Last Saturday, I decided to have a viewing party for the Fedor fight. Needless to say, it was on free TV, so people could just stay home if they wanted.
So to make it a little more special, I called up a few buddies.
Next thing I knew, Urijah Faber, Joseph Benavidez, Justin Bucholz, Chad Mendez, Danny Castillo, and Kyacey Uscola showed up.
MMA is so ape shit in Sacramento, there were like 5 tv crews there covering it like a Hollywood premiere. The place was packed. Ring girls provided by Bud Light, a bunch of UFC/WEC shwag to give away, and the fighters hanging out, taking pics, signing autographs, and just watching the fights.
The point is this:
The fighters didnt get paid a dime. There were no entourages. No handlers.
The guys sat at different parts of the bar, wherever they wanted, and just hung out and watched fights with a bunch of MMA fans.
In fact, the bar provided a limo to pick us up from Faber's house, but a bunch of the guys had parents and friends and girlfriends as well. We couldnt all fit in the limo. So we decide to follow the limo......Faber's dad driving, and me and the other fighters all in Faber's car.
When the limo arrived at the bar, all the cameras were filming the "big arrival", while we were in the car behind laughing it off as TV news caught footage of Chad's parents getting out of the limo.
I cover other sports for a living in addition to MMA. Mainly the NBA with the Sacramento Kings. In no other major sport would you be able to get a group of pros together on a day's notice to do something like that, not without handlers and contracts and large amounts of money. There were no other motives. No one was promoting anything.
I just felt compelled to share the story about those guys. I'm sure there are TONS more fighters exactly like them. Which is a big reason why MMA continues to grow beyond any other sport.
The athletes GET IT.
Here's a stupid little youtube clip from that night of me showing Faber how to kick properly. For this reason alone, he will probably win his fight in January. Props to Uscola for the awesome camera work:
By the way, make sure the sound is on, or it makes even less sense than it already does.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pROMmEjynA
Thanks Kirik.
I am waaaaaay too dumb to figure out how to embed.
By the way, email me when you get a chance. I want to bring you on if possible.
Warms the heart...
Urijah is a sweetheart. I want my headband. The others are probably all very nice guys as well.
Crooklyn - TTT for Dave.
TTT for the best MMA radio show in the history of mankind (hers)
I seriously LOL'd at that clip!
Dave, did you see the Urijah Faber pumpkin someone carved out of an orange on the Halloween thread? Bad-ass!!! You should get him to sign it for the "carver."
Enjoy your work=)
Cindy
Great story, thanks for posting.
TTT
The athletes "get it" because MMA is still a young sport and they get paid very little. Once MMA has been around for 10-20 more years, they will act like the rest of the professional athletes.
Right now MMA athletes are just happy they can make a living fighting. In a few years people will train for the specific reason of becoming a pro MMA fighter from a young age. They will expect millions of dollars and hot women, not to hang out will a bunch of average MMA fan nobodies. It sounds cruel, but that's the way the world is.
It takes a real man to party with Kyacey Uscola.
Props to ya!
funny clip!