Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
October 28, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
They've fought before .. twice .. and both ended badly for Jackson
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has been very successful thus far in his UFC career while Wanderlei Silva was recently on a downward spiral as he dropped three straight - one of which was in his UFC debut against Chuck Liddell. However, it looks as though Wanderlei Silva has returned to his old ways in his last fight as he racked up a brutal knockout victory against light heavyweight standout, Keith Jardine. Not only did Wanderlei Silva secure a knockout, but he did so in a fashion so devastating that the MMA community forums exploded with talks of the “rape choke”. If you missed it, Wanderlei Silva basically held Jardine down with a hand across the throat while he repeatedly landed shots to the face with his free fist.
On the other hand, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is fresh off a disheartening loss at the hands of now-champion, Forrest Griffin. Following the fight, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson lived up to his nickname as he literally went on a hit and run “rampage” in LA and as a result, he became a household name as the story was covered in some of the worlds most popular tabloid sites, programs and publications.
TMZ.com came through with this first photos of Jackson's arrest
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva - How they match up.
Having met on two other occasions with the same result, there’s a good chance that Wanderlei Silva is to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson what Anderson Silva is to Rich Franklin - unbeatable. While Quinton “Rampage” Jackson isn’t the same fighter today as he was on Halloween four years ago when he last squared off with Wanderlei Silva, fighting is just as much mental as it is physical and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s current mental state is certainly in question. Even had “Rampage” not “lost his marbles” so to speak and mistaken a public road in Orange County for the Indy 500, fighting someone who has brutally knocked you out - on multiple occasions - is a big mental hurdle to overcome on its own.
In terms of their skills sets and fighting style, both fighters are extremely aggressive so it should make for an exciting fight. While both are capable of fighting on the ground - especially Wanderlei Silva as he’s a black belt in BJJ - both Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Wanderlei Silva prefer to keep it standing and slug it out. Wanderlei Silva has the better Muay Thai as he’s already effectively utilized a Thai clinch on Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in their previous encounters. However, being a product of Juanito Ibarra - a renowned boxing trainer - Quinton “Rampage” Jackson may be a more technical boxer.
If the unexpected happens and the fight does hit the ground, it will certainly be an advantage for Wanderlei Silva. However, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s only submission loss has come at the hands of Kazushi Sakuraba - who has been labelled by some as the “greatest grappler in all of mixed martial arts” - and that loss occurred more than 7 years ago. Since then, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has faced many other great grapplers - none of which have been successful with their submission attempts. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s ability to evade submissions is due to his seemingly in-human strength. Rampage - aka. “King of the Slam” - literally power bombed BJJ black belt, Ricardo Arona at a PRIDE event back on 2004 to escape a triangle attempt. All that being said, it’s a virtual certainty that this fight will be an all-out slugfest with the victor likely being awarded a generous bonus for “KO of the night”.
The biggest factor in this fight will be the mental state of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Having recently displayed instability with his antics as of late - and the fact that he’s facing a man who has knocked him out on two separate occasions - Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will certainly have to come into this fight in the right frame of mind if he hopes to have any shot at beating the light heavyweight legend, Wanderlei Silva.
So before you pick a winner and place a bet, take everything into consideration - including the odds. In a sport where anything can happen, all you can do is trust your instinct. Everyone responds differently to defeat - as already mentioned - so it should be interesting to see whether or not Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is able to bounce back.
Click Here to check the latest odds in the Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva fight!
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson
October 25, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Joe Stevenson will likely have to rely on his strength advantage in order to pull off a win at UFC 91
Kenny Florian has been making a run at the title for quite some time now. I was almost certain that following his victory over Roger Huerta, we’d be seeing a Kenny Florian vs. BJ Penn showdown headlining one of the upcoming cards. However, with BJ Penn contracted to fight Georges St. Pierre in February, it looks as though Kenny Florian has to patiently wait for his well deserved shot at BJ’s gold.
Kenny Florian - being the patient, intelligent guy that he is - has stated that he’s more than willing to fight some of the other top contenders while he’s waiting. How’s that for confidence? Kenny Florian knows that a loss will derail his title quest but rather than selecting an easy fight, he accepts perhaps the toughest match-up presented by Joe Silva - the UFC’s matchmaker.
As his 29-8 record indicates, Joe Stevenson is no pushover. Likely still in redemption mode following a disheartening loss to BJ Penn, Joe Stevenson will be looking to rack up his second consecutive win since UFC 80. It’s been said that a fighters worth is best judged not through victory, but rather - how a fighter responds to defeat.
At only 26 years of age, Joe Stevenson is constantly learning and evolving as a fighter. If anything, perhaps his loss to BJ Penn was the humbling experience that Joe Stevenson needed. His first response to that defeat was a good one as he choked out Gleison Tibau with his favourite technique - the guillotine choke - halfway through the second round at UFC 86.
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson - How does this fight go down?
Let’s work from the ground up, shall we? Joe Stevenson is no slouch on the mat as he’s spent most of his career training under Marc Laimon at his “Cobra Kai” gym in Las Vegas, Nevada. Marc Laimon is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has trained numerous champion grapplers. Joe Stevenson has also spent some time training at Extreme Couture under the tutelage of Robert Drysdale - who is yet another BJJ black belt and grappling champion. Joe Stevenson - having started BJJ when he was only 13 - undoubtedly has a high belt ranking although I don’t believe he’s achieved the level of black as of yet (he was a brown belt last time I checked). However, to compliment his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a strong wrestling background.
Kenny Florian has a higher level of Jiu Jitsu than Joe Stevenson as he’s a legit black belt. Adding to that is his high level of Muay Thai striking as he trains under Mark Delagrotte at the Sityodtong satellite school in Boston, Mass. Kenny Florian undoubtedly has the better ground game and when considering his Muay Thai skill set which includes arguably the most lethal elbow strikes in the entire division (if not the entire organization) he certainly has the edge in the striking department as well.
