New Weight Class, New Challenges

photo by Deive Coutinho.

OK so I am back again with some time and most importantly motivation to sit down and write up another blog entry. I’ve been busy since my last blog entry, I put in a full fight camp and had a fight since I last sat down and wrote an entry—man come to think of it, I do a horrible job keeping this blog up to date, but hey what can I say I’m busy trying to live life. 

SO ANYWAYS  back to the topic at hand—my fight! For this fight I dropped down for the first time to 145 pounds. Not going to lie at first I was a bit apprehensive about dropping the weight. In college I spent the first few seasons cutting a lot of weight the wrong way, honestly I attribute that and and ignorance on proper nutrition to not developing as fast as I should have in my college career. When your focused on nothing but making weight and being hungry it is hard to improve technically. I have seen the same thing here in the MMA world, especially here in Brazil. There are some guys who are making tremendous weightcuts and doing it the wrong way; so when it gets to fight time they look massive and come out guns a blazing but then quickly blow their load and tire out. They gas not because they didn’t work hard, but because they taxed their bodies in such a way that they were unable recover and perform at an optimal level. 

photo by Deive Coutinho.

So with this in mind I started dieting (I normally eat fairly healthy regardless) strictly about 6 or 7 weeks out from my fight, and leaned down to about 155-157 range. From there I made sure I super hydrated and got my body used to flushing high amounts of water from my system. About a week and a half out from my fight I eliminated most all sodium from my diet, and started cutting back on my carbs. The week of weigh-ins and the fight I cut most all carbs (which causes your body to retain water) and about 2 days from weighins I drastically cut my water intake down. As a result there was really only 2 days out of a 6 week fight camp where my direct focus was on losing weight, not an entire camp devoted to it. There is some great info on making weight out there, particularly articles by John Berardi, Nate Green, and Tim Ferris. 

Now the part I did falter a bit was in gaining the weight back, I think I overate a bit on the carbs so I woke up the morning of the fight feeling bloated and my stomach was off. I went back to small meals a ton of water, and got a light workout to crack a sweat and move the food through my system. By the time I got to the arena I was feeling good.

So I got warmed up and felt good physically, but I don’t think I entered my optimal performance state mentally. That said I entered the cage feeling confident and relaxed. The fight started I went out slipped a punch and landed a nice leg kick. When my opponent responded with a kick of his own I automatically dropped in on a shot, and my opponent jumped into a guillotine. I spent the next half of the round on my feet with this guy hanging off my neck as I defended and worked to escape. I escaped and slammed my opponent to the mat, worked a guard pass and finished out the round attacking a straight arm lock and mounting him.

photo by Deive Coutinho.

In the second round I landed a couple of nice strikes and as my opponent clinched I body locked him and stepped over to mount as we hit the mat. The round was with ground and pound passing and scrambling. Even though I dominated the round with pressure and aggression, I felt out of it technically. I didn't settle into my techniques like I normally do, and I felt a bit more winded then I normally do. The judges decided there should be a third round (here in Brazil amateur MMA if 1 person wins the first 2 rounds the fight ends).

At the start of the 3rd I finally felt in my groove; my gas tank was fully there, I felt completely relaxed, and I was in the zone. I circled my opponent into the cage and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks that were tagging him. When I saw the clear opening I shot in on a double, passed the guard, and mounted. I landed some GNP, and took high mount. I passed one of my legs over to work for a mounted triangle, my opponent defended so I took the armbar. I fully had the arm extended, but my opponent refused to tap. There was short time left and could either have rode it out or gone for the break (of the arm that is); well I over wrapped his arm and popped in my hips even more. The guys arm went past 180 and I was waiting for the snap to come when the ref stepped in to stop it, not wanting the guys arm to break. Talk about a tough and resolved opponent. 

It was a good fight and pushed me in new ways. I am happy for the win, but I am more happy for gaining more experience and learning what gaps in my game need to be addressed. This week is has been about healing up a bit, relaxing my mind and seeing what things I learned from my fight. It was nice to setback and have a change of pace, but now I am ready to get back at it and keep moving down the path!

In closing I would like to my team at Rio Fighters and my Coaches, Milton Viera, Dennis Asche, and Rogerio Miranda. All three have provided me with a wealth of knowledge that I am thankful to be able to tap into. I also would like to thank Connection Rio, who has 100% helped me to be where I am today as a martial artist--If it wasn't for CR I wouldn't be here in Brazil (www.connectionrio.com). I would also like to thank Senki Kimonos-- Cost of training gear and kimonos can be high and I am fortunate enough to have such a high quality company backing me (www.senki.com.br)