BY DC CUEVA
Amidst what has been a chaotic Saturday to say the least, we were planning to offer a SocialPulse doubleheader covering this week's episodes of The Challenge Final Reckoning and Are You The One? Season of Fate. But because of my desktop computer not being available to me to edit the posts, they will instead be posted tomorrow.
Meantime, tonight we had quite literally a barn-burner at UFC 229 as Conor McGregor lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov by submission in the 4th round, which then turned into a brawl that stretched out into the crowd outside the Octagon at T-Mobile Arena. Last year, DCBLOG featured a look at how three MTV family members got to experience Conor's most recent appearance in a combat sports arena: a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather during VMA's weekend.
From during The Challenge XXX and after the fight from last summer
Two weeks ago, the sports world's marquee attraction took place in Las Vegas, where in a time of renaissance for the sweet science, boxing fans were treated to its latest chapter in what has been a stellar 2017 for the sport. The year has seen the long heavyweight title reign of the Klitschko brothers come to an end, Manny Pacquiao once again get robbed of a disputed decision and Terrence Crawford become boxing's first undisputed champion in a decade. And before the upcoming mega-fight between pound-for-pound stars Saul Canelo Alverez and Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, another marquee boxing event took place, featuring a man who we featured here meeting a Challenge newbie.
Back in March during Invasion, we told you about the night in the Hollywood Hills where Floyd Mayweather, Jr. celebrated his 40th birthday with the likes of Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey and a host of other famous luminaries during Oscars weekend. Challenger Kailah and her boyfriend, rapper and reality TV veteran Mikey P., were among those who were the lucky ones to be invited to join the Money Man as he turned the Big 4-O, and they got to celebrate in only a way Floyd can: a lavish, over-the-top party. This came at a time where those in the fight game were speculating that he would come out of retirement one more time to try and reach 50-0, the first undefeated professional boxer to reach that plateau, in a fight against an unlikely opponent from another combat sport.
Mayweather has fought some of boxing's greatest names, but the thought of him facing off against UFC mega-star Conor McGregor was something that wasn't even in the cards a couple years ago when he fought a lonely Andre Berto after his much ballyhooed bout with Manny Pacquiao which turned out to be a snore (though it did give my family reason to remodel our house in one week). But the cards fell in place for the '96 Olympian and the Irish superstar to get in the ring on that VMA Eve in Las Vegas and for a moment many thought that Conor would be the one who would put the 1 next to the 49 in Floyd's final record. But him gassing out towards the late rounds led the veteran to get the TKO stoppage in the 10th round, but not before McGregor was able to hold his own and earn respect.
For a sport whose crowds at big super-fights are comprised of mainly those in the rich and famous, there was room for Conor's boisterous Irish contingent to make their way into T-Mobile Arena to turn it into a European soccer match. But there was also some room for those who shelled out hundreds and sometimes the four figures to watch it live instead of forking over $100 for a pay-per-view ticket. And for two Challenge champions as well as the newest host of the social love experiment, they had their own view of this latest boxing mega-fight.
Earlier this year, we saw the fairly calm but beautiful golden girl of Team San Diego that won that Challenge five years ago, Ashley K., make her return to The Challenge. She was able to hold her own both on Invasion and on Champs vs. Pros as well as that mini-Challenge inside Universal Studios, not to mention compete on last summer's streaming series The Runner. For there, she was able to walk out of Thailand with a charming boyfriend in Dario, and they moved to his old stomping grounds of Las Vegas - a town that's already chock full of members of the Trifecta.
Of course, Sin City has staked its claim as the Fight Capital of the World, and when the opportunity came for those at Mayweather Promotions to reach out to those who wanted a chance to get on camera in the most high-profile position of serving as a ring girl for what is sure to be Floyd's last-ever fight, Ashley submitted her name with the chance to be one of those carrying around the round cards in between rounds. She won the right to be part of the handful who did those duties in both the main event later that night and the undercard bouts that took place earlier in the lead-up to May-Mac. And those who watched the undercard bouts earlier in the day on FOX, they got to see Ashley in the ring alongside "The Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. ... perhaps maybe only a handful might've recognized Ashley from her three Challenges.