That being said, while Kenny Florian is both a better striker and better grappler than Joe Stevenson, Joe Stevenson is physically stronger and with his wrestling background, that may pose a problem for Kenny. If you look back to the Kenny Florian vs. Sean Sherk showdown, Kenny Florian had a hard time neutralizing Sherk’s strength advantage. We could possibly see the same thing happen on November 15th. This is one of those fights that’s tough to predict (as are a lot of the latest fights) so you’re best bet (literally) is to select it based on the odds. The latest odds in the Kenny Florian vs. Joe Stevenson fight can be found here.
Fighter Stories - How They Started (Intro)
It seems to me like the other MMA-related sites and publications are all asking the same questions when they get interviews with the fighters. More often than not, the questions are limited to a fighters game planning, training routine and expectations in their upcoming fight. From the time a fighter books a fight until the time he steps into the ring/cage, he must field the exact same questions about 20-30 times. While the future is important, we at FightPassport.com are going to take a different approach.
How’s this for a concept?
Rather than ask the usual, repetitive questions regarding a future fight, we’re going to switch things up a bit. As a matter of fact, we’re not going to focus on the future at all, but rather - we at FightPassport.com are going to focus on the past. We’re going to focus on how the fighters got where they are today. Everyone has a story and when dealing with professional fighters, those stories seem like they’d be a lot more interesting than those of an accountant or dentist.
From what prompted them to partake in their first martial art class to how they felt prior to their first fight; from fighting on the streets to sleeping in cars while trying to make ends meet - we’ll be covering it all. Not only we will be covering the fighters who are currently at the top of the ranks, but we will also be profiling fighters who are currently struggling to make it - giving them some needed exposure and just telling their stories.
So, keep checking back. This should be interesting. And in the meantime, feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you think of the concept..
Myanmar Visa Run
October 24, 2008 by admin · 4 Comments
So, for the people that want to stay in Thailand long term, oftentimes they have to sacrifice a day of their lives in order to gain another twenty-nine. Yesterday I spent a combined 10 hours in a van and another half hour or so on a little boat to cross over the border of Burma. My initial visa that was issued to me from the Thai embassy in Ottawa, Canada was set to expire today so I was left with minimal options.
I had originally attempted to obtain a “non-immigrant type ED” visa as I had supplied all the necessary documentation. Turns out, I was given a single entry “type O” visa which was valid only for 3 months. I tried taking all the documentation to the immigration office here in order to get an extension but the immigration officer I was matched up with didn’t consider “Muay Thai” to be education.
His statement was ironic considering that dozens of guests at this very camp have “ED” visas for studying Muay Thai. However, the officer (without even looking through my documentation) simply said “Muay Thai? No! Cannot!”. He then walked to a nearby cabinet, pulled out a handful of paperwork from one of the drawers and handed it to me. After having the papers translated by a Thai friend, it turns out that the papers he handed me were completely irrelevant to the education visa I was applying for as they were for those wishing to work in Thailand.
Just bad luck I suppose as standing there and arguing with the immigration officer wouldn’t have done me any good. My solution was to leave Thailand and simply re-enter for a 1 month extension. Thailand allows you to do this 3 times within a 6 month period. However, next month when I leave Thailand I will likely be going to the Thai embassy in Malaysia to apply for the proper education visa. Even if I’m unable to get a “non-immigrant type ED”, I’ll just get a 60 day tourist visa which can then be extended from within Thailand for another 30 days - giving you 3 months in total. Through a combination of tourist visas and 30 day stamps, you can pretty much live in Thailand providing you time everything right (although clearly, I’m not visa expert so don’t quote me on that). If you’re thinking of coming to Thailand, the best source of visa information can be found at ThaiVisa.com
Anyway, when I finally arrived at the Thailand departure port, the only thing I could focus on was the awful smell. Most of the people in line were holding their shirts over their mouth and noses. Some Thai guy then took our passports, which at first made me a little paranoid. One of the fellow visa-runners had to re-assure me that it was a normal procedure. We then got onto a Thai-style boat and headed toward Burma. This was actually the highlight of the day as the scenery was pretty cool. Here’s a really brief video I took during the ride..
VIDEO COMING SOON (uploading .. slow connection)
When we arrived in Myanmar (Burma), I didn’t really know what to expect. The extent of my Burma education was from the Seinfeld episode where Elain’s boss (Mr. Peterman) randomly goes there and she has to go see him to get his approval on some of the company expenses, at which point, Mr. Peterman questions her about the “Urban Sombrero” on the cover of his magazine. Yup, I certainly live a sheltered life in Canada.
As I’m writing this, I’m simultaneously watching Myanmar-related videos on Youtube. I’m sure most of you are more up to date on world issues and current events than I am so you likely already know about the fucked up problems that the villagers of Myanmar have to deal with. And just in case you didn’t already know about Myanmar’s corrupt military government, check out these videos..
From the time our boat docked to the time we were back on it and headed back to Thailand, not more than 15 minutes had elapsed. That was the extent of my stay in Myanmar and that was quite enough. One of the border “hustlers” - since they just post up and try to sell all kinds of stuff to the stamp-runners - called me “Fred Durst” from Limp Bizkit on account of how I was dressed and then started talking to me about his favourite rappers. It’s interesting to see how widespread American music really is. I wonder if Snoop Dogg knows about “Ali Baba” - his loyal fan at the Thai/Myanmar border?
“Ali Baba”(as he called himself) tried to sell me steroids for seven bucks, Viagra, cocaine and ketamines - all while I was walking back to the boat. He even offered to deliver it to me. It’s a good thing I declined as about 5 minutes after we set off, there was a check-point in which either Thai or Burmese soldiers came into the boat and searched us.
