It’s been busy around the gym lately so I thought I’d give a quick update on what’s been going around around here. We’ve got several fighters in town now training hard and getting ready for fights and a couple more that will be here shortly.
First, we’ve got a local fighter named Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson who will be making his WEC debut this weekend in Sacremento. I don’t train him directly because he trains at an AMC sister school down south mostly, but I’ve tested him a few times and consulted with him and some of the other guys who train him and am looking forward to seeing him fight.
He’s got some of the best conditioning I’ve ever seen and he can literally push a non stop pace for every round. He’s on the undercard so there is no guarantee his fight will end up on TV, but I can’t imagine his fight won’t be entertaining and at least has a good shot of making it.
Next, we have Hayato “Mach” Sakurai in town training for his upcoming fight on May 29th against Nick Diaz in Dream. He’s been here for a few weeks now and although he’s in better shape now than when he came, he’s still got a lot of work to do and not very much time to do it in. I won’t say much more other than that. I’ve been a fan of Sakurai for a long time and he’s one of my all time favorite fighters so I want to see him come in great shape and fight well and am doing everything I can to make that happen, but at the end of the day conditioning and preparation comes down to the fighter’s motivation to train and to win.
We also have another Japanese fighter who will be on the same Dream card as Mach and that’s Tatsuya Mizuno. He’s been training here for a few months now but had to go back to Japan because his 90 day visa ran out. He’ll be back this Saturday and will be with us for the remainder of his camp. He does whatever is asked of him, trains his ass of and learns new skills quickly. I’m looking forward to seeing him fight. I plan on being over in Japan to see both him and Mach fight on the 29th.
As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Rich will be fighting Chuck Liddell in June and he should be here getting ready for that shortly. He was here for a little bit a couple of weeks ago but had to leave and take care of some business related things, but we expect him back soon. This will obviously be a big fight and Chuck is a dangerous fighter with KO power so Rich will be training hard and focusing on doing what he needs to do to get the win. I can’t imagine this fight will end up on the ground will expect a stand up war. I’m just happy it’s in Vancouver, BC and only a three hour drive rather than somewhere halfway around the world like a lot of Rich’s other fights have been. I’ll be sure to post training pics once he’s back in town and getting ready.
On the same card as Rich, Ben Rothwell will be fighting Gilbert Yvel. I’ve never worked with Ben before, but he’s flying into town for just a couple of weeks to work with us so we can help set up a training plan for his fight. From what I’ve been told, conditioning is something he really needs to improve and something that will be important for him to have going into this fight. He will be here next week so I’ll get right to work putting him through my assessment and figure out what needs to be worked on and then go about putting together his training plan. From the few times I’ve talked to him, he seems motivated to come out and learn and get on the right track to being well conditioned and ready to fight.
Last but not least, I’ve just learned that Matt Brown will also be fighting once again in a few months. I don’t think the deal has been signed yet so I won’t name the opponent, but it’s not too hard to find mention of it online. He’s still healing up a little bit from a couple of minor injuries, but there is plenty of time until the fight so once training camp starts he will be ready to go.
All in all, it’s busy around the gym these days with a lot of guys coming and going and getting ready to fight. Stay tuned for training camp pics and more updates coming soon…