It's about midnight at McCann's Pub & Grill, and Aljamain Sterling has the energy of an overhyped toddler. Above him, playing on a quartet of television screens, Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya pummel each other through the fourth round of their UFC interim middleweight championship fight as Saturday lurches into Sunday.
Sterling's Funkmaster hat is turned backward, and he's jumping up and down. Behind him, Chris Weidman gasps. Al Iaquinta is off to the side, sitting on a wood-plank-covered pool table getting ready for the final round -- saying nothing, but shaking his head.
They've all been in similar spots before, fighting on major UFC cards on TV as fans around the world watch the action play out in front of their eyes. But as this Gastelum-Adesanya fight moves into its final moments, they are fans as much as fighters.
Nights like this one happen on a semi-regular basis, as Longo-Weidman MMA fighters and their friends and family gather for fight nights when they aren't on the cards -- outings that serve as part-bonding, part-night out.