UFC 329: McGregor versus Holloway and Knee Injury Healing

UFC 329: McGregor vs. Holloway was shaping up to be a very good UFC event until the main event happened. It was incredibly disappointing that the main event ended so quickly after McGregor threw his first strike, a jumping kick, and subsequently injured his knee on the landing. After a few more seconds and with him constantly falling to the ground, the fight was over. After all the hype with McGregor coming back after years away from the sport of MMA, this was the worst outcome for him. Otherwise, Paddy Pimblett did very well and got a nice submission victory. I am still hesitant to say that he is a champion-level UFC Lightweight, but he has been constantly proving me wrong. Brandon Royval got a nice win overall an up-and-comer. Mario Bautista got a big win over Cory Sandhagen. King Green got a come from behind win over Terrance McKinney. Robert Whitaker got a good TKO victory in his new weight class of light heavyweight, and Gable Steveson had a fun fight and victory in his UFC debut. With a lot of finishes, meaningful fights, and winners that set up interesting next matchups, this should have been a slam dunk event had it not been for that main event outcome.

I actually got a knee injury on the outside area of my right knee. It really only affected me when I was walking, as I would feel instability and a strange shooting pain if I kept walking on it as if bone was touching bone. I used a knee sleeve, and I was able to walk relatively normally without feeling pain. Eventually, I could walk and even run relatively normally without any pain. Then, it got re-injured while walking as a made a right turn. The knee sleeve was also having less effectiveness. It was very troubling and frustrating, to say the least. Walking in public with a limp and having people ask about it was awkward. This stayed for a few days, and I am set for an X-ray. However, the other day, I took a Motrin ibuprofen, and while I felt a strange feeling on that part of my knee, I was not feeling pain, so I walked with caution but a lot better. Then, later in the day, I did not feel the strange feeling on my knee at all, but the effects of the medicine should have ended. The next day, I walked cautiously, but with no knee sleeve and without that awkwardness. Since then, I have progressively been walking normally, but still with some level of caution, especially with right turns. I plan to still get the X-ray, and if it finds nothing, then an MRI. However, the fact that the worst effects vanished so suddenly feels like an act of God.

Jo Koy, Edwin San Juan and the 4th of July

My wife and I watched Jo Koy after work on a Monday at the Irvine Improv. He does these “pop up” events where tickets are sold the day of, and this one was sold out in thirty minutes. Somehow, my wife got tickets. There also is no VIP tickets, so those who came early can get front row seats. We got there right after work, and got near the front of the line. Jo Koy actually came to the line and said “hi” to us. When we were seated, we got seats near the front, and my wife likes to get called on by the comedians. There were two comedians opening for Jo Koy, who I remember being okay. Once Jo Koy came out, it was great. He talked about these pop ups being something of gaining material, so his whole set was improvised. He started with crowd work, and he picked on two guys in the front row named Josh and Cameron. Josh ordered a beer called ‘Space Dust,’ and Jo Koy would always take it. By the end of the event, Jo Koy drank three of those. He also picked on the two black women in front of me, and also my wife, who he was calling by name. Incredibly, Jo Koy went two hours. After the first hour, he told the audience that he had nowhere to go and just kept going. He told a lot of personal stories, and his family was there, as he also told stories involving his family, who was there in the audience. Somewhere after the one-hour mark, it felt more like us, the audience, just hanging out with Jo Koy with him continuing the crowd work and telling stories. Thankfully, there were pretty much no political jokes, which was refreshing. At the beginning of the set, he called and Facetimed for all to see someone that I did not recognize, but who was clearly famous. At the end of the night, he told a story of him and Tiffany Haddish coming up in standup comedian involving them buying bacon-wrapped hot dogs, and how Haddish lived in her car and had to eat one hot dog and saved the other. He then told us that they had a hot dog song, which he sang, and I think most believed him but was still skeptical about. He then called and Facetimed her for all to see, putting his phone on top of the mic. They chatted a bit, and he asked about the hot dog song, which she then sang. When the show was done, he stayed on stage to take selfies with anyone who wanted one, and we got one. He then gave out merchandise for free from his previous tour.

On Wednesday night, we went to see Filipino standup comedian, Edwin San Juan, at the Irvine Improv. We got free tickets to this event and had this one planned out a month ahead of time, which is why we went to two standup comedy shows during the weekdays, which we don’t usually do. It was a Filipino night, so there were four comedians who opened the show for Edwin San Juan. Each comedian who came out was better than the last. Edwin San Juan’s set was fun. He did a surprising amount of puns, which I get a kick out of. At one point of his set, he was making a joke talking about doing the splits, and one obviously drunk woman from the audience came towards the stage and said that she could do them. He invited her on stage, and she did the splits as he made sound effects, and this was clearly not scripted as she was just wasted. Like with Jo Koy, there were thankfully no political jokes. After the show, we bought one of his shirts and took a picture with him.

