One Night In Bangkok

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

I recently helped a client through a tricky legal issue.  What I didn't know was that the client is a Hollywood producer and is in the movie "biz."  My client was helping to promote an MMA event at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California on Friday night and he invited me to come as his VIP guest.

I could get used to the VIP treatment...

Now, I know that Commerce is a long way from Bangkok, Thailand, but MMA (or mixed martial arts) fighters practice a variety of fighting disciplines, including Brazilian jiu-jitsu, American wrestling, boxing, kickboxing, taekwondo (from Korea), and Muay Thai fighting (from Bangkok, Thailand).

Truth be told, I really never watch this stuff on television (despite having a lot of friends in my church ward/congregation who gather to watch on pay-per-view), and I'd never actually been to a live fight.  This was my first.

As a VIP guest, I got a personal escort to my seat and access to the free bar.  Of course, the bar wasn't much of a perk since the only thing I ended up drinking was Coke--but at least that was free!

The event was BadBeat 10 and I had great seats on the front row.  I made friends with a young guy sitting next to me on the front row of the roped off VIP section.  He was super helpful and showed me things to watch for in the fighters.  Only later did I learn that he was "in the biz" and was a successful actor as well.  The fact that he didn't trade on his celebrity only made me like him more.

"A Witness to the Ultimate Test of Cerebral Fitness"

Ace Marrero of Body of Proof and General Hospital

He was Ace Marrero and he provided some "ace" commentary on the finer points of MMA strategies and techniques.  Thanks to Ace, I know that there is more involved to the sport than just beating the crap out of another fighter.

The final fight was pretty intense--the challenger beat the champ, but neither fighter left the cage unscathed.  I'm glad that my natural sports are limited to basketball and litigation.  I wouldn't want to have to make my living in the cage.

Here's a photo essay of some of the remaining pics from my One Night in Bangkok (which is a great song, by the way--see the video here):

"One Night in Bangkok and the Tough Guys Tumble"

First match of the night...the fighter on the left is praying after KO'ing the fighter on the right

"You See One Crowded Polluted Stinking [Casino]..."

Checking in at the VIP table

"I Get My Kicks Above The Waistline, Sunshine"

You really can't get much closer than this
#nozoom

"The Creme de la Creme of the [MMA] World"

Celebrity Lineup...many of these are soap actors that only someone like @TheMostess would know!  ;-)
If you look closely, you can see the villain from Karate Kid 3 (Sean Kanan)--he too was really nice in real life

"One Night In Bangkok and the World's Your Oyster"

Can't believe they let me hold the title belt #ihavenodesiretotryandwinit

I'm a little bummed that the cage was locked...

"One Night in Bangkok Makes a Hard Man Humble"

One of the best parts was meeting actor Danny Trejo.  He was so nice and was willing to pose for several pictures.  I have since learned a couple of things about him.

• He apparently starred for a couple of seasons in "Breaking Bad" as a character named "Tortuga" (Tortuga means "Turtle" in Spanish).  He must have been a bad guy--and he didn't make it.  But he apparently went out in a very memorable way.  I haven't seen a single show in the series, but I know some people swear by the show.

• He spent time in some of California's worst prisons before he got into acting (in and out of jail for 11 years).  On his first acting job, he was cast as a prison convict.  The director was trying to give him some direction and here is how Danny describes the conversation: 
• "It was the funniest thing I'd ever heard. I'd been in Soledad, San Quentin, Folsom, Vacaville, Susanville, Sierra--and here's a guy asking, "Can you act like a convict?" I remember I said. "I'll give it a shot".

• Danny doesn't drink and neither does anyone in his entourage.  That was kind of cool.

The Entourage (and I look like a giant standing next to all these Hollywood types!)

Danny Trejo and Me
#moneyshot