Fan Expo in Vegas

[The TroutBum]

Anyone going to this? For some damn reason, I thought it would be a good idea to enter this...

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/Grapplers-Quest-UFC-Ultimate-Fighti_zps6d69c362.jpg

I'll be in the Novice division, so I doubt I'll be killed, but there is still that possibility. If it does happen, I bequeath all of my amazing board cred to dbreiden -- Gods know he could use it.

Anyone else going to the Expo or fighting at GQ?

[dbreiden83080]

Anyone going to this? For some damn reason, I thought it would be a good idea to enter this...

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/Grapplers-Quest-UFC-Ultimate-Fighti_zps6d69c362.jpg

I'll be in the Novice division, so I doubt I'll be killed, but there is still that possibility. If it does happen, I bequeath all of my amazing board cred to dbreiden -- Gods know he could use it.

I appreciate that.. :lol

[txstr1986]

I'm not going, but that does sound like a lot of fun. Good luck in the competition!

[The TroutBum]

I'll post a video of my flying Go-Go. Dead serious, that's what I'm going to try to pull off. Might be the first Super Heavy Weight to do it.

[The TroutBum]

Best weekend of my life? I think so.

It started out with an homage to dbreiden:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/July13003_zps0b5a6ea3.jpg

Then I got to meet a few fella's:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/July13002_zps0b38d6a4.jpg

I felt bad for Varner -- there are thousands of people around, and every fighter has a line out the ass for autographs, and we just walked right up to Jamie and chit-chatted. He was awesome, but you can just tell he's a broken man. So weird.

You all remember this bastard, right?

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/July13008_zps58a847ee.jpg

How about this bitch-ass trick?

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/July13009_zps65006745.jpg

And for the grand Fighter Finale, here's Martin Kampmann... autographing my massive peck.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/July13011_zps8b4c640a.jpg

Things just got better from there:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/July13024_zpsc3b38c49.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/July13028_zpsd6a48024.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/July13029_zpscb3498d8.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/July13031_zps311000b4.jpg

Took second place in the Super Heavyweight division and got to shake hands and talk to the FUCKING MAN, Dean Lister, at the winners podium:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/July13027_zpsf6e5766b.jpg

It is unreal how large he is in person.

Other fighters I got to meet but didn't get pictures:
Anthony Pettis
Wandy
Scott Jorgensen
Stephen Bonner
Dan Hardy
Chad Mendez
Anthony Njew-koo-wani-wan-kanobi
John Dodson

There were a bunch more there, but time was short and the lines were long. Wandy and Pettis were just hanging around the GQ mats talking with people and being all around awesome people. I've never liked Wandy, but he was so fucking cool in person that it's hard to not like him now. Anyway, the Expo and GQ were great, my wife and I had a blast.

[txstr1986]

Looks like a great time - congratulations on the silver!

[Stringer_Bell]

Wow, that's some good stuff right thurrr.

[dbreiden83080]

Thanks for all the pictures that Mustache of yours is epic.. Are you a big Tom Selleck fan? Congrats on doing so well in the grappling tournament..

[tlongII]

I thought handlebar mustaches were illegal???

[The TroutBum]

I thought handlebar mustaches were illegal???

You wouldn't believe how many compliments I get on it. (knowing that people "say nice things" when they really think it looks fucking retarded) Every fighter I talked to had some comment for it, the announcer at the podium did, the refs did, some of the competitors did too. It may be ugly, but it's a damn fun talking piece.



(the chicks dig the shit out of it too)

[polandprzem]

Uncle creepy has got better tbh

[The TroutBum]

Because I like to talk about how awesome I am, here's an update:

I had so much fun @ the Fan Expo, I decided to train my ass off and try it again in November:
http://www.bjjfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/2013-Grapplers-Quest-World-Series-of-Grappling-Las-Vegas-November-16-2013.jpg

I didn't really train my ass off, not even close, but I did have a hell of a time and got to the podium again, so to speak:


http://s101.photobucket.com/user/flakestein/media/IMG_0030_zpse5878feb.mp4.html

^^ that was supposed to be a picture, but my cameraman was an idiot. You get the idea.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/photo2_zpsd001d7a0.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/photo3_zps7faafd25.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/flakestein/photo4_zps3956e546.jpg

I took 2nd (again, fuck) in the novice Absolute division. (no weight classes, just a random mish-mashing) This was a shit load tougher than the Super-Heavyweight division, by far. The guy that beat me was a lightning fast former BYU athlete who couldn't have been more than 170, but he was strong as an ox. He shot a double-leg and picked me (245lbs) up and tossed me like I was a bag of hair. He slapped a Kimura on me and the ref, he, and I all heard my elbow make a horrible "popping" sound. I tapped like a bitch faster than dbreiden guzzling GSP's ball-load. I finally got the results from my orthopedic surgeon today (didn't think it was all that bad until a few days ago) and I tore the shit out of some ligament, and bruised the nerve in there. I'll be having surgery in a week. Yay.

Anyhow, it was another awesome experience, and even though this wasn't a fan expo, there were plenty of fighters there cheering on members of their teams. Some notable fighters that actually took the time to chit chat were Wandi (seriously, he is cool as hell), Anthony Pettis, Vinny Magalesh (or however you spell it), Joe Daddy (he was the most active and talkative of all of them, and was on the mat coaching/cornering tons of fighters -- he was by far the coolest guy there), Brandon The Truth, and even a few of the Ultimate Fighters were there. Notably, the dumbass who didn't make weight the first time -- Cody I think? -- and Roxanne Modeferi (or however you spell it); she was unbelievably cool and just as weird/awkward as she seemed on the show. I talked to her a whole bunch and she was beyond awesome.

You guys should check the schedule for the next event in your area, sign up, and go do it. It isn't intimidating at all, the competitors are all respectful & cool, and shit, you get to meet and play along with some of the worlds most famous fighters. It's a big time rush, and worth every penny and ounce of sweat. I trained for three months before my first one and did just fine -- seriously, try it, you'll be glad you did.

Love you fella's,

TTB.

[tlongII]

Cool deal Trout! I'm too old for that shit though.