News - 9.26.10 - MTV MMA Fights

What an amazing journey—the things that have happened in the last 2 weeks before these fights and the great opportunity for our school and for two of our great fighters: Isaac Velasco and Akkim Lee. Not just that we all get to experience watching them fight, but during a taping for the MTV show “A Buried Life”…very exciting! And loads of pressure.

I tell you one thing, though: These guys are not fazed at all. Training continues as usual. Peaking just about every day, and they are driven. Everyone in the gym is helping, putting in work, and I can see which ones are becoming great coaches. Our program is solid for developing fighters, coaches and practitioners. It shows clearly now. Wednesday before the fight we have the pleasure of having Sonny, who is the rep for MMA Elite and Cage Fighter, come by and talk about the sponsoring our team. He thanks me for being persistent with him, but I thank him and my fighters for all the motivation and desire to excel along with the team. Everyone is excited; I mean, how many amateur fighters out there have 3 sponsors and counting? We are pumped up. We are amazing fighters and now we get to look good doing it thanks to Takedown Grapple Wear, Bombs 1st clothing, and our new addition of MMA Elite and Cage Fighter. All the fighters are fitted and morale is huge.

Time comes and Friday is upon us. I am making the last few adjustments, assure we have all our equipment ready for the event. We are all on point. Weigh-ins proceed as usual—quiet and not much eye contact except during picture time when the fighters square off. Only a small crowd, including the camera crew and the few fighters and corners/coaches. Time to eat and replenish. And soon enough, the doors to the venue open. What great support from the fighters at AMMS. They are either in the crowd or at the back with me getting the fighters warmed up and showing support.

I am nervous, like always, but I don’t show it much. I make sure Isaac and Akkim are good to go, and I get my gear ready to work, along with my chairs and hand wrap set up to get things rolling. Isaac is fighting in the 3^rd fight, so he’s first, while Akkim is fighting last—the main event. I look at Isaac with a sense of pride and I tell him, “This is your day, this is your day.” We get his hands wrapped and start warming him up. He’s anxious and ready for battle, and hungry for victory, knowing once the cage closes, the war will be his to win. Akkim sits down then and he’s calm as usual. He has one of the easiest temperaments of any fighter I know, but man what a warrior he is. That’s why he’s one of our instructors and part of our fight team. He’s also a great friend and a great mentor. His hands are getting wrapped and I can’t help yelling: “Here comes the boom!”

All set now, warmed up and prepped, we huddle together with at least 6 fighters and coaches. Coach Jeremy says a few word of encouragement. And off we go—the show starts! Great battles we witness before Isaacs fights. He’s still calm as can be; he can’t wait. After the second fight, we line up, ready to go on stage, Isaac leading the way. The music comes up and now it’s on. This has got to be one of the quickest entrances I have ever done—one second I’m putting Vaseline on his face, the next he is in the cage. The crew has a seat, while I and Jeremy are in the corner. Isaac’s opponent is across from us, and I know this fight will be ours.

The ref steps in to give the last few instructions. Then” “You ready? You ready?” Both fighters nod…and we’re off! All I can think of is “man I wonder if his feet hurt from stomping the cage when he came in”—his signature entrance, every time steps in the cage—marking his territory, feeling the ground. His opponent throws a few kicks. Isaac is moving well and avoiding his blows. He lands a few kicks and he is still calm. His opponent throws a looping punch the misses Isaac and over turns, and we yell to move in. But Isaac is way ahead of us, as he takes the guy’s back and falls with him to the floor... Rear naked choke! He’s locked it in. We’re waiting for the tap… And there it is!! 38 seconds! 38 seconds of the first round! That’s all it took, and victory was his, ours! The crowd is cheering, and our team and fans give a standing ovation. Wow. Jeremy and I run into the cage to lift Isaac up, and then pay our respect to his opponent and the opposing corners. 38 seconds. Wow. Congrats! Isaac represented well for his team, school, family and friends, but especially for himself.

