6am and I was headed to the airport in Nashville on no sleep. I knew that I would get a little bit of sleep on the plane, but that once I landed in Ft Lauderdale that I would be running again. Who knew the flight would have the worst turbulence that I had ever experienced? Who knew that the lady behind me was going to freak out and cry for most of the flight?? Well I sure as hell didn't and as a result, I went sleepless between Nashville and Hollywood.
Tyson Griffin's boxing coach, Rosendo Sanchez as well as his manager and manager's wife were on my flight. They had a guy named Joe Soto fighting on the card the next evening. We all grabbed a cab together to the hotel. The porter said it was a 10 minute ride but 30 minutes later we were pulling up to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Looking back, I think that cabbie took us for a ride. Literally. We parted ways at that point each heading to check in and to our rooms.
Now even though I'm not a fan of South Florida, I have to admit that I love staying at the Hard Rock in Hollywood. It's nice to go there, and then never have to leave the property because there's so much going on with food, casino, nightlife and shopping. The rooms are upscale, the internet is FREE and FAST! I got up to the room and immediatly got on my laptop to get some work done before I had to be at the weigh ins at 3pm.
I had to shoot some of the fighters for a clothing line called Jaco while I was in Florida for the fights. I coordinated with their managers about it so that I would be able to touch bases with them for a few minutes each before the fight. I would find out later that this was easier said than done. Around 2pm I started getting ready for the weigh ins and as I was heading out the door I got a text asking me to bring gatorade with me. This had me on a wild goose chase around the casino before finding that it was in the hotel store right next to the elevators to my room. Mission accomplished, I headed over to a showroom next door to Hard Rock Live at 3pm on the dot.
I ran upstairs to find Manny and deliver the Gatorade and tripped on the top stair on my way up. I banged my camera up as well as my finger and my knee; 2 out of three are still bruised at this moment. I then made my way back down to the floor where all the fighters were finishing their paperwork prior to the weigh ins. I spent the next couple hours shooting photos of what was going on before the weigh ins got underway.
I don't know exactly what time the guys stepped on the scale, but I know it was pretty late and that they were all really hungry and grumpy by this time. I was hoping that they would change the lights that were shining on the stage, but we were stuck with yellow and I had to do a lot to compensate for it. A couple of the guys didn't make weight so would spend the next couple hours trying to do so.
In the mean time I took off to eat with Toby Imada and Gary Padilla at a restaurant called Blue Point Ocean Grill. Toby, Shannon, and I ordered the Thai Ahi Tuna salad and I have to admit it's one of the best things I've tasted in a long time. In fact, I loved it so much, I can't wait to go eat it again some time. While we were waiting for our food to arrive, I ran back to the room to get my laptop to start loading the pics. When I got back, I found Toby on the outside patio stalking a huge iguana for an I Phone photo. I snapped some photos of it, but for the first time ever, I seem to have misplaced them. So you just have to trust me on this one!
After dinner, I grabbed my lighting equipment from the hotel room and headed back to the Hilton with Toby, Gary and their team. I had to shoot a bunch of fighters in Jaco clothing and they were all staying at the Hilton near the airport. The Hilton is directly across from the Sheraton where I had stayed in November for WEC. I borrowed my friend Jason's room to set up for the shoot, and then proceeded to wait for the next 3 hours while only two out of five guys I needed to shoot showed up.
By 10:30, my friend Justin Haskins came to pick me up so I gave up on finishing the shoot for their sponsors till the next day. We drove over to the Hard Rock and grabbed a bite to eat before I absolutely started crashing. I had been running on so little sleep that once I had food in my belly I was done.
I'm not sure what time I woke up the next day, but I'm thinking it was around 9am. I spent most of the day trying to organize photos and get my blog written. Other than meeting Matt and Manny for breakfast, I holed up in my room until around five when Yahir Reyes showed up for his photoshoot. I knew that I was also shooting his opponent so I rushed to keep them from crossing paths. Soon after Ben Greer came to do his pics, followed by Nick Gonzalez. Again, I knew they were each fighting soon so I did each shoot as fast as I could. I immediately uploaded the photos to the client, jumped in the shower and got ready for the evening.
