The AK fight blog series is a weekly journal from the MMAmania.com fan community featuring a behind the scenes look at "AK" as he prepares for his third professional fight on March 19, 2011. Click here if you missed his final training blog.
Hey MMA Maniacs.
Well, if you've been following my fight blog series, you know my recent fight has come and gone and you more than likely know the result. I've been able to obtain the video and have provided a detailed write-up of what was going through my mind during the fight.
Watch the video, then read my thoughts, or read my thoughts, then watch the video. The order is up to you, just make sure you do them both. And as always, I welcome any and all criticism, tips, advice, etc., just don't be too harsh!
My write-up precedes the video so scroll down to the bottom if you plan on watching it first.
I'm in the back...my music starts. I'm nervous. Can't let down my team...can't let down everyone who came to watch...can't let down all the Maniacs that followed my blogs...Time to go to work. I walk out, take my hoodie and sweats off, hug my team. My head coach puts Vaseline on my face and gives me some last-minute advice. I climb up the steps to the cage, stop at the cage door, say a quick prayer.
Nerves, fear, anxiety...theres no room for those feelings anymore. They are gone. The ref checks me out, wishes me good luck and I stare across the mat at my opponent. There is no fear in his eyes, nor does he see any in mine.
We touch gloves, I throw a weak leg kick and he blasts me with a right hand.
I feel it, feel the contact, but it doesn't faze me. I can take a lot more of those and keep coming. He's moving around a lot, so I take the fight to him. I move in and land a jab-cross and immediately change levels and circle out, away from the big looping right hand that I know is coming.
He blitzes forward, throwing rights and lefts. I grab the Thai clinch and bury a knee to his liver. We want to work the body and the legs a lot, along with throwing a lot of jabs, so I am very happy to feel my knee meet his torso. I hear him grunt from the strike, and he pushes me into the cage. I keep the Plum and throw a few more knees to his body. He doesn't like them and swings some punches to my head and backs out of my clinch.
I'm okay with that, I dont wanna be working with my back up against the fence.
I move forward and throw a leg kick. He steps to the side a little to avoid it so it doesn't land as cleanly as I'd like, but it still connects a little. He launches a right hand, which I slip and counter with a lead kick to the body. He backs up after the body kick connects and I feint a left hook. He reacts, so I quickly throw a right hook. It lands flush to the side of his head and he looks wobbled.
He backs up again and I change levels and throw a straight right to his body and immediately come upstairs for a right hook to the head which also connects. I launch a hard left hook, which he ducks then rushes me and clinches me up against the cage again.
He ducks his head a little bit, so I look for a guillotine.
He pops his head out and backs up. I throw another body kick with my lead leg and it connects to his abdomen and I see him reach for my kick. Here I think "Okay, I'll throw one more and if he reaches down to get that one, I'm gonna land a head kick." But he bends over and reacts like my kick caught him in the groin. I'm a little confused. I didn't feel any connection with his cup and that kick didn't have hardly any power on it. But hey, I've been in a fight and hit in the jewels before so I know how bad it hurts.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe I did connect low. I didn't, but hey, maybe I did.
I go to a neutral corner and take a knee. I can hear my corner yelling instructions: "He's open for the uppercut, throw your rear uppercut! Jab, you haven't thrown a single jab yet. Stick your jab in his face every time he tries to rush you. That kick wasn't low, don't let it keep you from throwing more. Work his body!" It starts feeling like I've been on my knees in this neutral corner for a long time.
God I hope he doesn't decide not to continue. A no-contest would suck.
I hear my corner yell "He's up, he's ready!" I stand up and turn around to face him and apologize for the low blow. We exchange a few strike attempts and neither of us really landing anything. I stick a jab out to get him thinking about it then slam a leg kick into his lead leg. He turns to the side, limps backwards and shakes his head in frustration.
I know my leg kicks are hurting him.
He throws a cross and I counter with another leg kick. He moves forward, I back up and quickly plant my feet and throw a third leg kick then immediately circle out of his range. He blitzes me with some punches, but I cover and block all of them. I clinch up and throw a really weak thai knee to his chin. As I have the plum, he tries to throw an uppercut and connects with my cup. I turn away, and he graciously doesn't attack me. He knows he caught me, even if the ref doesn't.
No break for me, the officiator tells us to keep fighting. Alright dude, whatever you say.
I start to launch a body kick but before I even throw it, I know he is out of range, so I follow through with the kick and immediately bring my lead leg up to check any incoming kicks of his. He comes in with a jab that I evade and I feint another left hook and launch a hard right hook. It connects clean on his temple and I know he's hurt. He backs up, and I land a straight right to his body.
He rushes me, we clinch up, exchange a few crappy knees, and I break the clinch. He throws a 1-2 combo, which I counter with another leg kick, albeit not the most technical one. He takes a few shuffle steps to the side, so I know the leg kicks are still bothering him. I throw out a double jab feint, then launch another leg kick. He decides not to check this one either and it slams into his thigh. He reacts by rushing me with yet another flurry of punches and I do my best to cover and use footwork to avoid getting caught. He's committing to the flurries he is throwing 100-percent, hoping to catch me with something.
I think to myself "Next time he rushes forward...he's getting put on his back."
I stalk him down, trying to get him to blitz me again. He does and I change levels and hit the double-leg. I stupidly shot with my head on the outside and he grabs onto a guillotine. I make sure to land in side control. I do, and he keeps the guillotine.
It's not threatening at all.
I use my right arm to block his hips and immediately pass to mount. He still keeps the guillotine. I'm slowly working my way out of it and I hear my corner yell "Push the elbow down!" I think to myself "Why am I not doing that already?" I push his elbow to the mat and pop my head out of the choke. I'm on the mat, with an opponent that I am better at on the ground, in full mount.
Immediately, ten things run through my head:
"Posture up. Throw elbows. Work striking to the body and liver from mount. Trap his arm behind his head, work strikes to the head. Get wrist control, stuff an arm and sprawl on it. I really want the TKO, lets get it now!"
These things run through my head in about .5 seconds and my opponent tries to turn to his side and shrimp to guard. I see he brought the arm he was using to hold the guillotine a little to high towards his head. Can't pass up an opportunity to finish!
I trap his arm against his head with my own head, slip my left arm under his neck and grab my right bicep, locking in the arm-triangle. I hop to side control and instead of laying flat on my belly and walking outwards, I sit out towards his head.
My head coach taught me this technique and I've always found more success with this method than sprawling out and turning like a clock. As I sit forward I feel him adjust a little bit. So I sprawl out, tighten up the choke and then sit back-forward toward his head. I know it's over, it's just a matter of time until he taps.
I squeeze as hard as I can and I feel him tapping.
The ref steps in to separate us and I proceed to let out all of the emotions that had been raging inside me for the last two days. Can't describe how happy I was at that moment. Lots and lots of pressure on me for this fight, not just the normal "dont let the team down" pressure, but also the "dont let the Maniacs down" pressure, not to mention we are going to be taking some big steps with our gym soon so I really wanted to show that my gym trains professional, competent, winning fighters.
I hope that's what I looked like.
Thanks to everyone for following my blogs and for the insane amount of support I got from this site. Enjoy the video. I am not real computer-savvy, so I ask that the link to this video doesn't get passed around. Of course you can show anyone you would like to, but make sure they come to MMAmania.com to see it.
Enjoy!
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