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I did'nt know 'where' I wanted him to 'Go' exactly but I kept yelling it at Jorge from
Cageside - getting him back for all the times he has yelled "LET'S GO" at me when I am
competing.
We arrived thanks to Kyle's GPS at a pretty run down hockey arena at the back of a school and
parked. Outside several dozen people were gathering smoking cigarettes dressed in a tap out
tapestry.
After we had all our tickets picked up and sorted out we made our way in having met Ryan and
David from Toronto BJJ outside..
It's very much a parallel of my former life as a DJ.
You have a flyer that tells you about the performers and you arrive at an arena...make your
way through a lobby of merchandise and when you go through the big doors you smell the odours
of sweat and bodies and there is the ring or the dj booth and thats where you will spend most
of your night keeping an eye on as the dj's fighters perform for you and attempt to win you
over through their respective artforms...
I spent the first few fights running around - finding people - losing people stopping people
for pics. We got chairs in the bleachers to the right of the cage and there was another group
of Toronto BJJ people down closer to the cage with a table..and more around the far sides of
the cage. But we were not far from the action at all. The arena was pretty run down but the
set up was professional. There were maybe 300 people?
Then I started to stay in 1 place and enjoyed a few of the fights...immediatly I was yelling
at the guys in the cage telling them what to do like I was an expert and urging him to knock
the other guy out but alot of the time I was admiring how the rig was put together...the
camera's and their placement and the design of the cage etc...it's just the event coordinator
in me ;)
I decided I was going to simply ask the security guard to let me go close during Jorges fight
which he did.
So I went down to be next to the cat walk in as Jorge's fight was about to get underway.
I looked down at the time remaining on my camera - 26 minutes and I decided that would be
enough time to do 1 long take of the fight from walk in to hand raised and speech...I did'nt
think the fight would get out of the first round. 1st mistake.
From behind the curtain Jorge had a different look on his face than I had seen before as he
stood behind the curtain shaking his arms and kicking his legs out. He looked like a man who
was about to unleash hell on someone. Sunken black eyes and an evil gummy grin.
So I flipped the camera on and began filming. Jorge's tune P.O.D - Alive blared through the
arena and out came our Warrior and leader to meet his opponent in the cage.
It was a kick boxing fight for the majority of the fight with some clinching and Jorge
attempting his trademerk Guillotine a few times. During the rounds I remember being a bit
shocked to see Jorge was bleeding - not badly but he was out there slugging it out throwing
and taking big shots.
I was right on top of the action right in Jorges corner and seemed to be left alone to record
the fight - I just kept my head down but I was closer than the ring girls.
I was getting concerned at the time though. Instead of stopping recording through rounds I
kept recording. 2nd mistake. I just wanted that complete take in 1 shot.
The fight went the 3 rounds and his opponent Ryan Machan proved he was a pretty tough guy
having taken Jorge the full 15 minutes.
The final bell went and with it going to the judges hands Jorge immediatly started to walking
around like a champion than had just one. Posturing with hius hand high - an important part
of the fight. He believed he had won and wanted to let everybody know.
It was a split decision and Jorge ended up with his hand raised.
Something important to note here...One of the guys rolling our Jorges banner behind him for
the interview and corner celebration was W1 CEo Jack Bateman himself. Spoke volumes if you
asked me. That didnt happen for any other fighter.
My camera was going to run out of time so I pulled another back up camera out of my pocket to
get the last moments. I started it up and then looked at my other camera which has suddenly
stopped out of minutes minutes and was flashing 'time left 00:00'. I wanted to make sure all
was good so I used the camera function to view the videos saved and I navigated back and then
forward and the display said 'Time Remaining '26:00' and my stomach turned. I could hear
Jorge giving his shout outs as the horrible reality hit me that my camera had not saved the
fight.
I was upset. I left cage side and went up to the bleachers to where eveytbody was and I had
this hollow feeling that I had just lost the most important footage I had taken to date with
my digital camera. I wanted to WAKE UP - but it was all too real and I was sweating tonnes.
All my buddies could see and hear my frustration but I didnt want to spoil anything so I just
brooded. Heavily.
I could see Jorge was over by the cage and all the Academy was over giving him hugs so I ran
over and waited my turn. He was so happy. He was blackened around the eye and had a small cut
but you could feel his energy and he laughed at my constant shouting at him to "GO GO" - "I'M
GOING" He was laughing and saying...and I gave him a big hug.
Back at the bleachers I tried smashing my camera but it survived so I give it credit for
that. Many Gaming controllers have suffered and not survived a similar fate. Kyle was kindly
making sure I was Ok but I was pretty down and spent the next while updating facebook with
what I could.