On the 4th of July, we spent it with family and had a party at my parent’s house. It was nice seeing the family along with my nephews and nieces. We brought our dog, Luna, as well, but she did get frightened by the fireworks. The food was great, and like most Filipino parents, had us bring whatever was leftover home with us. Overall, it was a fun time.

Sanu Zayn and Writing New Chapters

Sami Zayn is the Undisputed WWE Champion. That is something that is a long time coming and not something that I expected to see. I have been following his career since he was the independent wrestler, El Generico, and saw him through WWE NXT to the main roster. He went from the mid-card to Title challenger back to mid-card, etc., but he would always find himself back in the Title scene. He always came close, and his popularity has seen highs with him in the Bloodline and fighting against the Bloodline, to being someone in the middle of the card. On WWE Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia, with him in a triple threat versus then-Champion Cody Rhodes and Gunther, Zayn was not the favorite to win and looked to be the one to take the pin. It was such a surprise to see him win. The rest of the card had some good-to-great matches like the steel cage match of Bron Breakker versus Seth Rollins. Oba Femi is the Men’s King of the Ring winner while Iyo Sky is the Women’s King of the Ring winner; both well-deserved.

On the writing front, I am splitting one chapter into three chapters for The Land of the Wooden Statues. I have done this before with this book, as I constantly foreshadowed this place called The Dreary. When it came time for the main character to enter this place, it was only one chapter. After re-reading and editing, I realized that one chapter was not enough for this part of the story, and it became three chapters. It was a great decision as in those chapters, I could explore the “lore” of the place along with adding some character development. So, I am doing that again as I have built up this big battle in the story. There are characters that are learning and training for this big battle, and when it came, it was only one chapter. This one chapter also was just a few pages. There are a lot of characters involved, and I can definitely write about each character, their roles in the battle and their perspectives among other things. Admittedly, inserting new chapters like this when the story is actually done is a difficult task. I do not want to just add filler content that adds nothing to the story. Also, thinking of new stuff to add can be tough as well. However, it needs to be done.

Sami Zayn, and the WWE, just added a new chapter to his story, and it is one where he finally reached the top of his industry. I am adding new chapters to The Land of the Wooden Statues to make this book even better.

Steve Trevino and Father’s Day 2026

My wife and I went to see comedian, Steve Trevino, at the Brea Improv. It was our third time seeing him, and we pretty much have seen a show of his once a year. At this point, Steve Trevino is our favorite standup comedian. Unlike many comedians that we have seen, he does not rely on sexual or crass humor. He mainly makes jokes about his wife, kids and family life. After he says a joke, I observe the audience, and many of them give a nod, some sort of expression or say something that communicates that they can relate to the joke. He is really good at making everyday happenings funny yet relatable. The night though did not start out great as we order food and beverages, and somehow, we were charged for extra items. It did not get us in the mood for comedy, but thankfully, the staff fixed the issue, and we were able to enjoy the show.

The day before Father’s Day was my nephew’s birthday. Our family decided to combine both his birthday and Father’s Day into one celebration. It was interesting this year knowing a few more friends, family and acquaintances that have recently become fathers. Also, it is amazing to see their kids gradually getting older and growing up. Steve Trevino talked about fathers during his show, and he found it particularly special to be a “girl dad.” Hopefully, it will happen with me and my wife one day, but it will be in God’s time.

It was a weekend for family and friends. At the show, there were many couples who were also parents. We also spent time with our adult relatives along with younger relatives. I suppose that is something of the cycle of life.

Obsession and UFC 250 Freedom

My wife and I watched the movie, “Obsession,” and we both liked it. I found it surprisingly good, as my expectations quite honestly were not particularly high for it coming in. I’ve heard the story that it cost less than one million dollars to make, it was shot in three weeks, it was created by a YouTuber, and it has so far made eighty-plus-million dollars. The movie was very relatable with the main male character, Bear, who really wasn’t going anywhere in life being in love with his friend, Nikki. However, he was too afraid to tell her how he felt about her, so he used a One Wish Willow, which would be a ‘monkey’s paw’ to the movies story, to make her love him and be obsessed with him. Nikki in particular starts to degrade and get clingier and more obsessed with Bear in the worst way as time went on. In the middle of the movie, I actually started to feel bad for Bear and Nikki. With Bear, his weakness and cowardice created the situation but also kept it getting worse and worse from his inability to take any real action. With Nikki, I was actually feeling sorry for her as there was a psychological component to her, and while there was a horror element to her actions, it seemed akin to a manic episode as she got more jealous and obsessed with Bear. Considering what was going on with the two leads, the movie almost seemed like an examination of mental health and mental illness. I listened to reviews of the movie as well, and many reviewers had various opinions of what was going on and what things meant. Overall, it was just a good movie with horror, comedy, drama and suspense that I would recommend.

