Meditations on Strikeforce Experience
Leave a CommentI guess I should explain what I’m doing. I won’t really do a linear recap. You’ll be able to find many great recaps. These are just my meditations and reflections of the weekend that was.
-First and most important lesson. Do NOT ever do a weigh-in outside in North Texas on June 17th. It had to be 108 degrees out there. You could tell that most people there were hungry for MMA, but then there were some blood-thirsty fame-seekers, too.
-Shirts not to wear at an MMA weigh-in: this or this.
-One of the most popular personalities there by far was Jacob Stitch Duran. The man was treated like a god, and many people wanted their picture taken with him. He was just out in the crowd, standing with the people.
-When you are speaking to a fighter or an MMA personality, show some respect. If you are trying to get somebody’s attention, start with their nickname. And if they don’t respond, start with their last name. Especially if they are as old as Stitch.
-After the weigh-in my dad and I were walking to the car, we saw, walking the other direction, Renato “Babalu” Sobral (who was cornering Marco Almeida). After having a minor freak-out moment, a group of guys behind us spotted him, too. They asked him for a picture. He didn’t have much time but took one anyway. I thought that was classy.
-The actual event was fun even though the fights pretty much blew. There was a tool who went apes*** over the fact they didn’t open the door at 5:59:30. He got the officer to open the door to tell him to shut up (we think).
-We had floor seats and they were very well-guarded so there weren’t any scrubs paying $12 and then finding a floor seat. I really hate it when that happens.
-There were some fight sponsors giving out their t-shirts for free. I felt they needed a plug. http://www.feartappingout.com/
-Those of us on the floor were kind of like a double-decker tour bus taking a Hollywood tour of homes. Every new body that came out, it was like “Who is that?” We found Bas Rutten and Michael Schiavello pretty early in the night. When he was able to, Bas took pictures with whomever he could. I was shocked how little Mauro Ranallo and Jimmy Lennon Jr. were bothered. Miesha Tate was spotted in the crowd, as was Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Herschel Walker and Michael Irvin were also in the crowd. Miesha and Bigfoot were very accessible and took a lot of pictures with whomever they could.
-I had a 13-year-old girl Justin Bieber moment when I first saw Miesha Tate. I squeed like a girl when I saw her. I gave her a new nickname that night-“Gina who?” I tweeted, “Just saw @MieshaTate in person. Or as I call her, ‘Gina who?’ Camera does not do her justice.” I was actually responded to by her. “@justinruff Lol thanks! I don’t think Im very photogenic lol”. I’ve been tweeted by some celebrities before. I think that was one of the biggest for me.
-The first fight was Brian Melancon vs. Isaac Valle-Flagg. This was the first of the bulls*** decisions from the judges. Melancon looked great in the cage, and I hope he gets several opportunities. Nothing against Isaac (who had Keith Jardine in his corner), but it was 29-27 Melancon at best.
-During the first fight, we had the ring girls stand ringside. At first the one in front of us looked hot and athletic and stuff. And then I realized. The poor thing has never eaten. The great Sir Mix-a-Lot could not have said, “Red beans and rice didn’t miss her.” I again tweeted “Somebody get the ring girl some food. Give me @Mieshatate any day.” I was responded with a “Hahaha lmao” from the lovely Ms. Tate herself.
-Nah-shon Burrell was great in his fight, and even though Joe Ray tried to put him under every submission imaginable, Burrell fought back. I wrote that Burrell does not feel pain.
-Conor Heun took on Marco Almeida. While I am happy that Heun got the win, I started out the fight as a fan of Heun and ended up a fan of both by the time it was over. There was no way Heun got that decision.
-Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante is a man who cannot catch a break. His last fight was a decision that even the winner said “There’s no way that was 30-27.” And then an accidental eye poke. Love JZ. Wish him lots of luck, because the guy has no good luck at all.
-Chad Griggs looked great against Valentijn Overeem. The crowd was definitely “Team Overeem.” I was just glad to see a finish.
-Apparently they forgot to tell Jeff Monson he could hit too. It was a pretty disappointing fight.
-KJ Noons-Jorge Masvidal was my fight of the night choice. What was so surreal was that I was watching the moment where Masvidal punched Noons and the cut happened. That this fight lasted a round was a small miracle. I have to say that after this round, Stitch is the greatest miracle worker in humanity.
-Josh Barnett had a great submission victory against Bret Rogers.
-You’ll hear 30,000 different opinions on Overeem-Werdum. It was just such a styles clash. To compare, it was like AJ Styles having a pro wrestling match against Mad Man Pondo. Or the Dallas Mavericks playing the Green Bay Packers in baseball. I think that Werdum is going to get a lot of flack. All he wanted to do was fight his style. It was a pretty awful main event. I’m just glad Overeem won.
To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.