Fight Weekend Part II

Saturday started off normally, the crew was going to try and spread the word at the pool at the Mandalay Bay while I had a meeting with Jake Hattan from Denaro Sports Marketing about sponsorships, I don’t know how they did it though, it was 112 degrees at 12:00 in the afternoon but they did it, I love those guys. Jake called to tell me we would have to reschedule since he was delayed, so we agreed to meet at the party he was throwing for Joe Stevenson after the fight or the next day at a pool party they were having. On my way to the pool though I got a chance to talk to Herb Dean for a few minutes, he was a really nice guy, I gave him my card and asked him if I could send him some shirts, he said if I sent them he’d wear’em:

As I walked to the pool I couldn’t help but think to myself, these guys, all of them were so approachable, not arrogant or stuck up but actually really engaging, especially the next guy I met. If you don’t know who this is above, that is Charlie Valencia, you might remember him from an episode of TapOut where the guys were with Chuck Liddell’s assistant Antonio Banuelos, Charlie beats him up at the end. When I began getting interested in MMA he was my favorite fighter hands down, he has the heart of a lion. We talked for a minute and he was so humbled and appreciative that I respected what he does, I think I embarrassed him a little, he and his wife are really great people, they said they’d wear the shirts as well.

After the pool we went back to the room to get ready for the fight, and to make sure we had everything to take advantage of the situation we were in, cards, media kits, all that stuff. After walking around the hotel I learned to be prepared with some form of contact info in the event an opportunity arrives, you should always be prepared because you never know who you’ll run into. We got to the fight and it was awesome, great seats as well, we even sat next to this guy:

This is Jeremy May, you might remember him from T.U.F. this season getting kicked in the face by Matt Brown, ha ha ha, I’m messing with you J. He was actually a really good guy, he explained the whole thing between him and Matt Brown about why he put lemon juice in his dip, it was hilarious. He’s actually not as bad as he was portrayed in the show, but that’s the magic of television. 

The fights were awesome, some more than others, I was a little disappointed by Patrick Cote’s performance, Josh Kosheck did really good, and I was really glad Joe Stevenson won, he was looking a little over matched at the beginning but pulled it out nicely. I went to get a beer when I ran into the competition, Punk Ass looks so much bigger on TV, doesn’t he? He was a really nice guy too.

After the fight it was on to the after party at Prive inside the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino. We got there and we had a little trouble getting in but as soon as my cousin and Quinton arrived we got right in and from that point on it was time to suspend reality:

I walked into the VIP area next to Quinton and almost immediately the clubs manager walks up and says “Mr.Jackson we have 5 tables set up for you and your people” free Grey Goose and Throwdown Energy Drinks all night, I never saw the bottle get half empty before they were bringing out another one. It was surreal, being in there was like a crazy dream, I met Reggie Bush and Kim Kardashian, that was cool, Reggie Bush’s hands feel like their covered in sandpaper! After that I was sitting in this booth next to Razor Rob and Tiki, then I got this pic with Daniel Cramer, John Alessio, and Zach Light. The night was really successful promotion wise and all these guys were really accomodating, great people. 

At this point I had either met or taken a picture with every person I knew there, I was really concentrating on getting some good content for the site and I felt like I had done that, but there was one more picture I wanted. This picture above of Razor Rob and Tiki, immediately to their right was Tito Ortiz and Jenna Jameson. I had to get that pic for the site, I was on a mission. I walked around to the front of their table and went to the bar outside the VIP, I could get a better angle when I came back to reach over and ask Tito for the picture.

So I made my move but I noticed Tito was by himself at the table so I figured well Tito by himself in a picture would be good enough. I reached over to him but there were people behind me pushing from all around, the club was obviously packed. I had my hand out to shake his hand, I got less than 3 feet from him when he looks at me with this mean kinda look on his face and says “DUDE” and points to my right. I look over and Jenna Jameson is laid out flat on her face, I had knocked her over trying to get to Tito, which sounds a little weird, knocking over the biggest porn star of all time to get to another guy, but its the truth. My expression immediately changed from happy to in fear for my life! I was like “dude I’m totally sorry, I didn’t mean to, I just wanted to get my picture taken with you guys” but what I was thinking was “Mr.Ortiz please don’t kill me, I have children” When jenna got up she gave me the dirtiest look ever, she’s like “What the hell” After that I spent the whole night looking over my shoulder, but I have to admit, it sounds funnier now. It wasn’t like I nudged her or pushed her slightly, this was like a Division I Football hit, I’m sure if Reggie Bush was looking at the time he would have been proud. The night was successful and we all had a good time, Graffight definitely represented.