UFC 250 Freedom also happened during the weekend, and it was a great event, in my opinion. The whole setup was just amazing to look at. The weigh-ins with the bald eagle flying was very neat, and the weather turned out to be just fine. Certain things like the initial walkout with President Trump along with Dana White, and how the fighters came from the White House to the Octagon really stood out. As far as the fights themselves, all of them had finishes. Outside of the main event and co-main event, the favorites won their fights. Up until the main event, no fight went to the third round, and all the finishes were KO’s or TKO’s. The surprise of the night though was then UFC Interim Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje defeating then UFC Lightweight Champion Ilia Topuria. Coming into the fight, I thought that Topuria would win easily, and Justin Gaethje was a 6-to-1 underdog in some betting lines. It was a crazy fight that ended after the fourth round via corner stoppage, with Topuria’s eye shut and his face messed up. For all the hype for this UFC at the White House, that will quite honestly most likely will never happen again, everything just worked out. The weather was good, the energy was good, all fights had finishes, and the main event was an exciting fight with a surprise, upset victory.

It goes to show that creative types and visionaries can create great entertainment. It did not take a lot of money or a big-time director to create Obsession, but just someone from YouTube who was creative and had a vision for a movie that was different enough from what Hollywood has been offering. With the UFC, the stars just aligned to make this grandiose UFC event at the White House, one that no one envisioned ever happening.

Another World and No Dog for a Week

My wife and I watched the Chinese animated movie, Another World. It was very good, but also, some scenes were very disturbing and brutal. It looks like a kid’s movie, but it is far from it. The movie follows Gudo, a spirit guide in the afterlife tasked with escorting a recently deceased, rage-cursed girl named Yuri toward her reincarnation. Over a 1,000-year underworld journey, they explore the complexities of human emotion and confront sins from Yuri's past. It can be very grim, brutal and disturbing at times with children getting killed and slaughtered, mass murder, mutilation, and other horrific events unfolding. Admittedly, there were some scenes that made me feel a bit uneasy. However, the animation was just beautiful with a few really well-done action sequences as well. The themes and ideas presented does at times make humanity look bad, but there is an idea of forgiveness and that people can be saved despite sin or bad circumstances. I would ultimately recommend this movie, but it is definitely not for children and not for the squeamish as well.

We are also going to be without our dog, Luna, for a week. My wife and I still remain in contact with Luna’s previous owner, and we have even asked her to look after Luna when we are on vacation. She asked if she could look after Luna for a week, and we obliged. It is an adjustment though. We do expect Luna to wait for us by the door and to get excited with her tail wagging when we come into our place. It will be an adjustment not having to prepare her food and water, or not to walk her. She does go on the bed a few times, and there are other cute things that she does that will be missed. Thankfully, it is just a week.

We actually dropped Luna off at a park that just so happened to have a car show that same day and time. It was neat because it was a car show primarily for classic American cars, and I gained some familiarity with those types of cars watching Counting Cars, American Restoration, Pawn Stars and American Pickers.

Sheryl Underwood and WWE Clash in Italy

My wife went to see comedian, Sheryl Underwood, live at the Standup Comedy Club in Bellflower, CA. She was one of the guests on the Kevin Hart Roast and thought that she was one of the better guests on there. The venue itself was a smaller, intimate venue where there weren’t any bad seats in the house. The audience was primarily black, and the performance catered to that particularly audience. Sheryl Underwood actually started the set. A lot of her initial set was political, with some things I agreed with, and other things I did not agree with. She then left and comedian, Kyle Erby, took the stage. He was pretty good, talking about being a former teacher and talking about relationships. Sheryl Underwood then came back on the stage and did a set with Erby. Her shtick was a mix of political commentary, gospel, and comedy. There was some “inside baseball” as she used terms and phrases that only the black community would be familiar with. There was a lot of attitude and personality in the room, and she said that she enjoyed doing more of these club-type shows. Overall, it was fine and definitely a much different experience than what my wife and I were used to.

I also watch the WWE Clash in Italy PLE, and I thought it was a fun event. Roman Reigns defeated Jacob Fatu in the main event, and there looks to have an interesting fallout to that for everyone involved that seems to include Sola Sikoa and the MFTs. Sol Ruca winning the Women’s Intercontinental Championship from Becky Lynch was a good win for Ruca early on her main roster run. Brock Lesnar defeated Oba Femi to tie their series of matches, and a third one will most likely happen sooner rather than later. There weren’t any surprises on the card, but the in-ring action was solid, and storylines were advanced. The WWE product in general has been more on a downturn, but solid shows and some things to look forward to like King/Queen of the Ring should help the product get back on its feet.

