The BodogFight Experience
Friday
I’m not sure how the atmosphere at a BodogFight weigh in compares with the atmosphere at other MMA weigh ins. This is the first weigh in that I’ve ever been invited to. I can tell you how it compares, for example, with the atmosphere backstage at an independent wrestling show. What’s surprising is that everyone, all of these world class fighters, their managers, trainers, training partners, the hangers-on and media people, everyone is very polite. People don’t bump into each other. People say “Excuse me.” The various people here all seem genuinely pleased to meet each other. Backstage at a pro wrestling show it is of course proper etiquette to shake hands with and introduce yourself to everyone else, but a lot of times the handshakes are dry and the introductions are curt. What I’m seeing here is that people are warmly shaking each others hands, looking each other in the eyes, smiling, and talking in all apparent sincerity about what a pleasure – what an honor – it is to meet a fighter of such high caliber. The combatants genuinely seem to be looking forward to meeting one another in the ring the next day. None of this seems at all forced. These do not look like people who are being polite and friendly because that is what they are supposed to do, they look like they are honestly happy to be meeting each other.
It might have something to do with the setting. The Pan Pacific is one of Vancouver’s true luxury hotels, located at Canada Place right on the Burrard Inlet waterfront. As far as I can tell, all of the fighters are actually staying here. If that’s true, I can’t even begin to imagine how much that is costing Calvin Ayre. He can certainly afford it, though, and I’m sure the fighters appreciate it. The section of the Pacific Rim Ballroom that is the site of the actual weigh in isn’t all that large, and there are a lot of people crammed inside. It’s crowded, and because of the TV lights and media equipment it’s also hot. Nonetheless, the atmosphere remains cordial throughout the proceedings, and tempers never noticeably flair.
Another thing that is striking is that almost everyone in the room is really, really, ridiculously good looking. The women are almost literally unbelievable, like comic characters come to life. The Bodog Girls have such tiny midsections that they seem to be defying the laws of physics by somehow supporting the giant bags of saline that fill out their skimpy costumes. The female fighters display well-toned muscularity, they look even more impressive in person than they do on TV. Even the women working for the production company are gorgeous. What is amazing about the male fighters isn’t their sheer physical size. Compared to what you might see at a wrestling show, there are relatively few behemoths here. Even “Junior” Silva, who towers head and shoulders above most of the people in the room, and Ron Waterman, who has WWE experience and who weighs in at 275 pounds with almost no visible body fat, don’t carry the aura of incredible size for the sheer sake of incredible size that many pro wrestlers do. What really stands out, rather, is how lean and fit they are and how healthy they all look. Everyone has good skin and good teeth and they are all well-groomed. Aaron Riley, for example, looks so much smaller in person than he does on DVD that it takes a while for me to even recognize him. When he removes his shirt for the weigh-in, however, he transforms from a little guy in a track suit into a well-trained fighting machine. He is in ridiculously sharp condition, and literally bouncing with contained energy. Everywhere you looked, the room is full of amazingly beautiful women and fit, muscular guys… and everyone is being really nice.
Saturday
The Agrodome is, as the name probably suggests, more commonly used for things like livestock shows and the 4-H Festival. I can remember seeing Stampede Wrestling in the Agrodome 20 years ago, and it was kind of a run-down venue then. It has, however, been transformed for the BodogFight PPV. They have brought in a number of humongous lighting rigs, a magnificent sound system, and a wide assortment of bells and whistles. There is an enormous stage that takes up one whole end of the building. It is backed by a giant TV screen with lighting displays on either side, set up in triptych style like a Medieval altarpiece. The fighters’ entrance ramp comes off of this stage, and it is wide and well-lit. There are huge screens set up in the four corners of the building at ceiling hight, showing video highlights. Pinwheels and Bodog logos are being projected onto the ceiling. They have clearly spent a lot of money in turning this cozy, dumpy, little hole into a place that will probably look like a great fighting arena when it is shown on TV. I am beyond impressed.
The writer’s section is immediately ringside, and they’ve given InsideFights a very nice seat in the second row, just behind and to the left of the cameraman. The press are seated at three rows of tables, set with black table cloths and decorated with sheets of paper that have the names of various writers and organizations on them. I’m delighted to find that all of the best seats are reserved for MMA media, and in particular for web sites like ours. The mainstream media are all stuck in the back. I’m seated beside Loretta, from The Fight Network. It turns out that she is an extremely knowledgeable MMA writer, and her comments and insights add quite a bit to my appreciation and understanding of the action in the ring throughout the evening.
Walking around the ring, I meet “New York Badass” Phil Baroni and “The Babyface Assasin” Josh Barnett. A young Japanese woman is setting up the straps that run vertically down through the ring ropes. Nick “The Goat” Thompson is warming up and posing for pictures in the ring. The light system is getting its final test before the show. The other MMA writers all seem to be taking everything in stride. I’m marking out like a little kid at Christmas time, but I’m trying not to let it show. Without exception, every person I speak to is polite and friendly. From security to media to promoters, they all go out of their way to make me feel welcome and comfortable. This, too, marks a pleasant contrast to the sometimes paranoid and distrustful atmosphere that is to be found backstage at many pro wrestling shows. I am curious to see if, today, the fighters are as relaxed and open and congenial as they were yesterday at the weigh in. One of the media people takes the time to show me the quickest way to get from my table to the press room for post-fight interviews, so I guess I will find out soon enough.
