Weighing in at 215 and competing for his first time in the hotel room in Tucson , Arizona and hailing from Toronto , Canada 🇨🇦 welcome to the room Adrian “el drunko “ Mizzi !!!!
Don’t laugh too hard ok 🤪 I might regret posting this for the rest of my life but right now I even think this is funny . Let’s just say I had a great time last night watching Combate Americas here in Tucson . Now let me tell you how this day ended up like this .... as you know I am travelling around Arizona with Kathleen for her birthday and we both love watching mixed martial arts and the only place I would ever want to chuck knuckles is on the ice and watching pugilists duke it out is the limit for me . There is no way I should ever be in a ring lol 😝. When we woke up here at Casino del Sol we immediately went for a coffee down at Starbucks which is in the hotel/casino and we decided to laze around the pool for a bit and go for a dip before grabbing a bite to eat . We did a bit of wandering while the casino was quiet and threw a couple bucks in the slots also ... I’m not much of a gambler and of course I lost my money but whatever . As we wandered we decided to move our van closer to the entrance and went to a convenience store only to be amazed by all the selection of different flavours of our favourite snacks and grabbed some for the drive the next day ( next stop is Sedona ) .
We found out that the box office at the AVA Amphitheater opens at 4 pm and that’s the magic hour for us to pick up our VIP passes to the big event . We also realized that the amphitheater is an open air venue which is really nice especially with the nice weather here . The casino is nice and all but the smoke inside is kinda getting to me . People are allowed to smoke indoors at the casino so a little fresh air won’t hurt . After our wander we decided to go to a restaurant in the hotel called Moby which is a diner with your usual burgers and fries type of menu and if I didn’t mention is in the casino also . We have not had to leave here for any reason at all which is nice and having a nice gin and tonic with breakfast is a good start to any day lol 😝 the only knock I have about the casino is the people that all seem so unfortunate to be addicted to gambling which is kinda unattractive and did put a bit of a damper on my outlook of things here . It’s kinda sad but I got over it by the time I gobbled my burger then retreated to my room with a tummy ache 😖 I am convinced that it has to do with all the carbs I’m eating . Imagine going keto for a few months then carb loading for a week ... I feel bloated and once again the time difference means a nap is very much needed . While I slept Kathleen went to the pool to chill ....
When I awoke from my slumber it was just about magic hour and with a bit of doubt in my mind we both strolled over to the box office to pick up our VIP passes . Yes I had some doubt that we would actually get these passes , I mean how crazy is it that Kathleen contacted Campbell McLaren who owns Combate Americas and she told him that she wanted to come see a fight and we are coming from Toronto only to have him respond by offering us VIP passes ? Does this seem real to you ? Kinda unreal eh ? So there was no surprise in my mind when we got to the box office and the ladies behind the window said our names are not on any lists 🤔.... we retreated to the bar and had a drink while Kathleen contacted Campbell and I shit you not when I say he responded and said our passes are there . Put it this way , he responded so quickly that we had not even got half way through our drink ! Kathleen went back to the box office while I nursed my g & t and we she returned she had a big smile and two VIP passes !!! Fuckin eh !!! Fights start at 7 and we were told to get there early to get seats in the VIP section .
We decided to go throw some more money in the slots and test our luck . Kathleen has the magic touch today and walked away a winner while I just fed the machine my money . The last machine we hit up was a monopoly slot machine and Kathleen walked away with $65 in winnings and we called it a night as we wanted to have another drink while watching the Toronto Raptors play in the NBA Finals . I’m not a fan of basketball but I’m a bit excited at the prospect of having my home town team win a championship . The game tipped off at 6 pm so we watched a bit and left to go get our coveted seats . When we got to the AVA amphitheater which is also right beside the casino/hotel we were guided to the stage and grabbed seats right at the corner and grabbed a couple drinks and began watching the fights . We soon realized that we were sitting amongst the fighters with their families . Jose Alday who is one of the main event fighters was sitting right beside us for most of the match . It was crazy 😜 and I’m sure everyone was wondering who the fuck these two gringos are as everyone was speaking Spanish around us and clearly we are not Mexican ...maybe with a bit of tanning I can look almost Mexican but I’m sure my Blue Jays baseball cap gave it away that we were a couple crazy canucks hahaha !
The fights were all amazing with little to no wrestling involved and that’s why we really enjoy watching Combate at home and wanted to see this live . The fella that owns this company was the original owner of UFC and he is not a fan of fighters lying down and wrestling each other for the whole fight and he has stated that on numerous occasions .... this is more of a stand up and fight for your life kinda event and it didn’t let us down . Every single fight we watched was entertaining with all the fighters giving it their all and then coming to stand right beside us to get interviewed which was kinda neat . The only thing I kinda wanted was a merch table to buy a T-shirt and get a poster for home which they did not have unfortunately and I kept looking around to see if I missed it or walked by it and didn’t notice it but I didn’t and it wasn’t meant to be .... don’t get me wrong , it didn’t sully the event one bit . As the night went on and the giant cans of Tecate were downed I noticed Tito Ortiz at the event . Hold up , you don’t know who Tito Ortiz is ? He’s a fucking legend in mixed martial arts and he has just signed on to fight in Combate Americas which is huge . Next thing you know he is shaking my hand and I’m talking to him ... yeah holy crap . He was probably wondering who we were also hahaha ! I wish I got a picture with him but in true Canadian fashion I did not want to be a bother and just relished the idea of meeting him which I’m still happy about .
After the last fights were over we witnessed some animosity between a couple fighters which didn’t get out of hand but I would really like to see them go at it as there were a few choice words that were spit at eachother with a venomous bite . As the amphitheater emptied out we met one of the fellas that works for Combate and we had a chat and mentioned the lack of merch table and he graciously gave Kathleen a T-shirt and gave me the gloves which I drunkenly tried on in my room afterwards ( as seen at top of blog ) . All we can talk about amongst ourselves is how gracious Campbell McLaren has been to us and how amazing his staff are at doing it the right way . We are already planning to travel for another event and would gladly pay for a seat to watch a fight in another city , it was such a cool experience being amongst the fighters in a foreign country and having that feeling of acceptance amongst them as everyone did speak to us and we all had a good time together . Maybe it was all the beer that made me feel this good ? Who knows ... but what I do know is that I will do this again and I will have a great time . If you wanna see some good fights don’t think twice and check out Combate Americas and if you have a subscription for DAZN then watch it on there . I’m so glad I have that subscription because if not we probably would have never found ourselves sitting on a stage in a VIP area in Arizona watching MMA .
After the fights we went back to the casino and grabbed some Mexican food and swigged one more drink before calling it a night . The fighters were all at the bar celebrating their accomplishments and we were knackered and retreated to our room . This 3 hour time difference is having its effect on me and that’s when I ended up drunk posing with my new fight gloves on posing topless and punching things .... oh drunky Adrian hahaha ! What a great day 🥳
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