The process tuned out to be a success as I was let back into Thailand with a new - “admitted until Nov. 21st - stamp on my passport. At which point, I will have to go to the Thai embassy in either Cambodia or Malaysia and make another attempt at getting the proper, education visa that I was supposed to have gotten in Canada. Of course, this time I’ll actually double check it to ensure I got the right one before I leave. So all in all, the process is a bit of a hassle but hey, I got to add a new country to my list of travels and a story to tell.
Muay Thai Training Update
Having mildly sprained my ankle last Friday in sparring, I’ve been unable to train all week. I’ve just been limping around the camp. From my room ..to the restaurant ..to the internet area - just back and fourth. Limping around a Thai boxing camp while watching everyone else train isn’t actually what I call a good time. It’s not like I’m still in Pattaya either where I could certainly find entertaining - perhaps not as “constructive” - things to do. I’m in Chalong and there really isn’t much else here to do but train.
Anyway, this afternoon I jumped into the Muay Thai class and explained to the head instructor that I had injured my ankle and was unable to kick. He was pretty understanding and sent one of the other trainers to work straight boxing on the pads with me. Then, for the technique component of the workout, the same trainer would work the clinch with me while the other students worked on kicking technique & defences.
Basically, I was put through a custom workout based on my restricted mobility with a sprained ankle. If I couldn’t do something that was shown, a trainer would either adapt the technique so I’d be able to do it or just show me something completely different. I was pretty impressed actually. I wasn’t just left on my own to hit the bags.
As for Tiger Muay Thai itself, there’s a few negatives and so far, a lot of positives. I’m going to jump into one of the MMA classes either tomorrow or early next week to see how those are. I haven’t done any sort of grappling in about half a year so I’m sure I’ll be tapping a lot. Actually, with a sprained ankle, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to hold guard. I was watching Ray Elbe - the MMA instructor - on the mat today and he was pulling off all kinds of submissions. One was a slick choke from rubber guard, one was an inverted heel hook and another ..well, I’m not sure on this but it looked like he secured a choke and tap out with the sleeve of his shirt.
Keep Checking Back ..
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Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote
October 22, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Some fans night go as far as to say that an analysis of the upcoming Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote fight is completely unnecessary as Anderson Silva has been flawless so far in his UFC career. Anderson Silva is atop the pound for pound rankings on the lists of several MMA analysts while Patrick Cote doesn’t even crack the top 10 on the pound for pound rankings - perhaps not even the top 20.
So why even bother with an analysis then?
Well, for starters ..because pound for pound rankings (and rankings in general) are irrelevant come fight time. On October 25th at UFC 90, it comes down to two trained professionals locked in a cage for 5 rounds. Their rankings based on their past accomplishments won’t help them because as we’ve seen over and over with this sport - it’s not who’s the better man/fighter, but rather, it’s who’s the better man/fighter on that given night.
On paper, Anderson Silva has a clear-cut advantage both on his feet with his Muay Thai or on the ground as he’s a seasoned black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under the Nogeuira brothers. Add to that his soaring confidence since with the exception of a single round in his fight against Dan Henderson, Anderson Silva has yet to be threatened by defeat so far in the UFC. A fighters mental state coming into a fight is equally important as his physical state and you can bet that Anderson Silva has all the confidence in the world right now.
Patrick Cote on the other hand has been flying under the radar up until this point which is surprising as he’s shown a dramatic improvement with big wins over Kendall Grove, Drew McFedries and most recently, Ricardo Almeida. Like Anderson Silva, Patrick Cote is a “complete” mixed martial artist. As a soon-to-be brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Fabio Holanda of Brazilian Top Team (BTT Canada), Patrick Cote is certainly well versed on the ground. While Anderson Silva has the higher belt ranking, Patrick Cote’s brown belt level BJJ should be enough to prevent being easily submitted. Patrick Cote was also able to handle Ricardo Almeida - who is thought to be one of the best BJJ practitioners in all of mixed martial arts - in his last fight at UFC 86. Since both fighters are at such a high level in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, it should be interesting to see if their skills neutralize each other.
As mentioned above, it’s no secret that Anderson Silva is the better striker. Of course, Georges St. Pierre is a better striker than Matt Serra and we all saw what happened in their first fight. Everyone has a punches chance but in Patrick Cote’s case - he has a lot more than that. In his last fight, Patrick Cote almost knocked Drew McFedries’ head through the Octagon fence with a series of powerful rights. Patrick Cote is more confident than ever with his standup skills as he’s been training with Mark Delagratte at his Sityodtong training camp in Boston.
With regards to a standup war with Anderson Silva, Patrick Cote recently made the following statements to MMAMania.com..
As for striking, I’ve never been rocked in my life, and I’ve never been knocked out in my life. So I go in there very confident.
We know exactly what to do, we have a good game plan. Now I just have to do it. Mark DellaGrotte will be in my corner. As a corner man, he’s already gone three times against Anderson Silva, so he knows him very well.
We know exactly what to do to beat him. Right now, it’s the time for Anderson Silva to lose and I’m the perfect opponent to do it. I ain’t scared of him. I don’t care. I just need one punch to put him away, so we’ll see what happens.
As the betting odds for this fight are reflecting, it’s no secret that Anderson Silva is a heavy favourite. However, with the odds as crazy as they are, it doesn’t make sense to bet on Anderson Silva as you would have to risk 700 to win 100. Yes, he’s the better fighter but will he be the better figher on October 25th? He may very well be but in this sport, as we’ve seen time and time again, nothing is a sure thing..
