Morning training, Japanese Festival, King of the Cage
So much happened yesterday!
I recorded and uploaded my fan interview! Part 2 is on the way. (see end of entry)
I spread around my TUF blog 7 with unseen footage! Check it out after you read this!
Link to Roxy’s TUF blod with footage UNSEEN on TV!
Then I went to Fredson’s no-gi jiu-jitsu class. We learned two ways to get out of side control, one I later used in sparring! 😀 He also taught me some Portuguese. I find it necessary in case another random Brazilian kid comes in who doesn’t know English. -_- I worked a lot with Bethany and Brittany, two very nice ladies. :}
(click to enlarge)
I got super confused about one of my favorite moves because Fredson said it’s no good, and he escaped like 4 times….feel like I must be doing it wrong. How can he escape but for years nobody else could escape? So confused. x_x;
Sparring class was after jiu-jitsu. I didn’t feel very well and was considering leaving, but one of the coaches Chaz said something that really inspired me, so I forced myself. I felt worse physically afterwards but mentally good, and I got some good practice in. I can feel myself improving!
Find a way to win.
Left the gym, drove to the Rio, and met Victoria and Brandon! 😀 We went to the “Aki Matsuri,” which had lots of food stands called yatai, shops, and a karaoke dance thingie. :}
My Luffy shirt was dirty so I wore my Jimbei shirt and Luffy hat, from the anime One Piece! We saw some cool cosplayers, and a really good Neji! She even had the contact lenses in for the eyes!!
My friends then took me to a Japanese restaurant, Izakaya style, called Ichiza. We ate ika-yaki, ebi chahan, shouyu ramen, and tako yaki! 😀 So good! Then for dessert, honey toast with ice cream! Omg so many carbs. Lol
When we parted, I realized it wasn’t that late, so I still had all evening. Swim to work off all the calories I just ate, watch UFC or watch amateur teammates Daniel, Bryson, and new friend Quinn fight at King of the Cage?
Hmmmm. I chose King of the Cage. But I didn’t have a ticket. I texted my new buddy and generally suspicious loiterer Bootsy who replied, “Just try the ‘don’t you know who I am?’ approach.” good idea, haha. I went hoping to smile myself in. It’s been working lately.
Turns out that the entrance wasn’t run by promotion people, but by The Palms Casino security. I paused in front of the entrance, and this huge guy the size of Maurice at my gym said, “Can I help you, Ma’am?” (not miss? ;_;)
I said, “Um, is this King of the Cage?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said. “You can get tickets over there by the ticket window.”
“Oh,” I said. “I was hoping you’d let me in because I’m a fighter. I’m on The Ultimate Fighter.”
“No, Ma’am,” he said firmly, and motioned to the ticket window.
Oh, man! :{ I started texting our gym manager to see if he could get me in. Suddenly I heard, “Oh wow, is that Roxanne Modafferi?”
I looked up. These guys rushed over and shook my hand and told me great fight and they loved me on the Ultimate Fighter show. They were very nice. “What are you doing here?” they said. “I’m here to see the fights, but I don’t have a ticket….”
“WHAT?! How could they not let you in?” one of the guys said.
“Yeah, he wouldn’t…. I dunno….”
The man pulled a ticket out of his back pocket. “Here, you can have this one,” he said. How nice of him! I hope he hadn’t been saving it for anybody in particular, but he assured me he wasn’t. Then a few more of his buddies came up, and wanted a picture.
So, as revenge, I got the big security guy to take the picture. The picture actually came out pretty bad (reverse revenge) but my camera sucks, so it’s probably not his fault. Lol
“We’re here to support our fighter Danielle Taylor! Here, have a shirt!” THEY GAVE ME A SHIRT. How nice of them! Man! Best fans ever. Lol I was cold, so I put it on! 😀 how perfect ! Then I went in with them (the show had already started) and sat in their area in the back, which naturally, was only Danielle Taylor-supporters.
They all came and took pictures of me one by one. Hahaha 😀 Then another security guard came over and whispered to me, “Ma’am, I can get you in the VIP box if you’d like to just enjoy the show without people bothering you.”
THAT IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!!! ^_^ LOL
But no, I love meeting everybody and I want to take pictures. It’s such an honor for me that people actually want to meet me and talk to me. I chatted with their team for like 30 mins before going to find Bootsy.
I thought I’d have to search high and low, but he was like 5 rows down. I recognized him from the top by his knit hat.
Bootsy is linguistically talented and his humor just tickles me, so I was laughing 50% of the time sitting next to him. Haha and his friends cracked me up. It was just a great night.
Except then I realized that Quinn, the girl I met at Syndicate the other day, was set to fight Danielle, the fighter who’s team I just made friends with. -_- Awkwarrrrrrd.
My Syndicate teammate Bryson won, unfortunately Daniel lost, but he fought hard. Did another Syndicate guy fight? ?:O Then Danielle beat Quinn. I didn’t cheer out loud for either of them. We (Bootsy+friends) and the Danielle crowd were permitted to go closer to the cage just for their fight (and we all stayed. Lol)
Then this one guy ( was he drunk?) started screaming cornering advice at another teammate, and one of Bootsy’s friends started mocking him by repeating his words in a bored, deadpan voice.
“Shrimp. Shrimp, mother f*cker. That’s a weak-a$$ guillotine. Weak-a$$ guillotine, mother f*cker. Turn into that mother f*cker. Oh Mother f*cker….”
I felt soooo bad because two guys are fighting their hearts out in front of us, and I’m cracking up laughing. It was a great back-and-forth battle, and both men did a great job.
And then after they stood up, some lady from the balcony above us started shrieking, “Kneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! Kneeeeeeeeeeees!” and our friend was like, “Is it a bird?” And immediately, all I could think about was a bird. You had to be there. People were so drunk. Then the fight went to the ground, and the guy got tapped. But it was a great fight.
It was cool meeting so many people in between rounds when I got up to walk around to stretch. I went back home, soaked in the hot tub, typed most of this, and then went to bed at 12:30.
This morning, I exercised a bit in my apartment weight room, did neck exercises, and found that I’ve increased my neck raises by FIFTY compared to when I first started going to failure in the TUF house! I don’t know if that’s good or not, but I’m pleased I’m getting stronger! I never want my head to slam off the f*cking canvas ever again. Then I drove to a nearby casino “The Orleans” because they have a highrise hotel building. 21 floors! 🙂 a few times! 😀 Go GO Cardio Ranger!!
Here is the fan interview!