We are in the back rejoicing, but we still have the main event to come. Akkim “The Duke” Lee. He is focused. He is slightly nervous, but who wouldn’t be? Not many people do what we do, what he is about to do. We glimpse across and see his opponent warming up, and we know it’s going to be a battle, the classic style matchup: Striker versus Wrestler. We are almost set to go. Akkim is geared up and warm, focused. Man, are we excited. The team is lined up and somehow our line is getting longer, almost looks like the Gracie line from the early UFC now. Our fans cheer and the team is excited to see our friend, coach and fighter make his entrance. Soon enough, we’re in the cage, and apparently we are fighting the hometown boy. Good for us. Let’s show them how the west side does it. The bell rings and we’re off.

Akkim sets up punches and kicks, and his opponent obviously wants none of it. As expected, he pushes Akkim against the cage and takes him down. His opponent does not do anything from the top except hold down his shorts, and hold him down. I yelled at the ref, asking him to pay freaking attention. Heck, I even yell at Aaron, who is his coach and whom I’ve helped train before: “This is not a gi grappling match, Man!” Akkim recomposes and gets back up, pushing away and setting up punches and kicks again. Again, his opponent manages to clinch him but they get separated just as Akkim readies for a throw. His opponent gets a warning for grabbing his shorts. The fight resumes and the bells rings shortly after.

Jeremy and I run into the cage. I have Akkim stand and tell him this was your round, you got this round. We tell him to strike with the guy and avoid the clinch and takedown. “He does not want to bang with you!” We remind him to utilize the cage to stay up. Round 2 gets under way and right off the bat: Akkim throws a solid push kick right to the guy’s chest that throws him back. Akkim hits him with some solid shots, but back down the guy takes him. He gets Akkim in a headlock side control position, which is not causing any damage. But the guy is strong and utilizing his wrestling to hold him down. Still, Akkim manages to stay active and throws some hits from the bottom and even lands a knee. They both get back up and still both working of the cage. Akkim is in guard, defending very well, and his opponent is clearly frustrated that he cannot cause any damage to him. The bell rings and this round is close. The guy got a takedown, but we are confident that the majority of the damage was done by Akkim. Advantage is clearly to our fighter on the stand up, and the wrestling side is to his opponent.

We head into to the cage to get ready for round 3, and we have him sit. Akkim is clearly tired, but we tell him to dig.  (Just for the record: he took this fight with only one week notice to fight at 160 lb—not at 165 as originally planned—so he had to cut 10lbs in 2 days.) Some simple coaching from Jeremy and me: Move around, hit and set up punches with kicks. He wants nothing of your stand up. We leave the cage and he’s ready.

Last round starts with some hits landing and again he’s taken down, but Akkim reverses and now is working the half guard. He is active throwing strikes. He is landing them glean, to the point that his opponent is holding his rash guard sleeve to prevent him from punching. I am yelling at the official next to me and the ref: “Come on, are you blind?!” Then Akkim mounts him. Total control from the mount, but he’s so tired. Akkim is using all his might to keep him controlled and he does, but he can’t land ground and pound, even though we’re screaming at him to do so. He’s just tired, and we know it. Few seconds left and all the sudden, he gets reversed, and the bell rings. The fight is over. We run in and the whole team follows.

We’re pretty sure victory is ours. We landed the strikes and were more active from top and bottom and even the clinch. Plus, we did not grab the cage, shorts or rash guard. The decision is in, the announcer calls for a unanimous and…Wow, it’s not for Akkim. I am upset, but maybe what they saw was the guy’s takedowns and his attempt to control from the top. Maybe it was that last reversal that won him the 3^rd round. Who knows? I guess the fight was to him. But clearly he caused no damaged. But in our eyes, Akkim was the victor because he gave it his all and we all knew it! He put it all in the cage and fought a great fight and a fair one. I am proud of our guys. They are both victorious in battle and in our eyes. We all celebrate and no one is down. Good spirits and everyone is excited for the next fights. The Duke will prevail!   HERE COMES THE BOOM.