UFC 108: The weigh-ins

After a warm and inspired welcome from Joe Rogan, the crowd amassed at MGM Grand Garden Arena this afternoon was treated to introductions of the usuals: Dana, Lorenzo, Bruce Buffer, et al. Before the applause could even decay in the slightest, Rogan began a rapid-fire run of fighter weigh-ins and introductions, beginning with the undercard, moving onto the Spike broadcast fights, and then into the PPV card.

Everyone cut successfully, save for a naked Paul Daley, who came in at two pounds over and was immediately met with boos from the onlookers. Tough crowd.

Additionally, all fighters were overly cordial and respectful of their opponents, as bro-hugs outnumbered cold stare-downs at a ratio of 9:1. That one exception? Dan Lauzon and Cole Miller. Tension rose from the second D-Lau hit the stage and culminated in Dana White having to push both fighters apart after extended unpleasantries became physical. It was readily apparent that these combatants are looking to rip each others arm’s off in less than 24 hours.

GASB is very comfortable in supposing that D. Lauzon vs. Cole Miller will garner either “Fight of the Night” or “Submission of the Night.” Be sure to catch this one on Spike before the PPV hits air.

Following the Lauzon/Miller flare-up, Martin Kampmann and Jacob Volkmann took the stage. Volkmann looked like he didn’t need to cut much to make 170, yet Kampmann clearly had to cut quite a bit. Expect Kampmann to come into the cage the bigger fighter.

The biggest pops of the afternoon came for introductions of former Pride star Gilbert Yvel to the UFC (clearly a lot of well-versed fans in the crowd), his opponent Junior dos Santos (as Rogan put it “expect nothing short of fireworks from these two”), and Sam Stout (perhaps a lot of Canadians flew down for this?).

The boo-birds were out in force for Rashad. GASB is going to guesstimate a 50-50 love/hate ratio from Friday’s crowd. Meanwhile, hardly any in attendance seemed familiar with Dustin Hazelette or Duane Ludwig. Thiago Silva commanded respect from all in attendance, though GASB had hoped for a pantomimed throat slice to really seal the deal.

Following the rather quick formalities, GASB filed out into MGM Grand common areas, running into a good number of non-card fighters milling about. Of note: a very gaunt-looking Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Clearly the staph still had a hold on him and most fans were afraid to even approach for signatures and the usual fare. Those that did were asked politely by Big Nog’s handlers to give the legendary fighter space before eventually whisking him quickly out of sight.

GASB was delighted to encounter Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in good spirits. As many reading know, his last appearance resulted in a loss (choke) to Josh Koscheck. Rumble looked to be in great spirits and at peace around the UFC faithful. More importantly, it was visibly apparent that getting caught in the last fight inspired even more work in the gym for Johnson, as he appeared clearly ready for whatever Zuffa has in store for him next.

We are now less than 24 hours away from the live event. Stay tuned!