Viva Las Vegas

For Christmas and birthdays this year, my boyfriend and I gave each other a trip to Las Vegas to see UFC 79 in person. It was far too expensive and the best present ever! We decided to stay at Mandalay Bay, where the event was to be held Saturday night, in hopes of running into some of the fighters in the lobby. Our hopes were definitely realized.

We flew in from San Francisco on Friday afternoon. Our US Airways flight was delayed for an hour and a half, so we checked in and barely made our 9pm dinner reservation at Mix. Review: the interior is gorgeous, and the food is excellent. The lobster amuse busche was lovely (according to Greg) and complimentary as were the vanilla madelaines with nutella dip. Probably not worth the price for the food, but definitely worth it for the experience. The candle on the cake came when we ran into Chuck Liddell while leaving the restaurant.

There was a big clump of guys standing by the door. As we went past, I did a double-take. Just then, Greg asked, "Do you see anyone you recognize?" I responded, "Only Chuck Liddell." We both started laughing. We stood by the wall spying on Chuck while he talked to his entourage and started making calls on his cell phone. I was discreetly taking very blurry photos of him when another couple approached Chuck and got a picture with him. The light bulb went off and I realized that I could get a picture with Chuck. Wow!

After that photo op, Greg and I wandered around the casino floor. We saw Eddie Sanchez in Eyecandy; and the Buffer brothers talking to John Hackleman (Chuck's trainer) on the floor. Let me tell you, Bruce Buffer is a scary looking guy in real life. I thought that he was just a doofus from watching him announce the fights, but in real life, he has a very intimidating presence. We wandered around 'til about midnight without seeing anyone else. Joe Rogan was performing a comedy act at Mandalay, so we think that a lot of people were there supporting him. So, we gave up and decided to get something to eat at Raffles and then call it a night. Then we were seated at a table right across from George St Pierre. EEEEEEEK!!! So so so cool.

As with Chuck, first, I tried to sneak a picture that was too blurry to keep and not all that low key anyway. Then, I went and apologized for bothering him and asked if I could get a picture. He said, "Of course. It is no problem." EEEEEEEK! He put his arm around me and I touched him! By the way, I'm a huge St Pierre fan, in case you couldn't tell.

The next morning, we went down to The Spa Mandalay to work out at the gym. There, we worked out with Scott Smith and one of the Brazilian trainers. Bruce Buffer made a brief appearance but then left without using the gym. We had a good workout and then went for some lunch up at the shops. While sitting at a "sidewalk" table at an Italian restaurant, we saw Joe Lauzon window shopping with a friend. Then we went back to the spa where I used the hot, warm and cold pools as well as the steam room and sauna. Luxury. Complete luxury. Well worth the $29.

Then, it was time for the event! We struggled our way into our seats and caught the very end of the first fight. Whoops! Then came Manny Gamburian who dislocated his opponent's knee with a foot lock. What a way to start the evening! Then James Irwin's fight, a little boring. Tony DeSouza's fight was a dud. Then Eddie Sanchez beat the Australian Maori Soa Palalei. Once this was out of the way, the real fun started. Melvin Guillard got his a*@ handed to him by Rich Clementi but after tapping, while surrounded by people to step in, he started trying to swing, screaming threats at Rich. Melvin seems to have had difficulty understanding the fact that he had just had his chance to beat up Rich, and couldn't. Then, Lyoto Machida ended Thierry Sokoudjou's undefeated record in an amazing fight. Even better than the fight was Sokoudjou's entrance to the ring wearing a Predator mask. Fun!

Now, the main events of the evening. First, was Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva. It was an amazing fight. The whole crowd was jumping up and down and screaming wildly for the entire 3 rounds. The fight was Chuck all the way after he landed solid strike in the first round that seemed to really shake Wandy. However, Wandy has a hard head and he put up an amazing fight. They actually went to the ground twice, but mostly, it was a slug fest. The decision went to Chuck and I lost the $20 I'd bet on Wandy. I wanted to bet on Chuck, but Greg was convinced that Wandy was sure to win. Oh well.

At this point, we were drained, emotionally exhausted from the fight and the main event was still to come! Matt Hughes came out to Country Boy and the crowd seemed to be heavily dominated by Hughes fans. We had people walking up and down our aisles saying, "Hughes? Are you for Hughes?" Hah! We started cheering when George came out with some sort French rap song called Territoire Hostile (Hostile Territory). Appropriate. The fight was amazing. Hughes didn't land a punch. He was absolutely dominated by George, most notably when St Pierre did a strange worm-like breakdancing maneuver to improve his position, that looked unfortunately like he was dry-humping Matt Hughes. The fight ended in the 2nd round with a verbal tapout by Hughes to a sweet submission by George St Pierre. It was just amazing. Greg and I were at the live event in Sacramento when George beat Hughes for the first time. It was great to be there for the last time (one would hope).

The weekend was almost over. We wandered around the hotel for a bit, enjoying the experience, and collected my winnings from the St Pierre v Hughes fight. We decided against going to any of the after-parties. We were just exhausted from the whole experience and ready to hit the hay. The next morning, we had room service while packing up (I still get a huge kick out of room service) and then went down to check out. We waited in line for a good 20 minutes to check out and then were scolded by the clerk for using our minibar to store some milk and juice that we'd bought. Whatever. We turned to leave the hotel and glanced over at the next line. Guess who was also waiting in line? Wanderlei Silva! He was just there in line with his wife. He was wearing sunglasses, but really didn't look too beat up. We went over and shook his ENORMOUS hand and told him how much we enjoyed watching him fight, and that we couldn't wait to see him again. His girl was beaming and it was just the absolute best ending to the weekend.

We spent the next few hours with Greg's dad's family, who live in Las Vegas. It was really great to catch up with them. Sitting around a kitchen table with 3 Kulz men and their respective women is an interesting experience. I think that the debate ranged from ancient history to prostitution in the Phillipines. Very stimulating. :) Then, it was off to the airport and home sweet home.

If you have a chance to go see the UFC in Vegas, do it! It's like being at a convention. Everywhere we looked were huge guys wearing Affliction t-shirts. It was like being in a hotel with thousands of our closest friends. In terms of sharing our love of MMA, these are our people!