RBI (228) Paige Van Zant

Up and coming UFC star Paige VanZant has been catching the MMA world by fire lately. The UFC has found a star on the rise after her debut victory against Cailin Curran. Her dismantling of veteran Felice Herrig solidified her reputation as legitimate prospect and the UFC has been happy to have Paige appear at numerous of the company's most recent events such as the UFC Fan Expo is Las Vegas.

I sent a TTM request to her just after her victory over Curran realizing she was legitimate and going to become incredibly popular with the fans as soon as they realized the talent she had. Paige was incredibly kind and autographed two 8x10's for me.


While I do have a healthy Ronda Rousey autograph collection I don't have the body issue cover signed which is a cornerstone item to have signed by her, so I wanted to make sure my Paige VanZant autograph collection had "the" photo. Her initial UFC promo photo has actually been "the" photo so I was sure to send one of them.

Paige also signed this photo from her UFC debut.

I'm very glad to have these two in my collection as I've heard her events and appearances get swarmed now by huge crowds of eager fans to meet the rising star. She's proven legitimate as a growing young fighter since transitioning from model and ring card girl into UFC star. You can find Paige Vanzant (@paigevanzant) | Twitter

RBI (218) Liz Carmouche TTM...

Recently I was browsing through the card section of a local big box store and saw a new product on the shelves UFC Champions. I decided to pick up a pair of blasters just to see the product and take a peek at the guaranteed hits. The hits themselves are fairly weak, there are supposedly relics in every box but the two that I got were manufactured belt replicas of former champions. The cards themselves looks cool but the hit guarantee was misleading.

Regardless, I do like how the cards are designed and the quality photos they use from the fights. As a UFC fan I'm always glad when I can put a fighter in my collection, but honestly the UFC roster is so big and fighters success varies so quickly printing 8x10's for everyone and sending them is a little pricier than I'd want so I wanted a staple of cards available if I could get a chance to graph MMA. I pulled a card I knew I could get signed pretty quickly since I sent ttm to her previously, Liz Carmouche.

Liz Carmouche autographed my 2014 Topps UFC Champions card and I'm actually really impressed with how it came out. Liz used a gold marker to sign in a dark spot and I think it actually came out really really well. She signed my photo nicely also so it's always great to confirm that someone cares about their fans and their autograph.

Carmouche signed and returned the card to me in 6 days.

Autograph Recap Eddie Guardado and Michael Young Stars and Strikes Bowling Charity Event 1/26/14...

The 3rd annual Eddie Guardado and Michael Young Stars and Strikes Bowling Charity Event occurred   January 26, 2014 and I decided to attend this year. It's proven to be a solid event and a large group of Southern California autograph seekers attended to knock out the stars that were in attendance to support Eddie and Michaels fundraiser to benefit children with Autism.

The event was set up differently from what I heard from graphers who previously attended past years. I was able to start the day off by getting UFC welterweight fighter Jake Ellenberger's autograph on this 8x10 photograph.

After Ellenberger signed Eddie Guardado popped out to speak to some of the event handlers, and I got Guardado's autograph on this 8x10 photograph. It was nice to add the two-time All Star and recent member of the Twins' Hall of Fame to the collection.

It was a good start so far and then Ian Kinsler arrived. Kinsler autographed this 8x10 photograph really nicely signature wise, but he signed on a dark spot so it's a little tough to see. Needless to say I was a little disappointed even though I'm still glad I got it signed.

I was disappointed about the nice Kinsler signature being in a tough spot, eventually Adrian Beltre came out and I was able to get his autograph. Beltre's one of my favorite players so I'm really glad to add a nice clean Beltre autographed photograph to my collection of the Gold Glover at work.

After Beltre left the next autograph I was able to get was a big one for me. It was my first time getting Adrian Gonzalez's autograph and I was excited to put the Silver Slugger, Gold Glover All star's signature in my collection on this photo. Making the photo even nicer to me is a opted for a photo of him still playing with the Padres and swinging a nice Trinity Bat Co. piece of wood.

After Gonzalez left the next autograph I got was a surprising one but it was a good one I was very excited to have. 3-time Olympic gold medalist Misty May Treanor was in attendance with her husband MLB player Matt Treanor. I got Misty May autograph a baseball on the sweetspot and then had Matt Treanor sign the ball also and he got a kick that she had already signed the sweet spot before he could.

