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Thai Blog Part VII
05/11/2009
"I wanted to force myself out of my element." That was the statement I gave when asked why would I, being an MMA Fighter with a wrestling background, come to Thailand to specifically train in Thai Boxing. After a good hard week of training I really got a chance to get everything I wanted when my fight at Lumphini Stadium took place. The night before the fight I am lucky if I got two hours of sleep; I was tossing and turning all night and all I could think about was the fight. My game plan, my concerns, my strengths, and my weaknesses all whipped together running through my brain the entire night. Its funny how time moves the night before a fight: the night seems like it sprints right past you while the daytime just slowly walks by. Jitti woke me up at about 6 am the morning of the fight to check my weight, which was right on at 70 kg. We then left the gym and took the train to the stadium for weigh ins, which is where I saw my opponent for the first time. A tall and very fit Frenchman who was sitting up against the wall with his trainers waiting for the scales to open when I arrived. We blew through weigh ins and medical checks and then went and got something to eat. Rice, two eggs, two chicken drumsticks....Jitti just kept piling things on my plate telling me he wanted to me get my weight up so I would be strong. After breakfast we returned to the gym and I managed to squeeze in another 30 minutes of shut eye before one of the other fighters woke me up to ask my how weigh ins went (still trying to figure out why they wouldn't just let me sleep!!). That half hour would be the rest of the Zs I would be fortunate enough to catch before bell time. Around 11:30 or so Jitti told me to come with him so I could get a massage, he wanted me to be relaxed before the fight. This is something I have never done before, and really thought it was a bad idea, but truth be told it really loosened me up and I feel in the end it did more good than harm. After the massage we returned to the gym and fighters slowly began coming down to start an early workout (the guys at the gym were going to finish up early so they could attend the show).
We left the gym around 5:30 and took the subway to Lumphini for the fight. My stomach was turning, I don't recall ever being this nervous before a competition before. I always feel like in MMA if it doesn't look like I am winning the stand up battle I always have the option of taking it to the ground....this was the first time that I wouldn't have that card to play. I was also surprised about how you warm up in Thailand....you really don't. Maybe a little shadow boxing and bouncing around, but no Thai pads warming you up at all. I was in the back, in full gear right about to get into my zone when someone grabbed me and told me I had to report to the ring. In Thai boxing, when your fight is on deck, they pull both fighters and have them sit by the ring in order to move things along faster. After a first round KO in the fight before I was pulled from the bench I was sitting at and taken into the ring.
Now it was time to bang!!! I started the first round pretty well, movement was good and I landed some nice body kicks. Neither of us really threw our hands very much to start things off and I remember Jitti coming to me in the corner telling me I was winning and to relax and fight at my pace. Liam Harrison, who was one of the fighters from the UK working my corner, warned me of backing up and looking at the clock because it didn't look good to the judges. Second round came and both of us were being more aggressive. Even though everyone said it was a close round, I would have scored it in his favor. I felt that when I was able to turn the pace of the fight into more of a brawl I was getting the better of him, however when we stood toe-to-to exchanging kicks he had the upper hand. Looking back at the fight one of the things I am happy with is that I landed all sorts of techniques throughout the fight, many of which I am sure I wouldn't have thrown before I came to Bangkok last month. When the third round started we exchanged a little bit and then my opponent threw a solid high kick. Although I covered the best I could I feel like his shin still snuck through and cracked against the side of my head, which sent things into a little bit of a blur. After some exchanges, mostly initiated by him, I was put down to a knee and given a standing 8 count. I told the ref I was good and he let the fight continue, but it was all downhill from here. A mature fighter would have settled back and regained composure and remembered that there were still two rounds to go after this one. For whatever reason I went into panic mode. "You have to knock him out!!! You gotta go for broke," is what I kept telling myself in my rocked state. I went at him in a frenzy and at the end of the round I fell to a knee again and bounced back up to the ref waving off the fight and declaring him the winner. I think a lot of things contributed to my poor performance but, to be honest, even if all the stars were lined up in my favor I still wasn't the better fighter that night. My opponent was a more experienced kickboxer who just seemed to be one step ahead of my throughout the entire fight. After I landed some solid kicks early on he was able to get my timing down and block everything I threw at his legs or body (I have massive swelling on my shins to prove it). When I tried to brawl, he calmly circled and kept the fight in his range and out of mine. In the end theres nothing I can say except it just wasn't my night.
Losing doesn't bother me, I have been competing in sports as an athlete and a coach for as long as I can remember and I have lost enough times to get used to it. Beatings don't really have an effect on me either: I get punched, kicked, choked, kneed, or whatever everyday at Ground Control...there is nothing that happened in my fight here that was any worse than the lickings I have taken in my own practice room. My biggest fear is letting people down. All of the people who came to support me, and all of my friends back home at Ground Control I feel like I should apologize too. Times like these make me feel like I am at an all time low, and there is really nobody to blame but myself. Of course, I'm sure I am being much harder on myself than I need to be...or should for that matter, but like I said: My biggest fear has always been letting those who support me down.
But what would really have been the perfect ending to this vacation? Would it have been gratifying for me to go out there and knock some joke of a fighter out in 10 seconds and throw my hands in the air like I had accomplished something? This fight not only showed me how far I have come as a fighter but also shows me how far my game has to go as well. Fighting at Lumphini was unbelievable, there is no other word to describe it, and its definitely not where I expected to make my Muay Thai debut. Sure I may have come up short during a once in a life time opportunity, but in the end I still got to take advantage of experiencing that opportunity. Despite feeling like I let several people around me down I still was able to leave Lumphini Stadium Saturday night with my head held high knowing that this was a moment that I will be talking about for the rest of my life.
After the fight, I just went back to the gym and threw on a DVD with one of the other fighters at the gym while many others took advantage of the nightlife on a Saturday. I would be lying if I said I wasn't the least bit interested in drowning my sorrows in a couple bottles of Tiger Beer, but I knew I had to get up at a decent hour the next day so I could call Rob Mulqueen up and see how my teammates (Marty and Dave) did in their respective fights back home....Congrats to both by the way on a job well done!!! My body is too banged up to get anymore training in before my flight leaves Tuesday so I will finally get a chance to see some of the sights and take in some of the culture that Bangkok has to offer. It sucks that after a month of being here I really have to cram in all the tourist attractions into a day or two, but I wouldn't want it any other way. Many, actually most, people find time throughout the year to take vacations even if they normally aren't exactly like mine. Instead of bruises they get suntans, instead of sweating they are oiling, and instead of drinking water out of a tin cup they dip into a steel pale by a boxing ring they are sipping on Pina Coladas, with little umbrellas in them, while sitting on the beach. Right now my muscles ache, my head hurts, and my body is bruised from taking some serious abuse....and if I had the chance to do it all over again you know what my decision would be. I look a people who opt to go to a tropical paradise when they can get time away from work and it makes me shake my head and wonder.
Words cant describe the experiences I have had over the last month. The people I have met, things I have learned and seen, and stories I now have from the trip makes part of me wish I never had to leave. Even still, I am really looking forward to coming back to the States and getting a chance to sharpen my skills even more and get ready to step back into the cage. There were definitely some down times during this trip when I felt like I was going to break but everyone from back home who dropped me a few lines and showed their support really helped and I owe you guys big time. I get back late Tuesday and cant wait to see everyone, thanks for reading. Till Next Trip.......
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