Wow, I have to say this far surpassed any expectation I had.
Great experience. I saw old friends, forum members from here and the UG, talked to Valentjin Overeem, and meeting Dana was the highlight of my year for sure!
Where I sat ended up being the first row and Dana was perched right up in front. I thought he'd stay for 20, 30 minutes tops, he stayed for over an hour answering any and all questions, and telling some good anecdotes along the way.
He said that Chuck and Matt(Hughes) don't work for shit they just collect paychecks, but Forrest does actual work.
He said that they offered Fedor more money than they've offered any other fighter, and on the plane ride back Lorenzo said "Thank God they turned that offer down" lol
I asked him two questions, and this is what they were
The 2nd one was if he thinks UFC can ever get more violent like adding headbutts and/or knees/kicks to a grounded opponent. The guy was convinced there's no way the athletic commissions would allow it. When I followed up with "are you sure?", he said "can you imagine trying to pitch a woman headbutting another woman in the face on Fox tv". He made a good point, it's unfortunate, but he made a point I see.
The first one was Awesome! I got to ask about if he'd be open for more draws. I explained that so many fights are too close, I gave examples on both ends how Hunt/Bigfoot was a draw and no one complained. I said that Henderson/Shogun, while a great fight, one guy was granted a LHW title shot, and the other one was co-main eventing against Brandon Vera on Fox. Dana replied with how you've seen him snap at reports, "Who goes to a soccer game and the final score is 4-4, whose happy about that"?
I said true, but my point is, I know you and UFC have no control over judging, and I trust UFC match making over judging, that's all.
He made a face gesture like, "alright, I'll give you that, you got a point there". I hope I planted a seed.