Las Vegas...........The Good the Bad and the Very Ugly...........Day & Night 4.

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Saturday 8th December 2007. Day 4.

Wow what a day………

For all you UFC fans, it was a bad day for Ginger & long haired people but more about that later.

This morning we started with breakfast at Denny’s. It’s a good cheap place with mountains of food and a regular for us last year. We all had breakfasts which included pancakes which pleased P as she could have her pud with her main course. Mind you the toppings for the girl’s pancakes did not arrive with the main delivery of food. Fed up with waiting the girls carried on until I had to eventually go and ask for them. The reason was that they were being warmed up. When they finally arrived they were stone cold. I pointed this out to the lovely waitress and she presented us with a 20 %!d(MISSING)iscount voucher and lots of apologies.

As we ate I spotted I guy outside selling the prized Hatton V Mayweather shirts I had been looking for. He had quite a thriving little business going with all the Brits going to Denny’s to fill their stomachs with pancakes. So I nipped out and purchased 2 from him for $15 each. Maybe I was a bit hasty as the next day when Hatton had lost the same shirts were selling for $5 each! Mind you had he have won I could have paid a lot more so I was happy with the deal.

We had planned to go to Shark Reef this morning at Mandalay but we were experiencing a bit of a technical hitch.
I have, since my last trip to Vegas, been considering contacting the Medical Council to register a condition that I believe effects thousands of people every year. Before the last holiday I read that we would be doing a lot of walking, so Kaz & I trained up a bit and brought sensible shoes etc to allow for the extra mileage. I obviously passed on these wise words to my companions on this trip but I don’t think Roomy’s preparation was as good as it could have been. Today she had been afflicted with what I believe is called Vegas Foot. Similar to Trench Foot but without the rotting, unsuspecting travellers who are struck down by this debilitating condition, suffer swelling of the foot and ankle, tenderness and a complete lack of interest in walking anywhere.
So, this morning we decided to rename Roomy to Bilbo, due to the size of her Hobbit like feet, and decided to be kind by staying within a half mile radius of the Bellagio. Bless her, she really was in pain with the dreaded Vegas Foot and walking was a problem but she soldiered on with the smell of Denny’s in her nostrils and the promise of some retail therapy later in the day.

We dragged Bilbo along to the Venetian next to have a nice restful Gondola ride. Everyone enjoyed that. The young lady serenading the group was fantastic. I ran round as official film crew, taking photos and video from every conceivable angle.

Now it was time to try a tip that many gave on the forum. I liked the sound of this game. It was the “See how cheap you can get 4 Buffets from the Wynn” game.
Kaz & I were the only ones with I.D. So we signed up for Red Cards. The girl’s went to rest and sample some expensive coffee, so G and I set about the slot machines with 2 lots of $10 free credit and a mission to rack up 50 points each. This was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I chose my old faithful Unicorn and G sat down at what ever was next to me. The free credit quickly disappeared, G’s well before mine but I was surprised how many points had already accumulated. So we pushed on and finally notched up the points we needed. I had spent an extra $25 and G had spent $22. This was not too bad considering the Buffets are about $30 each. So we mentally banked those for a later date and we taxied of to the Palms.
Like I said kaz had to escort G & I there to collect out UFC tickets. It was a bit of an inconvenience but she didn’t mind and arranged to meet P & Bilbo at the Fashion Show Mall. The mere mention of the word Mall eased away the pain of Bilbo’s swollen Vegas Foot and as we drove off in the taxi I’m sure I spotted her jogging in the direction of that shoppers Nirvana.

We arrived around Noon as I’m sure the Doors to the Pearl were due to open at 13:00 so was surprised when we read the tickets to find we had to wait until 15:45 before we could get in.
What are 2 guys to do with nearly 4 hours to kill before a big fight? Yeah Beer……..
Buying beer as you know can be costly so after our first I tried my usual tactic of sitting at a slot and waited for a CW. No one came and after a very quick $20 loss decided it may be cheaper to just sit at the bar. I think we tried them all. After a couple at the sports book bar we got comfy at one mid way through the casino, where we met a Farmer from Dakota, cowboy hat and all. Had a couple of hours chatting and it was a real hoot. He was a funny guy and I can still picture his face when he asked me what kind of car I drive. I told him it was a Peugeot with a 1.6 Litre engine! He almost choked on his beer and didn’t believe they made cars in Europe with Bike engines in them……………..

