Hey Everyone!!

Well UFC 84 was fantastic!! I arrived in Las Vegas late Wednesday night and I spent most of Thursday prepping for the interviews at Xtreme Couture and Cobra Kai. After squashing my nerves I finally set out to Xtreme Couture. The gym is amazing! Really cool. I interviewed Gina Carano, who was super sweet. I was so nervous, but she put me at ease. I also interviewed Tyson Griffin. The really cool experience was watching them train.....

After that I went to Marc Laimon's Cobra Kai Jiu Jitsu and interviewed Marc and some of his upcoming fighters, Johny Hendricks and Jake Roshalt. The guys are really nice and made me feel welcome. I then did an impromptu interview with Jason “Mayhem” Miller, who is insane by the way. That interview was crazy and I couldn’t stop laughing. Definitely check out the part one and two of that interview and the second interview from the following day.

The next day I trained a Cobra Kai. I shot a single leg takedown technique video with Johny Hendricks, who happens to be a 2 time NCAA wrestling champ from Oklahoma state! That video should be up in a few weeks. I then did the RNC technique video with Marc. They were joking about choking me unconscious and to their surprise I agreed to let Marc do it. It was the strangest experience. I’ve fainted before and it’s a very similar feeling. It’s definitely not something I recommend any one going out and trying with their friends, but it was still a cool experience.

After I left Cobra Kai, I went straight back to my hotel to change for the weigh-ins and also get ready for my meet and greet at the Ecko store. There were tons of people at the weigh-ins. Some of the fighters (Tito, Clay Guida, and Roger Huerta) came out along the railing to say hello to the fans. I was impressed by the fact that Tito talked and took pictures with practically every fan that came up to say hello. The Ecko store meet and greet was cool, but since I didn't set a specific time I found out that many of you stopped by before I got there, or after I left. Sorry guys. Tracy Lee from CombatLifestyle.com stopped by to say hello, and I posted a pic of us in the photos section.

Barry from Tuff-N-Uff (tuffnuffmma.com) put on great amateur MMA fights Friday night at the Tropicana Hotel/Casino. There were over ten fights and he hooked me up with second row seats. I've never sat that closed to the action before, and it was a cool experience being able to hear the smack of the kicks. Xtreme Couture had a bunch of fighters in the event and I think all but one of them won their fights.

Then finally….Saturday! UFC DAY! I started relatively early by meeting up with Eddie Bravo. I had to run across the street and go through the maze that is the MGM, and I definitely broke a sweat. We did a fun little interview and then filmed a rubber guard sequence he's been working on. The funny thing is we shot in on carpet at the hotel because it's not like we can just go and find grappling mats. You'll see at the end of the technique video he makes fun of me because of my sweaty pit marks lol…. Thanks Eddie for making a girl feel good about herself. ;)

After that I got ready and headed out for UFC 84. The place was packed! The fights were awesome! The only thing that bothered me was the fans that were booing, but who can stop them..right!? Why do people boo when thirty seconds go by without action? At this level the fighters aren't going to come out and just brawl, but be more technical when there is so much at risk. Speaking of technique, BJ was phenomenal. I think I lost my voice by the end of all the fights.

Around midnight is when the after parties get started, and I was fortunate to get in to Wanderlei's VIP section. I didn't want to impose and ask for a picture, but if only I could have shown off my death blow axe chop (see UFC 84 video). I've received a great response about that, so I'm definitely going to have to keep incorporating it into future Wanderlei fight predictions. I saw Tracy at the after party as well and she has a great shot of her and Wanderlei in her afterparty pics on her website.

This was a great experience and I have to give much thanks to Ecko Unlimited for giving me this opportunity to get some great video content. They are the reason that I'm able to bring all these videos to you for free. There is a lot of footage to edit, but I'll be consistently putting new content on the site. Feel free to add comments to any of the articles or blogs on this site and if you want to say hello add me at myspace.com/panicpulse.

Love ya,
Joanne