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.

RBI (197) More Tianna G

If you missed my previous post about getting a print of Tianna G, I suggest you check it out. I opted to pick up another Tianna G print to rotate through the frames on my wall and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I mean…Tianna G is hot, who wouldn't be happy with it.

Not bad huh? I'm not sure I'll ever be able to pass up picking a print or poster of Tianna G if I've got the chance to snag one. Between Shay Maria, Tianna G and Alysha Nett I'm thinking I'll need to find a copy of the Dawn and Justene Jaro to add in.

RBI (196) Mike Epps at Ontario Improv 1/17/14

Part of my goal for this past off season was to increase the events I graph. I tried out the NHL by graphing the Ducks, went to a new charity event and to wrap up the season decided to try out a comedy club. Actor and comedian Mike Epps was performing at the Ontario Improv so I decided to try getting him to put in my collection. He's hilarious and been in numerous hit movies so I thought it'd be a fun way to try graphing something new while adding part of Hollywood to my collection.

To be honest this was a lot harder than I anticipated. First off the Ontario Improv has 3 different entry doors with 4 different parking lots with 3 separate walkways and rear mall access. Essentially to have no blind spot you're too far back from the different lots to actually do anything besides see the guy walk in. To make matters even better I decided to go hang out and wait on a Friday during a 3-day weekend. Did I mention the Improv is directly across from an AMC movie theatre and Gameworks also shares the courtyard too? Yeah supposedly I'm supposed to be good at this kind of thing.

I missed Mike Epps walking in because of misplaying my positioning with the lots and just being overwhelmed with the sheer volume of faces to check as they walked into and out of the mall/Gameworks/AMC. I returned home disappointed to miss my chance but after recharging my batteries and catching a bite to eat I decided I wouldn't be blanked by Mike Epps. I returned to the club to try catching him after his second show. Well wouldn't you know I was able to find him the second time!

First he was nice enough to sign a photo of him playing Day-Day in Friday After Next. Yes he did misspell my name, but I don't think Day-Day would be that great a speller do you?

After signing the first photo he signed a photo from The Hangover 3 playing Black Doug, but he spelled my name correctly in this one.

I'm really glad to add these Mike Epps' autographed photographs to my collection considering he's been in numerous successful movie franchises. The "Friday", "Hangover and "Resident Evil" franchises are all some serious credits so I'm happy to have Epps autograph. He was really pleasant to talk to, didn't mind taking the time to signing the multiples and took a photo with me. It was a great experience to meet him and I'm glad I stepped up my game to get the actor's autograph.

RBI (195) Taijuan Walker...

At the end of the year I was able to do a nifty trade with one of my friends from the stadium that unlike the real baseball world was actually able to help both of us out. In the trade I was able to get Seattle Mariners stud pitching prospect Taijuan Walker. The Mariners have been making waves with their moves this past off season and Walker is one of the reasons why management is looking to finally make a real line up to put up runs for the rotation. Felix Hernandez, Iwakuma, Walker and fellow prospect Danny Hultzen are making the rest of the American League take note of the pitchers the Mariners will be putting on the mound for this year.

I'm looking forward to seeing Walker develop into a big leaguer so I'm glad to have this Taijuan Walker autographed baseball in my collection from this early in what hopes to be a bright career.

Autograph Opportunity, February 8, 2014 Vince Ferragamo

Well folks I thought it'd be a good way to start off 2014 by passing along a Southern California autograph appearance, this one by former NFL QB Vince Ferragamo. Ferragamo is of Los Angeles Rams and Super Bowl XIV fame, appearing on 2 Sports Illustrated covers so he's a nifty pick up for collectors. There are few NFL autograph opportunities in Southern California so be sure to take advantage of the chance graciously provided by Dr. Alex Corbin Liu, an optometrist to the stars and friend of autograph seekers.

Vince Ferragamo will appear at Dr. Liu's practice in Rowland Heights on Saturday February 8, 2014 from 2:00-3:00 for an autograph and photo opportunity. I've heard previous events held by Dr. Liu have been top notch so check it out if you've got the chance to make it to this Southern California autograph signing.