No matter who you are, its good to take time and analyze fights to sharpen your mental game.

For U of U students, the assignment is as follows:

Go to http://www.allthebestfights.com/best-mma-fights-of-2011/

Watch any one of the fights of your choosing.

Post a comment in this post using your first name and first letter of your last name. (Eg. Bart B, Mike F, etc)

State the fight you watched at the begining of the comment. (Eg. “Jim Miller vs Melvin Guillard)

Following the title, in about 200 words summarize the fight briefly and attempt to analyze the keys to victory for the winner. If one fighter was faster, stronger, a better striker … or even just lucky, explain how things played out. Think about how fighting style, aggression and technique may have affected the winner’s victory. Use all the knowledge at your disposal to craft your insights – don’t worry about being perfect or knowing it all, just do your best.

Before hitting the “submit comment” button read the comment  OUT LOUD to yourself and make any changes you’d need to. Remember, if you type something like ” XOXOX I lulz’d and <3  MMA so when d00d got jacked from kickz i was like OMG! ” the spirits of justice and grammar will find where you live and punch you in the face next time you fall asleep. Also, I will not accept your assignment.

Remember, after submitting your comment, it will not immediately show – they go to my inbox for approval before being visible.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Mainly used as a defensive move, it can nicely counter the straight right of an opponent (assuming orthodox stances) and even various kick attempts.
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If you are looking for a more aggressive front style kick, used for offense, you can take some cues from Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida with their recent KO victories using the front leg snap kick variation.

I’ve been digging sumo wrestling recently, and really enjoying their sense of  grappling. Those fat dudes have an amazing grasp on head positioning, hip control and that full box of twinkies.

But seriously, as I watch some matches,  I’m taken aback by how quick and powerful these guys are.  For guys in the know, you’ll recognize a lot of judo and wrestling.

I wanted to just start your weekend off right by providing a couple of pics, vids and links.

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After I see one of these big guys slamming down on the ground, I think of  Gandalf  in the LOTR: The Two Towers: “From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak I wrestled with that obese giant … until at last I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountain side.”

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When you hit a solid throw, it feels amazing.

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I like to watch how these behemoths use under/over hooks and head placement. Kinda reminds me of fighting with your back on the cage in MMA – you’ll see it better in the vids.

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You’ll see a huge man get knocked out with a palm strike to the face in the video above, Bas Rutten style.

Enjoy your weekend!

BJ Penn’s dome is a square-ish pumpkin, small. Pretty sweet, but pretty normal. How lame.

Maciej’s cranium, on the other hand, is comical; both in the sense it’s funny (but we would never say anything directly in front of him, due to his fist to face KO of Anthony Njokuani) and straight out of a comic book – this guy’s chrome is a gift from super villiany. It’s like he stole Lex Luthor’s engorged brain only to jam it into skull of malnurished jackal.

Jewtuszko’s head is on a different level.

Fun fact: Maciej’s true power does not come his hard polish background, but from his over-sized nogin.

Anyway, hope you get to enjoy the fights.

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Have a happy holiday and give plenty of love, gifts, submissions, and charity to those around you. Merry Christmas.

* Subtle joke embedded there. Perhaps too subtle? Enjoy the yuletide anyways.

Just a reminder, the CSC grappling tournament is this upcoming Saturday down in Lehi.  These events are a ton of fun – if you head down, maybe I’ll see you there!

Check www.UtahChampion.com for more details.

My daughter Fiona (four days old) preparing to throw a right hook. 

There will be two beginner MMA classes this summer, Moday 8:15-10:00 PM and Wednesday 8:15-10:00 PM.  Summer semester starts next week, May 17.

The for credit listings for the classes are here and the non-credit are here.

Again, if you didn’t know, there are two halves to each semester for fitness classes.  You have to sign up for both halves if you want classes all semester.

John McKean (left) and I chilling after some training at FusionBJJ

Salt Lake City is a fascinating place. For our population, we have an incredible amount of MMA goodness: fighters, trainers, gyms, venues … we’re pretty stacked. I have been fortunate to meet a number of them and I wanted you to be able to get to know them too. Namely, I had a chance to catch up with local fighter John McKean, and ask him a few questions.

SLCMMA: Tell me a little bit about your background in martial arts.

John:  I started training BJJ in 1998 in New Orleans, La. I was living in Mississippi at the time, so me and a  friend made the journey a few times a week to train. A few years later we opened up a “school”. I use that term loosely because we trained everything from batting cages to Karate. At the time, we used books and VHS tapes to learn and no one in Mississippi even knew what BJJ or MMA was. My friend attended a seminar with Professor Pedro Sauer and shortly after we became affiliates of his. This was pure luck – or whatever you want to call it – because his JJ is some of the best  out there. In 2004 we managed to get one of his top black belts, Allen Hopkins, to move to Mississippi and take over our school.  Later in 2005, I lived in Brazil for 6 months training with Royler Gracie. After coming home from Brazil I decided to move to SLC to train with Professor Sauer and start fighting MMA. Since then, I have  been traing Muay Thai, MMA, and wrestling.