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Fight Night At Tiger Muay Thai
October 22, 2008 by admin · 7 Comments
So the other night I witnessed a couple of the best MMA fights I’ve ever seen, and no - I wasn’t tuned into UFC 89. The fights I watched were “smoker” fights and they were the entertainment portion of last night’s “full moon BBQ party” here at Tiger Muay Thai. “Smoker” fights are unsanctioned, inter-camp fights that give fighters a chance to gain experience without effecting their professional records. Usually these smoker fights resemble nothing more than hard sparring sessions but last night, the fighters came ready to brawl and came out swinging.
First up was a light, drunken, boxing-only sparring session between two of the Thai trainers. This fight was more about fun than competition as the fighters were throwing back chugs of beer in their corners between rounds. They would also randomly take swings at the referee in order to get a few laughs from the crowd. Following the boxing match was a Muay Thai fight in which the fighters were going about 70% as I think they were friends.
After that, it was time to move things over to the cage for a grappling match and two MMA fights. The cage is situated about 20 feet from my room so I decided to quickly run and get my camera. In the process of doing so, one of the fighters pulled off a flying armbar and within a matter of seconds, the match was over. I completely missed it as by the time I walked backed to the cage area, the crowd was laughing in disbelief and what they had just witnessed. Luckily, the match was being filmed by some of the other spectators so without further ado, here it is..
It was now time for the MMA fights. In the first fight, one of the guys was throwing out really powerful, technical kicks - one of which landed flush to the face of his opponent. He was tough though as he kept pushing forward. However, he eventually had his back taken and got choked out. Both fighters fought with a lot of heart and put on a great show. Here’s the fight..
Next up was the “fight of the night” as the best was clearly saved for last. These two guys stood toe to toe and swung for the fences. Even Jon Fitch - the special guest referee - was impressed. Had this fight taken place in the UFC, I’d imagine that Dana White - as well as about 17,000 people in attendance - would have given it a standing ovation. It was one of those fights where if you had never seen an MMA fight, you’d have a whole new respect for the sport (sort of like what the Griffin/Bonner fight did for the UFC). I know you want to see this one, so here it is ..
After the fights, the party continued as the beer was included in the cost of the BBQ/fight tickets. The scene got rowdy as the guys started holding each other under the beer tap. It eventually become a competition to see who could chug the longest. By the end of it, I think the time to beat was around 20 seconds. “Fitch! .. Fitch! .. Fitch!” .. The chants began and at first he was hesitant, saying “I need a water!”. He was eventually coaxed into it though and I believe he even broke the previous record.
When the beer ran out, everyone headed out to Patong Beach for a night on the town. I have to say, Patong isn’t what I remembered it to be as at this time last year, it seemed a lot busier. The girls last year also seemed to be a lot more attractive but perhaps that’s just a result of me spending the last 3 months in Pattaya - which I don’t think anywhere else in the world can compete in terms of women. I think all the recent turmoil in Thailand has had a very negative impact on the tourism here in Phuket as several anti-government protests have taken place at the local airport. I suppose the fact that Patong isn’t as exciting as it used to be is a good thing as I won’t have the temptation to go out and party. I can now not only save money, but also, I can focus 100% on my training (which is what I need right now).
And Speaking Of My Training
I was put through my first workout on Friday afternoon. To be honest, I really didn’t know what to expect. Tiger Muay Thai is a lot more foreigner-oriented than a lot of the other camps I’ve trained at. I’d estimate that there’s around 60-80 students here (which is a lot more than any other camp I’ve trained at) and it has somewhat of a summer camp feel. I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t get a lot of one-on-one attention from the trainers as I would roam the camp and oftentimes see some of the students getting “privates”.
“Privates” are basically personal training sessions with the Thai trainers and there’s an additional cost associated with these workouts. Since I saw so many students paying extra for these private sessions, I was worried that perhaps they weren’t getting enough attention from the trainers during their regular workouts.
Luckily, this isn’t the case at all. My first training session began with skill-evaluation in which I was asked to kick the heavy bag. I threw a couple kicks and as moved to the intermediate class. I find it to be a perfect fit as the class had about 10 students and servicing those 10 students was about 5 trainers. One of the trainers (Nazee) is the head trainer here (I believe) and he was working with me on the pads. I was actually told to train with “Nazee” before I even came here so I was familiar with the name and it looks as though I really lucked out since he’s an excellent trainer.
The workout itself was very complete. It began with skipping, stretches - the usual. Once we were all warmed up, we went through some techniques and cool elbow combinations - some of which ended with a flying elbow strike to the top of the head, like something you’d see in a Tony Ja movie. After technique, we moved on to sparring. I ended up doing 3 rounds (each round against a different opponent). After sparring I was exhausted and it was then time for pad-work with Nazee. The instruction was great but not only that, I didn’t feel like I was being rushed and I felt like they actually wanted me to get better. The worked was finished off with some more group technique instruction, some sit ups and some stretches.
I was impressed with the session but unfortunately, during the sparring, I sustained a mild sprain to my ankle and as a result, I’ve been limping around for the last couple days. Hopefully I’ll be good to go in a day or two as I don’t think it’s very serious. All in all though, I was impressed. So far so good. I still have quite a while here before I form my official review though so keep checking the entries.
On Another Note
It looks as though I’ll be doing a visa run tomorrow since I was given the wrong visa by the Thai embassy in home town. I’ll likely be going to Ranong so I’m sure it’ll be interesting.
Stay Tuned..
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MMA Workouts - Spotlight Exercise - Bench Press
October 19, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
“Hey man, what do you bench?” - A question that has seemingly become an indicator of male dominance. I was pretty strong coming up through high school and because I could bench press more than the other guys in my grade, I had that false sense of invincibility that most people only get when they’re drunk. If I could press 3 plates and another guy could only do 2 and a half, I automatically assumed I could kick his ass. By the same token, if I was pressing 315lbs and another guy at the gym was doing 330lbs, I’d get a feeling of inadequacy and immediately go home and Google what new, “scientific breakthrough” supplements I could take in order to get my bench press up. If he was bench pressing 330lbs, then I wanted to be bench pressing 335lbs - because that meant I could kick his ass (so I thought).
