Issue 160

November 2017

Blue-chip UFC welterweight Mickey Gall breaks down his immersion in mixed martial arts training.

How often are you in the gym for serious training?

I will work out in the morning, and then in the evening, Monday through Friday. Then I take two days of rest over the weekend to let my body recover. After that, I will do it all over again.

With the knowledge we have now about brain trauma and injury, do you back off from hard sparring?

You can’t do the stand-and-bang thing all the time. When I first started out, I would spar five days a week: Monday with the Muay Thai team, Wednesday morning with the pro team, Thursday night with the Muay Thai team, Friday with the pro team and then I’d spar Sunday, too.

I got up at nine and drove all the way to the gym to spar again. It was constant. Now I am being smarter about it. I understand the cost of that hard sparring. In a fight in the cage I will go to the death, but in practice, we aren’t going to war anymore. I want to be smart. I don’t want to hurt my teammates. I don’t want to hurt my friends. We have to be smart and grow together.

What does your general stand-up training look like?

I work with Sean Diggs on my stand-up, usually for a minimum of two days per week, on Mondays and Fridays. In general, I will do double sessions, typically Monday through Friday, and take Saturday and Sunday off.

I do stand-up, but I also work with my buddy Tuesdays and Thursdays hitting the pads. I am throwing punches four or five days a week.

This is in addition to the sparring mentioned above, too.

What does an average week of groundwork look like for you?

I work my ground game with David Adiv at Gracie New Jersey. He is a master and has made my grappling game world class. I feel like I can strangle anyone in the world. I am there Monday all day and will do two classes. Sometimes, I do a triple session.

Do you do any traditional BJJ in the gi as well?

On Wednesday, I’m back there taking a gi class before I spar, then one or two more times a week. Sometimes Thursday night, sometimes Friday. I’m training all the time. I’m obsessed. It’s all I do.

What does your strength and conditioning regimen look like?

Right now, I am lifting heavy. I am getting big and strong, working with my man Billy Dee Williams. He has a company called Beyond Fitness by Billy Dee.

That’s O.G. Billy Dee. We lift every Tuesday and Thursday and I am getting strong. The pants I am wearing right now are tight because my legs are getting so big! I am working hard.

What do you do for cardio?

I do five minutes at a time on a treadmill. I’ll go harder and harder and harder every time. I will keep turning it up. Beep, beep, beep, faster and faster and faster. Every few seconds I’m increasing the incline and speed.

I am finishing strong. I want to finish my rounds stronger than I start. I want to have that endurance. I do that especially when I am in camp. I ride the stationary bike sometimes, and I haven’t been running as much right now.

I’ll run once every other week or something, but I have been focusing much more on my lifting more recently.

You are a big guy already. With all that weight training, is it possible you’ll have to bump up a weight class?

Right now, I make 170lb easy, but I’m sure I will get too big for that weight class eventually.

My dad is a big, wide guy and tried out for the New York Giants. I am only going to get bigger and stronger.