SLCMMA:  With all of your influences in jujitsu, what can you say about your fighting style? Do you focus on winning fights on the ground?

John: I want to finish the fight by whatever means necessary. The ground is were I am most comfortable but I love the whole stand up game, and really, I enjoy every aspect of it. My goal is to be the most well rounded fighter I can be.

SLCMMA: So what was it that initially made you want to compete in MMA?

John: As soon as I saw UFC fights in the 90′s I wanted to do MMA. I did  sport JJ for many years and MMA felt like a natural progression. Although sport JJ and MMA are very different, I think competing sport JJ helped me a lot in the cage.  I also wanted to test myself to see if I could apply what I had learned.

SLCMMA: How did you first get into your MMA fight?

John: SLC has a  weekly fight show called the UCE. All I did was contact them and they put me on a card. (Check here at Ucombat’s website to find out more)

SLCMMA: What advice could you give guys who are looking to get into MMA, either as a hobby or as potential professional? Also, how might their approach and training differ?

John: First off, find a gym that fits your personality. We are very fortunate to have many MMA gyms to choose from so finding one that fits you is important. Don’t be in such a rush to get in the cage either.

Take the time and learn the arts, roll with guys that just do JJ, box with guys that just box, and then put it all together. Fighting should be the reward form training hard. So many people wanna skip all the work and just jump in the cage, and those people are the ones who get hurt or are only around for a short time.

The main difference in a person doing it for a hobby or someone who wants to compete is time and hard work. A fighter is gonna eat sleep and breathe fighting – there is always something you can be working on. I train 5-6 days a week because I don’t want to lose. If you’re doing it for a hobby and want progress, at least 2-3 days will get you there. The thing with martial arts is  the more you put into it the more you get out. You can’t say that for a lot of things in life.

Don’t forget to have fun either.

SLCMMA: I’ve rolled with you a number of times and something I’ve noticed is that you have a very clean open guard and just a difficult guard to pass in general. What are some of the things that you’re doing to keep control, guard-wise?

John: I try and  move my hips a lot. Your goal is to control my hips so I have to make it hard to do that by moving them. Its hard to control something that’s moving compared to something that is still. I also use my hooks a lot … but most importantly I got my ass kicked by a lot of good guard-passers.

SLCMMA: What are a couple of your favorite moves in the ring?

John: Anything that works. For submissions, I like  chokes. I also like arm locks but they are hard to get if the guy is slippery from sweat.

SLCMMA: When you hit the gym to prepare for a fight, what kind of stuff do you do technique-wise?

John: Once I start training for a fight learning new stuff is put to the side. I try and focus on sharping my overall game and working hard on my weaknesses. Every fight is different so I might concentrate on one specific aspect, depending on the opponent. I also up the cardio and reduce the heavy weight lifting.

SLCMMA: Now in terms of that physical aspect of the game, I know you train down with the guys at Gym Jones. They train a number of fighters and are pretty hardcore dudes. (Gym Jones trained the cast of the Spartan 300 ) Could you sound off a little about the training philosophy there and what kind of workouts are they putting you through?

John: Mark and Lisa Twight have helped me so much, both with training and life in general. One of Mark’s things is mental toughness. He has a way of making work outs both mentally and physically hard. This is very important for a fighter, being able to continue to work hard when things get tough. We do a lot of Olympic lifts, circuits, kettlebells, rowing, and the king of all cardio machines the Airdyne bike. Mark has a gift for putting all this together in a scientific way to help us as fighters.

SLCMMA: What about nutrition?

John: This topic is just as important as learning grappling or boxing, its something you need to keep in mind 24/7. I fight at 155 but walk at between 170 and 180. So this means as fight time comes I have watch what I eat. I try not to eat past 7 and eat lots of fresh fruit and raw veggies. I am also not a big supplement person, and try to be as natural as possible.

SLCMMA: What are some of your long term goals when it comes to MMA?

John: I am 35 so I have no real plans to be the next UFC champ. I just want to fight and have fun doing it. The sport and the lifestyle are very rewarding, so the goal is to stay healthy and compete as long as possible.

SLCMMA: When is your next fight, and what can we do to support you?

John: I am looking for a fight right now, so I don’t have an exact date. Before then, come and check out some of the gyms I train at. I do my main training at the Bernales institute of martial with WIll Beranles. He has a strong Muay Thai background and BJJ black belt – he really helps my overall MMA game. I teach BJJ there on Thursday nights. I also roll with the killers at Unified Jujitsu in Sandy – Johnny Carlquist and James Gardner. The BJJ black belts in that group are some of the best in the US.  I occasionally train with Eddie Edmunds and the guys at Fusion BJJ, and they are always great to train with. My friends at Mushin, Brian Yamasaki and Brandon Kiser have helped me tons. You cannot go wrong with any of these gyms, go check them all out.

SLCMMA: Thanks so much for your time John.

John:  You’re welcome.