Andy’s Blog

As noted previously, I was scheduled to fight last weekend in another installment of the Gladiator Challenge but unfortunately my opponent canceled two days before the bout.  I’m not exactly sure what caused the last minute problems, but this is part of the business, unfortunately.  The tough part is that you go through training and the week of the fight you really begin to get excited and look forward to putting the hard work to good use…and it’s a let down when it doesn’t happen.

The good news is that I’m working on some interesting fights scheduled for the next couple of months for both here in the United States and in Asia.

Next fight will be on Feb. 21st, which is next Sunday for the Gladiator Challenge in Soboba Casino.  It’s been a while since I’ve been to Soboba but it does have its history as this was where MMA fights in Southern California first began.  I’m looking forward to getting back in the cage and put to use the good training I’ve been getting in Las Vegas with Marc Laimon and Mark Beecher.  So many good gyms and fighters here, it has been a great experience so far.

Went to my first live MMA event in quite some time last night at the Mandalay Bay for the UFC 109.  While I really enjoyed the matches, it didn’t take long for me to remember why going to shows is a pain in the ass.  The crowd during the prelims is cool, most of the people there that early are fans of the sport and pay attention.  Then right around the main card time is when you have drunks and ‘know-it-alls’ appear on the scene.  You go from watching the fights in an enjoyable atmoshpere with other people to hearing, “Put em in a body bag” and “Kick his ass, seabass” over and over…and then over again.  I realize people pay good money for their tickets and they want to have a good time, but how many ignorant statements before it gets old?  The real kicker are the drunks who don’t know how to leave well enough alone.  A few rows in front of me was Ed ‘Short Fuse’ Herman and he was concentrating on the Chael Sonnen match.  Some guy down the aisle from him starts berating him, “Hey, nobody mess with that guy, that’s ED HERMAN!”.  I felt embarrased for the drunk, but Ed kept in stride and pretended he didn’t hear him, although everyone in section 113 could.

I’m not saying to be a prude at the events, but for me personally, it’s why I rather watch with other fight fans at home or corner a pal, that’s it.  Either that or watch live events in Japan where the fans actually pay attention to the fights and not try to bring attention to themselves over and over again the whole night.

The highlight, of course, was watching some of my friends compete.  Mac Danzig looked great and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time as Justin Bucholz proved to be very game.  Having spent a lot of time in the gym with Mac leading up to this fight, I knew how much pressure he was facing and he performed under that pressure and I was very happy to see his hand raised at the end.

Tough break for Frank Trigg; he worked extremely hard for his fight against Matt Serra but Serra did his thing and landed a big punch.  I worked with Frank for about two weeks previous to this fight and he was ready…just a tough break.

Watching Randy Couture fight anytime is a pleasure!

I’ve been in Los Angeles for the past week training with my old-time teammate and friend Mac Danzig get ready for his fight in February.  As much as I dislike the traffic and congestion here, the training has been fantastic and I’m going to stay a while longer and get myself on track as well.  Recovering from the injury I sustained a couple of months back has been slow and deliberate but I’m hoping to be good in a month or so.  Just making up for the time lost while not being able to train regularly has been a challenge.

We’ve been working out at PKG in Santa Monica which is owned by Tohi Burns and is an excellent training center for any of you in the L.A. area.  Lots of lighter weight guys who are starting their fight careers so it’s got a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

Happy holidays to you and hope you are getting your training in the new year off to a good start.  I’ve been shuttling back and forth from San Diego to Los Angeles and been able to sneak in some good training sessions myself.  I’ve gotten in some good sparring with Mrs. Cyborg, of all people, over at Arena MMA and she is everything as advertised.  I cannot imagine a woman capable of beating her; training with her is intense and she can more than hold her own against men.  She’s training hard in San Diego right now and I assume whoever her next opponent is will be the next victim.

After not training with Mac Danzig for some time, we were able to meet up with the fine people over at PKG in Santa Monica.  He’s about 5 weeks out from his bout against Justin Bucholz and is looking terrific.  His shape, as usual, is tremendous and he’s training with intensity and purpose.  I expect him to be getting back to his winning ways come Feb.

Trained with Frank Trigg and the gang the past two days at a new gym in downtown Los Angeles called ‘Strong Sports’, which is a private gym started by Willard Ford, Mike Dytri, HCK and Inspirit.  We did grappling on Monday and striking on Tuesday and Trigg is the monster I remember him as from back in the day.  He’s still got his impressive strength and might have added a bit of punching power to his game as well, as I ate some of his punches and they definitely didn’t feel good.  This match up is important for both him and Matt Serra as the winner will be getting some traction in that tough 170 division.

I’m in Los Angeles for a few days to train with Frank ‘Twinkle Toes’ Trigg as he is set to fight Matt Serra in February for the UFC.  I used to train with Trigg at the rAw gym but we have not worked out in quite some time as he made the move to Las Vegas so looking forward to it.  He’s got his media persona which some people love to hate, but I’ve always worked well with the guy and the training sessions with him are always intense.

BCS college football selections coming up…let’s see if TCU gets screwed!

Finished the last training session with Diego on Friday night and it was a good, intense practice with no injuries, which is the main thing.  Diego is looking good but will no doubt be fighting his toughest match ever.  I’ve long said that BJ is in my opinion the best 155 fighter and it will take someone extraordinary to challenge him, let alone beat him.  I’m hoping for a great fight and will be watching intently.

Last night’s much hyped return of Kimbo Slice was a bit underwhelming as Houston Alexander looked a bit out of character in the fight, riding his bike most of the fight.  I’m sure the UFC did not envision the fight playing out like that when they matched the two up, but Kimbo made the best of it, trying to throw some heavy blows at times and did land some nice looking throws.  I’m interested to see what Houston says about the fight; he’s usually very aggressive and in attack mode…he looked out of it last night.

So, Mayweather and Pac are set to go…looks like ‘Money’ Mayweather will put his exceptional defensive skills against Pac’s awesome offense.  Man, it would be great to see Pac pull this one out but I have to believe this will be his stiffest challenge as well.  It’s fights like these that boxing needs to be relevant with fight fans again. You can count me as one of those that like Pac’s strong, silent demeanor versus the loudness known as ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd.

Check out a recent training clip of Diego Sanchez at www.mmascraps.com and look for my cameo appearance.

I’ve been reading that Sengoku, one of the two top promotions left in Japan along with DREAM, might have had its last event.  Sad to see these organizations folding 1) as a fighter because the more top-quality promotions there are, the more opportunities for the athletes and 2) as a fan because Japan has a whole different mentality to matchmaking and production value and it’s pretty cool.  Case in point, the lightweight tournament that PRIDE put on a couple of years back was probably the best tournament ever and with the demise of the company, we probably won’t ever see anything like it again, which is a shame.

I’m beginning to think that MMA in America is a one league entity, much as the NFL rules football here.  There are many leagues, such as the Arena League, CFL, UFL, etc., but the name NFL has become synonymous with American football.   The UFC has done the same for MMA in the U.S., where I don’t really see a second organization being able to compete against the Feritittas, which is why its important that events flourish in other countries such as Japan.