Fast forward a few years to my first MMA class and the first time I rolled against someone skilled in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. What happened was obvious as I’m sure it happens to about 99% of the inexperienced, egotistical males that step into the dojo for the first time. I got triangled, arm-barred, knee-barred and kimura’d to the point where it was as if I was playing the drums (minus the drum set) since I spent the entire session slapping the mat.
I now realize that the bench press exercise is not the be-all, end-all indicator of fighting ability. As a matter of fact, I realize that it has very little to do with fighting ability at all. Perhaps the two “strongest” MMA fighters in terms of how much they bench press are Tank Abbott and Houston Alexander and both of those fighters are riding major losing streaks. Check out Tank putting up 6 plates per side in this video..
However, with that being said, when either of those two fighters (Abbott & Alexander) connect, the result is admittedly devastating. Tank has literally sent his opponents into convulsions and we all saw what Houston Alexander did to Keith Jardine with that series of uppercuts.
So perhaps there IS something to it?
When you’re performing the bench press, you’re recruiting the chest, the triceps and the front of the shoulder (anterior deltoid). These muscles, along with many others (particularly those of the core), play a major role when it comes to generating powerful punches. Of course, keep in mind that power is a combination of both speed and strength so oftentimes you’ll see a strong, muscular guy hitting the pads and because he’s so slow, the “power” just isn’t there. By the same token, a quick, yet physically weak fighter will also be unable to generate a decent amount of power. If one of the necessary components for power generation is missing (speed, strength or technique) - the sort of devastating knockout power that guys like Tank and Alexander possess simply won’t be there.
I find the bench press - as well as other chest press movements - to be an excellent way to develop both the speed and strength necessary to deliver powerful punches. As for the third component; the technique - that will eventually come via your specific combat training. Here’s a guideline on how to use chest press movements to help develop both your punching power and endurance.
Bench Pressing for Maximum Strength
Training specifically for strength requires you to implement heavy loads as maximum strength is highly dependant on neural efficiency. Heavy loading will train your nervous system to recruit a higher percentage of motor units - thus muscle fibers - to aid with the muscular contraction. Since maximum lifting is harder on your nervous system, you must allow for a longer rest interval between sets as neural recovery occurs at a slower rate than muscular recovery does.
Guidelines For Max. Strength Training
Use Low Reps (1-6)
Use High Loads (85-100%)
Long Rest Intervals Between Sets (3-5 minutes)
Low Volume (Not Too Many Sets)
Bench Pressing for Maximum Endurance
What good is having powerful punches if you can’t maintain that power beyond the first round, or in many cases, beyond the first flurry? Sure, you may be able to get a quick knockout but if your opponent is able to “weather the storm” - as UFC commentator Mike Goldberg says in seemingly every broadcast - the chances of you landing a knockout shot in the later rounds will be minimal if you don’t train for muscular endurance.
Fatigue in MMA has a lot to do with the accumulation of lactic acid so in order to prevent that, you need to train at a high intensity to increase what’s known as your lactate threshold. You can read more about lactic acid and how to train within the different “energy systems” by clicking here.
However, it may also be beneficial to increase the local endurance of select muscle groups. In this case, the muscle groups that are recruited via the bench press and likewise, some of primary muscles that are responsible for punching power. I recommend that you alter your rep ranges so you not only train for general muscular endurance but also, strength endurance as well. Here are some guidelines for each..
Guidelines for Strength Endurance
Use a rep range of between 8-12 (similar to bodybuilding)
Use drop sets (once fatigued, strip off approx. 15% of the weight and continue)
Perform your set, rest 30-60 seconds, then continue.
Guidelines for General Muscular Endurance
High repetitions (15 and up)
Minimal rest (30 seconds or less)
For the bench press specifically, you can attempt to press only the barbell for 100 repetitions.
Bench Pressing for Maximum Speed
It should go without saying that your training should always reflect your training goal. If you’re training for speed, then it only makes sense to perform the movement at a fast pace. For the bench press specifically, you can lower the barbell down to the chest slowly but you want to ensure that the concentric portion (driving the bar upwards) be performed in an explosive fashion. Bands and chains can also be used to provide what’s known as “variable resistance”. This will ensure constant, progressive resistance throughout the concentric motion.
Plyometrics are perhaps the most famous method of improving speed and explosiveness. It’s tough to perform plyometrics with a standard barbell bench press, however, a plyometric version can be performed using the smith machine. For this variation, you’ll need to load the end of the barbell with only about 25% of your one-rep-max. Basically, you’re going to be throwing the barbell upwards in an explosive fashion, catching it and repeating the movement. Here’s a video clip..
If you’d like to learn more about other exercises (besides the bench press) that can be implemented to increase the power of your punches, check this article out. Another easy-to-perform exercise that translates well over to increasing hand speed is clapping push ups. I’m sure you’ve seen it before. Rather than simply pushing yourself back up, you explode and clap your hands together before you perform the next repetition.
Also, the most important muscle groups in terms of MMA performance are the rotary and bracing muscles of the core. You can access a comprehensive core-training resource designed specifically for combat athletes by clicking here.
Tiger Muay Thai - Initial Impressions
October 17, 2008 by admin · 20 Comments
I was awoken today not by an alarm clock, but rather, by the sounds of shins smashing against the leather Thai pads, grunts of exertion and of course, some Jay Z pumping through the stereo speakers. When you’re here to train, that’s a whole lot more motivational than a cell phone or a radio. I walked out of my tiny room which is situated at the back of the camp and saw a group of about 20 or so guys - who were decked out in Koral, Tapout and pretty much every fight related clothing line you can think of - rolling on the mat. One guy pulled off the slickest Kimura and by seeing that, I was more motivated than ever (and all this while I was on my way to take a morning shower).
