So I had a really hard practice last Thursday…my head wasn’t into it. I had done a jiu-jitsu class at Dunham’s, which was freaking amazing, and left early to make it back to MMA sparring at Syndicate. I didn’t really feel like doing MMA that day, but helping Serena train for her fight was my motivation. I had a horrible performance but made it through. I had showered and was rushing out the door, when I heard Serena talking to Mama Wood (Coach John’s mom) and say, “He’s okay, he wasn’t injured at all, but Mike…”
Um, WHAT?! Why would he be injured? Somebody said Conor McGregor broke a window in a bus and glass cut up his face.
…..my brain could not even processes that information. It just couldn’t. I think I muttered, “What the heck” and then kept walking out the door to my car, leaving Serena and I think JoJo to follow me in a few minutes. John being okay was extremely important to me, so as long as he was okay, I’d process the rest later. I had just been in fight mode for the past four hours and was utterly exhausted. After I dunked myself in the cold plunge and recovered, as well as my food digesting, my thought process started activating again.
WHAT THE HECK. McGregor did WHAT? He sneaked in through a back door and threw a dolly through a window of a bus, and shattering glass cut up MY teammate Mike Chiesa so that he wasn’t allowed to fight, glass went in Ray Borg’s eye so HE couldn’t fight, and Artem was part of the episode so HE wasn’t allowed to fight. Plus their three opponents. That’s six fighters who trained their butts off for months who won’t get paid, won’t get fights, have their career advancement halted, etc. I heard reports that Ray won’t be permanently damaged…I hope.
Glass in the freaking eye? Dude, what if someone went blind? McGregor was after Khabib….so he attacked a whole bus and involved innocent people? That’s disgusting and criminal and a felony. I want to hear his statement on the matter, but it doesn’t really make a difference because he committed the act, right? Dana White condemned the heck out of him, and like 5 minutes ago I read a news article saying that he’s changing his stance and ““We talked,” or something, Mr. White told reporters at the UFC 223 post-fight press conference. “I think that there’s a mutual respect between us and obviously this week, I had so many things thrown at me. To focus on this show was insane. We’ll get back and we’ll focus on Conor McGregor.”
Whatever, man. He makes so much money for the UFC of course they can’t ditch him, even if he did criminal things. Just don’t dare call him a martial artist.
Okay I wrote that last week and never posted it.
I still enjoyed watching the rest of the card. We invited some friends over, including Andrea Lee and her husband Donny, who were in town! How cool! 😀
This past Thursday, I flew to Great Falls, Montana, with my teammate Serena “The Southpaw Outlaw” DeJesus for her fight! She’s been fighting for about four years and has an amateur record of 5-2. The rounds are 3 minutes long. Back in the day when I debuted, there was no amateur, and I had horrible striking skills and fought other not-well rounded people, got a horrible paycheck, like $100 flat for my first fight. Haha It’s not like that anymore, and it shouldn’t be like that. Professional fighters are well-rounded, strong, and conditioned. They have to have their diet figured out, be able to make weight, and be able to deal with the stress and emotions of getting into a confined space and battle another human being.
Serena works SO hard constantly. I’m so proud of her efforts leading up to the fight, and her performance in the fight.
So we flew out Thursday and landed in a blizzard. Just great. *eye roll* Oh well! We got settled in our SWEET hotel room that had a kitchen and fridge and everything! She got interviewed by some TV station and the promotion, we went grocery shopping, and then we started her initial weight cut.
She looked great!
We woke up Friday morning….I worked out in the beautiful fitness center while she slept in. Then she cut the rest of the weight. It sucked a lot, but she got through it.
Coach John, and also her parents arrived around noon. We finished her weight cut, and I ate BBQ with John. I NEVER GET TO EACH DELICIOUS THINGS when I travel, because I’m usually the one fighting and cutting weight, so I was so so so excited! It was delicious!
She weighed in, and we went to eat Pho. Then we did the ceremonial weigh-ins in the Cowboys Bar and she faced off against her opponent Kelly “Skittles” Clayton, who is a super nice person.
My friend Bonny and her family drove a few hours to see us! I’m so grateful and happy! Thank you!
We hung out a bit after Serena’s weigh-ins, and Saturday morning when Serena slept in, I hung out with Bonny and family a bit in the morning. I actually felt super sleep-deprived all weekend from getting back late, so I was super tired despite not having trained. Well, I lifted weights, did squats, core training, and the elliptical, but that doesn’t really count. Does it? ^^;;
I’m glad Serena got a lot of rest. She would fight as the main event, at like 10:30 PM. Dang! Well, at least thanks do the time difference, it was 9:30 PM Vegas time. Or so I thought. What time did she actually fight? Like 11:30?
She went out there and put on a great show! Controlled, calculated brutality and violence. Kelly was super tough and it was a very close fight, but Serena landed just a little bit more and got the unanimous decision!
I was taking out my phone to take, what I hoped would be the victory pose, when Lorenzo, our physical trainer, texted me, “????????” Haha, I thought, how did he know to text at just this moment? Just wait 60 more seconds and I’ll tell ya.
Then this happened.
Yay! I didn’t know this before, but she is the first recognized autistic professional fighter. She said there had been another guy but he retired already. So that’s means she’s not the first? Well, whatever, she’s one of the only ones, and she’s amazing and has to deal with more than the average fighter due to sensory issues and her brain being wired a little differently. I was so thrilled to be there for her, support her, and be asked to be in her corner while she realized her dreams!
Thanks to all the fans out there who send good vibes, love, and support, and especially sponsors who donate cash or products to help out both her and my journey! <3
Thanks for flying me out, Terrill! I am their flyweight champion, after all, which I'm so proud of and honored to fight for them!
We all look so tired in this pic. haha it’s like 12:30 AM here. Dang, Fusion, start the fights earlier! But thanks for having us out!!
