Loco Notion: UFC 114, UFC Fan Expo, Rampage

Loco Notion: UFC 114, UFC Fan Expo, Respect Jason Brilz

With UFC 114 in the books, as well as a UFC Fan Expo that drove ya boy here insane, let’s reflect on the Memorial Day weekend.

The same Memorial Day weekend where I attended no pool parties. Remember that. None. Zilch.

Instead, I worked the Expo, covered the weigh-ins, covered some autograph signings, worked the Expo again, edited video, and covered UFC 114.

No pool parties, btw.

Jason Brilz gives you the finger, then gets it right back from the judges

Now, I’m not one to toot my own horn, but beep beep. People didn’t think this fight should happen. Brilz was going to get killed, yadda yadda. I told everyone that Jason Brilz was a tough dude who was going to give Nog some trouble, and had a damn good chance of winning. And lookie here, I was spot on. Beep beep. In a fight where 15,000+ saw the right decision, and 2 out of the 3 guys who mattered didn’t, Brilz lost via split decision to Little Nog. However, this is one of those rare instances where a loss actually helps someone. Like in the movie Major League.

“But Ryan, they won in the end of Major League!”

No, they didn’t. They won the ALCS against the White Sox thanks to the bunt, but they went on to lose the World Series. However, that loss helped them, as it allowed them to make Major League 2, which wasn’t a terrible sequel. Let’s face it; no sports sequel ever has to worry about being labeled the worst, not as long as Caddyshack 2 is still around.

But I digress. Jason Brilz won over the fans, won over Dana White, and got a nice check for 65k for Fight of the Night. Don’t cry for Brilz, he’ll be back.

Rashad fought a smart fight, people are mad

Unless we saw a replay of Forrest Griffin v. Stephan Bonner 1, or Leonard Garcia v The Korean Zombie, there was no way this fight was going to live up to the hype that was created. Rashad went in there, fought a terrific fight, neutralized Rampage’s weapons, and then gets heat for it. Apparently, Rashad was supposed to go in there and swing away, and lose a potential title shot. While a nice slobberknocker of a fight is fun to watch, it was more important for Evans to secure his title shot. Rashad needs to be able to afford those Tom Ford suits (if you’re reading this Tom, I’ll fly in for a fitting, thank you). If he had lost, he might have only been able to afford 5 suits this trip. Now, thanks to the big win, he can get 10.

I don’t envy Rampage Jackson right now

Normally I do, because he gets to hang out with Mike Dolce a lot, and Mike Dolce is dreamy. But I know Rampage, and I know how much he doesn’t enjoy doing media. Now, with the release of the A-Team movie, that is ALL he is going to do. Heck, most of the questions from the MMA reporters this past weekend were about the movie and he didn’t want to answer any of those. Now, he has to deal with Access Hollywood people asking him dumb questions like, “Did you train hard for your fight?” and “What did Mr. T say?” as opposed to the MMA reporters, who asked him “Did you train hard for your fight?” and “What did Mr. T say?”

See what I did there?

The UFC Fan Expo

I used to think Thanksgiving at my grandmother’s house was the craziest group of people I would ever encounter. However, that was trumped this weekend by the 2nd annual UFC Fan Expo at Mandalay Bay. It was a two-day event that had EVERY UFC superstar in attendance, minus Brock Lesnar. (Now, if Brock says he was there, then I won’t argue with him. Don’t kill me, Mr. Lesnar.) We had autograph signings, open workouts, prize giveaways, and a Gavin Rossdale concert (You know, the guy from Bush who married Gwen Stefani). It was everything a UFC fan could hope for, and then some. I saw a couple companies that I didn’t know existed, as well as a couple I didn’t know still existed. I also saw some fighters I didn’t know still existed. They’re doing it again in Boston in August, but I have no idea how they plan on topping this one. If you get a chance, find a way to make it out to one.

So that’s it, I’m gearing up for UFC 115: Franklin vs. Liddell. I’m trying to find some sort of angle on this one, but there’s no animosity or anything. It’s just two legends of the sport fighting each other, with no trash talk or drama.

Where’s the fun in that?