The Grind of Training Camp

Posted by mkowal in Featured Articles, Marcus' Life, MMA Training, Training Updates, Upcoming Fights on May 30th, 2011 | 4 responses

5 days. 5 days left until the fight. 4 days left until weigh ins. My body is beat. I’m hungry. I have 10 more pounds to lose (roughly 4 kilograms). That’s the Grind. Yet, I can’t wait until Saturday night and to walk out; hear the music start playing; hear the crowd; feel the rush of as the cage closes and the referee says “fight”. The Word we train, sweat and bleed to hear. Our chance to show what we’ve worked so hard for. Our form of art.

I took this fight with a really short notice – only 2.5 weeks. Normally, we are usually in training camp for 6-8 weeks. However, it’s not like I haven’t been training; I’ve been part of Chad George (WEC veteran), Albert Rios (Bellator veteran) and Mac Danzig‘s (UFC) training camps, who are/were fighting the week after me (Mac Danzig unfortunately got injured and had his fight postponed). Some fighters take quite a bit of time off between fights but I always train – I love it! Thus, I was ready when the promoter gave me the call.

The hardest part for me is usually the diet and the weight cut (I usually cut between 20-25 pounds) but it’s been a walk in the park this time – albeit the short training camp. What did I do different this time to previous fights? I trained less. I trained smarter, not harder. What else is different? My hunger to win. In my last fight in Strikeforce, I tasted defeat for the first time in 5 years. Funnily enough, I didn’t enjoy it and I don’t want to have that bitter taste in my mouth again. In other words, I’m more motivated than ever and I’m going out there to win…

4 Responses to “The Grind of Training Camp”

  1. Lilit says:
    May 31, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    20-25 pounds????
    do u wanna dissolve into thin air???

    Reply
  2. KAG says:
    May 31, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    You can do it, Marcus! Go get ‘em. Show that blistering handspeed!

    Reply

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