UFC welterweight Dustin Hazelett was on short notice again Tuesday in the lobby of the MGM Grand Casino.

Throngs of fans waited to see main event fighters Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva, pressed against a long line of barricades that bookended a pair of lobby doors. Evans made it, but Silva hit a travel snag and the UFC needed someone to step up.

Hazelett had just finished lunch after flying in to Las Vegas Tuesday morning when he got the call at 12:30 p.m. to press some palms in a half hour.

Though he wasn’t necessarily comfortable with the attention, he appreciated it. Things had turned out well so far: he had gone from the leadoff fight on the UFC 106 main card last month to the co-main event of UFC 108 against Paul Daley on Saturday.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “I was not expecting this at all. I’m not used to this kind of attention. It’s cool.”

With his Muay Thai coach Dorian Price – a veteran of “The Ultimate Fighter” season six – in tow, Hazelett reluctantly agreed to call his fight with Daley an easy breakdown on styles.

“On paper it looks like that, but I’ve been working very hard on my stand-up, and I’m not the typical grappler. I think my stand-up’s much improved. But on paper, yeah, it does look like the typical striker vs. grappler.”

(thanks to mmaweekly)