The Day Before: ShoXC Elite Challenge

This year I will shoot four fight cards: two ShoBox: The New Generation and two ShoXC Elite Challenge MMA. For these events I normally take two afternoons off from my day job at UCSB: Thursday for the weigh-in and miscellaneous shooting, and Friday for the fights. I am still learning how to work the MMA events as the flow is slightly different and the demographic is younger. Both Showtime and Internet TV have a piece with ShoXC being the five main events. This means there are two sets of interviews going on as well as the weigh-ins on Thursday. Yesterday, the interviews were happening while four of us photographers were standing in a lift waiting for the weigh-ins so I missed a chance to shoot the fighters at the Showtime interviews ... the Showtime people are amazingly friendly and cooperative and allow me to photograph any of their activities if I can work it in with whatever I am doing. You will hear me say it again and again, but the Showtime staff are absolutely top notch and work very hard to make sure that everyone involved, from the fighters to the photographers gets maximum opportunity without any sense of proprietary restrictions. They have let me put cameras in the lighting truss, visit the truck, shoot during their interveiws, shoot at their tapings down in the boiler room and this style starts at the top with Gordon Hall and works its way all the way down to the gaffers and sound people. Their style is very affirming ... they will tell you if you are interfering with their work somehow while still trying to make sure you get the best. But I ramble.

Yesterday I arrived about 1:30 pm with the cage under construction in the middle of the floor. I wandered around to see who was there. Generally the groups of folks are: Gary Shaw Productions, the promoter; Showtime; King-of-the-Cage (I think); the California Boxing Commission; and all the fighters and their entourages. Each team has one or two head people and almost everyone knows everyone else from previous events. My first boxing photography mentor, Showtime's Tom Casino (Google that name if you want to be impressed by accomplishments) was there. He's the guy who convinced me to change from Nikon/Fuji to Canon and who put my elbows on the mat at my first card. Jeff, who is one of the production staff from the casino was also shooting the weigh-in. Esther Lin who freelances for an MMA magazine and website and her guy, videographer Casey (hope I got that right.)

As for the fighters, they tend to wander in around 4:00 pm to check in with the boxing commission, file their medicals, get their picture taken, get checked by the doctor and chat with on another. There are lots of big smiles, hugging, fancy handshakes. Guys who are planning on pounding the living daylights out of each other later today are laughing and sitting next to each other like old friends. And they couldn't be any nicer to me, letting me but into their little groups and listen and ask questions.

The weigh-ins started a bit late yesterday. They are scheduled for 5:00 pm. But before they can weigh in they have to have all their paperwork/doctor exam complete which includes lab tests and some of the paperwork didn't arrive on time. So the four of us togs and Casey the video guy stood in the lift in front of the stage for about 30 minutes with nothing happening. Then we decided to deplane and walk around ... and that's when the weigh-ins started, of course.

The weigh-ins themselves are kind of fun. John, a very funny guy who is with Gary Shaw Productions runs the fighters for the boxing commission and the photographers. He lines them up, calls them a pair at a time, gets them on the scale, they weigh, he sends the other of a pair, he weighs, then he poses them with fists up staring at each other, waits for the togs to shoot, then has them look at the cameras in the same pose, waits for the togs to shoot, and then moves them along and starts the next pair, all the while giving everyone a hard time ... only kidding!

Once the weigh-ins are done, things begin to shut down pretty quickly. I was home by 6:30 pm as I live 7.5 miles from the casino. I will be off to my day job in an hour and then back this afternoon and off to the casino for the fights. Oh, and the picture of the two guys at the right is, Malaipet (L) and Thomas Denny (R) ... they are a main event.

In the meantime,
Be Safe

Dwight