As for those who had those lucky seats, one of them happened to be not only a Challenge champion but also someone who just met a Greatest of All Time. Not long ago, we showed you true Challenge and Real World O.G. Syrus getting the chance to meet heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, adding to this stellar list of celebrities he has gotten to cross paths with. He got to pay $5,000 for a seat at Mayweather vs. McGregor and posted a picture of his ticket on his Instagram with the caption, "Sittin pretty enjoying the #mayweathermcgregor." And below, he captured a video of the final moments of the fight and the barrage that gave referee Robert Byrd reason to say enough.
And in the latest chapter of The Busy Life of Terrence J., on the same weekend that he hosted the red carpet at the MTV Video Music Awards which we covered here earlier today, he also got to do some of the events for Fight Week up in Vegas... you can be lucky that it's just a one-hour flight from Sin City to Los Angeles. This included him hosting the Friday weigh-in which featured a performance by Cardi B., and him also doing rehearsals for both that and his VMA's duties all in the matter of a many hours and some frequent flier miles.
For the man who hosted this summer's SafeWord which has helped MTV to increased viewership, that preshow from the Forum and who will be taking over as host of Are You The One? in 16 days from tonight when Season 6 takes flight, this is the start of a busy stretch for him in not only doing press for this show but also filming a movie role too. We sure wish we would have that busy but crazy life.
For a sport whose crowds at big super-fights are comprised of mainly those in the rich and famous, there was room for Conor's boisterous Irish contingent to make their way into T-Mobile Arena to turn it into a European soccer match. But there was also some room for those who shelled out hundreds and sometimes the four figures to watch it live instead of forking over $100 for a pay-per-view ticket. And for two Challenge champions as well as the newest host of the social love experiment, they had their own view of this latest boxing mega-fight.
Earlier this year, we saw the fairly calm but beautiful golden girl of Team San Diego that won that Challenge five years ago, Ashley K., make her return to The Challenge. She was able to hold her own both on Invasion and on Champs vs. Pros as well as that mini-Challenge inside Universal Studios, not to mention compete on last summer's streaming series The Runner. For there, she was able to walk out of Thailand with a charming boyfriend in Dario, and they moved to his old stomping grounds of Las Vegas - a town that's already chock full of members of the Trifecta.Of course, Sin City has staked its claim as the Fight Capital of the World, and when the opportunity came for those at Mayweather Promotions to reach out to those who wanted a chance to get on camera in the most high-profile position of serving as a ring girl for what is sure to be Floyd's last-ever fight, Ashley submitted her name with the chance to be one of those carrying around the round cards in between rounds. She won the right to be part of the handful who did those duties in both the main event later that night and the undercard bouts that took place earlier in the lead-up to May-Mac. And those who watched the undercard bouts earlier in the day on FOX, they got to see Ashley in the ring alongside "The Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. ... perhaps maybe only a handful might've recognized Ashley from her three Challenges.
As for those who had those lucky seats, one of them happened to be not only a Challenge champion but also someone who just met a Greatest of All Time. Not long ago, we showed you true Challenge and Real World O.G. Syrus getting the chance to meet heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, adding to this stellar list of celebrities he has gotten to cross paths with. He got to pay $5,000 for a seat at Mayweather vs. McGregor and posted a picture of his ticket on his Instagram with the caption, "Sittin pretty enjoying the #mayweathermcgregor." And below, he captured a video of the final moments of the fight and the barrage that gave referee Robert Byrd reason to say enough.
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| IG @IamTerrenceJ |
For the man who hosted this summer's SafeWord which has helped MTV to increased viewership, that preshow from the Forum and who will be taking over as host of Are You The One? in 16 days from tonight when Season 6 takes flight, this is the start of a busy stretch for him in not only doing press for this show but also filming a movie role too. We sure wish we would have that busy but crazy life.
- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
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