MMAjunkie.com Radio on Tour, Part 1: Heading overseas, meeting the troops

MMAjunkie.com Radio co-hosts “Gorgeous” George Garcia and Brian “Goze” Garcia, as well as UFC fighters Jake Ellenberger and Amir Sadollah and MMA/boxing cutman Jacob “Stitch” Duran, are overseas and visiting U.S. troops as part of an MMA-themed Armed Forces Entertainment tour. George Garcia is penning a journal during the journey. Check out Part 1.

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Oct. 10-12, 2013

My brother and cohost/producer, Brian “Goze” Garcia, and I left for Southwest Asia on Thursday at 2 p.m. local time. It was just hours after finishing another episode of MMAjunkie.com Radio. We were lucky enough to talk to UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. That dude is awesome by the way! So good with our callers, and just a joy to be around. He’s never for one minute let all this fame go to his head. It’s the same “Mighty Mouse” we know from the WEC days when he was just another bantamweight chasing his dreams.

Anyway, this blog is about our trip to visit the U.S. troops in Southwest Asia with our MMA-themed Armed Forces Entertainment tour. However, I wanted to mention Johnson’s interview since the champ’s in-studio visit got our day off to a great start. And maybe that’s why I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be as we drove to the airport for the trip of a lifetime.

We left Vegas at 2 p.m. and arrived in Chicago at 7 p.m. local time after a thee-hour flight. I was feeling good but still a little antsy about the long leg that was upon us. I have battled a little anxiety the past few years, and even though I’ve been doing well these past six months, the fact remained that I was going to be on a plane for 11 hours with no chance of “getting a bit of fresh air” at six miles above Earth.

We left Chicago at 10 p.m. and arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, 11 hours later. Whew! What a journey. First time in Asia for me. Fun fact: Istanbul is the only city where part of it is in Europe and part is in Asia. I’m not sure what part the international airport is in, but I still counted it as Asia for me. The trip was about 75 percent done, but we still had five hours to to Kyrgyzstan. After a two-hour layover, we began the final journey and we finally arrived in the country at around 3 a.m. on Saturday.

We’re about 13 hours ahead over here, so though it’s Saturday morning here as I write this, you all are getting ready to leave work on a Friday and par-tay!

We were honored to be chosen by Armed Forces Entertainment to come out to visit the troops, and we were lucky enough to be allowed to bring some of our MMA friends. UFC fighters Jake Ellenberger and Amir Sadollah came with us, and we also brought legendary boxing and MMA cornerman, Jacob “Stitch” Duran. “Stitch” is also a frequent MMAjunkie.com Radio cohost, so we definitely felt like we were traveling with our favorite uncle.

And of course, there’s Goze and our tour director, Steve Straub. Without these two, we’re not here. A sincere thank you to both of them for putting this trip together, as well as to our bosses at USA TODAY, and of course the guys over on the editorial side of MMAjunkie.com who will be covering our butts for about 10 days.

So we’ve literally only been here for about three hours or so, and I’m just on a high. It’s hard to describe, but I just can’t go to sleep. I’m sure I’ll hit a wall soon, but after hanging with a few of the troops already, I couldn’t wait to share with my friends and family. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do to remember this trip, but I was sure that I wouldn’t remember it all if I didn’t write it down.

We landed safely, and once inside the terminal, the friendly faces of a half dozen American soldiers were there to greet us. They had huge smiles and were very pleasant and helpful. We breezed through customs and claimed our bags rather quickly, and off we were to the military base. I did try to take a pic of this sign that said “Welcome to Kyrgyzstan,” but I was told it wouldn’t be a good idea. I still don’t know why, but I didn’t want to give up so quickly. Once we exited the airport, I then saw the lit airport sign. I was a half a second away from getting a quick pic when I heard a loud “NO!” in the background. So I put my phone away and moved on. I’m usually more persistent, but as a guest of the military, you have to respect that.

One last thing before I sign off. Remember how I mentioned the soldiers had big smiles when they were there to greet us at the airport? They still had those same smiles as we all sat down for an early breakfast. But it made me think. They’re all the way over here in Kyrgyzstan, thousands of miles away from family and friends, and they are protecting us every second of the every day. And if they can be doing their jobs and smiling, then even on my worst day back home in America, I’m going to try to do the same thing. I think it’s something we take for granted, and that’s the freedom we have and enjoy on a day-to-day basis.

Stop complaining and live life. Write down your goals and dreams, and chase them. Don’t cut corners, work hard and treat people nicely. You do that, and you’ll have big smiles on your faces like these brave men and women over here in Kyrgyzstan. God bless them.

Thinking about all of you thousands of miles away in Kyrgyzstan.

-GG (code name “FLY”)

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“Gorgeous” George Garcia is host and director of operations for MMAjunkie.com Radio. He’s producing a journal in conjunction with his MMA-themed Armed Forces Entertainment tour in Southwest Asia. Following him on Twitter at @MMAjunkieGeorge for additional updates.