I went to see Jorge - apologised for missing the fight and I brought him over to our cheering
section and he gave us all hugs, said thanks and then he went back to the cageside table to
enjoy the rest of the fights..
The remaining cards were entertaining and good battles and I did get out of my slump but my
epic fail had kind of spoiled my evening rightly or wrongly.
After the last fight which saw Denis Kang dispatch kim konmhj in a few seconds with a
submission we gathered up and headed out. It struck me 'how the mighty have fallen'. 1 loss
in the UFC and here was Dennis Kang in a leaking arena in his hometown in front of a few
hundred people.
We came back to the hotel (which was full of fighters and there entourages) to decide what to
do and the guys headed out to the after party but I opted to stay back at the hotel and have
a bit of quiet time and read my book 'The Fighter's Heart' which I thought was a fitting end
to the night. Part of me wanted to go to the club after Jorge txt'd me that he was going but
when Corey and Kyle rolled in at just after 5 I reckoned I hadn't missed too much and Jorge
had only gone for 20 minutes to honour his contract.
I met Jorge in the lobby the morning after and he was on the phone deep in a conversation so
we grabbed breakfast and gathered up the troops. Everybody was leaving.
The Hotel lobby still had some MMA celebs running around and """"" actually was still wearing
his new belt which I found amusing. He was really showing it off even at breakfast. Again, I
think because of my former life as a DJ and having been fortunate to either book or play with
some of my idols..and having realized there is nothing really in 'celebrity' so I was not
star struck to see all these guys...but I did jump at the chance for a pic with an MMA
fighter if it presented itself ...which it did a few times. I did note however how willing to
stop and get speak with their fans the fighters are.
I was in an elevator with Antonia Carvalho and I was happy to be able to tell him he was one
of the fights I was actually wanting to see. He still had blood running down his face but
seemed to really tune in when I spoke of the documentary on CBC of him which I saw even
before my time as an MMA FAN. This was years ago and was on TV one night documenting his life
in Japan for Shooto. He fist bumped me and said thanks and the elevator door closed.
It was a great weekend with great camaraderie. Road trips always have their share of hilarity
and ours was no different. It's a really great moment in time we are all having at our
academy and sharing this experience with my team mates and my teacher is something I am
enjoying every monent of. You could tell Jorge was stoked to have a team there cheering him
on and I was very glad to be part of it.
I did miss an amusing event which apparently took place in McDonalds but sometimes...thos are
the sacrifices.
Thanks to Paul S. for organizing the car, hotel and all the logistics. Thanks to Kyle for the
GPS!
Look for the video of Jorges fight to appear in the next 48 hours as other camera's were
rolling close by ..and I will follow through with bringing the fight to those who were not
able to be there.
 I didn't know 'where' I wanted him to 'Go' exactly but I kept yelling it at Jorge from Cage side - getting him back for all the times he has yelled "LET'S GO" at me when I am competing.
We arrived, thanks to Kyle's GPS, at a pretty run down hockey arena at the back of a school for 'W1's Judgement Day' and parked. Outside several dozen people were gathering smoking cigarettes dressed in a TapOut tapestry. We were in our Britto-ware. 
I spent the first few fights running around - finding people - losing people stopping people for pics. We got chairs in the bleachers to the right of the cage and there was another group of Toronto BJJ people down closer to the cage with a table..and more around the far sides of the cage. But we were not far from the action at all. The arena was pretty run down but the set up was professional. There were maybe 300 people? Then I started to stay in 1 place and enjoyed a few of the fights... immediately I was yelling at the guys in the cage telling them what to do like I was an expert and urging him to knock the other guy out but alot of the time I was admiring how the rig was put together... the camera's and their placement and the design of the cage etc...it's just the event coordinator in me ;) 
I decided I was going to simply ask the security guard to let me go close during Jorge's fight which he did. So I went down to be next to the cat walk in as Jorge's fight was about to get underway. I looked down at the time remaining on my camera - 26 minutes and I decided that would be enough time to do 1 long take of the fight from walk in to hand raised and speech...I didn't think the fight would get out of the first round. 1st mistake. From behind the curtain Jorge had a different look on his face than I had seen before as he stood behind the curtain shaking his arms and kicking his legs out. He looked like a man who was about to unleash hell on someone. Sunken black eyes and an evil gummy grin. So I flipped the camera on and began filming. Jorge's tune P.O.D - Alive blared through the arena and out came our Warrior and leader to meet his opponent in the cage. It was a kick boxing fight for the majority of the fight with some clinching and Jorge attempting his trademark Guillotine a few times. During the rounds I remember being a bit wide eyed to see Jorge was bleeding - not badly but he was out there slugging it out throwing and taking big shots. 
