Now, I’m not a veteran fighter, by far. However, there is a technique that I think every fighter should, at least, check into. This is something I first encountered during my time in the Marine Corps. In the Corps, we are trained in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program or, McMAP, as we call it. Picture Muay Thai, BJJ, and Judo all mixed into one. Ken Shamrock worked directly with the Commandant of the Marine Corps at the time, to reinvent the line training of the past. Marine Corps Martial Arts was born. Enough of that, here’s what I’m here to talk about.

Training in this discipline is hand-to-hand without gloves. It’s not in a gym, but outside on the ground. If you hold back with your partner, they will switch you out with someone who’s not afraid to break your face. One of the slightly controversial, but highly effective techniques I learned while earning my little tan belt, was the muscle memory technique…

Now, this technique takes a little fire for being slightly dangerous, but ask Chris Leben how much it helped him through the years. This works really well with guys like myself, who like to throw bombs until the referee pulls him away and tells him to calm down. Anyone can get rocked in a fight, even the biggest fighters. Good training is the only thing to get you out of this. Some trainers make you perform certain combinations until you puke. They do it in the military, as well. It doesn’t always seem like it, but there’s a reason for this. You’ll always remember it. As I’m watching the beginning of this fight, I see a much healthier, calmer Chris Leben. For once, he didn’t look like the pitbull, but the greyhound. I have to say, for most of the fight, it didn’t seem to be working for him. Sometime in the third round, it looked very bad for Chris Leben. He was in better condition, but being peppered constantly by heavy punches. Then it finally happens, he gets hit by a hard shot and he’s rocked. I think the fight’s over, and I was right. Out of nowhere, Leben finally throws the bunches of punches he’s known for. He is seriously rocked, but starts walking forward throwing punches everywhere. A split-second later, Terry Martin is on the mat, holding his face, and wondering what the hell happened. I’ll tell you what happened. An M1-A1 tank named Chris Leben left him on the deck with nothing but glove prints on his face and what was left of his confidence checking out of the Terry Martin Hotel before anyone knew it was staying there.

            When asked, after the fight, to illustrate the end of the match, Leben called every shot up to the point where he was caught hard and flipped out. He said he had no idea what happened and you know what? I believe him. If you asked him, he’d tell you he’s practiced gassed and rocked a thousand times and you’d better believe him, too. That’s the only way you can accomplish that kind of impressive turnaround against someone so much larger than you are. So if you’ve ever heard Chris Leben talk about the “Magic Button” on his head and wondered what he’s talking about, ask Terry Martin. Can’t find Terry Martin? Ask a Marine about muscle memory. As long as you’re careful, you might even want to give it a try. Just practice a technique until you don’t even realize you’re still doing it, then keep doing it. It’s painful and boring, but you’d be surprised at the difference it can make when you need a little extra in a pinch.

The heavyweight division was noticeably bogged down when some of the bigger names started to seem like they couldn’t keep up any momentum. Everything started to get a little watered-down, which is guaranteed to break a sport. Dana White is a very savvy man, he knew what to do. He brought Brock Lesnar in to raise the bar for other contenders. I think it was as smart an idea as anyone could come up with, but I have a problem and want to ask you guys what you think.

I get all jazzed up when I see commercials for UFC 101 until I see a little clip of Dana talking about how he will not let Kimbo Slice into the UFC unless he goes through TUF. I see his reasoning behind this. We all know how Kimbo came to fame, and if you don’t, get on youtube, look up Kimbo Slice’s bareknuckle boxing videos, but first, clear at least an hour from your schedule. You cannot watch only one video… I’ll admit it’s not the most notable avenues into the world of Mixed Martial Arts, but the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. I know it’s  not the prestigious world of Professional Wrestling, but nobody hits harder than Kimbo.