First fight was at 8pm. Both Manny and I were convinced that the fights wouldn't start on time, and because I was backed up with the shoots, I showed up at 8:15. Just in time to see Gary Padilla's hand raised in victory. Damnit, they actually started right on time and I missed the first fight. On top of it, my photo position had gotten messed up so I spent the first few minutes I was there trying to sort it out.
And then I settled in to shoot the rest of the fights. I was surprised how smoothly everything seemed to run considering it was their first show. Only complaint I had was that it seemed a bit dark. Tell you the truth, every show that I've shot that was being filmed for HD was darker than normal. Well you know that saying, "Time flies when you're having fun"? I was having fun shooting and before long it was over.
If there was a press conference after, I didn't know about it. I packed up all my stuff and took it to my room. I changed to go out for the evening and then headed back down to where the arena was because the after party was at Club Passions next door, and a bunch of the fighters were at the irish pub right next to that. On top of it all, there was the Grand Opening of Opium Nightclub a few steps further. I had no shortage of things to keep me busy until I left for the airport at 5am to head to Chicago.
After I grabbed some of the guys at the pub, went to Passions to check out the official afterparty for the fight. Of course we didn't have enough bracelets for everyone to get in but we somehow managed to work it and get up into the VIP that was set aside for the group. Once inside it was open bar sponsored by Georgio Vodka and tons of sandwiches and finger foods. I didn't mind if I helped myself to some food before getting some boogey down time. I wandered around the upstairs part of the club before I spotted Nogueira and dragged him to the VIP.
It was almost 3 by this time and I was getting over it. I made a quick stop at the new club, Opium (it reminded me of Set in Miami) and then I went back to the room to pack my stuff and grab a shower. Me and Matt Stansells had the same flight to Chicago and we had to be at the airport by 5:30. Around 4:30 I dragged my stuff to the front of the hotel and as we waited for the car I watched a number of drunk people still partying and stumbling out of the casino.
Fast forward to Chicago. I can't ever say enough how much I love that city. I had originally planned to get there Thursday, but because of Bellator, I didn't arrive till Saturday morning. With all the travel and time changes and what not, I really can't tell you what time I arrived, but I think it was about 11am when I checked in. Not tired at all having slept the entire flight over, I changed into some work out clothes and then went and woke Cowboy up to go to the gym.
I got a good cardio workout in for about 30 minutes on the ellyptical as Donald ran on the treadmill. As we were nearing the end of the session, Joseph Benavidez came in with fellow Team Alpha Male member, Dustin Akbari to cut weight. I asked how much he had left to lose and Joseph responded, "2 Pounds." I said, "cake." and he nodded in agreement. I snapped a few photos before heading back to my room to grab a shower.
Everyone was leaving to the weigh ins by 1:30 in the UFC shuttle buses. I hung out in the lobby where I ran into Cub Swanson. His opponent had gotten hurt so wasn't fighting. He said,"They told me the news when I got here on April Fools Day. I thought they were kidding." As the fighters all left, I grabbed a ride with a friend down to the Crowne Plaza near UIC.
We were there with a couple hours to spare so Cowboy and I along with a small group of friends ventured out into Chicago to find a bite to eat. After wandering around Greek town but not settling on anything, we ended up at Bar Louie in the West Loop. Go figure, we're in Chicago and we eat at a chain restaurant.
We got back to the hotel after eating just before weigh ins started, but 4pm came and went with no one on the scale. I don't know what time they finally started the weigh ins tell you the truth. I do know that it was insanely crowded because they were held in a very small ballroom at the hotel. Quite a few of the guys had to undress behind the infamous white towel that day; everyone made weight after that except for Jeremy Stephens.
After the weigh ins were finished, WEC held an autograph signing and a Q&A session for the fans with Frank Mir, Mike Brown, Donald Cerrone, and Urijah Faber. I tend to miss these at UFC because they're before the weigh ins, but I stuck around this time and shot some cool black and whites before retreating behind the stage to get my photos started loading. I don't know if the timing could have worked out better but they were dismantling the stage about the same time I finished getting the photos up and Urijah was just signing his last autograph of the evening.