Circus Vargas and The Next Story

My wife and I went to Circus Vargas in Laguna Hills. We usually go to Cirque de Soleil at this time of year in Laguna Hills, but it was not in town this year, and Circus Vargas was. My expectations were moderate for Circus Vargas, as I thought that it would be a fun show, as it is the circus, after all. Cirque de Soleil feels more like a play or theater with the circus-like acrobatics, stunts, big set pieces and whatnot, but Circus Vargas felt more like an old-school big top circus. There are the acrobatics, stunts and all that, but there was more of a fun, family-friendly vibe to it. There were segments in-between the bigger performances that were more lighthearted, and at times, they will get audience members to participate. At one point, one of the performers was going around the audience and choosing people, and I was picked. My wife figured that I would, as she saw the guy looking at me. There were six of us audience members on the stage along with one performer, and we had to ring a bell at certain times. They were a few comical moments, and overall, it was a good experience. The performances were also fun, with the main highlight being the globe of death where stunt riders ride motorcycles inside a mesh sphere ball. There were four riders, and it was quite a sight to see. One thing that surprised me was seeing the same performers doing different routines or stunts. For example, one person doing the tightrope walk also was a rider in the globe of death. Also, many performances were done by a family, showing that the circus life really is a family affair, and from what I’ve read, these are families that have been circus performers for generations.

I’ve been really progressing on editing The Land of the Wooden Statues and am planning to finish it this summer. Having a standing desk really changed the speed and efficiency of my writing and editing. With it being near completion, I am thinking about my next book. I have already done some brainstorming and wrote down some ideas, and there is a general idea of what the story is about. I have been watching some fantasy anime lately and have been noticing that some of the more well-known and highly rated fantasy anime will have a little bit of mystery to it. My books so far have been relatively straightforward, but I want this new one to be a bit more mature and have a little bit of that mystery to it that’ll help carry the story. I am actually looking forward to writing this new work, and with new skills to implement and wanting this to be a bit more mature, I am looking forward to this challenge.

I am glad to have done something different like go to Circus Vargas this Memorial Day weekend. My wife and I could have gone to watch standup comedy or a movie, but those are things that we can do anytime. The circus was in town for just a few weeks, so I figured that this was the best time to go.

Mortal Kombat II and MVP MMA 1: Rousey vs. Carano

My wife and I watched Mortal Kombat II, and it was a fun movie. There were excessive violence, blood and gore, but that is a trademark of the Mortal Kombat video game franchise. Fatalities, great fight scenes, and a lot of them, and just the right amount of humor really made the movie just breeze by. The plot is nothing special, but it works, and while some background knowledge of Mortal Kombat lore would help understand what is going on, it is not necessary. It is not entirely necessary to watch the Mortal Kombat I movie from 2021, or the classic back in the 90’s, but it does give some context as to what is happening and who some of the characters are. Nonetheless, it is fairly easy to follow who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys. Karl Urban was well-cast as main protagonist Johnny Cage, playing a former action star, whose star has faded a long time ago, gets picked to be in the Mortal Kombat tournament to battle for the fate of Earthrealm. He was funny, cocky, arrogant, but can fight and eventually “finds himself” as the movie goes along. Everyone else played their roles well and has their own special abilities and fighting styles. The choreography was really well-done, and there were multiple set pieces where battles took place. Overall, I thought that this was just a lot of fun, and it looks like a third one will get made, which I will watch.

The first MVP MMA fight card happened, and the event was shown on Netflix. The main event has Ronda Rousey fight Gina Carano, in a fight that lasted seventeen seconds with Rousey winning by armbar. For me and many others, this was the predicted result, and it looks like both are retiring from MMA after this, which they probably should. For Carano, this was definitely a disappointing result, but I think that she is finding victory in just making that walk to the cage. Carano was fired from The Mandalorian not too long ago while being seemingly blacklisted from Hollywood, but she lost over one-hundred pounds and seemed to be in a good place in her life, so I think making that walk was the actual goal with the fight just being extra. Rousey gets to leave MMA off of a win after two KO losses in the UFC from Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. They both got paid as well. Some fighters though did not have great nights on the card such as: Nate Diaz, Junior Dos Santos and Philipe Lins. Nate Diaz was a bloody mess fighting Mike Perry, and Lins and Dos Santos got knocked out in brutal fashion. Dos Santos especially needs to stop fighting in any combat sport. The production was really good, but the pacing was not that good. I would imagine that this got a good rating, but I do have to wonder about its sustainability. The card was fun overall though, and having a bunch of finishes does not hurt.

The Roast of Kevin Hart and UFC 328: Chimaev vs. Strickland

My wife and I went to see The Roast of Kevin Hart live in the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA. Our seats were to the side closer to the top, and there was a spotlight that was hard to avoid. Also, there were some people in front of us vaping, which did not sit well with my wife. The event though was a mixed, with some guest stars like Tom Brady, Lizzo, and The Rock. The announced stars included Pete Davidson, Tony Hinchcliffe, Chelsea Handler, Sheryl Underwood, Draymond Green, Jeff Ross, and Regina Hall with Shane Gillis as the host. Some of these jokes were funny, but others just were not particularly funny. My wife and I watch a good amount of standup comedy these days, and one thing that we are cautious about is political jokes. The ones that do not land for us tend to be ones that are just mean-spirited insults or pure political commentary. Also, there was a good amount of dark humor here that was hit or miss. Some of the stars had tragedy strike their loved ones. One problem that I found is that, regardless of if one feels it is tasteful or not, the tragedy itself is the joke or punchline, which is just not funny to me. If they are to go that direction, then at least make comedy derived from the tragedy and not make the tragedy itself the comedy. It was neat though seeing stars like Kevin Hart live.

