Just to let everyone know, so they don’t assume my silence implies a loss, my fight this weekend in West Palm Beach could hardly have gone better. I won the fight from every range: standing, clinching, and on the ground (both from on top and from below).
I tried to secure a kimura in the 2nd round, and I had my opponent’s arm bent back further than I thought possible outside of Cirque du Soleil, and he didn’t tap! However, it held him in position for me to deliver some hard strikes that he couldn’t defend against very well, and he threw in the towel after the 2nd round. My opponent was a nice guy and was gracious in defeat.
Now I have my eyes set on the Hook N Shoot show in Ft. Lauderdale on March 28th. Let’s hope I can get on the card. Either way, I start training my ass off again today.
Nice Job Jason! Kicking ass and taking names. Great to hear that the fight went well and you came out on top. Are we going to see you in the gym this week?
That’s bad-ass man! Good show. I’m assuming you had him in a full/side mount to deliver a kimura. Was he facing you when you rained the bombs on him? --Alex
Thanks, Nate. You’ll certainly see me in the gym this week!
Almond, I was in both side mount and half guard, back and forth. I usually get this submission from half-guard, but after his not tapping, I moved to side mount. I landed the strikes when he tried to escape by rolling away from me; his head start to poke through from under my armpit, chin first, and since both him arms were trapped, I drilled it pretty hard.
Nice job!
Damn, Jason! I was wondering the other night how you did. So glad you posted this! Great job!
Way to go!!! I once trained with a guy who was a masseuse, and he was so damn flexible. You had to totally horse on his joints before he would tap. Crazy.
Congrats! Sounds like you dominated the whole match. I know what you mean about the arm bar thing. I used to roll with a guy who was really flexible and he had no neck… really frustrating!
Thanks KO and Patricia. I can tell you that when I was waiting to enter the cage, I actually thought about how badly I didn’t want to come on this forum and report a loss! So, consider yourselves motivation.
We’ll see if I get on that Hook N Shoot card.
It sucks to lose, but as long as you learn from it, you will continue to grow as a fighter. Just gotta keep going. I got to see some of the advanced class the other night. They get to train with Matt and Randy. That was some serious motivation for me to train harder and more often.
Congrats! Good luck next time in Ft.Lauderdale.
Just wanted to throw in my Congrats as well, Jason.
Congrats J. Do you have any video footage of the fight you could post somewhere?
A-ha, I never thought of securing a kimura while in someone’s half guard. I’m usually thinking of passing the guard when I’m in that position. Goes to show how rusty I am. I’ll have to give that a shot next fight club.
Also, what kind of training program do you do? I’m doing lots of cardio (running, sprints, fartleks), calisthenics, and hitting the weights with high reps. This sound good? --Alex
Not too long ago, Jason used the MMA program from Coach Davies. Jason said he noticed the difference in his conditioning for his last fight. But it didn’t contain enough specific conditioning for fighting. But that’s because the MMA program is for conditioning.
In addition to Renegade Training and typical weight training with weights (basic lifts and Olympic lifts), Jason also does a ton of other stuff including wrestling and boxing. His training is brutal, no doubt. I’m sure he’ll be able to give you more insight when he has a chance to post again.
Almond, yeah, I spend a lot of time in peoples’ half-guards on purpose. It depends on the person; if I’m grappling a good wrestler who is good at getting to his knees or bridging, or if I’m grappling a striker who I want to keep down, I prefer half-guard, as it’s more difficult for them to escape, and with enough practice, you can attack them just as effectively. Now, if it’s a pure BJJ player, side mount is probably preferable, as half-guard sweeps could be his bread n’ butter.
As far as conditioning, after experimenting over seven fights now, I’ve started to settle in on a method. Assuming I have eight weeks to train for a fight, for the first four weeks I do a lot of “extracurricular” cardio, including LDS on a cross-trainer 2x/week, fartlek-style running 1X per week, 100’s and 200’s 1X week, and some sort of Renegade inspired dumbell snatch/swing routine 1X or 2X per week. During this time, I still train hard boxing, wrestling, grappling, but not crazy hard.
The second four weeks, I drop ALL of that outside cardio training. At this point, I turn it up a notch during skills training. Whatever I’m doing, grappling, striking, or a mix of the two, I work at the exact same time structure that my fight will be on, but I cycle to fresh opponents every minute. So, if I’m boxing, and my fight is three, five-minute rounds, I set the timer for that, and I set the interval bell to go off every minute. Every minute, the person I’m sparring gets out fast, and the next guy, who is ready and waiting jumps in. This is absolutely the hardest training I do. Each person can come at me full throttle because he knows he only has to last one minute.
As far as the gym goes, I pretty much reserve it for the development of power and max strength. Lots of basic powerlifting and olympic lifting movements performed for very few reps. I also throw in a good amount of complex and plyo training in there. This is just person preference, but it’s just a convenient paradigm for me to think about the gym as the place where I get strong and fast only.
KO, you’re a lucky bastard. I’d kill to jump in there with the level of guys that train at Quest. I’m all for Lindland smashing Baroni on the 28th. (Lindland is also the BEST trashtalker in the game.)
Oh yeah, thanks RenegadeDragon.
Kahuna, I don’t yet have a video, as they didn’t allow cameras into the venue. I’ll get one soon, though.
Also, I meant “LSD” training, not “LDS” training up there.
where in Ft Lauderdale is your next fight? I live here and if possible I and some friends would show to support ya
Sweet. Thanks for the info. I need to look at the gym in the same way you do. I’m doing the cardio/conditioning and fighting, but I’m looking to build as much functional stregth as possible. Hypertrophy is no longer priority…just maybe a side effect. 
--Alex
Doug, I’m not sure what the venue will be. Since I wrote the initial post, I’ve learned there will be another Hook N Shoot show in May, and I think I’ll try for that one instead, slipping in one lower level fight in between. This gives me more time to prepare, as my opponent in HnS won’t be a pushover. I’ll keep everyone posted, though.