After his win at UFC 129, The Athlete can stop worrying about his job and focus on starting a streak.
I've had a couple days to step back and reflect on my UFC 129 experience and it was a great week. It was historic, unbelievable and crazy, all wrapped up into one.
Leading up to the fight there was a ton of pressure on me. I tried to not let it get to me, but I knew I was fighting for my job. As you can see with my opponent Ryan Jensen being promptly let go after the fight, I was right. I was pretty confident the loser was going to be released from the UFC.
There were so many other things that added to the pressure. I was coming back from an injury and I hadn't fought a year. UFC was in Toronto for the first time and it was arguably the biggest card in history.
With all those factors, I was trying not to let it overshadow the fact that I felt I was better than Jensen. I had fought more times and against better competition, and other than wrestling, I was better than him in every area. I just had to go out and show that to the world. The fact that there were 55,000 people in the stands was really secondary. I was just focused on the task at hand.
I took part in one of the first three fights, so I had the opportunity to go in before the fans got the stadium and step into the cage. When you come out for your fight, you're so focused and you can't really take in the magnitude of it all. But after my fight they took me to a balcony to do an interview for "UFC Central" with Kenny Florian, Stephan Bonnar and Todd Harris. The balcony overlooked the whole arena, and I was able to look at all the people, the big screens and only then was I able to take in the size and meaning of that event.
I know Dana White said the event proved their ability to do stadium shows, but I don't know if it will ever compare to that one. As far as I could see out and upward, there were people. At Montreal or other arena shows, fans are much closer together. But here it was just filled to the roof. It was crazy.
In the fight, Jensen did exactly what we'd thought he'd do. I trained with Mike Pyle at Xtreme Couture and he was the one who told me what to look for. He said Jensen always circles off to the right and then jumps in and hopes you turn into him. After that move, he has a tendency to throw a big right hand. So we worked on responding to that by instead circling away and making some space so if he does lunge in with his right, I can react.
Sure enough, when the fight started, Jensen circled off to the right. So I responded and grabbed hold of him. For a split second though I was actually unsure if I wanted to keep the fight standing or take it to the ground. But I decided because it was early in the fight and we weren't slippery to take him down so I can work a submission.
The other thing Jensen loves to do when he's pushed against the fence is to go for the guillotine. Again, everything unfolded as I expected. He briefly had a guillotine but I just popped my head out, transitioned to his back, and hoped to choke him out from there.
When that didn't happen, I quickly transitioned into a triangle, something I had been working on, and I was able to get a grip on him, isolate his arms, and set it up.
He tried to pick me up to slam me, which was a last-ditch effort to get out of it. But my hands were dry, and I grabbed the back of his head. It was dry, so I had a good grip, and as he slammed me, I was able to tighten it up and finish him off.
That was maybe the first time ever the fight went completely as we planned. I have to give a big thanks to Mike and my trainer Josh Russell for picking up those key little points.
So it was a great night for me. The only way it could have gone better is if I had won the submission bonus. I feel like the world has been lifted off my shoulders. Going in my back was against the wall, and now all of a sudden I can stop worrying about my job and instead start thinking about putting wins together and becoming relevant in the middleweight division again.
I was able to show everyone I'm still a finisher and still capable of competing in the UFC. I'm not being unrealistic and saying I'm a title contender, but I believe I'm capable of finishing half the people in the middleweight division. I'm excited to see what the future holds.
As well, I came away completely healthy. I fight better when I'm able to stay fit and stay busy, so I'm ready to fight again right away. If there's an injury on the Vancouver card in June, I would be able to fill in. And I would love to be a part of the Rio card in August.
As I get older, I feel myself being much more relaxed in the cage. I used to feel uptight and anxious. But at UFC 129, even though things were stacked against me, I felt really calm. My body tells me I can't train as hard as I used to, but my mind tells me I'm more relaxed and it leads to better performances..
As for the rest of the UFC 129 card, it was a pretty cool atmosphere. I shared my locker room with Mark Hominick and Randy Couture. Randy is one of my biggest idols and Mark is a longtime friend. We were fighting in the small shows here in Canada for years and years.
If Randy had gone out there and dominated, I think we would probably see him fight again. But losing the way he did, I think that pretty much closes the book on his MMA career, as far as fighting goes.
Meanwhile Mark showed what Canadian fans have known for a long time. He's an amazing fighter with nothing but heart. He fought through the lump on the head, and even though it looked a much worse, it still plays a mental role in the fight. I truly believe if he had just one more minute -- not even another full round -- we would have seen a new champion.
Finally, people are going to hate me, but I'm so sick of seeing Georges going five rounds. I personally got up and left after the fourth round. I truly believe he's one of the most talented, if not THE most talented, fighters in the UFC but I just find it so frustrating seeing him go out there and not trying hard to finish.
I disagree with White saying he's going out there and trying to finish. It looks to me like he's trying to WIN, not FINISH.
I've heard a lot of people say they were disappointed with the constant five-round decisions. Yeah, he got hit in the eye, but you can't use that as excuse. Look at Mark -- he had stitches on one eye, a welt the size of a coconut on his forehead, and he was still trying to finish his fight.
I think GSP is an awesome representative of the sport, and a great guy, but I would like to see him go out and finish a fight.
Lastly, I just want to say thanks to my sponsors. JAKT Apparel, JACO Shorts, Booster Juice, CrossFit, Sweet Sweat, Allrose, they all stepped up and made a big difference.
I would also like to especially thank all the great fans out there reading the blog and cheering for me in Toronto. It was awesome coming and hearing you all screaming for me.
