TUFF-N-UFF at the Orleans Las Vegas!

FIGHT CHURCH friend Rudy Morales

packed house for a SOLD OUT event!

bring it on!

celebrity square off!

these are some shots of the TUFF-N-UFF weigh-ins that happened on Friday, March 11th at the Orleans here in Vegas.  this is an exciting event that happens the night before the actual event. 

the energy level is unique.  the fighters try to “hold their cards close” as they mill around and secretly size up the competition.  there is a nervous tension as each fighter gets checked out by the doctor and then makes their way over to scales to see if their hard work and sacrifice will pay off. 

then there is somewhat of a collective sigh of relief when each fighter steps off the scale.  they immediatly begins to re-hydrate and dream about the long awaited, carb rich meal that is now only moments away!  there is a lot of hugging, fist bumping, well wishing, and nervous laughter. 

it was a ton of fun for me and i had a great time bumping into people from the MMA community, meeting knew people and getting a chance to talk with fighter’s friends/families.  pics are cool, but they can’t describe the mood and feel of the weigh-in experience.  they are supossed to be worth a thousand words, but these are all i got, sorry… 

One of the most important things that FIGHT CHURCH has to offer is availability.  As an MMA Chaplain, my main goal is to simply “be there” for whoever needs me for whatever reason.  In order to make myself available, I spend as much time as possible at the various MMA training facilities meeting and building relationships with those in the MMA community. 

Here in Vegas there are over 100 facilities offering some type of martial art instruction!  I haven’t been able to visit them all yet, but I am working on it.  In the meantime, there are 5 main facilities that I am visiting on a regular basis.  I also just discovered a couple newer facilities right near my home that I am adding to my regular “gym visiting route”. 

In addition to straight up gym visits, there are a lot of opportunities to attend all sorts of MMA events.  Last night was one of those opportunities.  I went down to the Xtreme Couture Training Facility for their UFC 127 viewing party.  It was a great time!  I was able to meet some new people and bump into a lot of people I have been getting to know.  It was a great event and everyone had a good time.  I look forward to working with the people at Xtreme Couture.

Here are some pics of Xtreme Couture and some of the other gyms I currently or am planning to visit on a regular basis…