One of my Scars - and Importance of Proper Sparring Gear

This was just going to be a blog about great scar-treatment products but I thought I would make it a two-partner and tell the story (since students often ask) about my most recent scar and how I got it. So stay tuned for a blog reviewing and recommending Scar Treatment products.

The bitter story of how I got my scar and a lesson in wearing proper sparring gear:

I was training for a fight and, after 2 hours of training, there was a bit of time left and the instructor said to grab a partner and do some light sparring.

I started to do some light sparring and, without my shin and instep on, we were pretty much doing light boxing (I thought). Then out of nowhere my partner makes a big move for a jab and Flying Knee. It looked like his hip was moving for a jab/cross so I went down for a liver shot (admittedly with my head too low because I was tired) and found myself saying ‘hello’ to his knee. I wasn’t knocked off my feet and the action continued, until we realised that my face exploded like a Jose Canseco smashing a tomato.

I muttered an f-bomb, walked out of the ring and quietly went to the washroom and cleaned up with the help of a guy at the gym. With my new gauze-based hat on, I drove myself to the hospital, got some stitches and that was it.

(Here’s where the bitterness begins) Throughout my time training at this particular gym, the partner I was sparring with that day, was consistently trying to ‘show off’, perhaps because he’d never had any fights and he could tell that he was sparring with someone that had or maybe just because I was a new guy at his gym but he couldn’t have been more friendly while I was training there. An example of him ‘showing off’ is that, one day, we were working on clinch control and throwing light knees. During this drill he threw an elbow to my head. I politely asked, “are we throwing elbows?” and he said, “oh; no”. We continued and he threw another elbow to my face, so I asked him again if he wanted to throw elbows. He again said no, and I was just so annoyed because I’ve trained for a long time and I’m completely fine training this clinch work with elbows and knees, but let me know so we can both work and use the same techniques.

In the partners defense, he's a great guy (other than the hot-dogging) and I'm sure he wasn't thinking 'I'm going to throw a knee and scar up this guys face' so I wasn't upset with him when it happened, just annoyed because it shouldn't have happened.

(The lesson of safety) I was obviously very annoyed by my day which also had to do with lessons I’ve learned at top Muay Thai gyms over the years and that is that knees and elbows aren’t involved in sparring when fighters don’t have any headgear, knee pads or elbow pads on, for many reasons.

The obvious first reason is that it’s easy to get cut with the bone-on-bone of knees and elbows. Top gyms also require gear during sparring because, other than knees and elbows packing a lot of force, sometimes when fighters throw kicks they can often mistakenly make contact with their foot to their partners knee or the point of their elbow from blocks, which unnecessarily puts the fighter out of commission with injuries.

- Coming up is a blog regarding scar treatments and a great product that I found that works great on old and new scars....

http://www.spartanmmaacademy.com

UFC 109 - Couture vs. Coleman Breakdown and Pick

* still 100% on picking the winners of the main events (including Strikeforce) since September 2009 ... and this one is easy!
Old man Fight Club!
With UFC 109 we’re going to see Mark Coleman and Randy Couture in the main event. The young challenger, Coleman (45 years old) vs. The crafty old timer Couture (46 years old).
My pick is Randy Couture 100% via exhaustion. Coleman has done a lot during his many many days but since 2000 he hasn’t accomplished a whole lot, in comparison to Couture.
Randy Couture is awesome because:
- UFC Hall of Fame inductee (surprisingly before Coleman was inducted)
- FIRST fighter in UFC history to hold two world Championship titles
- MOST title fights fought in UFC history (15)
- OLDEST fighter to win a world championship belt in UFC history
- OLDEST competitor to ever win a fight in the UFC
Mark Coleman is awesome because:
- NCAA Champion
- 7th Place in the 1992 Olympics
- He invented the Ground and Pound ... he invented it!
- Two time UFC Tournament Champion
- THE FIRST UFC Heavyweight Champion
- The First PRIDE Grand Prix (2000) Champion
- UFC Hall of Fame inductee

