On his first day in Philly, Showdown Joe was mocked and harassed as he met with many of Saturday's combatants.
Our MMA Connected crew started bright and early Wednesday as we were up at 4am to get to the airport for an early flight to the City of Brotherly Love.
After a delay on the runway, we eventually took off on a smooth flight to Philadelphia, where we hit the ground running. We barely had a moment to check in to the hotel before we jetted off to the UFC Media workouts.
Our crew got there in time to meet Kenny Florian, who appeared calm and relaxed, while rolling with his brother Keith and good friend Kurt Pelligrino. Florian looks "thicker" than usual, likely a bi-product of working with Jonathan Chaimberg, the strength-and-conditioning coach he shares with Georges St-Pierre and Rashad Evans.
A few minutes passed and co-main eventer Forest Griffin showed up. Little did I realize what I was in store for. Griffin mocked me relentlessly - first because I was working for a Canadian sports station, then my height and of course, a shot at my physique, which he called "pudgy".
When it was all said and done, I wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes as Forest gave us some golden content for MMA Connected. One thing's for sure - he's far from afraid of his opponent Anderson Silva, and is looking forward to an old-fashioned donnybrook on Saturday night.
Amir Soddolah made an appearance and just like our last interview at UFC 98, it was a verbal disaster. He accused me of giving away his game plan and once again threatened my livelihood. Good times.
Ricardo Almeida showed up and had many of us in awe with just how incredible his jiu-jitsu is. "The Big Dog" is simply phenomenal, flowing from one submission to the next. His game plan for Kendall Grove is to get inside and push the taller fighter around until he can secure the takedown.
Grove's Hawaiin brethren BJ Penn then made his way into the room and looked extremely fit. He took off his shirt, flexed for the press and then began to shadow box to warm up. Penn then addressed the media but eventually made his way over to us where we banged off a one-on-one interview and one of the most classic Connected bumpers I have ever done. You have to see it to believe it - we were all in stitches.
Penn is far more reserved this time around; no trash talking and just all business. He's ready and does not want to lose his belt. Florian knows that Penn will be holding on to that belt tightly, with both hands and Penn will not give it up without a war. It's going to an incredible fight.
The last fighter scheduled to attend was Anderson Silva, who came with his entourage that joined him on the mat to train. Silva's striking technique is magical and simply majestic. His motions and reactions are flawless - watching him throw full-body combinations really puts his amazing game into perspective.
Tomorrow is the UFC pre-fight press conference which will be followed by a Strikeforce presser one hour later. I'm looking forward to see what type of mood Dana White is going to be in. It has me thinking there are going to be fireworks in Philly tomorrow.