The last thing I was able to get was this Michael Young autographed 8x10 photograph even though like his former teammate he also signed it in a spot where it's tough to see. I'm glad I was finally able to put something from the 7x All Star in my collection since he's been a great consistent player to watch growing up.

The whole thing was a great event and there were even more signers there at the event that I either couldn't get or didn't have anything for them to sign. It was definitely a nice way to wrap up the off season and add some major names and nice items into my collection.

RBI (200) More Ronda Rousey...

I was able to pick up this Ronda Rousey autographed poster and add it to my collection. There's no doubt now that I'll be adding more Ronda pieces whenever I can. I was able to get this autographed poster through participating in a contest supported by the Team Rousey that raises awareness and earns rice for the World Food Program. It's a great cause and part of how Ronda prepares for her upcoming fights, putting a spotlight on those who hunger while she makes weight to fight and maintain her reign as UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. This specific poster was what I earned from the contest when Ronda prepared to fight Miesha Tate.

I'm not sure if I'll get this one PSA'ed like my 11x14 Ronda but I'm thinking it deserves a frame still.

RBI (199) Tarec Saffiedine...

If you saw the previous post about Liz Carmouche's autograph I sent out a few TTM's though they weren't the normal baseball ttm requests that I send out. I sent autograph requests to MMA fighters and today I got a successful reply from UFC fighter and former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Tarec Saffiedine.

I was happy to get Saffiedine's autograph because I like him as a fighter and am looking forward to him having a successful career in the UFC. He has the distinction of being the last Strikeforce champion ever winning the welterweight belt against Nate Marquardt in the promotion's final fight before closing. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do now that he's gotten off to a solid start winning Fight of the Night honors in his UFC debut. The photo that I sent to him is actually from his win in his UFC debut against Hyun Gyu Lim.

I got this Tarec Saffiedine autographed 8x10 photograph returned to me after days that I sent to him at Dan Henderson's gym. He was nice enough to inscribe it to me "To Ryan Tx for the support" and I'm glad to have Tarec Saffiedine's autograph in my collection.

You can follow Tarec Saffiedine (@tarecfighter) on Twitter.

RBI (198) Liz Carmouche…

Recently I started to prepare for the upcoming baseball season by printing out some photos to start loading up my folder for this season. While going through my box of photos I still had from last year I ran across a few of the MMA photos I hadn't been able to get signed yet. I decided to pop by the post office and send a TTM request to UFC fighter Liz Carmouche.

Carmouche made history becoming the first woman to enter the octagon to fight women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 157 in Anaheim. I hadn't been able to get Carmouche's autograph during fight week so I decided to take a shot through the mail.

I got this Liz Carmouche autographed 8x10 photograph from her pre-UFC days back in only 6 days after I sent it to her care of her gym. She's currently preparing to fight again for the promotion against Miesha Tate so I'm grateful she took some time from her training to sign for a fan. Also I really appreciate how she took the time to find the dark spot of the photo to sign with her silver sharpie, it's the little things that show if a signer cares or not and it means a lot to me that she did.

It was a historic moment for Liz to walk into the Octagon in the UFC and I'm glad I was there to see it happen in person. I'm glad to include both female fighters in my collection now from that night.

You can follow Liz Carmouche @iamgirlrilla on Twitter.

Ronda Rousey

It's not a secret I'm a big UFC fan and that I'm a huge Ronda Rousey fan especially after going to UFC 157. Ronda Rousey's hot, an Olympic medalist, a UFC champion and a general badass there's too much to not like. After striking out at the UFC World Tour Los Angeles I decided I wanted to add a Ronda autograph especially before it became even more difficult to get one. With her being a coach on the 18th season of the Ultimate Fighter, fighting Miesha Tate as co-main event with Anderson Silva and Chris Wieddman and getting ready to film the Expendables 3 getting Rousey to sign will be even tougher.

I got this Ronda Rousey autographed 11x14 photograph on ebay for a pretty fair price and I'm stoked to have a Ronda Rousey autograph in my collection especially after I got it PSA authenticated.

RPS (9) Autograph Recap Dan Henderson's Gym Grand Opening 8/18/13

I went to Temecula to go to the Grand Opening of UFC/MMA legend Dan Henderson's Gym. Hendo was scheduled to be there to celebrate the opening of the gym along with other MMA fighters including Tarec Saffiedine, Sam Smiley and referee Big John McCarthy.

