Well, hearing news this week that Georges St-Pierre injured his knee pretty much sucked. The UFC welterweight champion was gearing up to defend his belt against Carlos Condit on Oct. 29 at UFC 137, but rolled over in practice and wound up injuring himself. I guess injuries really do happen to the best of them.
As well as being one of the most dominant fighters in the game, GSP has proven time after time that he is incredibly durable. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever known of him pulling out of a UFC fight before. I could be wrong, but he’s not the kind of guy to pull out of a fight unless there is a very valid reason.
Injuries happen in this sport, and we just have to deal with the situation as best we can. I’m sure GSP is just as disappointed by the turn of events as Carlos is. As fighters, though, we prepare ourselves for all eventualities and, unfortunately, this is just one of those scenarios that happens from time to time.
Hardly a silver lining, but St-Pierre’s withdrawal does offer an opening for everyone else on the UFC 137 card — me included — to step up and show what we’re all made of. GSP is a massive draw, and a major name throughout the world, and the event no longer has his power attached to it. It is now up to us remaining fighters to produce the goods on the night and show the world that this is a pay-per-view event worth buying. I’m sure a lot of the other guys on the card will be feeling the same way I do.
Although some are now calling my UFC 137 fight with Cheick Kongo a “co-main event,” I don’t think any of that changes my mindset going into it. I don’t care whether I’m in the main event or the first fight of the night, way down the prelims, I still plan on fighting exactly the same way.
The fight is still just as important to me. Nothing changes when you get bumped up or down the card. It’s still the exact same fight against the exact same opponent. If you’re destined to get your ass kicked that night, it won’t matter whether you’re in the main event or one of the prelim guys — it’s still going to happen.
Rest assured, I’m not planning on getting my ass kicked next Saturday. I know it could happen, and I’m aware of that fact, but I’m not counting on it. I’ve trained as hard as I possibly can to try and reduce the chances of me getting my ass kicked at the hands of Kongo. I can promise you that much.
In fact, I’m still humping this training thing pretty hard right now. Saturday will be my last highly aggressive day, before we start to ease into fight week. At the moment, though, I’m stomping at it hard and am putting my body through the pain barrier on a daily basis.
I’m working on my explosion and my attacks, clinch-work and overall strength exercises. The cardio aspect kind of takes care of itself at this point, as I’ve been training hard for so long now. I can feel I’m physically fit.
I came down to Fort Lauderdale and trained with Rashad Evans and Tyrone Spong for this fight. Spong is so good at stand-up that I’m almost at the point where I’m forgetting everything I previously knew about striking and just focusing on what he’s teaching me on a daily basis. The same goes for Rashad. That guy has taught me so much about wrestling and positioning.
In addition to that, coach Neil Melanson teaches me more than anybody could imagine on the ground. You put all that experience and learning together and you can’t help but feel excited to step through the doors of the gymnasium each day. Honestly, I look and feel like a different fighter and athlete each time I step in and out of the gym. Cheick Kongo might think he knows what he’s up against next week, but, really, he has no idea.
I’ll be heading out to Vegas a day early on the Monday and I’m looking forward to it. It will be my son’s sixth birthday this coming Sunday, so it will be nice to fly in and see him before I touch down in Vegas on the Monday. That will give me a nice boost ahead of fight week. He is, after all, the reason why I do this thing in the first place.
In truth, I feel like a little kid in this sport at the moment. I know a lot of people are at that point in their career where they find getting up for fights and training hard on a daily basis to be a real chore. They get into that Allen Iverson mode of thinking practice is just practice — that it becomes a bit too familiar and tiresome after doing it for so many years.
Because I’m so new and young to the game, however, I don’t see me ever suffering that same sinking feeling. Practice is still the most exciting thing in the world to me right now.
Hit me up on Twitter @mattmitrione.
Matt Mitrione takes on Cheick Kongo at UFC 137 on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Las Vegas. He is blogging exclusively for sportsnet.ca on a weekly basis ahead of his fight.
UFC 137 will be shown live on pay-per-view at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET. Watch live preliminary fights on Sportsnet starting at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET.