I arrived in Las Vegas this morning and it hit me as soon as I got off the plane.
It’s stifling hot here.
So I went straight to the UFC Fan Expo. And that was just stifling, but in a good way.
The first ever fan expo put on by the world's premier mixed martial arts promotion has been a thundering success, with so many people attending you could hardly navigate your way through it.
(And I thought the MMA Expo in Toronto was crowded!)
As with its Canadian predecessor, which in a way laid the foundation for this kind of event, there was plenty to do and see. Booths were offering everything from clothing to health supplements, grappling gear to magazines, meet-and-greets with fighters to photo ops with Octagon girls.
(Arianny Celeste was at the Hayabusa, and just as in Toronto, the lineup to pose with her was one of the longer ones.)
In addition to the booths, there was the highlighted grappling tournament (which I didn't even bother to try to observe, since there were too many bodies to try to peer through.) And of course, the finals of the Maxim Octagon Girl Search, voted on live by judges in attendance.
I had to head to the media area to prepare for the fights before the winner was determined, so I can't let you know as yet who will be the next one to join the likes of Arianny, Edith and Logan.
Saturday morning kicked off with a keynote speech by UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, who isn't one to make public appearances too often. He's a fantastic speaker and he had a few interesting things to say.
The main topic was about the organization's ambitions to grow the sport overseas. During a Q&A afterward, one person asked if Italy was a priority (referring to the man's roots). "No pablo Italiano," Fertitta admitted.
But not to worry Italian fans, they still plan to go there.
On the Canadian front, he said they've already "penciled in" an event for Vancouver for June next year.
Better get that sanctioning in order, B.C.
As for Toronto, no dates are set but 2009 is pretty much out of the question, as they had previously hoped. Still, Fertitta "guaranteed" they'll get there, saying it will be the "biggest MMA event in North America."
He did say that their plans did not include overtaking any new worldwide promotions (ala Pride or the WEC).
"Nothing on the radar right now," Fertitta said.
One big piece of news was something that had been rumoured for a few days. He confirmed that Mirko Cro Cop has signed a new three-fight deal with the UFC. This came after Fertitta went to Croatia to meet with him face-to-face in his home.
I am shocked by this.
After White went out on a limb and gave a guy a fight based solely on a verbal agreement, and then to have him apparently turn his back, I thought Dana would feel so burned that we would never see Cro Cop back again.
But this is good news. I guess.
Later I saw London, Ontario’s Shawn Tompkins, one of the head trainers at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, who said that around his gym it has been a bit of a "ghost town" this week because everyone is taking part in the UFC festivities.
I spoke with friend of sportsnet.ca’s Jason MacDonald, who was meeting fans at a booth for Five Tool Fighter.
He said fans have been complimenting him on his blog, meanwhile saying he's a horrible picker.
That's something the two of us have had in common lately. Hopefully, we'll do better in tonight's fights (on the ones for which we agree!)
Speaking of which, there are two Canadians on tonight's card. (Albeit one fight is a little higher profile than the other!)
Halifax's T.J. Grant, fresh off a win in his UFC debut in April, takes on Dong Hyun Kim on the undercard. Grant, who replaced Jonathan Goulet in this bout after his fellow Canadian was injured in June, was feeling pretty relaxed earlier this week. Not as much pressure this time around.
"Obviously, it was a little more motivating (for me) to fight in Montreal with lots of friends and family there," he said. "But this is UFC 100, so I'm super psyched about this one."
Finally, I got to chat briefly with uber-trainer Greg Jackson, who helped devise the spectacular game-plan Georges St. Pierre executed to perfection against B.J. Penn. Will he duplicate that performance?
"I hope so, he's worked real hard on it," said Jackson, who admitted dominating tonight's opponent Thiago Alves will be a challenge because he is much bigger than Penn. "He presents a different set of problems."
Lastly, I asked him if Georges was nervous.
"Always," Jackson said.
The exact answer St. Pierre gives me every time.
First fight tonight goes at 7:45 p.m. ET / 4:45 p.m. PT.
If you're not watching it, you can always get fight-by-fight results live here or on Twitter.
