Issue 034
February 2008
They say the world is getting smaller. The wonders of the Internet and low-cost international flights mean the global village is a reality for those willing to take advantage of it.
The Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) community is a truly global one, with events the world over and fighters representing almost every country there is. From China to Canada and from the Netherlands to New Zealand, you can find world class fighters and large-scale events almost wherever you go.
The World Wide Web of MMA
The Internet, simultaneously the greatest and most evil invention of the last 30 years, offers a multitude of delights. It has brought people together from across the world, where they can either log on to forums to debate the topics in life that really matter, or anonymously abuse each other with no fear of ever meeting their victims face to face. Aside from watching teenagers fighting in their backyards or ladies who will happily do things with a watermelon you’d never imagine possible, the Internet does have its uses.
Communities have sprung up online where people can chat, share information and network for real-life interaction. MMA has always been driven by the Internet – it was the web that kept the sport alive when TV networks shunned it and events relied on exposure via online promotion. Forums exist where quite literally thousands of people from around the world log on to discuss the topics of the day, and in the age of quick and accessible information, it is possible for surfers to stay up-to-date of international events at the click of a button.
The beauty of the Internet is that it allows promoters, managers, fighters and fans to exchange information on everything from who is the next rising star to the best training locations in a particular city. It is as easy as logging on, posting a message and waiting for a reply. By being able to network with thousands of people the world over, opportunities abound for those with the drive to do something different.
The Need to Travel
Professional fighters travel, that’s what they do. If you are a professional fighter and you want to make it big, you can’t expect opportunities to come to you. As the saying goes, the mountain did not come to Mohammed. The big fights (and consequently,
the big money) will almost always be found elsewhere, meaning that a willingness to pack a suitcase and jump on a plane is crucial. But fighters don’t just jump across oceans for 15 minutes in a ring or cage.
One of the UK’s top welterweights, Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy is a Cage Warriors champion and Cage Force tournament finalist. In his three and a half year professional career he has fought in Holland, Japan and the USA. Starting off his career fighting on small shows in the UK, Hardy got his first taste of fighting overseas when training in Florida with the esteemed American Top Team (ATT). “I went to the American Top Team [in Florida] particularly for the jiu-jitsu, Ricardo Liborio is one of the best, and of course they’ve got 18 black belts in their school. To get my ass kicked by them was a good experience and I learned a lot from that.” Hardy fought his fourth professional fight in the US, and has travelled many times since then for various reasons. “I’ve been to Florida twice, I’ve been to Oregon, I’ve been to Los Angeles three times now, and I’ve fought twice in America, fought once in Amsterdam and fought three times in Japan.”
Training in Nottingham in the UK with some of the country’s top welterweights, Dan expains why he feels the need to travel abroad to train at other gyms. “[I did it for] the experience really, just going and training with guys who are experienced in different areas of the game. What you tend to find is when you work with the same guys, you all tend to develop in similar areas. To go and train with someone who has had a completely different training background to you is always interesting, especially during sparring.”
Coming from a strong striking background, Hardy’s first training trip abroad was to Florida to the esteemed jiu-jitsu practitioners of the ATT, but his second was to another grappling hotspot: Oregon. “Oregon was to go to Team Quest, that was to work mainly on my takedown defence and my wrestling, and I learned a lot about work ethic on that trip as well.”
They say to become the best you have to train with the best, and that maxim is the reason behind Hardy’s recent extended visits to LA, a hive of activity in the MMA and jiu-jitsu world. “Los Angeles is just kind of where it’s at for mixed martial arts. Having all those good guys coming through the gym, and of course the good guys who are there all the time,” says Dan. “Training with guys like Rampage, Mac Danzig and Jason Miller, and Eddie Bravo for the jiu-jitsu… Just to be there in an environment with a lot of good guys coming through all the time.”
