Hitting the gym nowadays is an exercise in humbleness. There are a ridiculous number of young guys coming off the street and throwing picture-perfect Thai kicks and hitting omoplata sweeps after a week of training. I even had a fifteen-year-old with less than a month’s training fake a high-crotch and take my back in what appeared to be one movement — and I train in a city that 90% of you have never heard of. The point I’m making here is that the future of MMA doesn’t only look bright, but it is shining like a halogen bulb inches from our collective eyes.
Being unable to stop the takedown is probably due to my inability to stick to a game plan. Lucky for me I can take hints from some of the best fighters in the business. At Strikeforce: Rockhold vs Jardine on Saturday night, Tyrone Woodley faces one of the aforementioned wunderkinder, 22-year-old Jordan Mein who was last seen picking apart ‘Cyborg’ Santos before finishing the fight with laser-guided standing elbow strikes than any Nak Muay would be proud of. Woodley spoke to Sherdog Radio Network’s ‘Beatdown‘ show and after stating he understands that he is a big scalp, he told them exactly how he plans to beat Mein.
“It’s my goal that no matter what round we’re in, how I’m feeling, basically to use my setups, use quick, fast hands to set up explosive, powerful takedowns… Instead of letting him knock me off and put himself on the map, I’m going to drain him. I’m going to use that energy and I’m going to get back to my roots, to that hunger I had when I first got to Strikeforce.”
While you pace back and forth soliloquizing in your bedroom about the possibility that Woodley could set himself up for a shot at the vacated welterweight Strikeforce title with a win over Mein, I’m gonna head over to DstryrSG.com to read about Sambo techniques I’ll never be able to hit but will nevertheless write down and try anyway. [Source]
