U-God of Wu-Tang Clan with Abella Anderson.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Two weeks after the UFC’s parent company Zuffa hosted its first event of the year with Strikeforce – Rockhold vs. Jardine inside The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, the AVN Awards Show and the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo took over the same venue. Las Vegas is universally and synonymously known by its two nicknames "The Fight Capital of the World" and "Sin City" and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has been the flag-bearing focal point for both of the city’s nicknames entering 2012.
This was the first time that Strikeforce held an event at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which used to be the longtime venue of choice for the Zuffa owned UFC and WEC organizations. It was also the first time that the AVN Awards Show and the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo shared the venue. In years past the AVN Awards Show has been hosted at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort, which also regularly host UFC events, while the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo had made The Sands Expo and Convention Center adjacent to the Venetian and Palazzo casinos their annual January destination of choice.
(Above Left): Stoya with Bevois of OTM. (Above Right): Asa Akira, who won 7 AVN Awards on Saturday night, ponders getting a shot at UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre’s title belt.
For nearly three decades the AVN Awards Show has been the adult industry’s biggest night of the year. AVN celebrates outstanding achievements in the world of adult entertainment in conjunction with the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. The AVN Adult Entertainment Expo is open to fans and industry insiders and culminates with the AVN Awards show on Saturday night.
This is a similar format that the UFC adopted in July 2009. Before their historic UFC 100 event on Saturday, July 11th, 2009, the UFC hosted their inaugural UFC Fan Expo at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The event drew in 1,000’s of excited fans, industry leaders, and MMA athletes, much like the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo has been attracting 1000’s of its own fans, industry leaders, and top porn stars before their annual awards show.
In years past, MMA companies like Sinister, which is a staple brand in MMA due to its association with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and many other fighters, has set up a booth at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo due to its huge crossover in fans in the male ages 18-35 demographic. Not surprsingly, newer companies like Two In The Shirt (T.I.T.S.), which have formed business relationships with Asa Akira and many other porn stars have been slowly breaking into other industries such as MMA. Dubbed "The Oscars of Adult" and "The Leader in MMA", the AVN Awards and UFC are now must-attend, must-see events featuring the hottest stars from porn, MMA, and mainstream pop culture.
The connection between Porn and MMA is undeniable and with the billions of dollars and mainstream acceptance that legalized and sanctioned "Sex & Violence" are now receiving, it’s now a common theme to see stars from both industries attending each other’s events. Furthermore, former UFC fighters War Machine and Aaron Brink have worked in the Porn industry, while porn moguls Jules Jordan and Sal Genoa along with male talent Charles Dera and Travis Knight are active practitioners and fans of MMA.
This common interest has also led to many famous celebrity couples within these two industries, such as Tito Ortiz and Jenna Jameson, "Razor" Rob McCullough and Lexxi Tyler, Stephan Bonnar and Brittney Skye, Chuck Liddell and Jayden Jaymes, and several others that have been documented by the website www.PornMMA.com that is dedicated to this growing phenomena.
Chanel Preston and Chris Strokes at the AVN Awards Show.
The 2012 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, which ran from January 18-21, 2012, went off smoothly this year. It attracted roughly 30,000 people to its new home at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and concluded with the 2012 AVN Awards Show on Saturday night. The show included a performance from rap star Too $hort and an acrobatic performance by porn star Belladonna and the Belladonna Dancers. It also presented awards in nearly 100 categories. Interestingly, one of the biggest movies of the year that received nominations for an AVN Award in 9 different categories was titled "Fighters". Here are 10 of the main winners from the 2012 AVN Awards Show:
Best New Starlet: Brooklyn Lee
Female Performer of the Year: Bobbi Starr
Male Performer of the Year: Manuel Ferrara
Best Male Newcomer: Xander Corvus
Unsung Starlet of the Year: Bridgette B.
Best Actress: Jessie Andrews – Portrait of a Call Girl
Best Actor: Dale DaBone – Elvis XXX: A Porn Parody
Best Supporting Actress: Jesse Jane – Fighters
Best Supporting Actor: Xander Corvus – Star Trek: The Next Generation – A XXX Parody
Best Director: Graham Travis – Portrait of a Call Girl
(Above Left): Kristina Rose and Alexis Texas show off their prized assets at the Jules Jordan Video booth. (Above Right): Jada Stevens, Kristina Rose, Kagney Linn Karter, Jules Jordan, and Abella Anderson.