As Dan’s career progresses, more destinations get added to his wish list, and next is somewhere new but not altogether surprising. “There are a lot of places I’d still like to go and train, top of the list is Xtreme Couture. I have been talking to a couple of friends of mine, Mac Danzig was out there before his last fight and we talked about going out there next year. I definitely want to get out there at some point. Other than that, really there are places I want to go. I want to go to New York and check out the Gracie Academy there. I’ve been watching a couple of the Warrior Training DVDs and I wouldn’t mind going out there and checking that out.”
It is about the journey, not the destination
For aspiring professional fighters, it is sometimes necessary for them to travel in order to simply find opportunities that would be otherwise unavailable to them. Once such example is that of Gunnar Nelson.
A 19-year-old aspiring professional from Iceland, he has been training in MMA and grappling for two years and rapidly became the best grappler in Iceland, a country not exactly known for it’s MMA. In order to develop his skills and find new challenges, he was forced to look elsewhere for proper training opportunities. In 2007 alone, he travelled to Dublin, Sweden and the UK, as well as Portland, Oregon. Even though he has to travel, he is lucky in that he gets to combine his passions. “I love it, I love travelling, I love training and I love fighting,” he says.
Iceland suffers from a case of geographical isolation and political opposal. Even though there is a thriving MMA club in the heart of Reykjavik, Nelson has outgrown those he trains with. “There are more opportunities here than in Iceland, its not even legal over there. We’ve only been doing it for so long, so travelling and training in different gyms in different countries is definitely good for my career and my game.”
“I’ve been to Portland, Oregon. I was there for about five weeks last summer. Then earlier in the year, in April, I went to Dublin and I was there for about four or five weeks and had my first pro fight in Denmark. I went back to Dublin in early September, I was there for two months, just training. I had two fights in that period, and then I came here [England].” In the eight weeks he spent in England, Nelson managed to fit in (and win) two MMA fights.
But how does a young man like him manage to fund such lengthy absences from home? “Well, I work back home for a few months and then travel for a few months. I work and save, then travel, and all I do when I travel is train and fight as much as I can.
“Before my last trip I worked as a plumber’s assistant, maybe when I go back I’ll find something more interesting. Really it’s all about finding something where I can just save so I can travel. All I want to do when I’m away is train without distractions and stay focussed.”
Always looking to expand his horizons and his skills further, Gunnar plans a trip to Hawaii in 2008 to train with one of his idols, BJ Penn. “I think BJ is as close to the complete fighter as you can get. I would love to learn from him.”
Have UFC tickets, will travel
It’s not only fighters who are travelling the world in search of the best MMA available. Fans are getting in on the act as well, with followers of the sport willing to make massive journeys to support their favourite fighters.
One such fan was 33-year-old Gary Wallington from North London. Gary, a longtime fan of MMA, had spent the last couple of years driving up and down the country to catch local MMA shows. When the opportunity came to visit Las Vegas and see a UFC live and in the flesh, he was adamant he wanted to go. “As a fanboy it had literally always been a dream of mine to go to Vegas. I used to wake up at four in the morning to watch the play by play come in on some forum. I used to get up at stupid o’clock, which is crazy looking back now. It was always a dream, but of course money was a factor. It just never really happened until last June.”
The deciding factor was the appearance of Michael Bisping in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 3. “I can’t refer to Mike Bisping as a friend, but through Cage Warriors I sort of knew him, as we’d had a few post-show drinking sessions. I’d heard he was in The Ultimate Fighter,” said Gary.
“My wife, who has since been to a couple of UFCs with me, she got interested in it. When I heard through the grapevine he was in the final, I said to my wife I really want to be there, I don’t want to miss this. She said if you really want to go that bad, let’s go. It was fantastic, Las Vegas is the best place on earth as far as I’m concerned. People say it’s tacky but I don’t think it pretends to be anything else. It’s just an adult playground.”
“Looking back it probably wasn’t the most fantastic event ever, but when you’re there live, and there was myself, my wife and two friends, it was fantastic. We went to town a bit. We had our Union Jack flags, the other two guys we were with had St George’s cross t-shirts.”