A couple of quick notes on why Couture should easily walk away with a win include:
- Couture is a Greco-Roman Wreslter whereas Coleman is a Freestyle Wrestler. Greco definitely lends itself more to MMA because most of the work is done close and within a clinch. Takedowns are much harder to defend and Randy also has great dirty boxing. Freestyle wrestling takedowns (especially Colemans) look more like diving into a pool and are far too slow and obvious in this day.- Couture can strike! Coleman cannot strike. Coleman is clearly a one-trick pony and his one trick won’t have any effect on Couture. I remember watching tape of Couture training with Matt Lindland and I was amazed at how Couture controlled the Olympic Silver medalist with ease. In ever gym there’s one guy that everyone strives to beat in training and it was clear that at Team Quest that it was Randy. So if Randy can handle a Olympic Silver medalist than Coleman shouldn’t be a problem.- Coleman is the exact same fighter as when he EXPLODED on the scene back in 1996. Coleman literally EXPLODED on the scene and it seemed like no one would ever beat him when fans first got a chance to see him. The problem is that it’s not 1996. Couture has clearly stayed up to date with the times and adjusted his skills to remain on top. I’ve always had a big problem with the Hammer House guys (Colemans gym). A couple of notable fighters at Hammer House include Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman and Phil Baroni. If you know those guys, try to picture each one of them and think of what they have in common. None of them have evolved over the years, they’ve been at the exact same skill level for years and they all look like bodybuilders. I’ve always thought that Hammer House guys need to spend less time lifting weights and more time training because they all gas out way too fast.- Finally, Coleman will shit the bed. When people ask me who will win this fight, I always say Couture via exhaustion because Coleman has zero gas and he’ll be huffing and puffing early and Couture will steam roll over him.





Some Funny Stuff:

UFC 109 - Breakdown and Fight Picks

Matt “The Terror” Serra vs. Frank “Twinkle Toes” TriggHere’s another couple of older guys on this card and it could really go either way. If I had to pick a way though, I would go with Serra, and here’s my reasoning.
As I’ve said before I really like Trigg, I think he’s a smart fighter. He’s done commentary for years and I’ve always been surprised at how well he knows both MMA and Kickboxing (he use to do commentary for The Fight Network when I worked there). I’m starting to think that thinking is his problem.
I’ve met many fighters over the years (mostly in gyms) that know so much and are amazing at what they do, but when they get into the ring they’re thinking too much instead of reacting. These athletes make great coaches because they have a lot of great knowledge to teach but they just weren’t able to put it together for themselves.
Serra has also never been submitted and Trigg won’t be the one to catch him. Another point is that Serra has only been knocked out twice and Trigg’s never been shown to have heavy hands. Trigg does have TKO’s but have been from ground and pound/ref stoppage TKO’s primarily because he’s a strong wrestler and able to control guys.
Short answer, SERRA! ... it’ll probably go to a decision... whaaaann!!

Chael Sonnen vs. Nate “The Great” MarquardtI see Great things in this match up and Marquardt walking away with the win. Marquardt is a warrior. He cut his teeth training at the Pancrase gym in Japan where tradition reigned. Winners were praised and serviced within the gym and losers made up the cleaning crew and were everyon’s bitch. I’ve read about Marquardt’s road and it was full of discipline and certainly a road that makes a fighter strong.
One great thing I like is fighters that evolve and Nate has definitely been great at that.
When he came from Pancrase he was a very hyped force because of his champion status there but in the UFC he was VERY boring. He’s evolved a lot and since ripped off three KO’s in a row and I think he’ll make it 4 on Saturday night.
A couple notes on Sonnen; he’s been a boring fighter in the past and is still a boring fighter. He trains at Team Quest and looks like the classic (original) Team Quest Style of boring grinder that lays on a fighter, using his wrestling skills just to grind out a win.
Marquardt will take it.

Mike “Quick” Swick vs. Paulo ThiagoThiago will win via gun shot. Thiago is in the Brazilian Special Forces guy and that gives him some of the scariness of Cro-Cop. I think this will be a great competitive fight but I’ve gotta go with the guy that has the 12 and 1 record and is use to being shot at with guns.

Rolles Gracie vs Joey “Mexicutioner” Beltran
The Gracie family comes home and it’ll be a warm welcome. I haven’t seen either of these guys before (Gracie is 3-0, all via submission) but I’m going with Gracie. Beltran appears to only be a slugger and in classic UFC style the Gracie will win in that kind of a fight.
Interestingly, Beltran is coming off a KO win against Huston Alexander who got fired from the UFC in December after a crappy showing against Kimbo. ... poor Houston.


For the Mark Coleman vs. Randy Couture pick, I’ll be on York Region’s “Day Time” this Friday talking about the event and I’ll post later that day.My 100% record of picking the main-event winners since September 2009 is still going strong and I don’t think Saturday nights fight will change anything!



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