I also watched UFC 328: Chimaev vs. Strickland over the weekend. Admittedly, there was a good amount of hype for this UFC card. Strickland and Chimaev were getting pretty heated during the buildup to the fight. Then, the fight happens, and they start fist-bumping and just being friendlier than what many thought they would be. The outcome of the fight itself was an upset with Sean Strickland defeating Khamzat Chimaev to regain the UFC Middleweight Title. Chimaev did some unusual things like pull guard in the second round and not shoot for a takedown in some rounds after having a vintage performance in the first round. In the co-main event, Joshua Van defeated Tatsuro Taira to retain the UFC Flyweight Title in a very fun fight. Taira got beat up badly by Van but kept pushing forward. However, he ate one-too-many shots and eventually lost by TKO. Many were doubting Van, but he really showed why he is champion with that fight. Other fights were good with a good amount of submission victories from the likes of Bobby Green, Jim Miller, Yaroslav Amosov and others. Overall, it was a very good night of fights.

Project Hail Mary and Writing Posture

My wife and I watched Project Hail Mary, and it was fantastic. It first appeared to be about a middle school teacher, Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, tasked with saving the world from an alien microorganism, astrophage, that infected the Sun and other stars. We go through his time in space and how her got into the situation that he was in. As the movie progresses though, the real meat of the movie comes when Grace meets an alien, which he names Rocky. They learn to communicate with each other and learn about each other. Eventually, they form a friendship, and Rocky even finds a way for them to live together on Grace’s spaceship. Rocky though is a difficult roommate. The movie presents various ideas about life, purpose, friendship and loneliness. There is also a bigger concept of what is “home” to various beings, and what is it that the protagonists are coming back to. With a combination of comedy, drama and action with an understanding of the human condition, Project Hail Mary was just a very good movie. To top it all off, it does have a happy ending.

I was also thinking about how to improve my writing this week. While I do not have a problem with discipline or procrastination at this point, as I write every day to the point that it is just habitual. However, I noticed that my progress was very slow. I then realized that I was not in an optimal physical position to write in a focused way. Sitting on the chair, I would slouch, and when it was later at night or after Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practice, I would start nodding off on the chair or just sleep sometimes. We have a standing desk, and my wife recommended that I start using it. It has greatly helped me focus better and be in a better posture to write. I am completing more writing and/or editing as well per writing session. This was definitely the component that I needed to write better and more efficiently.

There have actually been some good movies coming out as of late such as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Michael and Project Hail Mary. It is good to see as movies lately have felt like they are more misses than hits. It could just be this season, but I’d much rather there be good movies out than bad ones.

Michael Jackson and Michael

My wife and I watched the movie, Michael, and we loved it. I was always a Michael Jackson fan since I was young. As a kid, when MTV was still primarily playing music videos, they would still play the Thriller music video, which is just iconic. I was born in the 80’s, but my formative years were primarily in the 90’s, so while I knew his songs like Billie Jean, Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Bad, and others, it was his song, Black or White, that was new material to me. There was also Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker video game on the Sega Genesis that me, my brothers and friends would play. Special attacks in the video game had Michael throw his hat at enemies and even do a choreographed dance routine together with everyone on screen. Outside of all that, I used to break dance in high school up until my mid-to-late-twenties, and some Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 songs were break beats.

The movie itself was great. Jaafar Jackson just played Michael Jackson beautifully, and him being Michael’s real-life nephew just adds to the movie. There were so many times in the movie where I thought that it was really Michael Jackson on screen. Especially from breakdancing, I knew the lyrics to a few of his songs and would sing along with them when they played. Michael’s father, Joseph, was definitely a villain in the movie. However, he seemed to have authentically wanted his sons not to have his life working in a steel mill in Gary, Indiana, so he made sure to use their musical talents. However, he was very abusive, manipulative and controlling with them. Michael Jackson was depicted as something of a brilliant, tortured artist, having no real friends and having animals as his friends along with having trauma from his abusive father. Another thing of interest with this movie is that critics generally gave this movie a bad score, while audiences have seemingly loved this movie. The box office has been great, and I expect that it will just keep growing. It does leave one to question why there is such a disparity, and some have concluded that the critics are just so out-of-touch with what general audiences want and enjoy. Others have pointed out that the critics do not like that Michael Jackson was depicted in such a positive light, especially with his later life being riddled with scandals.

