I have been training Muay Thai and MMA for awhile now and doing a fight was something that has always been in the back of my mind. Fighting is the ultimate flow state where their is no time to think, you are relying on your instincts, muscle memory and just flowing as you should. I am not one to shy away from a challenge. There are many facets in fighting that are applicable to other areas of my life. For instance - discipline, confidence, patience, respect and learning to trust in myself. I believe that everyone should put themselves in a similar situation at least once in their life to see how they react and find out who they are.

To be Continued.

Weight Cutting process

Fortunately I had to only lose 2kg on fight week. I followed this rough guide for water loading/cutting and adapted it based on my situation: https://tim.blog/2013/05/06/how-to-cut-weight-ufc/

I weighed in at 67.1 kg, well under the fight weight of 68 kg. This is the lightest I had been in years.

Training

TODO:

• Ended up being sick a week out from the fight, and then on the fight night itself
• Running 2x a week
• Occasionally gym
• All classes at MTI (2 weeks out from fight)

Mental Preparation

• Staredown in the ring, noticed that he flinched which gave me confidence.

The Fight / Inside the Ring

TODO: Some comments on my experience:

• Ended up being sick on night
• Adreneline
• Tunnel vision, you almost forget about the crowd, just feels like there’s you and your opponent
• Flow state
• Fully focused, immersed in concentration, patient, surprising silent for such a loud environment
• Tried to control the distance, shutdown any moves with teeps, patiently stalk my opponent, and strike when I had confidence I was going to land. I was cautious in there.
• Fast paced, no time to think, you are almost limited in your moves (i.e. I did not even try any fancy moves like question mark kicks that I was planning to before the fight)
• Ring was a lot slippery than I thought so was hestitant to throw too many kicks and slip.
• Difficult to hear your corner when you’re in there, and a lot harder to execute moves than expected
• Actually forgot to breath out during each punch and kick.