MMA Junkie Radio at Joint Base Langley-Eustis: A weekend with the troops
Thursday is an important day for Americans as we celebrate Veterans Day. Every year we honor those men and women who have served our country across the five military branches.
One week ago, Goze and I traveled to Virginia to visit troops. This was our eighth military morale trip overall and our seventh to Joint Base Langley-Eustis. JBLE is actually two bases: Langley Air Base (Air Force) and Fort Eustis (Army). Though we spent most of our time on Fort Eustis, we did drop by Langley Air Base, too.
On each of our trips, we’ve taken many MMA fighters/notables. This trip’s guest list: Dan Henderson, Muhammed Lawal, Ricardo Lamas, Luis Palomino, and Xtreme Couture coach Eric Nicksick.
Here’s a recap of our trip …
Thursday, Nov. 4
We left early morning from Las Vegas to Norfolk, Va., with a connection in San Diego. First person I see at the gate is coach Nicksick, the 2020 MMA Junkie Co-Coach of the Year. In 2021, Nicksick was in Francis Ngannou’s corner when he won the UFC heavyweight title.
With the current situation we’re all in because of the pandemic, there was a little uncertainty with each of our guests. COVID-19 can rear its ugly head at any moment, and the airline industry has taken some hits with last-minute cancellations. We promised Fort Eustis that we were coming with some great people who understood and respected the importance of our trip, and we wanted to deliver.
Nicksick, true pro that he is, was already there for 10 minutes before we came in staggering. In our defense, we were lugging a lot. It’s just not an MMA Junkie Radio fight party unless we have tons of MMA gear and apparel to give away. We were full of goodies, courtesy of our friends at Revgear and MMA Bobblehead. Thank you to Paul Revlin and Dave Manley as they’ve been very supportive of this and previous trips.
After NOT sticking the landing in San Diego, we got off that plane and reluctantly connected to Norfolk. I needed a chiropractic adjustment after that one. But there was no time to waste, off one plane and onto the other. And who do we buzz by? One of the GOATs of MMA, Dan Henderson. Yes!
About halfway through the almost five-hour, cross-country flight, I was able to track the others and see that they had all departed with no problems, and the squad would be together soon. That was a relief, so I slept the rest of the way.
Finally we arrive in Norfolk. Smooth flight, rough landing again, but nothing like San Diego. We see Ricardo Lamas, who landed an hour earlier, and then we all work our way to grab our bags on the lower level. Now we just have to wait for King Mo and Luis Palomino, who are about an hour away. At this point, I have to distract Lamas, who has already stated that he’s hungry and ready to eat. So we all sit around and bullshit. Once MMA talk takes over, time flies. Next thing you know, the others have landed and arrived at baggage.
A soldier (Sgt. Eovanys Barriel) comes over to us, and the trip feels more official. He informs us the vans are ready to pick us up, and our tour director and “tour mom,” Nina Basantes, shows up minutes later. I specified to the fellas that Nina was our key point of contact and that I wasn’t lying when I told them that she is there for us, anything we need, the ultimate resource. She’s a sweet lady who gets things done.
We hit a quick dinner at an Italian joint, one whose name I shall spare since it … hmmm … it just wasn’t good, OK?! The pretzels I had on the plane were better than what they tried to pass off as manicotti. But what are you gonna do? Can’t win ‘em all. Poor Luis Palomino, though. He could not eat since he was in weight-cutting mode for his Friday fight at BKFC 22. Palomino was a G, though. So much Italian food on the table, like a “Soprano’s” Sunday dinner, yet he didn’t even flinch. That’s how I knew he was ready for his title defense.
Goze and I also got to see our friend Alton and his way better half, Melissa. That sounds harsh, but I actually think those are his words. Alton has been tremendous in helping these tours get started. A special shoutout to him for thinking of us and making this possible Stateside. As I mentioned, this is our eighth trip – seven here at JBLE and one in Afghanistan. Alton saw what we did over there in 2013, and it was his idea for us to continue this. Again, I can’t thank him enough.
Back at the base, drop off some bags and then it was time to wind down. Nothing much to report here, just a ton of laughs and some catching up. I always tell people, MMA is a worldwide sport but a close knit community. Even if you’ve never met, someone knows someone that you know, and that’s good enough for a handshake and a drink or two … or 10.
Friday, Nov. 5
George, “Goze,” the fighters, and the troops.
Yeah! OK, so waking up at 4:30 a.m. ET (that’s 1:30 PT for my body clock) for a 5:20 departure, I definitely misplayed my hand the night before. It was rough. But I was SO pumped. It had almost been three years since our last morale visit, and I was ready to get going. So were the guys.
First stop: PT with AIT. Basically, soldiers working out in the cold. It was an earlier start than that December 2018 trip, but not as cold. But it was cold enough. King Mo got one pushup done and then tapped out. His hand almost froze.
The young soldiers weren’t having it, though. Shoulder rolls, sideways pushups, bear crawls, sprints, and a bunch of other exercises. NO PROBLEM. All of them finished what they started, rooting each other on, rallying the ones a tad behind. I absolutely loved it. That was amazing teamwork. I remember that drill sergeant’s voice and strut vividly. No way I’d piss him off. I was more scared of him than Hendo.
We then spoke with them for a few mins, took pics and then continued our morning. But now we were fired up. Who was going to complain about an early start after flying when these soldiers are going through this workout in the cold and in boots?!? Oh yeah, did I mention the heavy equipment they have to carry around too? But guess what: These are the same men and women I want around me if I ever have to take on an enemy. Salute to them!
