"Over the last several weeks I have been focused on my fight last weekend with Brock Lesnar. I basically sequestered myself in training with my training partners and Coaches. My coach for stand up is Ken Hahn of Striking Unlimited, my training partners are Aaron for wrestling and James Horne for BJJ and all round MMA.
I started training about 10 weeks out from the fight and worked on striking and jiu jitsu. I also worked on take down defense against the cage which turned out to not be needed but you have to train all aspects of mma to be ready for a fight. You never know where a fight is going to go. We thought that Brock was going to stand and punch to stay away from going to the ground with me. In one way I was glad he did take me down but I have to tell you, his ground and pound was ferocious. He was so quick, so agile, so strong it wasn’t funny. Actually, during the fight I was thinking and kind of laughing to myself is this guy for real. I mean he took me down passed the guard and as I was transitioning he ended up on my opposite side before I knew it. Very very impressive.
I got to speak briefly with Brock after the fight and told him probably what he already knows, he is going to be a force and perhaps already is. My hat is off to the guy. He brings a lot to the sport. You have not seen anywhere close to the last of him.
I guess you probably want to know about the submission. In jiu jitsu and in MMA you have to keep transitioning. I go for the submission and look to finish. I am not looking for a tap, I am looking for a clear cut submission. When Brock stood up I opened my guard to give him room to do something, he chose to stand above me and go for a huge hammer fisted punch. As he was doing that I decided to maneuver for a leg lock and trip him into the move. It worked. I figure foured my legs rather than scooted up real close to the top of his thighs and extended my legs around his back on purpose so I could keep my legs away from him being able to push or pull out of the submission or grab my leg or ankle. I had it pretty tight, about 80%. A few more seconds and I would have started to hear some popping sounds of his tendons giving way I am sure. No one likes when that happens and since he did tap his knee is fine and he can be training right away. He is an outstanding athlete and seems to be a great guy so I wish him the best and I am grateful that he took the fight. It was an honor to go against such a successful and decorated collegiate wrestler."