Post-Fight Interviews
Tara Larosa
Larosa and her opponent, Julia Berezekova, put on what was easily one of the best fights of the evening. Larosa had used a technique that I can’t remember ever seeing before, swinging her hips around to take Berezekova’s back even while the Russian was trying to apply a choke on her. Impressed by Larosa’s tenacity and by her flexibility, I slipped backstage to ask her about it.
Was there any point in the fight where you were in danger of being choked out?
No.
There was a point where she had you in a kind of side headlock, and you were working for a kind of figure four (body lock) from the back. Is this something that you just improvised, or is it something that you’ve worked on in practice?
Yeah! That happens a lot, actually, in the gym… it’s a common thing, they have hold of your head and you get your hips and your legs out first, wrap around their back, and then work on taking their arm off from around your head. I wasn’t in any danger, because she was sort of around the back of my neck, which wasn’t cutting off the carotid.
Do you feel any extra pressure, given that you are kind of carrying women’s MMA on a major US PPV for the first time?
(Larosa puts on a funny frightened face and mimes that she is shaking all over with fear). Well thanks, now I’m all nervous.
It struck me as very impressive that Larosa was still able to show a sense of humor (and a very charming humility) just minutes after battling for all she was worth and winning what was probably the biggest fight of her career.
Chael Sonnen
Sonnen won a frustrating decision over Alexie Olyinek. He was able to take the Russian down at will, but once on the ground he was unable to finish him. This was the pattern for three largely unexciting rounds. The crowd was not shy about voicing their displeasure with the fight, and I wanted to know how that made Sonnen feel. Backstage, his frustration was more than evident. Apparently, the figure four that Olyinek had wrapped around Sonnen’s body had squeezed quite a lot of energy out of him. Chael was unhappy with his performance, and with blood and sweat dripping off of him, he explained how his hands hurt from punching the Russian, but how “… I couldn’t even scratch him, like his head was made of Teflon.”
I was actually nervous about asking Sonnen my questions. I know how irritable even the nicest people can be when they are exhausted, and I imagined that the last thing he wanted to hear about was how the crowd had reacted to his fight. As it turned out, however, he was man enough to talk openly about what had happened, and gentleman enough to be polite about it.
Do you get frustrated in a situation like that?
I didn’t get frustrated, necessarily, so much as I just got confused. There were a couple of times out there when I was fighting that I got confused on what to do next. I got to a position a couple of times where, with my corner man, we figured if we got there it would be the end of the fight. I pinned his arm down, had him extended, began to strike him just as planned and , doggone it, I just couldn’t hurt him. There’s nothing more to say than just that. I just couldn’t hurt the guy.
Was that his defense?
His defense, and he’s durable, and a combination of I must not hit as hard as I thought I did and sort of, I got confused a few times out there, and… what do I do?
Are you aware of the crowd reaction at all when you’re in there?
Yeah. You know, that’s disappointing. That makes me mad at myself a little, makes me want to go back and work harder, do a bit better next time.
Eric Pele
Pele’s upset victory over Brazilian super heavyweight Antonio Silva will probably be the most-discussed fight of the night. Many people felt that the ref stopped the fight too early, but many were also quite happy with the way things turned out. Loretta told me that everyone on the California fight scene just loves Pele, and I find that easy to believe. Back stage, he was so happy about the win that I felt better just standing near him, and I was feeling pretty good to begin with.
After hearing the smiling Samoan explain to other writers how he had everything to gain and Silva had everything to lose, and how he’d actually worked on getting a shot in under Junior’s hook (which was how he took the giant down), I got a chance to ask Big E about the nearly one hundred pounds he’d dropped recently. Pele weighed in at around 307 after having ballooned up over 400 pounds in the recent past.
Did it help you in the ring?
Oh, I feel great with the weight loss, yeah. I feel great man, I don’t feel really winded or anything. I just felt like the pressure was really on me. I was, like, here I am, all these people, and I want to thank Bodog so much for giving me the opportunity. But everybody thought… I was counted out, you know what I mean. Everybody, you know, they’re saying on interviews (about Silva) he’s going to be the next Fedor… and I’m not saying that about me btu I beat him, and brought him back down to Earth, and he’s going to work his way back up. (Pele leans right into my recorder and yells) I was SCARED!
Thanks for reading!
I’ll have a full fight by fight report on the PPV up for you, including post-fight comments from both Roger Gracie and Ron Waterman, in a couple of days. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed taking a quick look at what it was like backstage at BodogFights. Please send any feedback to: mr.gordi at gmail dot com