I showed up to the event right when it was scheduled to start and there was a small crowd inside the gym. I walked in and right away spotted Dan Henderson greeting people as they walked in, taking photos and doing a few autographs. You can see Sam Smiley talking to people in his Team Carwin jersey from The Ultimate Fighter in the background.

I pulled out my clipboard and got Hendo to sign for me. Dan Henderson autographed another copy of this photograph since I got one at the UFC 157 open workouts but it was in silver and didn't show too well when I tried to frame it.

After he knocked out the first photo I had Dan Henderson autograph this photograph from UFC 157 of Henderson vs Lyoto Machida when he was co-main even with Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche. I told him I thought he got robbed in the decision and he said it was what it was and it couldn't change now.

After Hendo signed for me we took a photo together and I decided that was a good day for me after I walked around taking photos of Henderson's championship belts and the gym. There is a full size octagon, plenty of floor space, plenty of punching bags, a separate wrestling mat area, free weights, various machines and a room for smaller classes in the gym. It looks like it's a great facility to learn MMA or BBJ that shouldn't have people on top of each other when they're working out and I hope Hendo's team there has a lot of success.

I looked for photos of the other fighters who were going to be at the gym and I spotted them all but couldn't find anything I really wanted to print out to get signed so I bought a shirt to support Hendo's gym and went home. I wish graphing could always be that easy and fun.

If you're interested in going there, Dan Henderson's gym address is 27901 Jefferson Ave. Temecula, CA and if you want to follow Dan Henderson's Twitter it's @danhendo.

UFC World Tour Los Angeles 2013 7/30/13

If you noticed from the posts of me graphing the UFC 157 Open Workouts, UFC 157 Fanfest/the fight and the Arianny Celeste and Brittany Palmer appearance I'm a pretty big UFC fan. So I decided to go to the UFC World Tour Los Angeles press conference/media appearance hoping to graph some of the top fighters in the UFC. I woke up, made the drive into Los Angeles and found some parking by LA Live since the event was at Club Nokia. I had never been in Club Nokia so I wasn't sure where I'd be able to catch the fighters and found what I hoped to be a solid spot to catch the fighters.

My main goal was to get the autograph of Olympic Judo medalist and UFC Women's champion Ronda Rousey. I wasn't able to get Ronda to sign for me because despite everyone there being an elite fighter she was definitely the most popular and sought after. It was really disappointing to me to miss out on Ronda again with this being the 5th attempt to get her autograph. I broke down and eventually did get a Rousey autograph.

I did have a good amount of success though because immediately the first autograph I was able to get was a UFC legend, the Rush himself. I was able to get a Georges St. Pierre autographed 8x10 photo as my first signature of the day, definitely one of the best autographs I've gotten period, and I'm glad GSP signed first so I could not worry about getting him.

After St. Pierre signed my picture I was able to get the number contender in the light heavyweight division. Alexander Gustafsson autographed this 8x10 for me and laughed when I asked him to use some of his reach to grab my photo in the crowd, which he did and signed the photo for me.

A little bit after Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson signed for me his opponent the current light heavy weight champion and one the UFC's greatest champions Jon "Bones" Jones autographed this 8x10 photograph for me.

The next person to sign for me was someone I had missed out on at the UFC 157 fanfest, The Ultimate Fighter season 18 coach Miesha Tate. I ran into her while she was coming in but Miesha would only sign at the event table. Even though "Cupcake" Tate lost to Cat Zingano the right to coach the season and a title shot an injury forced Zingano out so Miesha gets another crack at Ronda and there is no love lost between the two in the bitterest rivalry in the sport. I've got autographs of most of the women now in the UFC's womens division with this Miesha Tate autographed photo but still no Rousey.

When Jon Jones finished signing UFC owner Dana White autographed this 8x10 photograph for me that I had printed out hoping to get signed when I went to UFC 157.

My last autograph of the day was GSP's opponent for the welterweight belt Johny Hendricks. He was the last fighter to leave the event and signed tons of autographs and took his time to pose for photographs with everyone that asked. He was nice enough to not only make it a Johny Hendricks autographed photo but to inscribe "Bigg Rigg" under his name on the 8x10.