While I was supposed to arrive here at Tiger Muay Thai two days ago, I ended up arriving yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. I missed my flight that was scheduled on Monday due to a lost cell phone, an “ice-addicted” prostitute and a forgotten wake up call. Actually, perhaps I should elaborate a little on that. At around 2am on Monday morning my cell phone went missing. Perhaps it just fell out of my pocket or maybe I was pick-pocketed - I’m not really sure. My cell phone is my alarm clock and I had a taxi scheduled to pick my up at my apartment at 10am (which meant I had to wake up at around 9).
Here’s the kicker: the taxi driver was instructed to call my cell phone upon arrival. I asked the security personnel in the lobby of the apartment if they would be able to come to my room and wake me up. “No problem” he says. I even offer him a days salary for doing so. I then started to have my doubts that the task would be completed. I really didn’t want to miss my flight over this. It was too late to buy a new phone and I couldn’t call any of my friends as I had just lost their numbers. So fuck it I thought, this was Pattaya, I could just rent a girl to stay the night and by doing so, I’d also be renting an alarm clock via their cell phone.
I headed down to insomnia nightclub, spotted an attractive girl and without hesitation, I approached her with my request. I think she was a little put off by it. “No sex? I just have to wake you up at 9am and you pay me 1000 baht?” she asked. I confirmed and we headed back to my apartment via a motorbike that her friend was driving. When we arrived, she asked me if her friend could come up because they had to “talk”. I really didn’t understand why they had to go to my room to “talk” when they could just do so in the lobby of the apartment but whatever, we went up.
Once in my room, the girls friend asks “can I smoke something?” “Something” being the key word. I assumed she was talking about a cigarette so I said “alright”. Well, I’ve never seen a cigarette being smoked like this. I honestly don’t know much about drugs but I think they were both taking hits of “ice” - as they call it here. I just told them to get the fuck out so I could get some sleep. In a country where drug usage can carry a death sentence, I don’t see why I’d even risk my freedom by placing myself on situations like that. Once they left, I went back downstairs to confirm that the security guard would indeed still wake me up. “No problem” he says again. So I put my worries to rest (literally), and go to sleep. I think you know where this is going. I woke up the next day at 12pm and obviously missed my flight!
Anyway, back to the topic at hand - Tiger Muay Thai. Upon arrival, I was instantly greeted by a friendly staff and a bottle of cold water. I had a look around the place and I have to say, this is the biggest Muay Thai camp I’ve ever seen. There’s multiple rings, a cage, a traditional gym area, a restaurant, and it’s all broken down into different sections (beginner, intermediate and advanced). They have all sorts of bungalows situated around the camp ranging in price from 4000 baht to about 22,000 baht per month. Of course, being as cheap as I am, I’m in a 5000 baht a month one (and that’s only because the 4000 baht ones are currently full).
I still haven’t had a chance to train yet as I spent yesterday unsuccessfully trying to sort out an issue with my visa (you’ll be hearing more about it later as it looks as though I’ll be doing an entry from Cambodia or Penang). My first workout begins today at around 4pm. One thing I’ve noticed here at Tiger Muay Thai is that they seem like they’re really on top of things in terms of organization. They have a detailed training schedule and the right staff in place to accommodate the needs of the guests. The guest relations manager (Samai) has been going out of her way to help me fix the issue with my visa. They have a free weight area and a friendly conditioning coach that roams around helping guests with their form.
Tiger Muay Thai is situated in a very isolated environment and that has both its positives and negatives. The positives are fairly obvious as their aren’t many distractions. The negatives, well, I find that things aren’t as accessible as I’d like. The other night, at around 10pm, I was hungry and the tiger muay thai restaurant was closed. There were no taxi’s around, I don’t have a motorbike and the nearest 7-11 is about 3km away. It was my first night here and I wasn’t even sure exactly where the 7-11 was so rather than just walk around in the dark aimlessly, I ended up going to bed hungry. Needless to say, my fridge is currently stocked up with all sorts of snacks and drinks so I won’t have the same problem again. I suppose the solution to that is simply to rent a motorbike for about 100 dollars a month. Actually, if you’re staying in Chalong, renting a motorbike is a must. A second negative is the fact that I’m unable to access the wireless connection from my room. However, in all fairness, I’m staying in one of the new budget rooms (pink rooms at the end of the video tour below) and these are brand new. I imagine they will likely be getting a strong wireless connection to service these rooms later on. They actually just installed the cable TV today so I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.
Other than the internet connection and the accessibility of things, I’d have to say - so far so good. Of course, it’s a little premature to fully assess things as I haven’t even started my training yet. One cool thing though - I was just informed that Jon Fitch (the worlds number 2 ranked welterweight) arrived today and will be training for a month. I’ve already had the opportunity to train alongside Muay Thai great; Yodsanklai Fairtex - and now I have the opportunity to train alongside one of MMA’s elite as well.
Here’s a brief video tour I took of the facilities at Tiger Muay Thai. In a future entry, I’ll take some video tours of the rooms and bungalows that are available here (there’s a lot!).
Miss any of the entries? Catch up on them all by clicking here
Sawadee (Goodbye) Pattaya
October 12, 2008 by admin · 5 Comments
Pattaya Thailand; this is one place that every man should experience at least once in their lifetime. It’s hard to even believe that a place like this actually exists. I’ve never seen so many beautiful women in such a concentrated area anywhere else and I spent 3 months living in Las Vegas. Vegas was cool, but it was tough to meet women when me and my buddy would be talking to a couple good looking ladies on LV Blvd. and high rollers would drive up and holler at the girls from the window of their Bentley GT. That’s a tough decision for the girls - hop into the Bentley with the millionaires or stick around and kick it with the guys on foot who would rather sit at the 10 cent slot machines and pretend to play in order to get a few free rum and cokes than stay in the bar and pay 9 bucks a drink. Although the first option (our approach) is much more financially sufficient, it doesn’t exactly impress the ladies in Vegas.
