Total Karnage

So after a few people pulling out of TUFFA 7, I was offered to fight on the card a couple days ago which is set for this Saturday the 28th. It’s not exactly a lot of notice, but after some consideration and some extra negotiation, I’ve decided to take the fight against Nick Honstein from the USA, who is fighting out of Platinum Extreme gym.

From what I know of Honstein, he looks to be a well rounded fighter which is always the type of fights I look for. All his wins have been via submission, so he sounds like he’s got an impressive grappling game. I’m not out to fight cans, and always want to be challenged when I step in there to fight so am excited about this fight. It’s not about experience anymore, it’s about challenging myself everytime I touch gloves.

Once again, I will be giving away a lot of reach, as Honstein will be the tallest fighter I will have fought. But I guess I have small man syndrome and can never say no to fighting bigger guys.

Got a couple more days to prepare for this fight, so will be hard at it. Will keep y’all updated.

Another night of MMA fights will be on display at TUFFA 6 on Saturday the 7th up at Newcastle and i’ll be making the journey up there to watch and support some friends. Charlie and Moe from Lion’s Den will be fighting. Charlie will be making his first pro fight debut, and Moe will be having his last fight before he heads overseas. Should be 2-0 from the team. We are a bunch of tough motherf*ckers.

Also fighting that night and making his pro debut will be Mark Menegus who I am also friends with training out of CFS going up against a guy I was supposed to fight at the last CFC before he had to pull out due to a staph infection. This fight though is at 70kg. Good luck to Mark, and i’m sure he’ll do well.

And lastly, the main event with TUFFA champ Rod Staader going up against someone from a gym I used to train at, but parted ways with that gym and since then the owner has been trying to make life for me as difficult as possible because that’s all he likes to do I guess. No names need to be mentioned. But all I can say is.. War Rod!!!

With the New York state deficit hitting $8 billion, steps need to be taken in order to right the ship that is the state’s budget. Recently New York Gov. David Paterson stated that the projected deficit for the upcoming fiscal year has grown by an additional $750 million. There’s no doubting that the Empire State is in dire straits trying to fix their deficit.  It is extremely difficult trying to balance a state budget at a time when the country as a whole is going through some of its most difficult economic hurdles in recent history. This forces us to take a fresh look at which programs will continue to receive funding. As a result, the state has been forced to cut, reject, and outright shut down many state programs and projects in order to make some type of movement out of the red and back into the black. Many of these budget cuts (like closing down state parks and cutting funding to public schools) were rampant and have cast an unfavorable light on politicians in Albany in the eyes of many New Yorkers. However, something must be done in order to fight the ailing state economy. As coincidence has it, a good fight might just be the answer to the budget problems.

On June 16^th, the New York State Senate passed a bill to legalize MMA in the state in an effort to help amend the state’s financial problems. Opening the floodgates for MMA in New York would be more of a benefit to the state than it would to the MMA Industry. For years, promoters have happily held venues in nearby New Jersey. Mixed martial arts competitions like UFC, among others, have been banned in the state because many lawmakers felt it was too brutal of a sport (even though other legal sports like football and hockey can be just as- if not more- brutal). With the passing of this new bill, fans will finally be able to support their home state and local venues. MMA events would potentially have access to one of the most active metropolises in the world- New York City. There are dozens of great venues surrounding the state who have been capitalizing on this opportunity for years. At the UFC’s most recent event held in New Jersey, there were more New York residents in attendance than NJ natives. Fortunately state legislators have finally come to the realization that legalizing MMA will open access to a new revenue stream that it gravely needs.

By welcoming MMA in the state, as much as $11 million in economic activity could be generated for each event held. This activity ranges from salaries paid to venue workers, to an increased interest in martial arts training academies and dojos, and to tourism dollars spent in the surrounding area. At every step of the way, tax revenue is generated. Governor Paterson expects over $2 million generated annually if the bill is passed. The MMA organization UFC (who would play a large role in scheduling events in the state) is broadcasted in over 170 countries, made $5.1 million in Pay-Per-View sales in 2007 alone, and averaged 30.6 million viewers in that same year. This is 3 years ago mind you; the figures projected for the next fiscal year are much higher. This type of outreach is bound to benefit the state and bring thousands to events, thus helping the economies of struggling New York state cities.

