Fighters Only

Issue 018

October 2006

By Jakob Sverre Løvstad

Arriving in Iowa... In the middle of July I arrived at Moline Airport, Illinois to train with Miletich Fighting Systems (MFS). It had been quite a trip from Trondheim, through Oslo, Amsterdam and Memphis before finally getting on the tiny shuttle jet to Moline. So I was thrilled to finally meet up with a friend of mine from Trondheim, Stian, with whom I would be staying.

MFS is situated in Davenport, one of the Quad Cities that sit on the Mississippi river. If you’re not as lucky as me in knowing someone living there, you should make it your top priority to rent a car. Without one, you’re not going anywhere in Iowa. There isn’t any way to get around without driving. Heck, there aren’t even sidewalks, so you can either get a car or start playing in traffic.

The training at MFS is plentiful and there are plenty of opportunities to get extra training in on top of regular classes if you happen to be the Energizer bunny. Each morning and afternoon you can participate in classes called “Basic Grappling” and “Basic Kickboxing”. These classes focus on teaching you basic skills, conditioning and contain some sparring and drills. All kinds of people participate here, from the middle-aged housewife to the next potential UFC champ. People simply pair up with others of appropriate skill level.

In the evening you have the advanced classes where the pros meet up to do their thing. These sessions are mostly sparring from start to finish. There’s a very brief warm-up and then it’s time to go at it.

Other than that, you’ll have full access to a strength training gym and cardio room with treadmills and the like, so it’s normal to see the pros working out there in the mornings. Since the Quad Cities is home to the world’s most well known chiropractic university (Palmer’s), there are also chiropractors and massage therapists available at MFS. You may need their help if you’re planning on training with the pros.

Training at MFS was a kind of mixed pleasure. Everyone is very nice unless you’re set on being a complete ass, in which case you really shouldn’t even walk in that door. But even if you’re the love child of Mother Theresa and Santa Claus, you will still get beat on when you go train with the pros. It’s just the way it is. If you’re an outsider coming in to train, you can rely on experiencing the world famous MFS beat in. It’s like they’re making sure no one leaves the place and says they had an easy time there.

I especially remember sparring kickboxing with Big Ben Rothwell (who outweighs me by 40kg). He’s pouring into me with combinations and even though I’m taking the shots on my guard, I’m being pushed all over the place. While this is going on, Pat is laughing and shouting “Strrriiikiiiinng Viiiikkiiiing!” in his best attempt at Scandinavian accent. I’m kind of smiling while heavy things are hitting me courtesy of Ben. As I said – a mixed pleasure.

The real reality check when it comes to sparring at MFS is Wednesday night. This is an hour of sparring kickboxing in three-minute rounds. You warm up and then just fight for about 12-14 rounds. You might want to make sure your headgear isn’t worn out and that your endurance is ok before going in. The contact level here is really high. I haven’t been to any other gym with quite that level of all out banging, and I’ve been to a lot of gyms. In the two Wednesday night sessions I participated in, I witnessed two “Hello, where am I, who am I?” type of KOs. They literally didn’t even remember their own names. So keep your hands up!

Tuesday and Thursday is advanced grappling at night, which means groundfighting sparring for about 40 minutes and then some drills (like one person trying to ground and pound with boxing gloves while the other grapples for subs and reversals). In these classes you’ll also see people who don’t fight as the risk of getting hurt is a lot lower than either Monday (which is dedicated to various MMA sparring) or Wednesday night.

All in all, the training is basic, but very tough and demanding. You’re doing stand-up sparring, which sometimes includes takedowns, and groundfighting, and you’re doing it over and over again with high intensity for many rounds. The part of the gym used for MMA practice is also very rudimentary. There’s a mat area with chairs and bags on two sides and padded walls on the other two. It just goes to show that you don’t really need a lot of fancy equipment to develop good fighters. The important thing is the people doing the training and their attitude.

One thing that kind of took me by surprise was how many people actually fight out of MFS. In fact, there are lots of guys fighting from the MFS gym who aren’t even part of the renowned MFS Elite team. And when you’re sparring, you can be up against a who’s who of MMA. In fact, most weight classes are stacked and there are alternates that could step in and do a good job should any of their current UFC champions leave the organization.

For example, in the -70 kg division you have Jens Pulver who is the biggest name from MFS at that weight. But you also have Spencer Fisher, Josh Neer and Joe Jordan who are all UFC calibre in the same weight class. I could keep listing all the fighters at the different classes, but it would take up most of the article. And then I would still just have listed the pro fighters and not the guys fighting in smaller events or at the amateur level.

