As part of an interesting advertising promotion for Aliens vs Predator, I recently found myself in Las Vegas to participate in the UFC #109 fight. Random? Perhaps, but after the weekend, I can’t think of a better fit for Aliens vs Predator.

In Las Vegas, no one can hear you scream …

The weekend could not be more appropriate than staying at the Luxor, essentially a giant pyramid. A perfect setting for Aliens vs. predator and a great introduction into the size and scope of Las Vegas, complete with larger than life Egyptian themed statues and hieroglyphic markings. If you strip out all that casino stuff, you could end up with a mighty fine Aliens vs Predator map full of places to ambush, wall crawl, and sneak around in.

We found this machine while wandering the casino floor, nice!

Pre Fight Meet and Greet

While running around Vegas has it’s own appeal, the real weekend fun kicked off on Saturday in preparation for UFC 109. If you aren’t familiar, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been around since 1993 and started as a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competition to award the title based on purely your fighting style and skill. Unlike other fighting leagues, the original UFC had less strict rules, such as no specific weight classes for fighters. They’ve since readjusted to have some tighter rules, weight classes, somewhat padded gloves, and a much bigger distribution through cable and internet.

Our trip to the UFC 109 event kicked off in a very special way. Right before the fight we met with some of the fighters and had a some Aliens vs Predator time, nice. When we arrived in our room, we were treated to the Bayonetta logo from the UFC 108 mat, complete with blood splatter. Epic. The good people at UFC actually cut the mat from the event and dropped it into a beautiful frame. I can’t wait until we get this into our lobby; the detail is amazing and is actually hand drawn and not a reprint – one of a kind.

We were then greeted by former Light Heavyweight champion, Rashad Evans. This was quite a treat, Rashad is a really nice guy and was happy to get some hands on time with Aliens vs. Predator. As pointed out by our PR man Denny, Rashad was completely unassuming considering he’d be able to snap us like a twig without much effort. Rashad was really genuine and a good guy, we had fun talking briefly before jumping into some Aliens vs Predator.

Being an established fighter, Rashad took to the Predator quite quickly and was dropping aliens with trophy kills, light and heavy attacks. Unfortunately, our time was brief and we were moving on to the main event. Big thanks to Rashad for coming out and meeting our teams and giving us a really unique look at the UFC event.

I will Break You …

Official program with AvP and a pre-fight warmup…

Next we grouped up to catch the UFC 109 fight and see what it’s like to watch a MMA fight. I’m not going to go into the play by play of how it all went down, I’ll leave that up to the news sites that covered the event, but I will give a sense of the atmosphere – which was awesome. Our seats were really great, and gave us a chance to view the fighters as they walked in, and a good view of the ring. While a lot of attention was spent looking at the jumbo-trons, mainly because of the expert camera angles, there’s definitely something to be said for being at an event of this type. Hearing a punch connect or being a part of the stadium wide, “Ooooooooooh” is a thrill. And there were plenty of “Ooooooh”s to go around.

Sega!

After watching the fight, I cannot think of a better fit for Aliens vs Predator than to be associated with the UFC or any MMA fight. Being a mixed martial arts tournament from the start should give you a bit of an indication of where I’m going with this, but the real difference is in the way Aliens vs Predator actually plays out. If you’ve played the full release or the Demo, then you know that the game is largely based around the melee system. No matter the situation, be it Marine vs Alien, Predator vs Alien, or any combination there of, the combat system can be intense, disorienting, and incredibly exhilarating – all of the things I watched happen at the UFC 109 event, many times over.

Massive AvP trailer across the Jumbo-tron - if only we had a chance to play on it…

After the fight completed, we were off to the after party, sponsored by Aliens vs. Predator! The party, which could be an entire blog on it’s own, was a ton of fun and in the Las Vagas theme, absolutely massive and excessive. Good dj, good drinks, a private VIP area, and a chance to rub elbows with some celebrities (my Flava Flav photos didn’t turn out, boo). Quite a night and something I’ll remember for a long time.

A bit dark and red, but that’s kinda how I remember it …

The fight overall was a treat, something I definitely wouldn’t have seen myself attending without this special opportunity and I’m walking away a fan; I’m hooked. It helps that our producer, Omar and Media & Events manager, Teri, are huge into UFC and was providing an extensive amount of background on every fight, fighter, strategy, and series history overall. Big thanks to Teri for being awesome and letting us check out the fight, meet Rashad Evans, and be a part of the experience. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to play some more AvP…