Holding events isn’t the only way that this bill will help bring money to the state of New York. In fact, the broad reach of allowing MMA to be legalized is something that will affect participants in the sport from top to bottom. For example, people who run mixed martial training gyms and programs will see a huge revenue generating boost in enrollment that will give many the chance to train and compete in their home state. This bill may even have the effect of preventing violence instead of causing it (which opponents of the bill argue) because it will allow many kids to go someplace safe after school. Studies have shown that when at-risk children are trained by mentors in a disciplined sport such as MMA, they are less likely to become involved in criminal or violent activities. This is one of the most important aspects of the bill from a human perspective, and one of the greatest reasons why this bill needs to be passed.

Every once in a while, a sport can transcend its origins and become a true cultural phenomenon. This is what MMA could be for the state of New York and that is precisely why this bill needs to be passed. The New York budget is going through one of its worst economic times ever, but by legalizing MMA, it can help to fight back against the deficit and make a difference in the lives of millions of New Yorkers.

Update:

As of the morning of June 29^th, 2010, the state assembly quashed the proposed bill which would legalize the sport. The efforts to block MMA in the state are led by a Mr. Bob Reilly, Assemblyman of the 109^th district. You can read some of his stances in an interview conducted by Ben Fowlkes of cagepotato.com last year. If you visit that link, pay careful attention to his inconsistencies and question-dodging. This man claims to be a lifelong fan of boxing, but some of his comments in that interview are quite surprising.

Although this decision is a big setback for the industry, this is not the final word for the measure. New York is one of only 6 states which blindly ignore this sport. With your support, new revenue and jobs can be still be created.

Alexia is a lifelong fan of sports and fitness. Recently, she’s been smitten by Mixed Martial Arts. She is happy to be representing MMA Industries, proud suppliers of MMA gloves to athletes around the world. Alexia continues to bring you the latest news in the mixed martial arts world on everything from the most advanced MMA equipment to the newest MMA shirts.

Back in Aus from Singapore for ESPN’s Martial Combat 5 and had a bittersweet experience. The overall trip was awesome as it was a great experience fighting overseas for the first time. We were well looked after by the promoters and everything was run exceptionally well. The atmosphere was great and it was fun being around so many fighters before, during and after the fights. Travelling with the Lion’s Den team was also a load of fun.

On the down side though, both Josh and I came back with a loss. For my fight, I felt I controlled most of my fight and did what was needed to win the fight. Everyone i’ve spoken to who has seen the fight believes I got robbed of the win. I’ve watched the fight again myself and I don’t know what the judges were seeing, and have no clue as to how they were scoring. I even had a CSA judge from Australia have a look at it, and based on agression, ring control, takedowns and groundwork, I should have won the fight. My opponent did land a few punches here and there, but they were not significant and I don’t think he did anything else worth scoring. As the saying goes, you don’t want to leave it in the hands of the judges, but I think they got it very wrong.

Overall, besides the dubious decision, everything else was awesome which made up for the loss I guess. I hope I get asked to come back on a future show to finish a fight and not leave it in the hands of the judges again.

Here’s footage of my fight if you want to judge if I got robbed or not.

A special thanks to my sponsor for my ESPN Martial Combat fight – Zeal Fightgear based in Singapore. Gabriel who is one of the co-owners of Zeal Fighgear and was able to quickly print up some very nice looking walkout tees for both myself and Josh on the day of my fight.

Both mine and Josh’s shirts had our own fight names on them which was good. Zeal Fightgear have made some really sweet MMA sparring gloves which I got a chance to look at when I was in Singapore and I’ll be receiving some soon to try out. Am looking forward to these gloves as they’re small like MMA gloves are, yet the extra padding is perfect for harder sparring without having to use 14oz gloves. Will write up a review when I try them out.

Hopefully I get a chance to fight in Singapore again to have a chance to promote Zeal Fightgear once again.

All the hard training is over and we’ll be flying out tomorrow to Singapore for Martial Combat. It has been another tough camp leading up to this fight as it always is, and I’m in great conidtion. We have a stopover in Manila (Philippines) for a few hours before we make our final way to Singapore and land late Sunday night.

Summary of the week ahead is as follows:

- Monday is a free day with no commitments so we should fit in some relaxing and go do some stuff during the day.

- Tuesday begins the formal proceedings with medical checkups, tv shoots, and official weigh ins.

- Wednesday has Josh doing his own weigh ins, and my fight night which will be around 8pm local time. I’m the first fight, which is good, cause I always like to get my fight out of the way.

- Thursday will be Josh’s fight night, and he’ll be fight number 3. Then after all the fights are over will be the official after party at Big Easy at Resorts World Sentosa. I’m sure the night will go far into the morning to make use of out time there, as we fly out the next afternoon and land back in Sydney on Saturday morning.