From there we went to DFAC for breakfast with the soldiers. You always wish you could sit and talk with all of them, but you just can’t. There are hundreds in there at a time, and the best you can do is thank them for their decision to join our country’s military. Each and every one of them matter, and they need to know that.
Our next stops were 128th Aviation Brigade and then the Police and Fire House. Both units showed us around their respective buildings and we got to learn a little about each one.
Not everything went smoothly on base. Now, I don’t like to put people on blast, but let’s just say one of the fellas got in some trouble and I had to pull some strings, which basically meant calling Nina, to get us out of this pickle. We hid his physical identity, but in an effort to be somewhat transparent, all we can say at the moment of this story publishing is that the gentleman in question went by “Eric. N.”
Eric Nicksick.
Our next stop was a nice lunch with the leadership of the base. Nina introduced us to Col Thigpen (733 MSG Commander), Donna Fontes (MWR Director) and CSM Huell (733 MSG Senior Enlisted Advisor). Also present were Daryl Davis (MWR Deputy) and Anita Trompeter (Operations Chief). They thanked us for coming out and also answered questions we had. We then introduced ourselves and shared our thoughts on what we had seen so far and what we were looking forward to. For a few of the fellas, this was their first trip onto a military base, so they were learning a lot.
The afternoon then started with a stop at the Mathew House and also a Civil War key point. The guide was phenomenal. His name was Dr. Chris McDaid, an archeologist. The Mathew House is the oldest house in the USA owned by the Department of Defense. We had seen that house from the outside on a few of the past trips, but we had never gone in. Construction on the house began (1727) before we officially became a country in 1776. So the house is almost 300 years old.
The next location was tied to one of the pivotal points of the Civil War, which led to the Emancipation Proclamation. I wish I had retained a bit more from that, but we were next to a river and the wind was howling. The key point from the story he shared had to do with African-American soldiers who escaped from the Confederate Army and enlisted in the Union Army. That subsequently led to 180,000 African-American soldiers also enlisting and helping the North defeat the South.
Next up were stops at MITD simulators and 128th simulators. Boats and helicopters. Let’s just say none of us are close to being able to fly a helicopter, but I did learn that Dan Henderson could dock a 200-foot boat. Took him a minute, but he got it.
“King Mo.”
After a full day of stops, we finally had some time to wind down back at the hotel. I was pretty exhausted. I elected to stretch, power nap and shower, then it was off to bowling. This was fun because we had a chance to exchange pictures and recap the day’s events. But little did I know that even a friendly game of bowling could get competitive. Now I know many of you are curious as to who was the night’s outstanding bowler across all three games. Here are the scores:
Gorgeous George: 348 pins
Dan Henderson: 328 pins
Ricardo Lamas: 323 pins
Eric Nicksick: 283 pins
Goze: 255 pins
Special shoutout to Col. Clayton for showing up to hang out. We met him on previous trips to JBLE, and he even came out to Las Vegas before.
Saturday, Nov. 6
Dan Henderson
After a good night’s rest, we were off to Langley Air Base. As we entered, the jets in the air were numbing. I had already told the fellas about the F-22 Raptors, the world’s most advanced fighter jet. But I couldn’t even come close to describing what we were about to see.
The first person to introduce themselves was an F-22 Raptor pilot, “Twist.” I was immediately in awe. Cool dude, commanding presence and very knowledgeable. Plus, THAT is a cool nickname. I mistakenly thought he was some hotdog always doing stuff in the air that he shouldn’t be doing – twirls, twists, corkscrews, etc. But the name comes from a mission, I’m just not sure I can give you the details, so I’ll keep that to myself.
What made “Twist” even cooler was that he didn’t hesitate to emphasize just how important the people around them are – the crew chiefs, mechanics, prep team, debriefing team, flight line team. Man, I love hearing that. Because it’s true. We’re nothing without a good team behind us. “Twist” is like the MMA fighters in that they go to combat alone, that’s true. But much more goes into it than just the combat itself. Any of them will tell you that. He gave shine to his team, and his team did an outstanding job of sharing what they could about this jet.
Thank you to the 94 Fighter Squadron for their tour. We definitely appreciate the opportunity that was given to us, to get up close like that. Oh, and thanks for the ear plugs!
Later that afternoon, we were back at Fort Eustis at the Recreation Center with the young soldiers. This stop was super fun because we got to spend an extended amount of time with soldiers. First we did a quick intro of ourselves, then a Q&A. Afterwards, we each spoke about some of the difficulties we’ve all experienced in our lives. Fighting, coaching, broadcasting, and even our personal lives. Big shout out to Mr. Trujillo for opening his doors and allowing us to spend the afternoon there.
We proceeded to have some fun at billiards, ping-pong, foosball, pop-a-shot, and video games. When we weren’t playing games, we were all engaged in conversations of some sort. Some deep, some full of laughter and jokes. It was great to see the room and see the smiles on everyone’s faces. The MMA guys were kids again and super competitive.
Finally, the UFC 268 fight party was our last stop. It was now Saturday evening and our tour stops were all done, but we knew there was tons of fun to be had. I’m telling you, when MMA Junkie Radio and Fort Eustis Club get together to watch MMA, it’s CRAY-ZEE! Nothing like it. Straight up. I kid you not, this fight party is as loud as any arena, stadium, bar, pub. Every fighter was cheered on, even the ones that came up short. There is a synergy between the military and MMA that is indescribable.
I certainly hope this trip isn’t our last. The memories we’ve made are forever in hearts, minds and souls. Thank you JBLE for having us. God bless the troops and all of our veterans on this special day.
A few others need some shoutouts: CPL Olivia Golden and SPC Jose K. Rodriguez Alicea, they were of great help driving and assisting behind the scenes.
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