Behind the scenes of a live MMA event

My hands were sweaty, my face was red but I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass.

“Dana, could you tell me where you see Jose (Aldo) on your pound-for-pound list.”

The question was simple enough. I mean I ran it through my head a million times in a little over two minutes. The wording, the timing, the tone all needed to sound just right. After all, this question was directed at Dana White, President of the UFC and WEC.

Following Saturday’s WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber pay-per-view event, which was sponsored by AMP Energy, White and select fighters addressed the media. And there I was, covering my first MMA live event thanks to the people at AMP Energy.

At 27, I have been a dedicated MMA fan for seven years. Having seen the early days of Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, I was re-introduced to the UFC with Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture at UFC 43 and have been hooked since.

But I am not just a fan, I am a sports writer, and have been for about 10 years now.

I knew that the opportunity of covering MMA for Bullz-Eye.com and The Scores Report was one I wanted to be a part of because I knew that I could do it objectively and with the respect and knowledge that MMA fans want from their writers. I’m not just a fan. Still, even having interviewed some of the top athletes in the world, my eyes were locked in with White’s as he awaited my question.

As any MMA fan knows, if White thinks you asked him a stupid question, he will let you know and he will probably sprinkle in a few expletives to describe his feelings.

So I asked my question.

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Behind WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber

Friday is a day that fighters like Urijah Faber dread more than the fight itself.

It’s Weigh-In Day.

Today at 7PM ET/4PM PT, Faber and the other fighters that take part in Saturday’s WEC 48 PPV Event (sponsored by AMP) will make their official weigh ins in order to participate in the fight. Faber has to make the 145-pound weight limit that is required for his WEC Featherweight title bout against Jose Aldo and at 11 a.m. PT, he found himself 6.5 pounds over his limit.

Losing that weight shouldn’t be an issue as most fighters cut a significant amount of weight prior to the fight by sweating themselves dry, all in order to put that weight back on by the time the bout begins in hopes of being the bigger, stronger fighter.

As Faber put on the sweats and worked up a sweat at his gym, Ultimate Fitness, in Sacramento, Calif. some of his teammates provided me with a lesson in Mixed-Martial Arts, courtesy of AMP.

UFC Middleweight Mark Munoz, and WEC Lightweights Danny Castillo and Justin Buchholz showed the difference aspects of MMA from striking, to submission fighting, to wrestling. The three laid out the basic techniques of fighting, starting with striking. Munoz followed with a lesson on wrestling technique, while Buchholz and Castillo displayed submission fighting.

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