I was right on top of the action right in Jorge's corner and seemed to be left alone to record the fight - I just kept my head down but I was closer than the ring girls. I was getting concerned at the time though. Instead of stopping recording through rounds I kept recording. 2nd mistake. The fight went the 3 rounds and his opponent Ryan Machan proved he was a pretty tough guy having taken Jorge the full 15 minutes.The final bell went and with it going to the judges hands Jorge immediately started to walking around like a champion than had just won. Posturing with his hand high - an important part of the fight. He believed he had won and wanted to let everybody know. It was a split decision and Jorge ended up with his hand raised. Something important to note here...One of the guys rolling our Jorge's banner behind him for the interview and corner celebration was W1 CEO Jack Bateman himself. Spoke volumes if you asked me. That didn't happen for any other fighter. My camera was going to run out of time so I pulled another back up camera out of my pocket to get the last moments. I started it up and then looked at my other camera which has suddenly stopped out of minutes minutes and was flashing 'time left 00:00'. I wanted to make sure all was good so I used the camera function to view the videos saved and I navigated back and then forward and the display said 'Time Remaining '26:00' and my stomach turned. I could hear Jorge giving his shout outs as the horrible reality hit me that my camera had not saved the fight. I was upset. I left cage side and went up to the bleachers to where everybody was and I had this hollow feeling that I had just lost the most important footage I had taken to date with my digital camera. I wanted to WAKE UP - but it was all too real and I was sweating tonnes. All my buddies could see and hear my frustration but I didn't want to spoil anything so I just brooded. Heavily. 
I could see Jorge was over by the cage and all the Academy was over giving him hugs so I ran over and waited my turn. He was so happy. He was blackened around the eye and had a small cut but you could feel his energy and he laughed at my constant shouting at him to "GO GO" - "I'M GOING" He was laughing and saying...and I gave him a big hug. Back at the bleachers I tried smashing my camera but it survived so I give it credit for that. Many Gaming controllers have suffered and not survived a similar fate. Kyle was kindly making sure I was Ok but I was pretty down and spent the next while updating facebook with what I could. 
I went to see Jorge - apologised for missing the fight and I brought him over to our cheering section and he gave us all hugs, said thanks and then he went back to the cage-side table to enjoy the rest of the fights.. The remaining cards were entertaining and good battles and I did get out of my slump but my epic fail had kind of spoiled my evening rightly or wrongly. After the last fight which saw Dennis Kang dispatch his opponent in a few seconds with a submission we gathered up and headed out. It struck me 'how the mighty have fallen'. 1 loss in the UFC and here was Dennis Kang in a leaking arena in his hometown in front of a few hundred people. It also means Jorge is but 1 step from the major leagues. 
We came back to the hotel (which was full of fighters and their entourages) to decide what to do and the guys headed out to the after party but I opted to stay back at the hotel and have a bit of quiet time and read my book 'The Fighter's Heart' which I thought was a fitting end to the night. Part of me wanted to go to the club after Jorge txt'd me that he was going but when Corey and Kyle rolled in at just after 5am I reckoned I hadn't missed too much and Jorge had only gone for 20 minutes to honour his contract. I met Jorge in the lobby the morning after and he was on the phone deep in a conversation so we grabbed breakfast and gathered up the troops. Everybody was leaving. 
The Hotel lobby still had some MMA celebs running around with 1 fighter still wearing his new belt which I found amusing. He was really showing it off even at breakfast. Again, I think because of my former life as a DJ and having been fortunate to either book or play with some of my idols..and having realized there is nothing really in 'celebrity' so I was not star struck to see all these guys...but I did jump at the chance for a pic with an MMA fighter if it presented itself (for the old journal)...which it did a few times. I did note however how willing to stop and get speak with their fans the fighters are. 
I was in an elevator with Antonio Carvalho and I was happy to be able to tell him he was one of the fights I was actually wanting to see. He still had blood running down his face but seemed to really tune in when I spoke of the documentary on CBC of him which I saw even It was a great weekend with great camaraderie. Road trips always have their share of hilarity and ours was no different. It's a really great moment in time we are all having at our academy and sharing this experience with my team mates and my teacher is something I am enjoying every moment of. You could tell Jorge was stoked to have a team there cheering him on and I was very glad to be part of it. I did miss an amusing event which apparently took place in McDonald's but sometimes...those are the sacrifices. 
Thanks to Paul S. for organizing the car, hotel and all the logistics. Thanks to Kyle for the GPS!
Look for the video of Jorge's fight to appear in the next 48 hours as other camera's were rolling close by ..and I will follow through with bringing the fight to those who were not able to be there |
After we had all our tickets picked up and sorted out we made our way in having met Ryan and David from Toronto BJJ outside..| related articles |
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