Gary and his wife maxed out a credit card to take the trip to see Bisping become the first British winner of The Ultimate Fighter, and now have an eight-month-old son keeping them at home.
Gary still goes to the UFC, especially now that shows are on his doorstep in towns like Manchester and London, but he also harbours thoughts of going back to Vegas. “If circumstances allowed I’d, certainly be out there,” he said. “I would go at the drop of a hat but it’s just a but difficult now with an eight-month-old baby. I can guarantee I will back out there, and probably sooner rather
than later.”
To fly or not to fly?
To some, jetting halfway across the world may seem like an ordeal, to others it’s nothing more than something that needs to be done to follow their dreams.
“It is intimidating, especially if you go on your own like I do,” says Dan. “To go on your own is a little daunting but that’s what I like, I don’t like to stay in my comfort zone for too long. I like to get out there and put myself in a situation where I feel uncomfortable and under pressure. That’s when I’m at my most responsive and I feel like I can learn the most.”
The benefits of travelling may seem obvious, but the rewards can sometimes appear in other guises. “Spending time with guys you see fighting on the UFC and seeing what they’re like outside of the gym is always fun” says Dan. “Seeing how they live their lives and fit MMA into it, all the training and the commitment, seeing how they piece their lives together.”
For those thinking they’d never be able to do it, both Nelson and Hardy say the same thing: just do it. “You’re not going to regret it, you’ll only regret it if you don’t go,” says Nelson. “Life is so much more than your comfort zone, your family and the place you’ve been all your life. Life is so much more if you want it to be.”
“You’ve just got to commit to it and go,” says Dan. “A lot of people say they’ll go out next year or whatever. Just book a flight, get on it and go. There are so many people who have been to the places you want to go who can give you advice. I get emails from people a lot asking about places to go, and I just give them the advice to just go out and get on with it – and once you’ve done it once, it becomes easier to do it again.”
As the popularity of the sport continues to grow, fighters and fans hop continents to chase their MMA dreams. Inside the cage or out, dreams can be found, so long as you have the will to go after them.
TOP FIVE MMA TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
You’ve decided you’re going to do it, but there is a whole world out there and you don’t know where to start. If you’re stuck for ideas why not consider one of our top five MMA travel destinations?
5: Japan
Home of some of the most entertaining fighters in the world, the language and cultural barrier may seem sizeable but should you go you can expect all manner of wonders. There are dozens of top gyms to train at and many events in the main cities. Expensive, but certainly a memorable experience. Do plenty of research before you go.
4: Hawaii
There isn’t a great deal to do in Hawaii except surf, hang out at the beach and train MMA. Sounds terrible. When you see BJ Penn and his buddies chilling out after training by hiking through waterfalls and diving into crystal clear pools, you realise why this is a fighter’s paradise in more ways than one. Hawaiians love their fighting also, so tourists can get their fix at regular live events.
3: Brazil
The birthplace of modern MMA, Brazil is a country of contrasts. From jungles to metropolises, from poverty-stricken to the uber-rich, you’ll find it all and more in this South American state. Training is easy enough – Brazilians are more than happy to take Gringos’ money off them for jiu-jitsu training. Events are harder to find but still accessible, but get a local contact if you really want to check out real Brazilian MMA. You don’t want to stumble into the favela by accident.
2: Los Angeles
Dirty, smelly, and prone to earthquakes and brush fires, LA may seem like hell to some but if you’re into MMA it’s practically heaven. The Southern Californian area has dozens of small MMA shows, and larger ones such as the UFC stop off there a few times each year. Training opportunities are second to none, with more top quality MMA gyms and fight teams than is possible to list.
1: Las Vegas
The spiritual home of combat sports, Las Vegas is the place to go if you’re serious about MMA. No fight fan’s life is complete without at least one trip here, as it is only in Vegas you’ll see the mega-fights you’ve always dreamed of. Training is plentiful with Randy’s Xtreme Couture and more all operating open-door policies.
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