Aside from the seemingly thousands of insanely beautiful women, Pattaya also offers great training. Sityodtong was awesome, as was Scorpion. I’ve spent the last month training exclusively at Scorpion as it offers a laid back, un-crowded environment with great trainers who are eager to help. Both camps are situated away from the nightlife and both camps are surrounded by affordable accommodations. Not only are the nearby rooms affordable, but so is the training itself. A single session at both camps will run you a mere 250 baht (about 7 dollars). Just think, how much would a personal training session with a former champion Muay Thai fighter run you in your home country? I actually just found a new, well decorated room within 100 meters of Scorpion gym atop a convenience store with a large fridge, queen size bed, private washroom and air conditioning for 5000 baht per month (5000 baht is about 150US dollars).
I will certainly be keeping that room in mind for the future. Both the room and training costs will come in at less than 9000 baht per month. I’ve yet to see a more affordable combination that throughout both my time in Thailand and the time I’ve spent researching countless Muay Thai camps online. For someone like myself who a) doesn’t want to go home to Canada and b) wants to develop phenomenal stand-up skills, it’s important that I make things affordable so I’m able to stay as long as possible.
However, tomorrow at 12:45pm I’ll be boarding a plane to Phuket where I’ll be living and training at the ever-so-popular Tiger Muay Thai gym. I get more questions about Tiger Muay Thai than I do about any other camp in Thailand so the interest is certainly there. I’m curious myself to see how the training at Tiger will compare to the training I’ve received so far at some of the other Muay Thai camps I’ve visited.
The “Twist”
In my last entry, I mentioned a “twist”. Well, it’s possible that the “twist” has made me a marked man. Well, that’s a little overdramatic but I’ll explain. If you read the “trouble in paradise” entry, you’re then aware that I was living with a showgirl for a while. I lent her money, we had a falling out, haven’t gotten the money back yet etc. In my write up, I told a story of how she went nuts, started throwing electronics, sat in an empty bathtub for a while and there was also mention of drug usage.
About 85% of my readership comes from North America so it’s highly unlikely that people in Pattaya even know this site exists as I do absolutely no advertising here. Well, a local news website picked up on my Thai girl adventures and started profiling some of my entries. That’s all well and good as every bit of extra traffic helps the site grow. However, the latest entry, which can be viewed here, runs photos of her, mentions her name, mentions my name, and at one point, it even labels her as a “known yaba addict”.
Thailand is an extremely anti-drug country and it’s not entirely uncommon for “known yaba addicts” to be executed by the police. As you’d expect, with such harsh penalties for drug usage comes harsh consequences for those who draw attention to people using drugs. In all fairness, the girl does not use yaba (that I know about) and I met up with the author of the site in an effort to clear that up.
We exchanged text messages and met up at one of the more popular bars here in Pattaya for a drink (I had orange juice of course). Turns out that he was a really cool guy and he understood that the drug mention wasn’t critical to the story so he agreed to take it out. On a side note, it was pretty cool hanging out with a Thailand “local” (he’s originally from Jersey) as he was able to immediately pinpoint the best deals across town on a given night. It happened to be a Friday so he showed me a place with 50 baht beers ($1.75) and with every drink purchase, they gave you a free slice of pizza. Not that I eat much pizza, or even drink much beer for that matter (training), but that’s an incredible deal. I could never see an establishment in Canada offering prices like that.
Scenes From Walking Street
Walking street is an area situated along the beach that gets blocked off at night so cars can’t drive through. Hence the name, walking street. It’s basically a concentrated area that’s jam-packed with all sorts of go-go bars, nightclubs, shops and restaurants. It’s also possibly the most fun street I’ve ever spent time on. The gym I train at (traditional gym) is situated just off walking street so I see all sorts of crazy things being done by all sorts of crazy people. Here are just a few random videos/photos that I’ve taken of some of the scenes..
3000 channels on your computer and it says you get “ultimate fighting”? Might be worth checking out. I guess if it doesn’t work well, you can just get yourself a full refund. Check it out
Muay Thai Workout
October 9, 2008 by admin · 10 Comments
So I decided to swtich things up a bit and in this entry of the “Muay Thai training journal”, I’ll talk about, yup .. you guessed it - Muay Thai training.” Perhaps you were hoping for more stories about crazy Thai chicks and ladyboys but don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to talk about in my future entries as I apparently have a leader of some “firm” after me but more on that later. This entry is about the training..
What’s nice about coming out to Thailand to train is that other than these entries, I really have nothing else that I HAVE to do. I can focus entirely on my workouts without all the distractions I had back in Canada. No selling my life away via a job that I hate, no long commutes to the gym in the middle of winter - nothing at all. The only distractions I have here are the sexy Thai girls hollerin’ at me when I walk by, and that’s not entirely a bad distraction to have.
I’ve been trying to get 3 workouts in a day. I got sick a couple weeks ago and since then, I’ve had to cut one of my workouts out. Even now, I find myself caughing up flem and spitting it over the ropes in between rounds. Before I got sick, here’s how my typical day of training was lookin’..
Muay Thai Workout #1 - Swimming (Early Afternoon)
A major selling point for the condo I’m currently renting was the fact that it has a huge swimming pool. I decided to replace the long distance road work that the Thai’s do for swimming laps. Typical Muay Thai workouts consist of jogging upwards of 20km everyday. With me weighing about 91 KG’s at the moment, that sort of long distance running would be way too hard on my joints. Swimming is low impact and it provides me the opportunity to do functional, Muay Thai related movements such as knees and shadowboxing against the resistance of the water.
