Vegas Day 1: Halo

Landed in McCarren airport in Las Vegas yesterday. With the warm dessert wind blowing softly across my face…feels like a home away from home. Cruising down the strip…the fountain outside Bellagio, passing through the Ships outside Treasure Island, the volcano outside Mirage and all the couples walking up and down the strip holding hands on their honeymoon…these were all so familiar as the last time I was here. We checked in at MGM Grand Hotel…I got my own room…and looked outside the window…the city of bright lights that never sleeps….just where I need to be…
This week the main attraction in the city was of course the mega fight UFC 94: GSP vs BJ Penn. Everyone literally EVERYONE is talking about it…and no one on the strip is shy about sharing their opinion either. But whoever asks me on my pick on who’s gonna win…of course I’d be saying it’s our Canadian boy Georges St. Pierre that’s gonna take it.

This morning I woke up and worked out a bit for last minute preparations to look more lean for my photo shoot. I did the photo shoot for Sports Illustrated in the afternoon. I guess I’m not pretty enough so they had to airbrush me to bring out some colour on my face. They took 67 shots but only 2 are going on the magazine…so much for nothing. I found out even taking like a billion photos with fight fans in Florida that I’m still camera shy. The photographers were awesome trying to make me relax and comfortable. The Q&A session asked me some tough questions, but he mainly asked about my training regimen, how to obtain that physique and how I balance being a full time student and a fighter. Also, he asked about my future plans and aspirations. And of course they asked the typical question how I got myself into the most dangerous sport in the world. These people are really professional once the cameras are rolling…but as soon as the camera lights dim, they’d play pranks on each other and were fun people to be around. Afterwards my manager and I were invited to dinner by the Sports Illustrated staff. The food could’ve been better but the good laughs we had made it all the difference.

I cashed out the Sports Illustrated cheque and decided to spend some of it at the Caesar Palace Casino. I sat down at the poker table and the players were in their mid-20s and the game was really intense. No one was even talking on that table. I had the worst hands in the world and I kept bluffing…I started joking around to the people in the table like I always do and made everyone laugh including the dealer…and people started opening up. Soon enough the intense poker game turned into a mere past time where no one cared about their chip count anymore since all our chips were just going back and forth anyway. I told the rest of the table I was going to head to the UFC 94 weigh-ins and see if the rest of them want to tag along and they were all eager to…so we all left the table simultaneously. The weigh-ins was packed with rowdy people and wannabe fighters, but nonetheless we could all feel the intensity of the super fight looming Saturday night. When Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn entered there was a deafening roar from the fans. Many flew out here from Toronto and Montreal to support our Canadian boy GSP and same goes for BJ Penn from his fans from Hilo, Hawaii. It’s hard to determine who brought more fans with them, Hawaii and Canadian flags can be seen in the crowd. We all anticipate a good fight and hope it lives up to the hype.
After the weigh-ins my original plan was to go back to the hotel room and work on my case study but one of the people that I played poker with asked if I’d like to kick it off at Jet Nightclub at Luxor hotel that night…he had an extra VIP pass for me. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse…why not.
We entered the VIP lounge of the club through another entrance. The service and the club itself was on another level…it put any/all the Toronto clubs to shame. The VIP lounge was full of rich and powerful people. Sometimes celebrities would be seen here too but I didn’t recognize any tonight. As soon as everyone got a few drinks…everyone was in lala land. I sat on the couch of the VIP lounge…there was this cute and sexy girl sitting across from me...she seemed really familiar as if I saw her somewhere before. So decided to get to know her for a bit. She was pretty bitchy at first…but after a few drinks she seemed to mellow down a bit. Judging from the way she talks and her appearance…she looks like a spoiled rich girl with an impeccable fashion sense. As we were talking everyone in the VIP lounge were gawking and eavesdropping on our conversation. She noticed too and she took me upstairs to a more private setting. She talked about how she’s gets annoyed at the paparazzi following her and all that nonsense…while I was thinking to myself… why would paparazzi be following you? She was surprised that I was a prizefighter. At the end of the night, I decided not to try and get her number, but she gave me a kiss goodbye. I walked out of the club and people swarmed me like I was a rockstar back in Florida again and asked how I picked her up and if I got her number or not. I just told them that she’s just a pretty face (well a really pretty face) and there’s nothing special…they looked at me as if I was drunk or something. They were like…the girl you were talking to was Kim Kardashian…
Oh well…just another girl…famous not because of achievements or talents…but for “other” things…
Out of the hundreds of people I talked to on the elevators, clubs, bars and even bus stops…I wasn’t trying to run game on you…you girls were special…you really were…

Its been a month since I went to war with Clifton for the biggest fight of my life. I remember it like yesterday. There’s no other time where I can walk down the gym or in training and want it THAT bad….and want to win it all. If I can just use that for everything I do in life….that would be golden…

It was 4:30am…all the hotels and casinos pump pure oxygen…so you never get tired…I feel that I can go for another party right now…but I have a little bit more respect for my body which needs rest. I lie on the bed…the alcohol was still in my body and the world was swirling around me. I thought to myself…to become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them...I ask for forgiveness of my arrogance at times…please God protect me from my pride…I remember my father told me that In life we shall find many men that are great, and some that are good, but very few men that are both great and good. I want to be that man that is both great and good…I want it all…There’s a lot of people and friends that support me…its very important for me not to let them down..