Michael Jackson was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime talent that will never be replicated. His artistry and creativity are still being emulated by artists today. It is 2026 with his popularity starting in the late 70’s, and he is still seen as iconic to this day.

WrestleMania 42 and From Season 4

WrestleMania 42 was the tale of two WrestleMania’s. WrestleMania Night 1, in my opinion, was below par with a terrible booked main event along with short and meaningless matches. The general reaction to Night 1 was also mostly negative. The main event between Randy Orton versus Cody Rhodes had a lot of shenanigans involving Pat McAfee, who inexplicably aligned with Orton a few weeks ago. It looked like the fans wanted Orton to win, and had a baffled reaction when Cody won. The pacing and psychology of the match also did not make a lot of sense with Cody acting the heel, and then ending with Orton being the heel while Cody ended up being the babyface. There were a few highlights of Night 1 such as the return of Paige, the return of Bron Breaker, and a few matches that were solid. Night 2, on the other hand, was very good. Oba Femi defeated Brock Lesnar in the opening match clean, and Femi looks poised to be a main event talent and champion in the near future. Lesnar seemingly retired after his loss. The ladder match for the IC Title was also a standout match with Penta retaining. The main event between Roman Reigns versus CM Punk was very good with no interference. Reigns won and is the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

My wife and I watched the season four premiere of the television show, From. It started out right where season three left off and really did not relent. The episode went very quickly, introducing new characters and even ending in a twist involving the man in the yellow jacket introduced at the end of season three. The twist brings new theories and possibilities for the future of the series. Many of the characters such as Boyd and Fatima are increasingly falling into despair, especially after the events of season three. However, their emotions and reactions are totally understandable, as the place that they are in is seemingly there to just break these people. It also does a good job of allowing the audience to know key pieces of information while leaving the characters in the dark or in denial. We are very much looking forward to what happens next in From, and Sundays cannot come fast enough.

WrestleMania is something of the season finale for WWE, and the events of WrestleMania tend to shape the rest of the year. “From” just had its season four premiere, and the events of this first episode already look like it will shape the rest of the season.

UFC 327: Procházka vs. Ulberg and The Story of Yanxi Palace

UFC 327: Procházka vs. Ulberg happened, and it was just a great fight card. With the exception of one or two fights, this UFC event had a Fight of the Year contender, a Knockout of the Year contender, a retirement, some good finishes, and good fights overall. The name that many are talking about coming from this event is Josh Hokit. He has a professional wrestling gimmick and persona that some people like, and some people absolutely abhor. In his fight against Curtis Blaydes though, they had a fight of the year contender that was something of a heavyweight barroom brawl in the cage. Hokit gained some fans from that and is going to fight Derrick Lewis on the White House card. In the main event, Carlos Ulberg knocked out Jiri Procházka, but Ulberg clearly injured his leg early in the fight. Ulberg was on his way to lose had Prochazka just kicked the leg one of two times more, but he threw a punch, and Ulberg threw a left hook that dropped him. Procházka was eventually finished, and Carlos Ulberg became the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. However, with that injury, it is up in the air what happens with hi and the title. Other standouts on the card were Paulo Costa, who got a big win moving up to Light Heavyweight beating an undefeated contender, Aaron Pico, who showed why he was a top prospect and Cub Swanson, who retired after a TKO victory.

My wife and I started to watch the “Story of Yanxi Palace” on Amazon Prime, a 70-episode Chinese historical drama. It greatly reminds me of the two anime, The Apothecary Diaries and The Raven of the Inner Palace. The main character, Wei Yingluo, is a clever maid not dissimilar to Mao Mao of Apothecary Diaries. The palace intrigue and politics is also similar to those anime with harems, concubines, pecking orders, treachery, palace intrigue, political maneuvering, and other things. Reading some wuxia novels and watching Asian Inner Palace anime, I have always been into this sort of inner palace genre and dynamic. There is a lot going on with so many different characters, so it can get difficult to follow along, but what is presented has been very interesting and intriguing. We are still at the beginning of the series, so there is obviously a lot that we are going to witness with this series, and we cannot wait.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and The Spring 2026 Anime Season

My wife and I watched the Super Mario Galaxy movie, and we enjoyed it very much. The pacing is fast-paced throughout the movie, and it never really slows down. The colors were extremely vibrant, the action was well choreographed and nonstop, and the characters were fun. There were also a good number of cameos and Easter eggs in this movie. Villains from the Super Mario 2 video game made an appearance. I was surprised that they spoiled the fact that Star Fox is in this movie, and he was, in my opinion, the best character of the movie with how cool and laidback he was. With Star Fox, I have to think that they are planning a Star Fox movie. Also, with all the cameos from different Nintendo characters, they could easily make a Super Smash Bros movie. The end credits scene also sets up the future a bit, and I am guessing that the appearance of this one character may lead to Wario being a villain in a future Mario movie. There was also a good amount of criticism with the movie, in that it really had a plot that was all over the place. They did skip Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine to get to Mario Galaxy. Many were not fond of Princess Peach being something of the main character of the movie while Mario and Luigi felt like side characters to some people. They also greatly changed the story from the video games. I find the criticisms valid, as someone who has played most Mario games, Nintendo games and knows the lore. However, it did not really bug me. I just found this movie to be a turn off your brain and have fun type of movie.

