Promoting

I'd never thought about what fight promoters do when they aren't holding press conferences or swimming in money pools like Scrooge McDuck. But the latest episode of "UFC Primetime", hyping tomorrow's rematch between BJ Penn and Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title, showed me that blokes like the savvy Dana White also need to keep tabs on their combatants - to make sure they're preparing properly and there's no danger of the punters being disappointed.

As soon as Hawaiian BJ decided to take a beach break away from the gym, word filtered back to Dana, who was straight on the phone to Penn's trainer. Unfortunately, there's not much a promoter can do when the person from whom he seeks reassurance massages the truth...until he eventually sees the footage of what happened.

If Quebecois Georges is victorious, which I predict he will be, questions could be asked about training intensity. Then again, they don't call BJ "The Prodigy" for nothing, and given the legitimate heat between the two (a bloodied St-Pierre was the points winner of their first meeting and the pre-fight trash talk has been particularly nasty), I'm tempted to blow 40 quid that I really should be saving on "UFC #94".


Reading: "Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights" (2002-03) by Vankin/Fisher/Camuncoli/Martinbrough.