In a place where everyone and their mother seem to be fighting, you have to be pretty good to train with the top team, and even better to train with the elite part of the top team. Some of the ‘names’ I sparred with were Ben Rothwell and Robbie Lawler. Not unexpectedly, Ben hit like a truck and Robbie has a tendency to treat your melon like a speedball. On the ground, almost everyone I saw sparring and sparred with had a very tight, methodical style. It’s more an MMA kind of ground game than the kind of wacky moves you might see in purely grappling-oriented gym. This reflects the general impression people have of MFS, I guess - hard, basic striking with tight groundwork. In fact, most guys I met only referred to kickboxing sparring as “sparring”. The rest was just “wrestling” or “jiu-jitsu”. A big exception to prove the rule though is Spencer Fisher who really is all over the place, both in kickboxing sparring and on the ground. The man is an entertainer for sure.

Those of you who have seen Jens and Pat fight can probably imagine them sparring as well. Jens with his quick, hard punching style and Pat with hard leg kicks was very interesting to watch, and I would hazard both guys felt quite sore afterwards. Unfortunately Tim Sylvia was only in the gym to watch as he was taking a little time off after his bout with Andrei Arlovski. I did work out with him a few years back on my last visit, though. He was tough back then and with his improvement over the time since last I saw him, I’m sure it’s just as well that I didn’t have to stand and trade with him in sparring. He did offer lots of friendly advice, like “It’s just a bodyshot, get going!”

Regrettably, I didn’t get to see Brock Lesnar do much aside from working on his standup skills. With all the talk going on, it would have been interesting to him showing his wrestling skills. I guess we’ll all have to wait and see what becomes of him. He’s at the right camp to complete his set of skills either way.

When I got to Iowa, the temperature was around 35°c. Then as a heat wave came in from the west coast, it got to around 40°c, and the humidity is just crazy. So my first piece of advice for you is to remember to buy plenty of water and Gatorade and drink as if you’ve finally reached an oasis in Sahara. You could be smarter than I was and go train there in September/October or May/June when the climate is a little more comfortable, but I had little choice as to when I could travel there. Also the part of the gym where fighters train at MFS doesn’t have any air-conditioning, so it’s a bit like training in a steam room in the summer.

Another important thing is to not take things personal. You will likely receive a beating when you first get there, but it’s not because they don’t like you. Keep your hands up and if you go down from a body shot or something, just take a deep breath and get back up. Everyone gets roughed up, but the crucial thing is to be tough and not give up. Shake it off and stay friendly.

In the US, they love air-conditioning. So while it was 40°c outside, it was more like 15-20°c inside. This means you’re likely to get sick. The last week of my three-week trip to Iowa was spent on a couch watching cable TV with a fever from the constant jump between freezing inside and roasting outside. So if you want to get the most out of training, you should probably stack up on vitamins and put on a sweater when you go inside to eat, shop or see a movie.

Now to be honest, there isn’t much to do in Iowa except train, which is what people only half jokingly claim is the reason MFS guys are so good. If you love golfing and hunting, you’ll have plenty to do outside training, but otherwise you might want to make sure you have some contingency entertainment plans like cable TV, going to the movies etc. Or you can do what I did: get a big pump-action shotgun and go blow things apart at the public shooting range.

There are also a lot of fighting events in the area. While I was there I went to the local show called Extreme Challenge and there were two other events being held within short driving distance. If you’re looking for a good time, you might also check out Thursday Night Fight Night at Amsterdam Gentleman’s club. Every Thursday they set up a ring and people step up to fight MMA, boxing or grappling. The fights are of very varying quality and most just end up being a quick beating in the first round.

Considering all the problems the government causes for MMA in countries like Norway, Sweden, the UK and so on, it’s really strange to come to a place where you can just put down your beer, step into the ring to have it out with some other guy, pick up your beer again and go to the other room to get a lap dance. You even get free entrance if you want to fight, so if you feel like punching someone in the face you save $12.

Overall, the guys at MFS are really nice, once you get a little bit acquainted with them. The training is very tough and simple and you’ll get to spar and train as much as you can handle (and probably more). Iowa in itself doesn’t offer too much to do, so your best bet is to stay healthy and train your ass off. It also takes a little bit of time to get used to the climate, culture and the way things work, so don’t expect to get into full training from day one. For this reason, it’s a good idea to stay a few weeks, so you have time to get into the right rhythm and benefit from your stay.

Fact Sheet:

What:

Miletich Fighting Systems