UFC 135

About to head out to a grappling tournament, so this is going to be ultra short.

"Big" Ben Rothwell vs Mark "The Super Samoan" Hunt
heavyweight

Hunt is simply over matched. Rothwell is not as good of a striker, but once on his back, Hunt has zero submission defense, and Rothwell will exploit that to the fullest.

Rothwell via submission, Rd. 2

Nate Diaz vs Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi
lightweight

Not even close to being the fighter he used to be, Gomi will try to turn this into a slugfest, but Diaz is too smart for that. Diaz will eventually get this fight to the ground, and utilize his superior jiu jitsu to work a submission, and possibly hand Gomi his walking papers.

Diaz via submission, Rd. 3

Travis "Hapa" Browne vs Rob "the Bear" Broughton
heavyweight

Fighters from England not named Bisping have not done too well as of late, and this will be no different. Browne is a beast, and will just outclass Broughton on the feet on the way to an early stoppage.

Browne via TKO, Rd. 1

Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck
welterweight

Hughes is one of the best welterweights of all time, but Koscheck is younger, faster, a better striker, and might be stronger. Hughes should be able to keep his faculties about him for a bit, but Koscheck finds a home for one of those overhand rights and ends this fight in a big way in the second.

Koscheck via KO, Rd. 2

LIGHTHEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

Champion Jon "Bones" Jones vs Quinton Rampage Jackson

I badly want to believe that Rampage can win this fight, and he very well could, but I don't think he will. Jones is simply better than Rampage, and though he wont likely finish the fight, this will be anything but a close one.

Jones by Unanimous Decision.

MMA and me; day 168

More sweat on the treadmill Tuesday. Knocked out another couple miles and the 400 calorie program, then I grappled a bit with Morgan and Kyle before hopping into gi class. We worked on a lot of our grappling drills for most of the class. Bridging drills, shoulder rolls, roll/re rolls, front rolls, back rolls, sit out drills, etc. We then worked on what I can only describe as animal drills. Twelve different movements that simulate that of a certain animal, back and forth across the mat. We only did a few of them, some easier than others, but they were challenging, and definitely applicable to the type of drills we do in grappling class. Check out this link for a more in depth look.

http://youtu.be/wNJk_OEO5MU

Thanks for a great class coach!

MMA and me; day 167

Monday started with an hour on the treadmill. Ran two and a half miles, then knocked out a 400 calorie burning program. I was all sorts of sweaty by the end, but it felt damn good. In jiu jitsu, we worked on the five point arm bar, which breaks down like this; 1) from guard, reach across your opponent and grab their opposite side tricep 2) on that same side, place your foot on their hip 3) with your other arm, push on the side of their face opposite the arm you have isolated while you 4) push off their hip with your foot, and swing it around to the side of their head that you are pushing away and then 5) extend your hips for the tap. As always, make sure you're going through your arm bar checklist (knees pinched, boots on, pulling on the end of the lever, etc..) Next we drilled climbing up your opponents body with your legs while they're in your guard and getting your legs over their shoulders. From here, you can either turn your hips to the right or left and snag an arm bar, or trap both arms and extend your hips for a double arm bar, nasty. Last, we worked on the arm bar/triangle/omoplata drill, before grappling for the last portion of class. A solid class, and first time I've had one run by Ben Speedy Wada. Hell of a class, hell of an instructor!

MMA and me; day 165/166

Gotta make this short, which kinda sucks because it's covering two days. Won't have much time to blog this week, due to getting things ready for this Saturday. Most everything I write is going to be short and sweet.

Wednesday I was at AMMA, and pretty much just grappled for an hour and a half straight. Was covered in sweat, most of it mine, at the end.

Thursday we worked take down defense for the first hour. We put Riley on the fence, and tried to put his but on the mat one at a time for several rounds at three minutes apiece. I stepped in for a couple rounds, as did a couple other guys. I was feeling pretty good by the end of it, and then we moved on to gi.