This latest season of anime has a lot of titles coming out, many of them being sequels. It Is quite honestly an overwhelming number of titles. It is not just Crunchyroll either, as HiDive, Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and even YouTube have various anime on their platforms. Sequels this season include: Dr. Stone, Wistoria, Iruma-kun, Classroom of the Elite, The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Ace of the Diamond, Farming Life in Another World, The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen, Mission: Yozakura Family, and others. The new anime coming out this season that many are talking about are: Witch Hat Atelier, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Mao, Akane-banashi and others. These are the more popular anime coming out, but there are so many others that are also good. I will not be able to watch all the ones that interest me, and I am particularly focused on watching the sequels and the talked about anime.

While there are still many shows, movies and other entertainment being made in Hollywood, intellectual properties like Super Mario Bros and anime are showing that entertainment made in the East have been gaining traction over the years. The “Nintendoverse” looks like it is going to take over The MCU and superhero movies, which have been trending downwards as of late. Anime looks to be the go-to source of entertainment for Gen-Z audiences. A lot of my own stories are strongly influenced from anime, and I think of the characters and the worlds of my stories in anime form.

UFC Fight Night: Adesanya vs. Pyfer and Getting Back to BJJ Training

UFC Figh Night: Adesanya vs. Pyfer happened, and it was quite honestly the best UFC fight card that I have seen this year. Six finishes, some extremely violent and one downright scary, no truly boring fights, and prospects and up-and-comers getting wins made this one of the most exciting and relevant cards of the year. Joe Pyfer defeated former UFC Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya in the main event by TKO. It was a statement win for Pyfer and sets him up for big fights in the future. In the co-main event, former UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion Alexa Grasso defeated Maycee Barber by a KO punch/rear naked choke combination. The scene though was grim as Barber was just lying on the floor with her eyes open unresponsive for a while after the fight. She, thankfully, got up and walked out on her own power. Former Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Chiesa defeated Niko Price by submission, rear naked choke, in his retirement fight, where Price also retired. Lerryan Douglas, Yousri Belgaroui, Terrance McKinney, Tofiq Musayev, Lance Gibson Jr., Tyrell Fortune, Casey O’Neill, Navajo Stirling, and Alexia Thainara got wins in their bouts, with many getting finishes. Most of these fighters are prospects, and some of them look like they could really get up in the rankings in their respective weight divisions.

I also got back into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training this week after being gone from it for three weeks due to sickness. Getting back into after that long of a layoff brings a little anxiety, as cardio becomes an issue. Thankfully, I did not feel that out of shape, and my cardio held up. One thing that probably helped is that my wife and I changed our diet while we were sick. Admittedly, I have been feeling a lot less heavy since we have started eating healthier. During my time away though, I would occasionally think about BJJ, and one thing that I thought about was being more offensive. My coach, before the sickness, mentioned that I needed to work on my cardio, but I was skeptical that it was an issue with my physical fitness. After thinking about it and finding things out in practice (this was before I got sick), I realized that I allowed my sparring partners to establish grips or positions, and I would have to fight out of it. I fought really defensively, and if what I am doing is mainly defense and fighting opponents off, sometimes bigger and stronger than me, then I am using a lot of energy mainly to defend, sapping my cardio. Just because I am aware of it does not mean that I have already fixed my problems though. However, I have caught myself in positions where I rested when I should have moved.

Progress is an interesting thing. Seeing it in real-time in combat sports in the UFC is eye-opening as we watch progress happen at the highest levels. Personally, progress in my BJJ has been happening lately when the mental meets the physical. In the UFC, the ultimate upcoming are championships, and in BJJ, it will be a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt.

Matthew Morrison and Chuck Norris

My wife and I went to a Matthew Morrison concert at the Samueli Theater within the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA. My wife is a huge fan of Glee, and she really wanted to go. I watched the first season of Glee and some of the second, so I had enough familiarity with the characters. We had seats on the loft, but I liked it a lot as we got a full view of the stage along with each table having a lit candle, which added to the visual ambiance. The venue was smaller and more intimate. The performance was very artistic with Morrison going through his whole Broadway and television history in-between performing various songs. He said that he wanted to do a tour that was more of a cabaret style, and it works with venues like this. He definitely has dance moves, and his Broadway background really showed. Morrison revealed a lot about himself during the performance, and I have to think that he is more at home at Broadway or shows like this than on television.

