I woke up this morning and went down to check my weight and I was already down 184, which is pretty low. Especially because as the day goes on your weight is going to continue to go up. So I drank some water and I went and had a coffee with my wife and some cousins. I just had a couple sips to have something in the system. It’s a fine line, how much do you drink to get up to 186?
I was pretty nervous, I didn’t want to overdo it. They provide you with an official scale throughout the week so you can monitor your weight, but after the Friday morning check, they take the scale to the stadium so you have no way to check up until the weigh-in in the afternoon.
To kill some time, I went to Target to buy some snacks for after the weigh-in. That’s a horrible thing to do when you’ve been cutting weight for a month. I spent over 50 dollars on chips, crackers and cookies, stuff I shouldn’t be eating but that’s what I was craving.
Once I finally got on the scale, I didn’t know what I weighed because I didn’t hear them announce it, it was so loud. The fans were great. I think I got one of loudest cheers next to GSP, and Lesnar of course, but he’s a Minnesota boy. I think there’s going to be a lot Canadian fans there. It always feels good to hear fans cheering for you. And it was pretty quiet when Demian Maia stepped on the scale. I might not have the betting people on my side, but I’ve definitely got the fans on my side and that’s all that matters!
Afterward, when I got back to the hotel, I actually got an IV, which is I believe is one of the safest ways to re-hydrate. I was probably already back up to 200 pounds by the evening. Some of the guys in my room said they could visually see my body changing by the minute as I sat taking the IV. It might sound odd, but it’s actually the safest way because it’s directly into your system and re-hydrates you right away.
And now, I’ll just pick the main card fights:
GSP vs. Fitch
I think this will be the hardest fight of GSP’s career, but I see GSP winning a five-round decision or finishing Fitch by TKO late in the fifth round.
Lesnar vs. Herring
I’m going to go with Herring. Once again, Lesnar is impressive as a mixed martial arts fighter, but his lack of experience and facing a guy like Herring, who’s faced the best in the business at heavyweight, should be his downfall.
Huerta vs. Florian
I’m going to go with Florian. These are two great fighters but Florian has got two good tools to finish this fight. His Muay Thai is good and his jiu-jitsu is great, and I think he’ll find a way to finish Huerta. I’m going to pick him to win by submission late in the fight.
Gamburyan vs. Emerson
I’ll go with Gamburyan by TKO.
And as for me, everyone’s talking about Maia’s jiu-jitsu, and there’s no doubt he’s a superb jiu-jitsu fighter. But I’m not going to turn this into a jiu-jitsu fight. I’m going to make this a mixed martial arts fight. That’s the bottom line. So, my prediction: I’ll TKO Maia in the second round.
Jason ‘The Athlete’ MacDonald is a Canadian mixed martial arts fighter who is facing Demian Maia in a middleweight contest Saturday in Minneapolis at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy. He lives in Red Deer, Alta., with his wife Kelly and four children, boys Tristin and Keel, and girls Jett and True. He will blog for Sportsnet.ca each day up until Saturday.