Unlike my colleagues Jeremy Botter and Jonathan Snowden, I’m not a veteran of the UFC travel circuit. I’m basically that wide-eyed kid that still can’t believe it’s Hanukkah morning when he wakes up and sees all the presents that Hanukkah Harry has left under the Hanukkah bush.
Sure, I’ve been able to “fake it till I make it” but I still get excited whenever I get that email from the UFC Press staff saying, “Your Credential is Confirmed.”
After covering several events for Bleacher Report since I joined the staff in April, I figured that I had seen it all during fight week. I’ve sat around with various media in the Church Street Boxing Gym waiting for Nate Diaz to show up an hour and a half late. I figured that was as ridiculous as it could get but yesterday’s Open Workouts were on a whole different level.
The UFC has deemed the week prior to their 4th of July weekend show International Fight Week. It will be an annual festival of sorts to attract fans from all over the world for fun in the Las Vegas sun.
The pre-fight press conference and open workouts were held at XS at the Encore hotel. XS is a night club with a gigantic pool in the middle. Needless to say, a heavyset gentleman like myself was sweating by the time we took our seats.
The entire event was open to the public and the Brazilian fans showed up in droves to get a chance to support the “Campeão.”
There isn’t a word to describe the atmosphere as the fighters worked out besides insanity. While attempting to speak with the fighters, the fans were deafening. When Chael Sonnen hit the mat to get his workout in, the fans erupted with boos.
I thought it couldn’t get any louder. I was so wrong.
When Anderson finally hit the mats, he was followed by an entourage of training partners and friends, all clad in jiu jitsu gis.
The session began with Anderson and a partner doing a karate demo. Satisfied by his performance, he and Rafael Cavalcante took turns demonstrating muay thai techniques.
Then things took a turn from the wild to the surreal as Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo donned gloves to spar with with the “Spider.” By this point the Brazilian fans were hooting and hollering as two of the most famous athletes in their country squared off.
Think that’s as trippy as it could get? Not a chance.
Steven Seagal then decided to put on a small akido demo with Cavalcante. It ended with the star of “Under Siege” slapping the absolute hell out of the former Strikeforce champion several times in the face.
With the workouts done, Anderson was swarmed. Actually swarmed wouldn’t even describe the scene. Night club security was called in to to attempt to keep fans away from the champ. Attempt is the key word and they failed miserably.
With that, the workouts came to an end. And I was left with one of the most memorable experiences ever.
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