Who was sound? Who was a cockhole?

[wandshogun09]

This has been done countless times in the main forum, of course, but let's have an MMA version of your high/lowlights of meeting MMA folk.

 

Just to get the ball rolling, I'll go against the spirit of my own thread and say I'm not really the type of MMA fan who goes out of my way to meet fighters and MMA figures. The only ones I've met I've just happened to meet when I've been at an event or whatever. If it was someone like Big Nog or Shogun or Sakuraba or someone like that, I'd do my best to meet them if they were meeting fans anyway but it's not like I'd wait outside their hotel or track them down in the local Lidl or something.

 

I've only met Ross Pearson, who was great, at the Gustafson vs Manuwa show in London in 2014. Really down to earth bloke. I only met him because he was doing the pundit bit for BT Sports that night and we were sat right next to the BT studio booth thingy. Just a normal bloke. Took time to chat to everyone he could get to in the limited time he had.

 

Conor McGregor - well we never actually met him because he was being mobbed and we didn't want to add to it but me and my wife walked past him at the O2 between fights as he was walking through to the backstage area with his girlfriend. We got a smile and wave out of him and that was that but we saw enough of him meeting other people that you could tell he was loving it and seemed as approachable as you could be.

 

My wife, my mate and his girlfriend met Joanne Calderwood the same night while I was queuing for a fortnight for a piss. My wife said she was lovely and actually seemed taken aback that so many people wanted to meet her.

 

Oh and GAD is a fucking wanker. And I never even met him, you could just tell. I couldn't hear him (thankfully) but he looked like he was being a complete nightmare all night with the BT crew and in particular the makeup girl who was trying her very best to polish the turd that he is for the cameras. You could see Ross Pearson and Caroline Pearce talking to to the crew and being friendly between fights and off camera at different points. But GAD just sat there flicking his hair around and burying his head in either his phone or some sheet of paper. Then you'd see him shouting his orders and the poor makeup girl would have to come running back over to piss about with him more. I know we make a lot of the GAD hate on here, he's a fun figure to poke fun at, but Christ he looked like he was being a right up his own arse knob that night. Thought he was a proper big shot.

 

Right, so who lived up to or surpassed your expectations in a good way? Who was a twat? Who surprised you for better or worse? Spill.

[jimufctna24]

Met Pat Barry. He was a really nice bloke. Exactly as he comes across in interviews. I think that's about it for me.

 

A friend of mine met Ian Freeman at a local show. While addressing the crowd, Freeman told them to shut up. He then proceeded to die on his arse while doing a stand up routine.

[wandshogun09]

Oh yeah, as much as I've said I'm not overly arsed about meeting fighters, my brother and mate went to UFC 93 in Dublin in 2009 (I couldn't make that trip) and they met Dan Henderson, Mark Coleman and Phil Baroni! I was jealous, I admit. How many chances will MMA fans over here get to meet a legend like Coleman?

 

Freeman can do no wrong in my book, after he gave Mir a sound thrashing at the Royal Albert Hall.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

Most fighters seem to be on their best behaviour around the general public so its hard to tell. I met Rampage twice and he was so cool to everyone, just lit up the room as soon as he walked in. This was not long after his nutjob season of TUF against Evans too. Felt abit like he was playing a role but if so he was very good at it and everyone loved him.

 

Met Stun Gun and he was very nice and kept apologizing about his broken English when chatting. Met Mousasi at same event and he was fucking hammered drunk, knocking things over but was being really nice chatting to everyone.

 

Only fighter I've met where I've thought this guy is abit of a dick was Overeem. He is very aloof and comes across very arrogant.

[jimufctna24]

A close friend of mine met McGregor a few years back. He was handing out tickets for the Machida vs Munoz card. My mate said he was dressed to the nines and loving the attention.

 

This thread has made me realise that I haven't met many MMA fighters myself. Like Wand, it's not something I've been that desperate for.

[Widdy85]

I stayed in the same hotel as the fighters by chance in Rio during UFC 190 for Rousey v Correia.

 

Struve, Big Foot, Rua, Big Nog, Werdum all very friendly. Especially Werdum saw him a couple of times.

 

Made me realise being a fighter sucks, seeing Struve sit with his manager every day who was enjoying burgers and beers whilst he had water.

 

Rouseys crew were all nice and friendly, including her Mum.

 

Bruce Buffer, Herb Dean were cool.

 

Not a bad word to say about any of them.

[METAL ON METAL]

GSP was nice when I briefly met him, he defied a security guard to shake my hand. I've never seen someone fill out a long sleeve shirt as good as him (no homo), dude is JACKED in person.

 

As much as I slag him off these days, Dana White was fantastic. Asked where we had came from and was really personable, plus he gave us some much improved tickets for free and told us to sell our existing ones for some "beer money" (we sold them for a tenner each to some lads who were about to pay a tout double face value, so win-win).

