Issue 074

April 2011

This issue: Dan Hardy starts training camp. Some of his rituals, from classical music to an immaculate wardrobe, might surprise you...

Training camp officially starts tomorrow. Right now it’s Friday night – I have my first conditioning session of the camp at 7am tomorrow morning. This consists of Jimmy Wallhead, Dean Amasinger, Andre Winner, and our strength coach Ollie Richardson all beating me up and yelling at me for 15 minutes. I know that must sound like a lot of fun to some of you sickos that can function before 10am, but to me it sounds like hell. 

I like this feeling, this moment of calm before the madness of training camp sets in. It feels like you are teetering on the edge of a cliff and slowly leaning over to see how far you go before you fall. The anticipation of the next nine weeks of training, knowing that what I do between now and UFN 24 on March 26th, will ultimately decide what happens that night. Making the right decisions consistently for that length of time is the hardest thing. Pushing forward when I’m tired, instead of pulling back a little and catching a breather. Or being smart about dieting and training so I’m not heavy and fatigued when fight time comes around. Even small things like making sure the clothes I want for the next day are clean, and having the right music on my iPod during training make a difference. Keeping a bottle of water with me all of the time, not missing meals, even making sure I have ice in the freezer for injuries and sore muscles. It doesn’t sound much but these are the differences between good sessions and great ones. The difference between ‘good’ and ‘great’ is very minor when it comes to training, but those slight differences might be the ones I need to win.

By now you’re probably thinking that I may be a little obsessive. And I’d be inclined to agree! I just don’t want to be standing behind that curtain as my music starts on fight night, and remember all of the negative things about the camp I just finished. Then I step into the cage feeling less than 100% confident, and that’s not enough. I need to feel like I’m going to put a beating on this guy foolish enough to step in here with me. You can see fighters that feel like that by the time they walk out: they look comfortable to be there and seem genuinely excited about the whole event. Like Chuck’s walkout against Tito, with that ‘serial killer’ grin across his face like he knew exactly what was coming.

The last two weeks have been devoted to preparing for training camp, some lighter sessions working on technique, and lots of watching fights. Not necessarily of my opponent in action, I just like to watch good fights to get me excited about starting training for mine. I have a few other rituals I do also: I clean my apartment thoroughly and make sure all of my training kit is clean and ready. I buy a bunch of DVDs to watch, usually a load of movies, some TV shows and some stand-up comedy. I have Family Guy and Dexter for this camp. 

I also get some new records and CDs so I have plenty to listen to, I’m back listening to Abbey Road by The Beatles and I’m also listening to Vision of Disorder and Chopin again, just to mix things up a bit! I actually have Chopin on now, it’s very relaxing but I think there’s also something quite sinister about it. I find it quite easy to imagine the fight in my head while it’s on. Slow-motion ultra-violence, my opponent’s head rocking back after a right hand lands cleanly on their nose, sending a streak of blood into the air. Quite a poetic image don’t you think? Once again, thank you for reading and whatever you do... keep doing it.