The news that hit hard for me this week though was the death of Chuck Norris at the age of 86. It is rumored though that the Grim Reaper was simply afraid to take Chuck Norris until he was ready. “Chuck Norris Facts” became a cultural phenomenon that carries on today, and Norris has always been in the spotlight in some way, shape or form. His fight against Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon is the stuff of legends at this point. His martial arts is legitimate with black belts in multiple disciplines including judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He was actually a pioneer as far as promoting Brazilian Jiu Jitsu into the U.S. and brought a lot of awareness to it. His accomplishes and contributions to martial arts in general are hugely extensive. Many ordinary people along with celebrities have been sharing stories of meeting Chuck Norris or working with him, and pretty much all of them say that he was a humble, down-to-earth, gentleman. He was also a military veteran, a family man and a man of faith and was very open about all of it. Chuck Norris will truly be missed.

Lumpia Eating Contest and Rewatching “From”

My wife and are I currently recovering from our sickness, with it just lingering about. I feel that I am above ninety percent recovered, but a lingering cough and just slight weakness are still there. We aren’t so sick that we cannot go out, so we went to a lumpia eating contest in Lake Forest, CA, the other day. There was a food truck and some Filipino street food there along with a few live performances. We only got to see a little bit of the contest itself, and it was pretty much what was to be expected. Overall, it was fun, different and something to do.

We are also re-watching the television series, From. With season four coming out on April 19, we definitely need a refresher. It is still just as good as we remembered it, and while we know what is going to happen, it is still difficult not to feel the tension and anxiety from the show. There are little things here and there that we missed the first time. I forgot just how ‘human’ everything is from just how everyone behaves in this impossible situation to the feeling of hopelessness at times. While the plot is excellent with so much horror and mystery, it is the characters that really carry everything.

Unfortunately, we are still limited in what we should do. I would like to go back to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and working out regularly, but it is not smart to do so. This time has offered us to rewatch From, which has been a lot of fun, and we cannot wait for season four to come out.

UFC 326 and Sickness

My friends and I watched UFC 326: Holloway versus Oliveira II, and it was a mixed bag. Max Holloway fought Charles Oliveira for the BMF Title. UFC events live and die on the entertainment of the main event, and while it was a dominant performance from Oliveira, it was not the most aesthetically pleasing. Nonetheless, Oliveira dominating was not what I expected. The rest of the card has a few cool finishes from the likes of Gregory Rodrigues and Drew Dober. Caio Barralho got a good win over Reiner de Ridder. They also announced the White House card, and reactions to it have been more negative than positive. Topuria vs. Gaethje and Gane vs Perreira are great fights for the main event and co-main event, but I think that expectations had it where audiences thought that Conor McGregor or Jon Jones would be on this card. While it is a very good event, it did not live up to the hype or expectations that some people wanted.

This week also was just so hectic. Work was incredibly busy, having to take overtime almost every day, and my Church had its Holy Supper worship service. My wife got sick during the week, and I could feel congestion. Also, there is a sickness going around as people in my church, work and other places were sick and wearing masks. I did not feel outright sick though until the weekend when everything was all said and done. I definitely overexerted myself this week, and the consequences for that most likely resulted in sickness.

WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 and Self-Awareness in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

I watched a replay of WWE Elimination Chamber, as I has a birthday dinner to go to when it was on. Overall, I thought that it was pretty good but not a PLE that particularly stood out. Randy Orton winning the Men’s Elimination Chamber was a nice surprise, as Cody Rhodes in my opinion was the frontrunner to win. I suspect that Randy Orton versus Drew McIntyre will not be the match at WrestleMania though, as I can see a multi-man match for the World Title or Cody beating Drew on Smackdown. On the Women’s side, Rhea Ripley won it, and she was the favorite to do so. Her versus Jade Cargill, while not having any history or storyline, is at least a fresh matchup. CM Punk vs. Finn Balor was a good match with Punk retaining. AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch was good with a couple shenanigans, but AJ Lee ended up winning that one. I can see a rematch happening at WrestleMania.

I said to some confidants that my journey to a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt will involve strengthening my mental game. I was told by my coach to have more movement in my game, and it was a difficult thing to comprehend and utilize as I do not want to waste energy. I rolled the other day really contemplating what my coach was telling me. I then discovered a few things about my game. For one, I really do just allow my partner to establish their grips and position, leaving me in a position where I am constantly defending. That in turn really kills my cardio, as I am having to constantly defend, especially against bigger guys. I might as well be on the attack more, if I am just going to waste energy defending anyways. The other thing is that I just kind of stop and stall in mid-motion, allowing my partner to recover or establish grips and positions. It is definitely a mental thing that I have to get over, but building self-awareness that I’m doing that in the moment should help with this.

WWE is heading to WrestleMania in a few months, and I am slowly heading to a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt in a few years. The buildup takes a while with many twists, turns and bumps in the road, but hopefully, everything will turn out alright in the end.