First and foremost, my condolences go out to the family and friends of recently departed wrestler/WWF announcer Billy "Red" Lyons who died on Monday (reportedly in my hometown of Kitchener, Ont.). Billy was a fixture on the wrestling scene for decades and will be sorely missed for sure.

On a happier note, I did my ring announcing thing again for West Coast Boxing Promotions this past Friday during their sixth "Rumble at the Rock" event. I really have to take my hat off to those guys, they run a smoother show every time out and booker Manny Sobral knows how to pair his fighters up to ensure the best matchups in a way that few bookers truly understand. Congratulations to Paul "The Typhoon" Cheng who scored the second 1st-round KO of his two-fight career, and newly-crowned Canadian champion Junior "The Real Deal" Moar who endured a storm of deliberate groin shots en route to a DQ victory that would have been a KO anyway in my mind.

Great weekend for fights with both Strikeforce and UFC holding events. Take my word on this--if you haven't seen Clay Guida vs. Diego Sanchez and Chris Lytle vs. Kevin Burns from the "Ultimate Fighter 9" finale, and Jorge Gurgel vs. Conor Heun from the Strikeforce show, you should MOVE HEAVEN AND EARTH TO SEE THEM!!! All three were classics, and both Guida/Sanchez and Gurgel/Heun are solid candidates for Fight of the Year (with the latter of the two getting my nod by an infinitesimal margin).

Coming up, I've got a busy few days as I was contacted on Monday and asked to do post-fight interviews on a Muay Thai show in Jamaica. If my tickets come through (still waiting as I type this), then I'll be doing voice-overs for an Electronic Arts video game and then going straight to the airport to spend all night flying to Jamaica for the show. I'll have to hit the ground running as the scheduled arrival time in Montego Bay is just a few hours before the first fight, but I'll have an extra day to relax before coming back which will make the whole thing worthwhile. Well, that and the fact that I'll get to see some of the best MT fighters in the world punch, kick, knee and elbow one another right inna face!

I'll check in when I get back, or perhaps sooner if the trip doesn't pan out.