Muay Thai Workout #2 - Muay Thai Training (Late Afternoon)
This is when I’ve been going to Scorpion Gym and doing a typical Muay Thai workout. The late afternoon Muay Thai training consists of 3-5 rounds of skipping, 3-5 rounds on the heavy bag, about 10 minutes of stretching, 5 rounds of pad-work (3 rounds of Muay Thai and 2 rounds specifically for boxing). From there I’ll work some push-kicks on the heavy bag and to finish up, I try to get a few rounds of live sparring in. Whether or not I get to spar basically depends on who’s in the gym while I’m there and how busy the trainers are.
There’s 2 large rings at Scorpion. The ring on the left hand side is manned by Somphot (240 fights with 160 KO’s) and the right to the left is manned by “Whit”. Both trainers (who also happen to be brothers) offer something unique so lately, I’ve been rotating back and fourth between the two. Somphot is very technical. Rosalie (the gym owner) was telling me about how experienced, professional Muay Thai fighters will come in to train with Somphot and he breaks down and critisizes their technique to the point where they feel like the on-lookers in the gym will think they’re beginners. No matter how good you think you are, a few rounds of pad-work with Somphot will humble you pretty quick.
With that being said, while the first few rounds can be frusterating, at about the round 3 mark, you literally feel as though you’ve improved drastically within the last 6 minutes. Based on his instruction (if you can remember it all), you’ll kick the pads and when you hear the loud impact of your shin smashing against his leather fairtex pads and his praise of approval, “good man!” - something just clicks. Here is a quick video I took of Somphot working with one of the active fighters at Scorpion (I never caught his name) but apparently he’s currently a #2 ranked fighter at Ratchadamnoen stadium in Bangkok.
“Whit” on the other hand isn’t as technical and because he spends less time correcting your technique, he pushes a much quicker pace. While I’m doing pad-work with “Whit”, I usually find myself leaning over the ropes trying to catch my breath - oftentimes in the middle of the round.
Somphot for technique and Whit for conditioning. It’s always good to work with as many trainers as you can as each will offer something unique. Throughout my time here, I imagine I’ll be working with about 50 trainers so they way I see it - if each trainer can teach me even 1 new little trick/technique, I’ll become pretty well versed in the art - which is obviously the goal.
Muay Thai Workout #3 - Strength Work (Late Evening)
If the Thai’s spent even half as much time on weightlifting and strength-work as they did on long distance running, they’d be unstoppable. In my opinion, they run way too much for a sport that impliments 3 minute rounds. Long distance training can be beneficial for sports of high intensity, short duration bursts however, you also have to train specifically for explosive power if you want to have, well .. explosive power - which is pretty important in a sport where you’re trying to KO people.
It’s 12:19am right now and I’m about to head to the gym. That’s the nice thing about this place is that it’s a 24hr city. I also get the entire gym to myself since working out isn’t exactly a top nighttime priority for the people that come here. Rather, most people in Pattaya spend their evenings in the bars, drinking with the ladies. The lifestyle that most people fall into here isn’t exactly the healthiest. However, I’ve actually managed to stay away from the alcohol lately. If I go out, which I do simply out of boredom, my drink of choice is either water or orange juice.
There’s some really nice gyms here as well. California WoW gym is perhaps the nicest gym I’ve ever seen but the membership was a little too pricey. I just got a membership at Tony’s gym just off walking street. It’s got everything I need and they’re always playin’ good music in there. Check the photo..
For my workouts, I try to focus on the usual, compound / multi-joint / fight-functional exercises that I feel will translate well over to Muay Thai. I do a lot of plyometrics (clapping push ups etc.), maximum strength work (low reps, heavy weight) for those KO shots and of course, some endurance work as well (high reps, medium weight, quick tempo).
With the core being the “strength center”, I try to implement a lot of rotary movements to increase the power of my punches. I got most of the core exercises I use from the combat core manual.
I’m heading down to Phuket to live and train at Tiger Muay Thai in a few days and I’m pretty sure they have the giant tractor tires and sledgehammers there so I’ll that’ll make for some good workouts.
From my understanding, they also have a supplement shop and a strength and conditioning program so it’s nice to see that some of the camps here in Thailand realize that Muay Thai specific strength workouts can be more than just push ups, pull ups and sit ups.
Nutrition
Eating healthy is both cheap and easy here. When I went to Issan, the girl’s grandmother was there and at 98 years old, she seemed perfectly healthy and surprisingly energetic. I guess that’s what happens when you breathe only clean air and eat only natural, unprocessed food. You know, the “organic” stuff that we pay top dollar for in our home countries.
I found an awesome Thai resteraunt where I’ve been getting about 80% of my meals. A plate of chicken/rice and a bowl of soup on the side runs me 30 baht (about 97 cents). The same resteraunt also serves a chicken/rice/vegetable combo for the same price. Looks good, doesn’t it?
One thing I’d recommend to people who are coming here to train - bring your own supplements. They’re way more expensive here. So, since I haven’t splurged on a protein powder, I just throw back a few chocolate milks after my workouts at Tony’s gym. Chocolate milk has both the sugar and protein that your body needs to replenish depleted glycogen stores, trigger an insulin response and of course, start the muscular recovery process.
Next Entry
Since I’m leaving Pattaya in only a few short days, my next entry will profile some of the random, out of the ordinary scenes and photos that I’ve been able to capture throughout my time here. I’ll also give you an update on the situation with the girl I lent that money too. Things certainly took an interesting twist today..
Stay Tuned.
Speaking of supplements, I find this site to be the best place to order from.