Then it was back to the hotel and then out to eat for me, Miss rara, Cowboy and Jeff and Ken from MMA Weekly. I HAD to have some deep dish pizza while I was in chicago and there was a Giordano's walking distance from the hotel. It was extremely windy as we walked to the pizza place; there were a lot of people waiting but Jeff had already put his name in by the time we got there. As I took pictures of the face desserts and pizza on the front counter, they called our name and we were seated. We weren't the only ones that craved the piping hot pies; we passed Manny Tapia and his team as they were finishing up their meal. We shared a Large pie between four of us. Cowboy ordered an Italian Beef sandwich and a huge appetizer plate and then ate so little of it, I wondered if something was wrong.
When I asked, he said,"I only have half a stomach. I'm also missing part of my intestines. It's from an accident three years ago; I died and they brought me back. Ever since, I really don't eat much." I was shocked at this news; the guys from MMA weekly were more interested in who he was fighting on the June WEC card in Sacramento. He said, "I'm gonna give the Cleat, the spur." We finished up our meal and then the guys dropped us back at the hotel.
I had planned a party for that night and in spite of being exhausted from the crazy week, I went and got ready. I had instructed everyone to meet us in the lobby at 10:30pm figured that people would lag and that we would hang out in the bar. Sure enough, It was at least 11:30 before we were all packed into cabs on our way to Spy Bar in downtown Chicago. I think it was cowboy boot night at the club, according to Cowboy and Brian Bowles...
Spy Bar is located on a block where about 4 other clubs are as well. The place is always teeming with people on a weekend night, and that particular one was no different. we jumped out of the cab and as soon as our whole group was out front, we disappeared into the depths of the club located beneath franklin street and the L train.
I had thrown a fight preparty there before and we wanted the same table area that we had previously been to. We started our night there about midnight and didn't leave for at least 3 hours. At one point Melissa about shit her pants when she found out that Jess from Rock of Love (yeah, the reality show with Brett Michaels) worked as a bartender there. It was my mission to get a picture of the two of them together. Mission Accomplished! On top of it, it was awesome to meet a bunch of the people that showed up from the UG or from the autograph signing. What amazed me is that we had a hard time finishing off the 5th and 6th bottle that we had between about 30 people. Thank you to Spy Bar and my buddy Johnny for the party; we had a blast!
I have to admit that I lost my cool by the end of the night. I was trying to round up everyone who didn't want me to leave without them but everyone was really drunk that this was a huge chore. I almost got into a fight with a girl who bumped into me and then threw ME attitude about it; I looked at her calmly and that seemed to piss her off even more till she finally stomped away. Everyone eventually made it out of the club and I gave up trying to get people in the cab; as the half empty vehicle pulled away from the curb, Sean looked at me and said, "Don't worry about them. It's like herding cats. They'll get back on their own." I haven't ever heard that saying before, but I will tell you, It coudn't have been more on point! Once back at the hotel, I didn't do much more than take out my contacts and wipe off my makeup before passing out for the night.
After the crazy night out in Chicago, I got a pretty full nights sleep and woke up around noon. I was going to go to the gym that day but somehow lost the motivation to do so. I didn't do much more than hang out in the room and work on my laptop before having to go shoot Rafael Assuncao right before leaving to the fights. Because of traffic and the weather (it started snowing!) I didn't get to the arena until the second fight of the night. I picked up my credential and then headed cage side.
The following photos I shot were posted on the Yahoo Sports MMA blog page (www.cagewriter.com):
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I watched Rafael Diaz get the Unanimous decision against Mike Budnik (who had failed to make weight the day before so the bout was at a catch weight) as I unpacked my cameras and lenses. I flipped the settings on my camera to ones I know by heart now and was ready when Manny Tapia and Akitoshi Tamura entered the cage. They waged a stand up battle back and forth that left many arguing who the winner was. In the end, the unanimous decision went to Tamura; much to the displeasure of the crowd.
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In the next fight between Rani Yahya and former WEC Bantamweight Champion, Eddie Wineland, we all expected (including Eddie himself) that Rani would take it to the ground. Within moments of the fight starting, Yahya had Eddie's back and try as he could to shake him, he wasn't successful and tapped out to the rear naked choke. The fight was so quick that I was limited on the shots I was able to capture of it.
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The fight between Wagnney Fabiano and Fredson Paixao was expected to be a war on the ground as these amazing jiu jitsu fighters entered the cage. Imagine our surprise as the fight stayed on the feet for most of the 15 minutes as each time it went to the ground Fabiano stood up and backed away. Wagnney had his hand raised with the unanimous decision.