The UFC World Tour is an awesome idea and I'm glad that I was able to get quality autographs from so many of the UFC's true elite fighters. I only missed out on Ronda Rousey, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos' autographs which I think is reasonably impressive. It was a great event and I'm really happy that the tour started in Los Angeles since by the end of the tour I'm sure they're all going to be exhausted. Definitely a great way to add to my MMA/UFC autograph collection.

UFC 157 and Fanfest

As you've seen from a few previous posts I went to fight week for UFC 157 in Anaheim. I went to the UFC's fanfest the day of the fight at the Honda Center. It was interesting to me as everyone in line with me was a UFC fan or collector. Obviously I'm a big baseball fan and collect baseball autograph's so it was interesting meeting people who primarily collect fighters.

The first autograph of the day that I was able to get is definitely one of the best and one of my favorites. I got a photo signed by UFC legend Matt Hughes. Matt was really nice and signed with my Gold Sharpie, and when I said "Mr. Hughes would you sign UFC Hall of Famer" he smiled and said, "Call me Matt, no problem" then he inscribed "9x Champ & HOF" when I got this Matt Hughes autographed 8x10 photograph.

After getting Hughes I went to the closest line a few feet away that was of about 6 people while everyone was waiting for Hughes and got a signed stock photo of Sara McMann given out by UFC. Sara was really nice and pleasant so I'm glad I added the photo to my collection instead of skipping it like a lot of people.

Signing with Sara was Travis Browne who also autographed this photograph.

The next autograph I got was one of a fighter I was really excited to meet. Fighter Erik Perez came out to his fight at UFC 155 wearing a luchador mask to celebrate his heritage and being the first 100% Mexican fighter in the UFC. He won a decisive victory in his fight and you can see him celebrating after the win. He also signed a poster for my mom who became a fan after watching his fight. I'm glad to have this Erik Perez autographed photograph and he offered to sign another poster for me too but I declined because the photo was more than enough.

Signing with Erik Perez was fighter Alexis Davis who recently joined the UFC promotion as part of the growing women's division. Alexis Davis was happy to autograph this photograph for me and it turned out nicely.

After getting Perez and Davis I got in line to score one of my favorite fighters and one of the most exciting to watch Anthony "Showtime" Pettis who was really nice and inscribed "Showtime" under his name. I've already got this Anthony Pettis autographed photo in the rotation of photo's I frame in my room.

With Showtime was fighter Mark Munoz who I didn't have anything for, so Mark Munoz autographed the stock photo UFC provided.

After getting Showtime and Munoz I got in a very long line and waited a few hours to score one of the most recognizable names beyond fight fans, Chuck "Iceman" Liddell. Liddell was nice and quickly signed my photo for me as well as inscribing "Iceman" I was happy to get this Chuck Liddell autographed photo since he's much more than just a fighter.

Alongside Liddell was recent UFC signee and The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 coach Cat Zingano. There was a really long line for Liddell who had more than 200 people in line with most of them asking him to sign multiples for them which he did for most people that asked. Not too many of them looked interested in getting Zingano's autograph even though there were the stock photos provided and many declined. I was actually looking forward to it and when she asked if I wanted an autograph said yes. She reached for a stock photo I told her I actually had something for her and she was shocked. When I pulled out my photo she was pretty excited about the shot I printed out and smiled asking my name signing it to me "<3 Cat The Alpha Zingano"

That wrapped up my graphing seeing as I got shot down by Miesha Tate as she walked into the event saying she would sign at a table, but I wanted to get inside and watch all of the fights on the undercard so I passed on getting in her line.

The fight itself was awesome and I'm really happy to have gone in person to watch.

After the fight let out I decided to try my luck graphing any fighters that would come out. I went to my car and on my way back to the most likely exit ran into fighter Lavar Johnson who was making his way to car after his loss that night. He quickly signed this mini fight card handout of Ronda Rousey, Liz Carmouche, Dan Henderson, and Lyoto Machida for me and left.

I had 1st UFC Head Referee Big John McCarthy autograph it also, Big John was the ref who brought the bantam weight title fight of Rousey putting Carmouche in armbar to a stop.

Referee legend Herb Dean also came out so I quickly was happy to add him to the mini poster.

That wrapped up my experience of going to UFC 157 and it really was a great one. I had an awesome time during fight week, graphing, and at the fight itself seeing Ronda Rousey do work.

