Brian Ebersole's style has made him a fan favorite. | Photo: Jeff Sherwood
Decorated welterweight Brian Ebersole (www.brianebersole.com) will blog his experiences leading up to his UFC 133 clash with Dennis Hallman for Sherdog.com readers.
My time in Philly has been fantastic. We arrived at a grand hotel downtown, which I will fail to mention by name as there are enough fans -- friendly autograph and photo seekers -- hanging in the lobby already, and we don’t need a tougher gauntlet to run. Burt Watson greeted Alexander Gustafsson and I upon arrival at the hotel and led us to the offices. The UFC week officially began with all the customary paperwork, signing of 100-plus UFC 133 posters and a gift bag of UFC hats and tees. After all was done in the office, Watson gave us the tour of our workout facility -- a matted room, fit with a scale, here at our hotel -- and the timetable of shuttle runs to the grocery store and another 24-hour fitness center. He also, per usual, made mention to call him anytime if we needed anything or we had anything on our mind. Well, what an offer. If only I could have indulged in a Philly Cheesesteak at 3 a.m., I would have known whom to call. Alas, I’ve not taken Burt up on his offer to call him at 3 a.m. with anything troubling. Instead of turning to Burt for a sleeping aid, I simply played solitaire on my iPod and waited for the sun to come up.
Once the sun was up, I turned to my other go-to person, another special person who said she’d be there should I need anything -- my girlfriend. She and I went for a near-sunrise walk in historic downtown Philadelphia before we both collapsed onto a couch in my hotel’s lobby. Neither of us wanted breakfast or coffee, so we sat and chatted for a good little while. OK, well I should rephrase part of that. I wanted breakfast but couldn’t have it. She didn’t desire a meal at all. We’ve since parted ways, and I’m looking at an uninviting few hours of work.
Once I do make weight, I have to sit around for three hours before getting on the scale. Now that just plain sucks. We all have to travel together, so making weight well earlier than the weigh-in time is necessary. In this instance, and probably only in this instance, I’d rather be fighting on a smaller show. That way, I could make weight closer to the official weigh-in time and be responsible enough to get myself to the weigh-in venue on time. However, I understand, with such a big production, the precaution that the UFC takes. I’m not in too bad a spot, but talking with the likes of bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz last night, I can only imagine his discomfort in holding a dehydrated state for a three-hour-plus stretch; he told me how he does it and how much he cuts in the lead-up to a weigh-in, and I don’t envy him at all.
I haven’t had too much interesting happen since getting here, guys. I’ve seen Phil Davis drilling with Gustafsson for a few minutes; wasn’t Davis hurt? And I had that short chat with Cruz. My coaches have been ridiculous, silly and full of good humor. Beyond that, it’s been all business: interviews, photos, videos and training sessions.
The real fun comes after the Octagon doors close and Bruce Buffer is finished banging his bagpipe on Saturday. Maybe Sherdog will allow me to extend the four-part series into a five-part series, and I can share my post-fight experiences as I embark on some U.S. travel adventures. We’ll see.