Just hours before UFC 104 began, head trainer for AMA Fight Club, Mike Constantino, got word that he along with sponsor NECO.com had some extra tickets to the Staples Center event featuring the headlining bout between champion, Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
Instead of trying to sell the tickets, Constantino made a call to MMAWeekly.com and asked if any of the fans of our site would like a pair of tickets to the event that night.
The call went out over MMAWeekly's official Twitter page (www.twitter.com/mmaweeklycom) and within a few minutes the responses flooded in for the chance to get tickets to go to the event.
The lucky winners, Brian Ferguson and Kevin Cheek, not only got tickets to UFC 104 that night, but they had the tickets hand delivered to them by UFC middleweight contender, Dan Miller, who along with his coach gave the fans their tickets, posed for pictures and gave the fans autographs.
MMAWeekly would like to say a special thanks to Mike Constantino, Dan Miller, the AMA Fight Club, and NECO.com for taking care of the fans once again with an awesome prize package for UFC 104!
MMA Live dissects Brock Lesnar's withdrawal from UFC 106 and talks to his opponent, Shane Carwin. A complete breakdown of UFC 104 and Marcus Jones joins the set to talk TUF 10...
Fan favorite Wanderlei Silva weighs in on the fight between his friends UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, the main event fight at UFC 104 in Los Angeles...
MMA Live previews UFC 104. An update on the future of the Bellator Fighting Championships, news on Gray Maynard's next opponent, and a look back at The Ultimate Fighter.
UFC president Dana White's video blog return continues with the second episode of his UFC 104 video blog. Surprise appearances by skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and actor/comedian David Spade.
UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, 31, hit pads with brother Chinzo, 32, at a media workout Tuesday for UFC 104 on Oct. 24 at the Staples Center.
Check out Machida's cool scissor takedown at the 0:43 mark.
Fighters often times talk about how well they know their opponents. That usually stems from sitting cageside at their fights and/or watching mountains of video footage of their past fights. But Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua have taken it to a whole new level for their UFC 104 showdown.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship brought the main eventers and also Cain Velasquez and Ben Rothwell, who are meeting in a heavyweight bout, to Los Angeles on Tuesday to hold a press conference for media and fans to hype up the event.
Low and behold, with both flying in from Brazil, it was funny to find out that not only were Machida and Shogun on the same plane, but they actually sat next to one another the entire flight.
But in typical Brazilian fashion "it's no problem, my friend."
"To tell you the truth, Lyoto is a nice guy and we have been kind of friends for a while. We know each other for a while," said Shogun, who actually found a little humor in the situation.
"Even though we are friends, I got very surprised to see him on the plane and, actually, sitting next to me, side-by-side, on the whole flight from Brazil to here. It was a funny situation."
In this day and age of mixed martial artists arriving as highly regarded mainstream athletes, Shogun handled the situation with professionalism, having no problem sitting for several hours next to the man that he hopes to punch repeatedly in the face come Oct. 24 at The Staples Center.
"I think this doesn't interfere because we are both professionals and we're training hard. We all want the same goal, so we're gonna do our best."
The UFC hits Los Angeles on Tuesday with a full slate of events to get fans ready for October 24th's UFC 104 event at STAPLES Center. First, at 8am PT, fans can tune in to hear UFC President Dana White on KROQ's Kevin & Bean show. Then, at 9:20am PT, White will be joined by UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on KTLA's morning show. And finally, it's the big event of the day at noon, as Machida, Rua, Cain Velasquez, and Ben Rothwell meet the media for the UFC 104 press conference. This event, which will be held at Nokia Plaza on 800 W. Olympic Blvd, is open to the public.
Ryan Bader's UFC 104 video blog, taking a tour of the Arizona Combat gym, with a sneak peek at his training along with WEC champ Jamie Varner, fellow UFC fighter C.B. Dollaway, and others.
Jason Brilz sounded surprised when MMAInsider called to ask if he was on deck as a fill-in for injured UFC fighters.
Light heavyweights have had a rough go in past months, with four high profile fights shuffled due to injury.
Brilz was successful, and more importantly, uninjured, in his last outing at UFC 96 in March. A two month turnaround could be do-able for a slot at UFC 98 or the "TUF 9" Finale in June.
But according to the full-time firefighter, the Octagon is far from his mind.
"I'm not much of one for summertime training," said Brilz, who spoke to MMAInsider from his firehouse near Omaha, Nebraska.
Brilz has oft stated he doesn't want to fight full time... and he really means it.
"I think I'll probably be fighting in October or November," he continued.
UFC 104 has been rumored for Memphis Tennesse, featuring the return of former UFC light heavyweight champ Rampage Jackson, who withdrew from UFC 98 due to jaw injury. UFC 105 has no rumored location, but UFC president Dana White has hinted at more international locations to come for the promotion.
Copyright 2009 MMA Weekly LLC. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of MMA Weekly content is expressly prohibited without expressed written consent of MMA Weekly. MMA Weekly will not be liable for any errors in content or any action taken in reliance thereof.
MMA Insider Blog RSS Feed