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Dominic Cruz dominated all three rounds of the fight against Ivan Lopez. In the final minutes of the third round, an accidental knee that seemed to barely brush Lopez in the eye while he was down on both knees had him rolling on the ground complaining that he wasn't able to continue. I think he expected to get the win, or have it ruled no contest at the point. Cruz walked away with the unanimous decision that night.
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Anthony Njokuani brought Bart Palazewski to his second loss in the WEC in just over a month. A hook from Njokuani in the second round followed by strikes on the ground made the referee stop the fight at :27 in the second round. Anthony promptly began breakdancing in the cage.
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Many people have been waiting to see Rafael Assuncao fight in the WEC for quite some time. They finally got their chance as he and Jameel Massouh met in the cage on Sunday night. Rafael was the less experienced fighter of the two and was knocked down a couple times in the first round. No matter though, he came back as the aggressor in the fight and when the 15 minutes was over, he was the one with his hand raised.
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After walking out to "Our God is an Awesome God" and getting knocked down by Shane Roller off the bat, he reacted quickly and in turn knocked down Shane. He followed it up with strikes on the ground and a request for an, "Amen!" from the crowd after his hand was raised in victory.
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To many fight fans, their response to the name Joseph Benavidez, was,"Who?" His performance against Jeff Curran on Sunday night with his strength and speed as well as his exciting takedowns and the ease in which he passed Curran's guard makes him a stand out in the bantam weight division. He won the 3 round fight via unanimous decision.
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And then it was time for the main event. Miguel Torres, the hometown boy vs Takeya Mizugaki, from Japan. Miguel can always be counted on to bring it in a fight, but no one expected his opponent to bring it right back. They slugged it out for 5 full rounds and I have to admit that It was too close to call for me. I waited breathlessly (as did everyone around me) for the decision to be announced as unanimous; 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47 for Miguel Torres. I watched as Mizugaki started crying; not surprising considering he really put it on the line and gave it his all.
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I packed my gear, but I didn't rush out of the building. My friend Johnny, the owner of Spybar where I had thrown my party the night before, was on crutches and we were going to grab a bite to eat. We were waiting on Cowboy, who had disappeared backstage somewhere. Before long, Choon was running to get the car and we were off in search of some food that would be open that late. We picked Rockit Ranch where Maggie from Yahoo joined us and enjoyed a meal of Kobe burgers and sweet potato fries.
Cowboy and I jumped in with Maggie and took off to Level where Fight Chix and Joseph Benavidez were throwing their afterparty. Anthony Njokuani was there in a fantastic mood; he and Miss Rara started a dance circle where he started break dancing. Cowboy said, "I really don't want to embarrass him but..." and then jumped in and started doing flares. I didn't know he had it in him! Joseph never showed up but others did including Clay Guida, Shonie Carter, Danny Castillo, and Jason Day. Maggie took off so I grabbed a ride back to the hotel with Jason Day and Anthony (one of Miguel's boys) after we shut down the club.
Anthony took us on a 4am tour of Chicago which included a stop at the "Bean" in Millenium Park. It was ridiculously cold out at this point so Jason and I ran from where we were double parked over to the gleaming, reflecting monstrocity. I had been to it a number of times but never at night, and never covered in snow. As we ran up, a security guard yelled at us that the park was closed; I snapped a quick photo before we ran off back to the car. Now, on the buildings around the Park, many of the lights had been turned on to spell out 2016. This was in hopes of bringing the 2016 Olympics to Chicago. When you look at the photo, you can see the reflection of one of the buildings in the "Bean" spelling out 2016. That wasn't our last stop as we pulled over to shoot photos of the lion statues in front of the Art Institute. It was so cold by this time, we headed back to Midway Marriott and called it a night.
Normally I would have planned an extra day or two in Chicago to hang out and relax (I really do love this city!) but I had to get home and try and get settled in my new house before taking off to San Jose for Strikeforce the next weekend. Zuffa! Go back to Chicago again, real soon!!
While I have a week before I leave to Montreal, I wanted to share with you an event that I am involved in for Friday night in Montreal. Its a preparty hosted by Mike Goldberg and some fighters and some ring girls. I'll be there taking photos of course, as well as dragging as many fighters out as I can. Come out and party with us!
Hope to see you there!!
