Mma Wrestling - in the Ring

There were many times before my friend got me into Mixed Martial Arts that I knew in my mind I could do this no problem,” I’m in shape, “I’m tough”,” I can wrestle” I’m a good athlete,” “why couldn’t I do this MMA thing that’s on TV?”.  When I started, I didn’t have a clue what it was really about, I puked the first day of practice from running, doing so many kicks and punches on the punching bag, and up downs for an hour. Not including the boxing sessions. I left with a black eye, bruised legs and ribs, it was like getting beat up every week basically. I thought I was tough but as the weeks went on I knew I wasn’t as tough as I thought I was. I’m an ex wrestler, I’ve been through hell (I thought) in some of those practices, so I’ve seen the toughest practices in my days. Let me tell you that a MMA practice trumps wrestling practices. As a beginner fighter I had to put myself in that state of mind that “I can compete with anyone, I’m going to be a top fighter one day”. It’s about the devotion you put to this sport.  If you can devote yourself to get through those tough hellish practices, the bruises, black eyes, maybe broken bones, than you will become skilled at this sport. I went through those black eyes, bruises and cuts for about a month before I thought I could actually jump in the cage. When I did I was so nervous, I could not believe I was actually going to fight someone, in a cage, and in front of a thousand people that included my family and friends. Before you go out to the cage, it makes your mind race about everything, like: “am I going to lose?”, “am I going to get hurt?”, “am I going to get knocked out in front of all these people?”.  That’s the kind of mind frame you’re in before you go out to the cage ask any fighter they all will tell you the something. It’s the mind set you put yourself in as you get in the cage is when it matters most. That’s what I had to do. I had to make my mind go to that place where “I know I’m the better fighter,” “I know I’m the more skilled person in that cage,” I’ve put the most work and devotion into all my training”, and” I want to win more than my opponent.” That’s exactly how I came into that cage and it was one of the most thrilling things I’ve ever experienced. It only took me 36 seconds to submit my opponent and I ended up winning three more right after that; in a matter of five weeks. All those wins put myself in the positon to go pro and start making money. The hard work I put in, the skill I built in the gym, and the devotion I put myself through was worth it.

There are a lot of people in the world that think they can do Mixed Martial Arts just because they think they can kick everyone’s ass, maybe a little tough, and think they are the top athlete. In my years as a mixed martial artist, I’ve seen that it takes a special kind of mind frame, skill, and devotion to compete in the cage.

I got an offer to help with this fight promotion and help a little bit with matchmaking, this is a person that helps match up fighters for a fight promotion. My buddie was referring for the promotion and I was going to go anyway, so we drove to southern Indiana to this event and see what they had before I gave the promoter an answer. I called my friend Tristan and went down to check it out.

When we got there, I got handed a sheet of paper with all the fighter’s names on it. They asked me to make the matches, something I’ve never done before, so I was a little intimidated. Looking at the sheet I was handed most of them were already done. I hadn't agreed to the job yet, and wasn't feeling comfortable matching them when I wasn’t even at weigh-ins the day before, I declined. Then the promoter told me there were no weigh-ins and to just put some together with the other match maker they had. So, the other match maker and I call all the fighters over and got to work on what we had to work with, “which wasn’t much let me tell you”.

The main event was a drunk, bar fighting biker guy, with no real mixed martial arts experience, but “maybe a bunch of bar fights” and his opponent was a pro boxer that’s been devoted to the sport for 4 years. I tell Tristan to” keep a close eye on all the fighters but mostly the main event. All night we’d seen the drunk biker guy talking about how many fights he’s been in and how he’s going to kick his opponent’s ass. Those are the kind of people that claim there the tough guy in the streets, really have no business being in the cage with no real training. The fights get started, most of the fights ending in the first round, Tristan (who was referring the fights) did a hell of a job making sure no one got hurt.

Now time for the main event the boxer who was focused and collected entered the cage. I knew right then that this fight wasn’t going to be good, for the other guy. Then the drunk guy and his biker buddies made their way to the cage. You could obviously tell the difference in physicality between the two. The boxer being muscular, in shape, and determined and the drunk guy, well… has a big belly, out of shape, and a smug face. The match starts and the boxer threw a big overhand that nearly knocks his head off. The drunk guy had a quick reality check. Right then and there he realized he wasn't as tough and as skilled as he thought. He gets cracked again and goes down. Thinking Tristan was going to stop the fight, I crack a fresh beer. I took a swig and then spit it out when I see him do a standing 8 count, which is just done in boxing, not mixed martial arts.

"Dammit Tristan, this isn't boxing" I yelled but acted like he didn't hear me and kept counting. The drunk guy got back up, out of instinct, and then continued to get beat on. It was obvious that he was in way over his head and the boxer was clearly very skilled. "Stop the fight" I screamed like a crazy person. But as I scream he gets dropped again and Tristan starts another standing 8 count. I look over to his corner and all the biker guys are like deer in headlights. I walk over, and yell to Tristan again but as he started to call the fight to end, the boxer hit the guy one last time and boom his face hits the canvas, lights out. The drunk bar fighter didn’t even hit the pro boxer the entire fight, which only lasted a minute. “Goes to show that it takes more than a couple bar fights and a tough man attitude to be in the cage”.