I’ve heard a lot of speculation as to why Brock Lesnar is such a good fighter. Well, of course he trains hard, eats right, respects the sport. (Just look at the post-fight press conference from UFC 100) He’s certified as a giant! I must be the only one on Earth that thinks the whole Lesnar situation is entirely unfair. And now, a fighter that can actually wipe the floor with Brock, and HE has to pay his dues? I ask you WEF Fans, is that as jacked up as I think it is? Even though I have no idea Kimbo can win TUF, I still hear people saying he doesn’t deserve to fight Brock. Here’s my question. What does everybody have against Kimbo Slice? Is it his demeanor? I heard some other pro footballers talking to reporters about the upcoming season, and it’s not even like they were talking smack about an upcoming opponent, they were just talking about the new season. I thought something went wrong with the audio feed and they popped in a Young Jeezy cd. So I ask again, why all the hate for Kimbo? As always, feel free to drop comments, so you can tell us what you think.

I recall another fighter being called the best PFP fighter in the WEC. His name is Urijah Faber. We all know this business is all about momentum, so when he lost his title and failed to bring it back home with his rematch, it was as if he dropped off the face of the earth. What does an impressive fighter have to do to get back in there after a slight loss of momentum? If history has taught us anything, he has to win a whole lot more fights in a row, which has proven nearly impossible for many, many fighters. 

When Urijah lost his title, he had to prove himself in a few more fights to get a second shot. Many speculate that Torres will most likely get an immediate rematch, which brings mixed emotions from a lot of fans. Is it fair? Is it a product of Faber’s slight drop from the spotlight after his latest loss? It’s true that the fighter who steps in front of the camera and takes the photo shoot and all the interviews is going to be a star, but let’s not forget that all that exposure is always taking away from training time. Every minute you’re talking to a camera, that’s another minute someone else is training to take your spot. In this case, that someone is one of the most dangerous players in the game, and he may be nursing an injury, but I, for one, wouldn’t count him out just yet. This Cali kid has a drive and tenacity like no other, but does that matter nowadays? Are Urijah Faber’s days numbered? Will we see another rematch sans broken hands? Or maybe a jump to UFC, Strikeforce, or Affliction? Any one of those options would be awesome, but are they options yet?

Think about this, why is martial arts as a whole not as big a franchise as many other mainstream sports? It lacks a bigtime…. What I mean by that is that there is no NFL for fighters. Tito doesn’t like Dana White, so he’s not going to fight for UFC anymore. Fedor fights Sambo, so he’s stuck away from many of the biggest names in his weight class. Our sport has gotten huge in these recent years, but we’re already seeing instability due to lack of cooperation and communication between “leagues.” I’m sorry, I’ve played baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and Rugby in my days as a young guy who thinks he’s unbreakable, but I’ll defend MMA all day as my sport of choice.

However, there’s a problem that it shares with Rugby that, in my opinion, really holds the both of them back. It’s not coverage or a shortage of dynamite athletes, it’s the lack of an upper-echelon level of competition where fighters can transcend contracts and style-based boundaries and really find roots so that their talent can soundly be judged. Rugby is a sport played on a professional level in almost every country, so it has an excuse, but don’t you think we need to nip this before we get to that level? Do you think Brock Lesnar can truly be happy with his cross-over success as long as he hears constant rumors of Fedor’s prowess, who is, contractually unable to fight him?             

These rumors have a way of festering until great fighters are condemned to the island of misfit contracts, where they’ll be scarcely remembered, except for bill-collectors with kids to feed. All this hype around a bout that can’t happen can end with both fighters being left and forgotten. Do you know why men like Joe Montana, and Johnny Unitas, and Bubba Smith are still sports icons? It’s because they fought their way to the NFL and used their talent to stay there where they were always showcased and in the spotlight. They retired fat and rich, but more importantly, remembered for their contributions to the sport. Do you remember when Joe Namath had to quit to the Canadian Football League because he threw hail-marys when the NFL said you could only use fly-patterns and button-hooks? Or when Jerry Rice really wanted to play against Troy Aikman, but his contract wouldn’t allow it and he quit to coach high school track in Boca? Me neither. That’s because the NFL has a united set of rules and any player, if he plays hard enough and wants it really bad, can end up going to the big show. If he makes it, he isn’t forgotten after a few months of inactivity because he’s waiting to play a team that might be better. All the best teams are already there and why? Because it’s the big show and you don’t get there unless you’re the best. That is what we need for MMA.