In gi, well, we covered the same basics we did on Tuesday, so I'll refer you to the day 163/164 blog for that. I'm going to be better about writing each day this week, but a lot of what I'll be doing is going to be mostly mat work, and not too technical. I'll make sure to spice it up with the usual wit and charm you've come to expect and adore though. ;)

MMA and me; day 163/164

So its been while since I got one of these out. Last Wednesday, I grappled all day. for about an hour and a half. Just grappling, with different partners, different weight classes, different skill levels, and it was awesome! Thursday I didn't get a chance to come to the gym because I worked for twelve hours. (I was a tired boy)

Which brings us to yesterday. For the first hour of class, I grappled with anyone who wanted to. Anyone and everyone, and I got a good healthy sweat on, busting my but to get ready for the 24th. The second hour of class, the skills and drills class, was next, and awesome! First we got our stretches in, then worked on our shoulder rolls, first from the butt, then from the knees. Next we drilled the roll/re roll, and then went right into working on the snap arm bar from side control, and then the S mount arm bar. We practiced transitioning from position to position; side control-low judo-side control-high judo-north south-high judo on the other side, etc, etc.We finished with dribbling from our back with the hips raised up, and then several sets of the Curly drill. A good day of class, and I was feeling great afterwards!

MMA and me; day 162

Tuesday was a day full of grappling. I started out just getting more mat time and rolling with four or five different people for an hour and a half or so. I worked mostly on relaxing my breathing, and not over extending myself. I was dripping sweat by the end, but it felt really, really good. In jiu jitsu class, we worked on several solo drills; army crawls, front and back rolls, sit out drills, and the curly run. We then moved onto partner drills that involved the core, and getting up onto the shoulders and back of the neck. With a partner standing over your head, you swing your legs up so you are on the back of your shoulders, then lower your legs. Next, we lifted our legs up, crossed them at the ankles and grabbed the waist of our partner, then using our legs and hips, spun around to face them. The next drill was lifting our legs up, dropping them off to the side, crunching the legs in, then swinging them around to the other side, crunching the legs in, and repeating. That was a tough one for sure. We then went back to the crossing ankles and spinning around drill, but this time we crossed the legs further so we could get deeper on the hips, and when we were turned around, we slid our left foot up to their belt, our right leg behind their left leg, and cupped their left heel with our right hand. In one motion, push with the left foot, sweep the right leg into their right leg, and pull their left foot, tripping them to the mat. From there, establish a C block and swing out to side control. We followed that up with a hook pass defense. While on your back, if your opponent goes to hook pass you, using mostly your feet, legs and hips, pivot on the back of your shoulders to spin around completely into the same position you were in to get that trip we had just worked on, or to get to butterfly guard, where you can do another trip. From butterfly guard, bring your right instep up to their right hip, and cup their right heel, then simultaneously pull their leg as you lift with your left hook and push on their hip with your right. As they fall to the mat, swing your hips over their left leg, then dive for a left under hook and clear your legs to get side control. Great day!

MMA and me; day 161

Monday was Labor Day, and with so few people in class, we kept it nice and simple. I got there early and ran a couple miles on the treadmill, then got right into sparring for the next hour. It had been a few months since I sparred last, so I got my butt kicked up and down the gym for quite some time. Got in a few licks of my own though, so it wasn't completely one sided.

Did the same in grappling, except it was just straight up grappling instead of sparring. For the better part of an hour I rolled with Frenchy, Andy, and the new guy, Joe. It was tough, and a couple of times I had to get out of tough positions (mostly that I had put myself in) but all in all, it was an hour of class well spent. Not the most technical Monday, but over two hours of good work put in.

