Shanda Maloney is my fairy godmother. Dana White is my hero. I found out what the big surprise they had planned for me.
Dana and Shanda set up a trip to Los Angeles see UFC 184. Do you know who fought at UFC 184? My role model Ronda Rousey!!! OMG. Best. Trip. Ever.
The UFC flew me and my dad to Las Vegas. We got to stay in this awesome hotel where all the UFC fighters were staying! I took pictures with a lot of the fighters and saw my man Demetrious “DJ” Johnson. We kept running into each other in Las Vegas so one time I asked him if he was stalking me. He cracked up! Dana and Shanda also gave me a lot of sweet UFC gear for me and my entire family.
The fight was huge. It was so exciting. I have to admit something though, I kind of thought Cat Zingano had a chance against Ronda. I have never felt so nervous in my entire life. We sat in a VIP suite with other UFC fighters and guess who was there? Yep! Mighty Mouse: DJ-Demetrious Johnson. We had fun watching the fights together. DJ knows all the fighters and he took the time to point out a lot of cool inside information.
When it was time for Ronda and Cat to fight I felt like I was going to explode with excitement. I’m sure you saw it, but it lasted exactly 12.8 seconds. I know, everyone says 14 seconds, but I met Gene LeBell and he told me that he timed it at 12.83 seconds. Talk about fast. I’m glad I didn’t reach down for my phone to video the fight, because I would have missed everything. Some people were complaining about paying all that money to watch such a short fight, but I like how Ronda just focuses all of her power and strength and concentrates on her goal: winning.
After the fight, Ronda has a tradition of eating buffalo wings and guess what?!!! I was invited to join Ronda and her family and friends to go hang out and eat buffalo wings. It was also a belated birthday party for Ronda because she was in training camp on her actual birthday. I cannot express to you how amazing it was just to be there. Ronda’s mom, AnnMaria De Mars spent a lot of time talking to me and my dad. She taught me the correct way to do an arm bar. Her sister Julia De Mars was so nice too, and she’s very pretty like her sister. I have never felt more loved and at home with strangers.
I showed Gene LeBell how to do some things on his iPhone, had to keep my piece of chocolate birthday cake away from Marquel because he kept trying to snatch it off my plate, and met a lot of cool peeps like Alan Jouban, Holly Holm, and Jessica Eye. Nights like tonight make me feel like what the mean kids think of me doesn’t even matter anymore.
What an AMAZING surprise! Thank you Dana, Shanda, & Ronda. I will remember this night forever.
Peace out homies!
XO, Claire