies, beads, a mouthpiece and its container, and I got my picture taken with a REAL UFC belt. It sucked a bit that my friends weren't able to meet me, and I didn't win the tickets, but it was still a good time talking to other fight fans and just being in that atmosphere. It's always nice to get out of the house, too, plus, I didn't need a wheelchair today ;). The Tequila Cazadores girls were hot, too, which didn't hurt :P.

The Champ is here!

I can't wait for the fights Saturday night! It's still KILLING me that I can't go, but such is life. Being able to do all of this stuff leading up to fights has helped mitigate my disappointment in not being able to go, but it's also gotten me more excited about it all. I'm still elated that they finally came to my town, that I've had the opportunity to see some of it first hand, and that it's been so well received here. It's great for the city, too, bringing in money and exposure and I can't wait until they come back, hopefully next year. Even though I won't be there live, it will still be a good time watching it at Buffalo Wings and Rings (111 W. Maryland St., 8PM) with friends. :)

GO IRISH! BEAT STANFORD! We have a big test this week with Stanford. I like our chances, but it'll be a tough game. Our offense can play with anyone as long Crist is running the show. The defense just needs to get healthy. The lack of depth because of injury has really hurt us. The biggest problem on D has been tackling, I think, and a lot of that can be contributed to fatigue from lack of substitution. We should really know where we stand after this game. Stanford is legit, so playing well against them and beating them would mean a lot and it would show that we can compete with anyone. If we get dominated, which I don't think will happen, then maybe we have more growing pains to deal with than I thought. It should be a good game. LET'S GO, IRISH!

Extremely excited for a busy Saturday,
-B