 

Bruce Buffer was friendly and really cool but you get the feeling he loves the attention.

 

Never really had a bad experience with an MMA figure. Swick, Matt Brown, Hathaway and even Arianny Celeste were canny.

 

As has been said, Pearson is genuinely a great guy. Bumped into him many times around town over the years. Top bloke.

I always see Phil DeFries around town too, almost on a weekly basis lately. Canny fella. Saw him about a week ago on his pedal bike, riding past Primark with his bushy beard.

[herbie747]

Dan Hardy is sound. John Kavanagh & Conor are sound.

 

Haven't met anyone else. 

[Supremo]

Good idea for a thread.

 

I've never particularly gone out of my way to meet fighters, but attending so many events means it's quite regular to bump into the guest fighters. Their role at the events is to essentially walk around and distract the fans so as to let the poor bastards cutting weight get in and out without much bother.

 

Both times I met Conor McGregor he was the nicest guy imaginable. He and Bisping were giving out free tickets to people who couldn't get in to the weigh ins for Machida vs. Munoz and even that early into his career you could tell he was going to be a superstar. Dressed like a mini-Ric Flair, with the charisma of a million men, smiling from ear to ear, he seemed over the moon with the attention, chatting and taking photos with everyone who wanted a piece of him. I met him again after the Manuwa vs. Gustaffson show in London. The show had finished and everyone was being ushered out of the arena, but Conor stayed behind to greet everyone and refused to listen to security until everyone was satisfied. Again, he seemed genuinely thrilled that people wanted to talk and take a photo with him. I remember saying back then that provided he kept on winning he had the chance to be a huge star. I never imagined he'd get this big, but it was obvious he had something special.

 

Paddy Holohan and Aisling Daly were the stars of the Dublin Fan Event. Like Conor, they seemed ecstatic with the attention and took the time to have a proper little chat with everyone who wanted one. There was something really attractive about Aisling all dressed up, too.

 

Dan Hardy seems like one of the coolest men on the planet. I bumped into him in a hotel in Dublin. Super easy going, chilled out, friendly, happy and excited to talk about the fights. He told us he was looking to make a return in the next twelve months. I was disappointed it never happened. If anyone hasn't watched his appearances on the London Real podcast then I highly recommend them. Really interesting guy to listen to.

 

Norman Parke is a dickhead. At the Dublin Fan Event he sulked his way through half of it and spent the majority of his time creeping on girls and just being a slimy, chavvy prick.

 

GAD is a bad mong. I've never spoken to him, but he's impossible to avoid at UK events. He's fucking everywhere, staring everyone in the eye, hoping for someone to recognise use him. Jog on, you floppy haired knob. We also saw him throwing a diva tantrum outside Wembley Arena the night before Barao vs. McDonald. Talking to his crew like shit, he kept complaining that all the fans in the background were getting in his shot.

 

Big Nog was lovely. I got a photo with him in London earlier this year, but it was a bit shit. Instead of just moving on to the next guy he stopped me, repositioned us so that we had better lighting and then took another. Really nice man. He's massive, too. I'm a very tall man and he towered over me.

 

I can't say whether Greg Jackson was nice or not. All I can describe him as is lost. He asked me for directions to Nottingham town centre and, because I hate him, I pointed him in the complete wrong direction. I'll never forget the sight of him walking off into the horizon, going completely the wrong way. This remains simultaneously the lamest thing I've ever done and yet one of the things I'm most proud of.

 

Michael Bisping is annoyingly nice. I hated him for years, thought he was a total arsehole, but then he sat right by us at Barao vs. McDonald in London and was super friendly and chatty. Incredibly patient, too. Every time he went the toilet he'd get mobbed by fans wanting a photo and not once did he turn someone down. He must have been bursting. Nothing like he seemed on TV, this was when he turned babyface for me. Suspiciously large hands though. Growth hormone hands, is how I'd describe them.

[kev2050]

I've met a fair few, back when the UFC fight club was good value for money. Here's the ones I remember any my experience.

 

Brandon Vera - A brief encounter, but sound. I was with my girlfriend at the time and after I'd got his autograph, he turned to her and asked her name, to sign a picture for her. She told him she didn't want his autograph (not in a nasty wayway, but she was only there because I'd dragged her along), and he took that well and had a laugh with us.

 

Cheik Kongo - He was strange, but a fun strange. Just staring at strangers through windows just to make them uncomfortable. I enjoyed that. Not very chatty, but cool.

 

Bruce Buffer - Seemed to love being around fans and would chat with everyone. Told me how good his podcast was repeatedly and encouraged me to check it out, which I never did.

 

Michael Bisping - Met him a couple of times, and back when everyone thought he was a complete dick, I would always defend him because I really do thing he is a genuinely nice bloke. He made more effort than any fighter I've ever met to be pleasant with everyone, and actively made conversation, just easy to talk to. Sat in a bar with him in Ireland while watching a fight that was on, chatting about it with him. Just so likeable in person.

