My lasting sentiments from Vegas

It’s funny what some people’s take away are from historic events. I decided to write this sat in the MGM Grand in a fairly open spot to observe all the people recovering from the monumental week that peaked with UFC 194. There are a lot of glazed eyes, lazy feet and hoarse voices. Even on Monday afternoon, there are suited men with green, white and orange cloaks.

I originally thought I’d write this post as a bit of a fight week report, but as I recount the events of the week my hangover is being surpassed by high levels of adrenaline as I recognise and process the unbelievable achievements of my employers, Luke Rockhold and Conor McGregor. Dreams, hard work, smart work and ambition are prevalent in my assessment of the week that has been.

Mixed martial arts is still comparably young to ‘big sports’ and the UFC are the trailblazers. They continue to push boundaries and make huge gains on their mainstream cousins. I work with a lot of these people and I see, first hand, the effort they put in and the results. In fact as a presenter, commentator I see my role as a lucky representative of the many people behind the scenes and a secondary voice for the fighters. If I make errors, I haven’t delivered something that others have worked on for probably a significant time. If a fighter confides in me and I misrepresent their story, I have failed them. For me it’s so much more than calling a 1-2, single leg takedown, pass to side control sequence. I write this because attending as a spectator this week, I took time to watch others at work, considering their styles, pressures and success. I saw the stress, the joy, the effort and the scale of the operation. I have been inspired, I have taken notes and I’m excited to get back in the foxes dojo (my office) to start complimenting these efforts.

A little about the three events then: After hanging out in a few bars and clubs (for purely research purposes) it quickly became apparent that I was in the company with not necessarily UFC fans, but Conor McGregor fans. It was a little bit like going to a local MMA show- people there probably don’t even know what the event is called, but they are there to support a friend or family member. My hopes in such situations is that they are drawn into our beautiful sport and invest in other athletes. A small side note, a benefactor of the McGregor effect was clearly Uriah Faber. I’ve been a fan of his since his WEC days. I’ve loved his ‘Californian ways’, business acumen and “Hi Mom” shout-out before his introductions (not to mention his fighting ability). The Irish fans like him as he was Conor’s friendly foe on The Ultimate Fighter. Correction, it wasn’t the Irish fans, it was the McGregor fans. They are made up of many different nationalities. I was with a couple of Geordies and also some Americans who were mad about The Notorious one and now Faber.

I am a neutral and I maintain that the best man or woman must win regardless of allegiances. However, it’s no secret that Conor’s success will benefit the European region. In the short term, it will probably cost Dan and I a show as when Conor returns to Ireland, it will of course be a PPV event. (One day, Dan, we will be Octagonside on a hallowed ‘numbered’ event!!).

It has been a pleasure to watch his rise. I wrote an article about this for UFC.com (http://www.ufc.com/news/UFC-194-Aldo-McGregor-conor-championship-mindset). For a fella that hasn’t picked up a degree in communications, Conor really knows how to deliver a message. I’m fascinated to know what his reading list has been over the last 10 years. He has inspired me both professionally and also athletically. Why should we settle with mediocre goals? And in terms of training, I was once told to stick to one thing, not diversify as it will have negative effects on my goals. They were wrong and I’m now enjoying a much more open relationship with my jiu jitsu and MMA!

Shortly, I will leave the desert with another planeload of McGregor fans and Vegas will miss them. Sure, the MGM Grand security staff will sleep well after a week of over time, but the soundtrack of the Irish fans was epic. Their colourful presence was seen up and down the huge strip. They have spent their hard earned on the gambling tables, in the bars and apparently at the mobility scooter hire centre (watching fans race round red perimeter carpets of the MGM like sin city Mario Karts was pure comedy gold). Their stamina for fight week was ridiculous- they most certainly out-worked any of my respective capabilities!

To sign off, I must salute all those involved in this unbelievable fight week. Well done to all the fighters and teams who were involved. Finally, congratulations to Luke Rockhold and Conor McGregor. They deserve all the plaudits they receive. The history have been rewritten.

Dublin, Ireland

Cage Warriors 47 was always going to be massive; 2 title fights, 1 womens mma tournament fight as well as the usual top level match making. Wow! For this one, Mrs G was coming along too!  I have to say at this point that my wife is not an MMA fan.  She used to see me as her kind of Rocky, when I would roll home sporting all manner of bruising and swelling, but it all changed for reasons I wont go into right now.  It was therefore a pretty big thing.  As we were over in Dublin, she was going to pick up a travel guide and explore whatever it is ladies like to explore.  Unfortunately, we were staying in a hotel in the middle of nowhere and that put paid to that plan!

After arriving at the hotel, the usual madness set in as the weigh ins were now done and I had to interview the fighters for the VTs.  I actually really enjoy this part.  I would have pretty much interviewed all of these guys before and this gives me an insight into their responses.  There was a real variation of responses in these interviews; on the one hand you had Dave Hill dropping the 'f' bomb quite frequently and on the other David Bielkheden was pretty cagey.  Sitting down with Rosi Sexton was good fun though...she's such an intelligent person and really considers every responses and certainly will not be led- I really like that.

Show morning brought about my first Irish incident just before breakfast.  A couple of the crew advised me there was a short cut back to the main building through some bushes (we were quite bizarrely staying in shared houses a few minutes walk from the hotel).  With time of the essence I thought I'd use this short cut, but I wished I never did.  Y'see at 8am on showday I'm a little preoccupied and sensitive, so skidding on the dead corpse of a cat was not a great start.  The smell will stay with me for a very long time- nasssssty!  Despite this unfortunate incident I was able to hold down some food and get going on the voice overs for the VTs.

There are too many stand out points to this show, but I have to mention the 'commentary position'.  Josh and I have really struggled with the commentary set ups recently.  Overseas they have been a night mare and we were finally back in the neighbourhood where all would be perfect!  It was so good to see we had volume controls, commentary mics, ear pieces and an english-speaking sound man who had a good sense of humour (that helps in live TV!).  Things were going so well too until Cathal The Punisher Pendred started a take down from about 10m away and drove UFC vet- David Bielkheden, all the way across to our position which knocked one of the screens clean off the table!  After our very nice sound man fellow put us back together we were good to go.  The only thing  that could upset our table for technical goodies would be me knocking over a can of Monster or fidgeting so bad I could kick a cable out of a socket.  Well not quite.  What could also happen is that after winning the featherweight world title, Notorious Conor McGregor could be so overcome with emotion he could climb the cage wall just above where we are sat and free fall onto our commentary set up en-route to celebrate with his loyal following.  And, he did!  In fact I took a head shot which knocked my cans off my head and more frustrating; my valuable caffeine based energy drink was hugely depleted after being shared across the commentary mixer!  I wouldn't however change this moment for the world.  What a true expression of someone's feelings after they have achieved their piece of history.  And actually if Conor hadn't joined us in the commentary booth, I'm fairly confident  a few of his enthusiastic supporters would have tried to get in the cage, which might not have been so cool!  Congrats to Conor and DJ Linderman on their title wins, and a special mention has to go out to Aisling Daly, Rosi Sexton and Cathal Pendred who all made for an incredible night of action.