I’m hoping for a very good fight, and of course a win result. Should be a good experiencing travelling with the team. I probably won’t be blogging during the trip, but will write up something when I get back. I’ll have more real time updates from my facebook page.

See ya all in a week.

My next fight will be in two weeks in Singapore on a show run by ESPN called Martial Combat on July 14th. This show aims to bring all the best fighters around Asia Pacific and broadcast the fights and entertainment to a potential audience of 350 million people across 24 countries. I’ve been working to get on this show since the beginning of the year, and as you can see the scope is quite big. I’m glad I was able to get in a fight last month, which hopefullycleared the cobwebs from having sat out for 10 months since my previous fight and will be ready to showcase myself on this bigger stage.

My opponent will be Jiang Long Yun from China, who comes from a Boxing and Wrestling/Judo background. From what I’ve seen, he looks like a tough fighter once again and should be another good test for me. Also fighting on the same show is friend and team mate, Josh Payne who will be up against Robert “The Beast” Washington. Originally from the USA, but now resides in Guam, Robert looks like a strong wrestler, and is currently unbeaten with 9 wins. Unfortunately, everyone eventually loses, so I’m happy to be there when Josh gives him his first loss.

We have a couple of friends who will be making the trip to support out of their own pocket which will be good support. Should be a good experience for all, and having been to Singapore many times before, it will be a great country to host this.

Will keep you all informed of the events leading up to and on the day. Cheers.

This has always been one of my favourite quotes and is quite a famous speech by President Theodore Roosevelt. I think it captures everything that a person goes through when they strive to succeed, what it means when we fall short, and what really counts after all is said and done.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

- Theodore Roosevelt, April 23, 1910

So the Monday after my CFC14 fight I went to the physio to get a proper diagnosis on my elbow injury and the result was a Grade 2 Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) tear in the elbow. The ligament is on the inside of the elbow and is a common injury place for baseball pitchers among other sports. The below pic shows a baseball player who’s had surgery on his just to show you where it’s placed.

I found this other picture of another baseball player in the act of pitching a ball and you can kind of visualize how the injury happened with this picture.

If you can imagine myself punching (overhand right) you can see how the elbow is opened up away from the body like that. Now normally you would punch through, and hit the target. However, as explained in my previous post, during hard sparring, my opponent punched back as I was doing this. Now, the punch may have missed my head, but it connected with my forearm right as the above motion was occurring, which virtually doubled the impact my elbow received pushing it backwards in the direction behind my head. Not fun.

This injury can also happen in jiu jitsu via an americana, or kimura or figure-4 as it is also referred to at times – but normally only when you don’t tap soon enough. Some of you may have strained this ligament before from not tapping early enough too. The symptons: finding it painful when straightening the arm.

As for recovery, I’ll be seeing my physio a few times a week for the next two weeks and I have it strapped up for the whole week to limit the motion of the elbow. I want to get this healed up ASAP, so I can get back into the gym.

Unfortunately I went away with a loss on Saturday night at CFC 14. Even more unfortunate for me was that it was mainly due to an injury I sustained in the last hard sparring session a week earlier which meant I could not extend and straighten my arm without any pain. The plan for the fight though was to hopefully not get into that particular situation, however my opponent was able to get me in that exact situation and sadly I could not fight out of it. A lot of people remember my Rampage style slam of Neil Robertson when he caught me in a similar position, but without the strength in that elbow, there was to be no Rampage slam again. Not taking any credit away from Edwin, he was good enough to get me there and I was impressed with his performance. It just wasn’t my lucky night.

The injury itself was a freak accident with me and my sparring partner punching simultaneously and him connecting my forearm which basically gave me a standing americana. I’ll be going to physio for the next two weeks and resting to get this elbow back to normal.

Where do I go from here? Well, I still want to look for more fights, because I just like to fight. My win percentage is now at 50% after this fight so it’s no longer about winning or losing for me anymore. I do it because I like the competition and i’m always going into fights was a disadvantage and I like the challenge of overcoming that. Where I’m going to fight next is the big question. I’ll probably look to fight on other shows where I can fight at catch weights. My win percentage is now at 50% so it’s no longer about winning or losing for me anymore. As for training, I don’t think I did anything wrong in terms of preparing for this fight, so I’ll be doing the same things.

Finally, I’d like to thank all the people who came to support me, and I mean it deeply that your support means everything to me. Thank you everyone for all the kind words after my fight, because for me sometimes losing becomes a very lonely feeling and it makes it less so. And thank you to EverythingMMA.com.au for sponsoring me for this fight.

See you all again soon.