 

I've met rampage, Wanderlei, Shogun all briefly for autographs, not really long enough to pass comment either way.

 

Ive never met a fighter and thought "he's a dick".

 

Edit - Nice to see that Supremo's comments on Bisping mach up with mine.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Ooh, I recently met a whole bunch of guys at UFC Brisbane, so I can actually contribute a lot more to this than I could have a year ago.

 

But I'll start with the first encounter with MMA fighters I had- 2014 I met BJ Penn and Urijah Faber at the UFC Gym in Sydney. Was a free event too, a charity thing for bullying awareness.

 

Penn was a class act. For those that don't know, I have Cerebral Palsy, and one of the security guys asked if I wanted BJ to come down to meet me on the floor, rather than me walk up the stairs to the podium he was sitting at. I said no, because I didn't want to inconvenience BJ and also hold up the massive queue. So I walked up the stairs and had a brief chat, got an autograph and a photo together, but instead of being robotic or aloof like I've heard some celebs/wrestlers can be, he was really friendly and genuine, asked how my day was and seemed to be genuinely interested, rather than just asking to be polite.

 

Faber was the opposite. Barely looked at me, I said "hey man, how's it going?" He snapped back, "What?" and took the photo stone faced. Guess he didn't want to be there.

 

Bruce Buffer at UFC Brisbane: Hunt vs Mir. He was great. It was funny, it was close to show time and there was a big crowd of us, and he's going to everyone "Quick, quick, I've only got a minute". Then a group of hot chicks turned up and all of a sudden he had another 5 minutes spare. Buffer's a pimp.

 

Kenny Florian was polite and happy to take a photo. I had a funny moment where I forgot the rules must be a little different meeting celebrities compared to regular people. I said, "Hi Kenny, I'm Shane, nice to meet you, big fan." He gave me a quick funny look and said, "Nice to meet you too, Shane." I guess celebs don't really give a fuck what your name is haha.

 

Jon Anik was okay, seemed like a bit of a bland personality though. I asked him about the rumours about Joe Rogan's contract being up in August and he smiled and said, "Joe's not going anywhere." But he had no reason to give an honest answer to a random fan, so take it for what you will.

 

Robert Whittaker. Wasn't part of the show, just in the crowd, so he had more time to mingle and chat. We got talking about the fights, found out we had a friend in common, and he invited me out to Vegas to corner him. Okay, I made up the last bit. Surprised at how polite and kinda modest he was after seeing him KO people plenty of times, but hey, it's just a sport.

 

Miesha Tate... well, I didn't meet her exactly, but she was at the Fight Night too, and while every other fighter was happy to stop for a chat, autograph, photo, she ignored most of the fans waiting, got a pic with one fan, and took off. That one fan was female, by the way, because us guys are creepy pigs that would try and grab her arse or something. I'd be lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind, but I value my life too much. But seriously, a bit disappointing how she acted when everyone else was so fan-friendly.

[bAzTNM#1]

Who is this GAD fella? See the name mentioned a lot. Don't have a scooby who he is. Cheers.

[Egg Shen]

Gareth A. "Russell Crowe" Davies. Journalist extraordinaire.

[seanz25]

I've met a few, not many.

 

Bisping - lovely bloke, didn't speak for long, but met him at an expo where they where charging silly money for photos with him. When I seen him out the back and asked him for a photo he had no problems doing one and was happy to chat.

 

Luke Barnatt - People dislike him here and I can see why but was really sound with me when I met him, went above and beyond, found a member of staff to take a picture of us etc. Had been signing and other stuff all day.

 

Ian Freeman - he desperately didn't want to be at the MMA Expo in Manchester. I overheard him quietly say to a vendor of a product he was backing at the time how shit his Q/A session thing was as well as criticising the rest of the setup. Was fun to talk to though and took the time, was in no rush to tell me to fuck off.

 

Manuwa - didn't really speak to him, he seemed nice enough but I think he finds the public thing awkward, kept himself to himself and was pretty quiet to the people coming up to him.

[lambyUK]

When I say I've met these guys, it's more just stood there whilst they chatted to others. Basically, I can't be arsed with general chit chat, even with people I admire.

 

To echo what others have said Bisping is a fantastic guy. He really can't do enough for fans. He talked to anyone who wanted to talk and signed everything under the sun. 

 

I've mentioned this in the past but Mcgregor too. He stopped for a photo with me despite the pissing down rain as security tried to force him away. Then seeing him in the hotel he couldn't be any more happier chatting to everyone who wanted to talk and take photos. A genuinely really nice guy. 

 

GAD was just a slimy arrogant cunt who others have said, sleazed around like his shit don't stink.