RBI (122) Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer Poster

If you saw my earlier post I went to the UFC open workouts for UFC 157. I enjoyed the entire fight week making it out to the open workouts, went to the weigh ins to graph but ended up taking some photos with a few celebrities, the fan fest (I'll get to that eventually), the fight itself and one of the most interesting events of the whole week. Meeting UFC ring girls and cover models Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer was definitely an interesting event.

They had an autograph signing after the weigh-ins across from the Honda center for a few hours and I was able to get a bit of graphing in. I was lucky enough to meet up with Benson, James and a few other usual graphers at the event and we caught up while waiting to meet the girls. Everyone was way more prepared for the event than me coming with multiple 8x10's and magazines. I showed up assuming I could buy something for the ladies to sign from their line of products for about the same cost as getting an FHM magazine with quick delivery off ebay. I was correct and bought this poster to get signed.

I'm pretty pleased with my purchase and how it turned out being signed. Despite being ring girls, I feel like they're pretty important personalities within the UFC and really help draw to the sport. Let's face it Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer are hot, and really active on instagram and twitter so they're definitely popular with the fans. I'm pleased to have scored their autograph, meet them, take a photo and bring them into my collection. Just saying, who is going to complain about having a poster of Brittney Palmer and Arianny Celeste in a bikini in their collection?

If you're interested in more gorgeous girls in posters and their autograph you check out my growing collection of Shay Maria posters here, here and here.

Arianny Celeste's twitter is Arianny Celeste (AriannyCeleste) on Twitter

Brittney Palmer's twitter is Brittney Palmer (BrittneyPalmer) on Twitter

A side note. If you haven't noticed this off season I've been branching out from graphing just baseball. The TTM's have slowed down mainly because I'm slightly discouraged by my terrible return numbers, costs, and being overwhelmed by the project and work. The in person events have needed to be some sort of big event like the Cory Hahn fundraiser and Padres fan fest. I'm looking forward to getting back to graphing baseball, but I've been enjoying my break from it.

UFC 157 Open Workouts

For the past few years I've been developing into a bigger fan of the UFC. Growing up my family always was sure to get big ticket boxing matches on pay-per-view, but when I left for college I was no longer able to go to the family get togethers and watch. The next best thing was watching UFC fights for free on Spike with my college roommates, and my roommates sister's boyfriend was a UFC fan also who would order the fights when it was a title fight.

UFC 157 is in Anaheim and I immediately splurged the day tickets went up for sale on what I hope to be a good seat. The open workouts were held today and I made the trip out hoping to get some autographs of the fighters on the main card. Of the 6 fighters who came, I was able to get 3 to sign an autograph for me.

The first autograph I got was fighter Ivan Menjivar. Ivan's a fun fighter to watch and crazily is a security guard at an airport. I know I'll definitely feel more safe when flying now that I know a professional MMA fighter is checking ID's.

The next to sign for me was the legendary Dan Henderson who was nice enough to sign for most of the crowd and personalized all his autographs. Hendo is a serious name in the MMA world so I was shocked to see the rumors were true about how great a signer he is. This Dan Henderson autographed photo is definitely one of my favorites.

Finally I was able to get fan favorite Urijah Faber to autograph this 8x10 photo and he inscribed his nickname "Calif(ornia) Kid" on the photo. I'm definitely glad to have scored the former WEC champion and perennial fan favorite.

And because I can, here's a photo of the insanely awesome Ronda Rousey training photo I took. Rousey is fighting in the first women's UFC fight ever at UFC 157 to defend her title and I'm really excited to see her step in the octagon. After seeing her power and speed at the workout, I'm fairly certain she could fight here way to a title shot if she went against the men in the UFC. I was disappointed I couldn't get a Ronda Rousey autograph but I did eventually get one.

This was my first time trying to graph UFC since the fights are held all over the world and I wasn't really sure what to expect. I like that all the fighters signed even if not all of them signed very much, but they seemed for the most part willing to put their signature out there for their fans. Now that I have a better idea of what it's like graphing UFC I think I'll be better prepared next time and hopefully get a few more fighters and autographs. This was the first part of my UFC graphing experience and I'm glad I graphed the workouts, an Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer appearance, UFC fanfest and the fight itself. I want to throw a quick shout out to Steven from Zim's autographs who I hung out with at the event.