Issue 152
March 2017
How did you start training martial arts?
I started when I was eight with judo. I had talent in judo, but I never pursued it. I did maybe two years.
After that I went to fitness and I got into fights on the streets – but it was all good, we won, me and my friends – so we said we’re going to do boxing.
When you started MMA, was there still techniques from that time you could use?
Whatever you do when you’re young is going to be natural to you. If you box from a young age, throwing punches or kickboxing is like walking to you if you do it every day. If you start at a young age it’s always going to be there.
Even physically, I used to do fitness when I was younger and I’m a very strong middleweight. You take those things with you when you get older.
Which martial arts did you adapt to most easily?
It’s a lot of time and work put in. I believe in a lot of sparring. Let’s say you learn a technique and you just go, go, spar, spar, spar, it will come naturally to you. If I do things well, it’s because I do it in the most real way.
If I fight, I’m going to train fighting. I’m not going to do running, I’m not going to lift weights because that’s not going to help me as a fighter.
If you’re a fighter, you should fight. If you’re a soccer player, you should just play soccer.
Don’t go and do something else. A little bit, but not too much. I keep it as real as possible and that’s why everything looks better.
How often will you do strength and cardio training?
When I fight I do strength and conditioning two times a week. The rest of the training is all related to mixed martial arts. It’s wrestling or it’s jiu-jitsu or it’s MMA. I don’t do running or strength and conditioning every day.
I try to keep it as real as possible to what I do in the cage. Even the strength and conditioning is all exercises that have to do with MMA. I’m not going to lift weights, I’m not going to do bench press.
How hard do you spar? Are you worried about head trauma?
No. I have the same guys I’ve trained with all my life. We don’t go hard. A lot of times, if you do small gloves you don’t really hit the guy. You know if you can hit him or not and it’s just grappling, it’s wrestling, it’s full MMA.
You’re not going to get damaged off those things. I’ve been to gyms where they go full power. In 10 years they’re going to look retarded. It’s not healthy if you train like that. I know what I’m doing. I don’t take damage in my fights, I don’t take damage in my training, so I’m not worried.
How much did you focus on improving your wrestling?
I really didn’t train a lot of wrestling before (fighting in Strikeforce). The King Mo fight woke me up.
Wrestling is a big thing in MMA. If you’re the guy who’s gonna decide if the fight goes to the ground or keep it standup, that’s a big plus.
Obviously, I feel like now I have a better understanding of MMA and I can mix wrestling in much better. I worked a lot on wrestling. I don’t feel wrestling is an issue (anymore). I feel I neglected wrestling in that King Mo fight.
I underestimated that. I learned from that fight and I’m a different fighter now.
How much does your training change for different fighters?
I can fight anybody because I feel I’m well-rounded. I used to not watch a lot of tapes because I felt I would get too much respect for my opponent, but I understand you have to study tapes now.
If his specialty is kicks, I’m working on defending those. Against Uriah Hall, I knew he was going to do a lot of spinning back-kicks, so I felt if I kept the distance well and moved constantly to the left side he could not hit me.
I learn from losses.
You have to study opponents. If you fight a guy who’s a wrestler, I’m working a lot more on my defense. If it’s a stand-up guy, I try to work a lot more on my wrestling to take them down. I make a game plan.
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