Onto the show. If you’re not a UFC fan you might want to skip onto Margaritaville. It was an excellent fight card.
As you know, I love a T-Shirt, so the first 30 minutes inside the venue were spent queuing for UFC shirts for me and my youngest lad. Spent $90 on shirts that would have cost me over $150 online, so was happy already.
All the guys from the season six show had been matched up against each other. There was some cracking bouts and some that were not really worth the time. In between each fight we had about 15 to 25 minutes to occupy ourselves (depending on how quick each one was over) so as we weren’t too far from the bar we indulged quite regularly in the barman’s wares. The only trouble was ridding ourselves of the waste product and I found myself annoying the 4 people next to us more than I should have to gain access to the aisle. That poor girls toes…………and man those queues, they need more loos in the Pearl believe me.
When you watch this kind of event at home on TV, you only get to see the fights themselves. Being there was quite an education as you got to see what goes on behind the scenes. My favourite thing was watching the Bloodman. This guy had the unenviable task of crawling round the cage floor, between fights, with a big towel, to wipe up all the blood. After the fight between the guy they call “War Machine” and a lad called Jared Rollins. That bloodman went through 3 towels there was so much claret spilt. Gruesome I know but I was just pleased to see that someone had a worse job than the Vomit guy in the Hofbrauhaus!! May have been the same guy I couldn’t get close enough to see his face……….
The final was decided when Tommy the Ginger farmer got his butt spanked by the favourite Mac Dansig. I was cheering Tommy as I always support the underdog. In fact virtually all the fighters I was cheering for went down on the day. I’m glad I don’t do sports bets.
The main event was a superb match up between Huerta and Guida, two awesome fighters. Huerta came out victorious over the long haired lunatic Guida, who should have won in the second round, but his opponent was saved by the bell, only to come out and land a lucky knee to knock Guida out in the third.
Just before the main event started and I was sitting there enjoying the deafening music, I looked across at G to see if he was displaying the same euphoric smile as me, and to me surprise he was sparko. Sound asleep amid all the noise and excitement. I have known G to crash in a few places but never anywhere as lively as a UFC final!! Priceless……………………
There was almost another fight towards the end as the guy in front of me (and his girlfriend) insisted on standing up for the last few fights, thus not only obscuring every ones view of the cage but of the big screens as well. Eventually I could take no more and gave him a jab in the ribs and told him to sit down. He told me to stand up. I did and explained in no uncertain terms, that I had paid for a seat and I was going to use it, (with a few expletives mixed in, which I am not proud of), he saw my point and sat down, much to the appreciation of the few rows behind.

The final bell rang and we were in the taxi rank quicker than you could say Margaritaville. Two lads were climbing in and asked for the Imperial Palace. I said that’s where we were going (it was close enough) and they allowed us to join them. On arrival one of them insisted on paying as he had “won big” and who was I to argue. Cheers guys.

This was our arranged meeting point as Kaz & P were at the other end of the strip watching the Spice Girls at Mandalay Bay. Bilbo had opted out saying she would be mistaken for “Old Spice” if she went and decided to rest up then meet us for the evening drinkies.
G & I ordered a bucket of Domestics but were given imports and at this point realised we hadn’t eaten since Denny’s. Drastic measures were called for so we ordered up a Nacho mountain, as seen on Mega Structures on the Discovery Channel. I had seen these colossal Nacho / Cheese/ Jalepeno / Chilli combo’s ordered and left many times but felt that G & I were the men to tame the beast. As soon as we started scaling the mountain, the dreaded text came through from the UK that Ricky Hatton had been knocked out in the 10th round………Bad Times!!
It almost put me off my food, but not for long. Unfortunately I had to relive the sorrow as everyone who came in, American & English, heard my accent and asked if I knew how the fight was going? YES of course I knew how the bloody fight had gone, now let’s talk about the UFC?
Onto our 2nd bucket and G was struggling. Luckily Bilbo joined us and pulled on her outsized crampons to help us tackle what was left of Mount Nacho and as we reached the summit the Space Girls turned up still boogying to the tunes of yester year.
There were some great people in the bar that night. We all did a lot of talking, a fair bit of wobbling, I even joined the girls in some dancing and of course a lot more drinking.
We eventually returned to the Bellagio, where we tried to play some slots for booze but the alcohol had finally beaten us all and it was time for bed.

Join me for Sunday (the dreaded day 5) where the Wynn makes its first loss. Bilbo gets taken for a ride and my night goes very, very Pearshaped………….

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Photos

Two Gents ready for the UFC.
G and I attending the Tuf 6 Finale at the Pearl at the Palms theatre.

Bruuuuuce Buffffer
The main man.

The Winner
Mac dansig winning TUF 6.