MMA and me; day 160

Got to work on some boxing after a grappling workout to start the day. All of the combos we drilled began with a jab, jab, straight, and finished with a right turn, straight, hook, straight, left turn, jab, jab. So first we worked high catch counter, to catch 2. Second was a catch body rear hook, catch body lead hook, rear uppercut, lead uppercut, hook, straight, roll 7. Next was catch lead body hook counter, catch rear body hook counter, catch lead body hook counter. We then worked a pull counter into a double slip, and then double hook straight. Lastly was the Guzman slip series. Here's what the breakdown looked like
1) 1-1-2-high catch-2-3-2-catch 2-right turn-2-3-2-left turn-1-1.
2) 1-1-2-catch body 4-catch body 3-6-5-3-2-roll 7-right turn-2-3-2-left turn-1-1.
3) 1-1-2-catch body 3-6-2-3-2-catch body 4-5-3-2-catch body 3-6-2-3-2-right turn-2-3-2-left turn-1-1.
4) 1-1-2-pull-2-3-2-jab slip-straight slip-3-3-2-right turn-2-3-2-left turn-1-1.
5) 1-1-2-jab slip-6-2-3-2-straight slip-5-3-2-right turn-2-3-2-left turn-1-1.

The biggest things I took away from class were to stay relaxed, stay balanced, and on the last set of punches after the left turn, keep turning to change your angle of attack on your opponent so they stay disoriented. Great class!

In jiu jitsu we worked shrimping and rolls, and then went right into a couple of different guard passes from standing over a downed opponent. First was the matador pass, where you cup the back of their heels, and swing them to one side as you step to the same side. Quickly swing them to the opposite side, but don't step in that direction. Instead, swing your inside arm over your head and C grip the top of their knee, and slide your inside foot to their hip. Drive the knee of that same leg into their sternum, and dive for a far side under hook for control, and there you go. Next was for if the matador pass isn't working, or you want to change things up. Again with the heels cupped, swing the legs back and forth a bit, then separate them, and pin their right knee to the mat by placing your left hand on it and pushing down, quickly sliding your left knee over the inside of their right leg, and trapping it to the mat. From here, swim your right hand under their left leg, reach way out with your left arm, and swing it around in front of you, spinning to low judo and clearing your leg from theirs, and ending in a reverse cradle with your hands clasped under their legs. Lastly, if neither of those was working, and they were particularly flexible and have their knees nearly flat to the mat, swim both hands under their legs, and run their hips over the top of their head, putting them on the back of their neck, but keeping all of your weight on them. From here, it's almost like a variation of the matador pass. You press and turn like you're going one way, but then you quickly throw their legs in the other direction, and land in low judo, but keeping pressure on them the whole time, and ending with your ribs on theirs, pushing all the air out of their lungs. The final thing we worked on was the seat belt grip from back control, and transitioning from side to side with arm bars, back to back mount, back to arm bars, etc. etc. A really fun class, and I am starting to feel really confident on the mat. Especially after having rolled with my gorilla of a brother for the first half hour or so yesterday. That boy is pretty damn strong!

MMA and me; day 159

Another Wednesday meant a day at AMMA, and working more grappling. We started with army crawls, and then worked our shrimping drills. We moved on to shoulder rolls, front and back rolls, and sit outs. We then worked with a partner on the sit out drills on sprawled opponents. First, if your opponent sprawls, you sit out (for this drill, we sat out to the left) and drive your right knee into the mat, as you swing your left leg way around behind them to sink the hook on the far side. Maintaining your momentum, you use your weight to continue rolling to your back, pulling them over the top of you, so you can sink in your other hook for back control. The second drill, you start with the sit out, and grab the back of their tricep as it hangs over your left shoulder (their right arm). Switching your hips, throw your right leg over the left, and your right arm over the back of their neck, and as you spin, continue driving your arm under their chin, and grab your left bicep. From there, roll towards your hands, rolling them over your body, walk your hips towards their body, and hook their top leg with your top leg, putting your foot flat on the ground. From there, place your right ear on their shoulder, expand your chest, and arch you back until they tap. Fun stuff, and we all got treated to an outstanding, impromptu MMA match between two of our gymmates. Both guys put it all out there, and it was a treat to behold. Cheers to them both!