-Z-
09-02-2009, 09:51 PM
Before you read this I need to let you know that when he talks about "giving him the win" he's referring to Allan Weickert, one of my fighters. What pisses me off is how arrogant he is about his loss. He acts as if he gave him the fight because he wanted to. What a joke. I was 10ft. from that fucking cage, he was so gased that he couldn't defend the submission.
He is right in that he took Allan down. Controlling the fight...debatable. Allan had Sean in guard for 90% of the first round and continually worked for arm bars a triangles. Sean did out work him in striking though. Sean was relentless, he threw strikes constantly but he only landed 2-3 strikes.
The second round started and Allan hit Sean with a straight right and then a solid head kick. It didn't do much but stun him for a sec and then Sean took him down again. Allan was back to guard and Sean was too tired to defend the submissions. He was trying to strike and Allan caught his hand slid into the armbar, Sean had his hands clasped together for a second and then the grip broke, end of fight.
by Sean Salmon on Sep 02, 2009 at 3:00 pm ET
Here I am, back again! I'm sure some of you are wishing I would just go away. Not gonna happen as long as I have something to say, and right now I have a lot to say. But, I believe what I have to say this time just might embody the spirit of MMA.
Let's rewind to several months ago. I had pretty much let my personal life go to hell (not going into detail), so obviously my training was also nowhere near where it should have been. And to make matters worse, I decided to add excessive drinking to my growing list of problems.
Now it's June 3, and I am flying back to Columbus, Ohio, from Manchester, England, where I was training with Wolfslair helping some of the team's fighters prepare for their upcoming bouts. The plan was to fly in on June 3, fight in Cleveland on the 6th and then fly back to England on the 7th.
I left England and was given a very serious warning: "If you get hurt in that fight, don't bother coming back." My opponent for the fight was 6-6, so obviously getting back to England to learn and train with some of the best was my priority.
Seeing how my opponent had just a 6-6 record, I figured I could easily bully him into rolling over for me, collect the easy win, and return to England. But it didn't happen that way at all. Someone forgot to tell my opponent to roll over and quit.
I handled him very easily for the entire first round. He was able to land one very good elbow to my temple. I am embarrassed to admit that my first thought was that, "If he cut me and I can't go back to England, this is not worth it." How in the world could I be in a fight and think that if I got cut, it is not worth the win?
In the second round, I took him down again. He went for an armbar, I defended it (only to prove to myself that he couldn't get it), and then I put my arm back in to give him the win so that I could return to England, healthy. Just so you all know, that is the most embarrassing thing that I have ever admitted out loud.
It got even worse the next day when I got a call from England saying that they were all going to Germany for UFC 99 and it really wouldn't be worth it for me to return to England. My first thought was, "I got what I deserved."
I was miserable, depressed, I let me personal life continue to spiral out of control, and I figured more drinking was the answer.
I did absolutely no training for a month. I didn't run, I didn't lift, and I didn't even look at my boxing gloves. I wanted to quit fighting, but I didn't believe that was the answer either. I was so lost.
Then I got a call from Noah, the matchmaker for Ring of Combat (ringofcombat.com) in Atlantic City, N.J. He asked if I wanted to fight Dante Rivera, a former cast member from "The Ultimate Fighter," and that the fight was two months away. I couldn't say yes fast enough. Rivera is an opponent with a skill set that can beat me, but if I took advantage of all eight weeks available to me, my thought process was that I could beat him soundly and start climbing upward again. I felt re-motivated and was going to use Rivera as an excuse to put my life and my career back together.
All of a sudden, I had a reason to wake up again, a goal to toward which to strive. I still felt that I needed a little more change.
I had spent some time a year or two earlier training in Milwaukee (where I was born and still have a lot of family) at Duke Roufus' Gym (milwaukeemma.com). I had liked it there, but I felt that I didn't take full advantage of all the knowledge walking through Roufus' doors each day. So I called Duke and asked it I could return for a week or two. The next day I was driving the eight hours to Milwaukee.
Of course I have to thank my cousin Kyle, his amazing fiance Jenny, and Milo for letting me live with them. If you haven't met me, you might be surprised to learn that I am not always the best house guest.
I believe it was exactly one hour after my first workout at Duke's that I knew I had to spend all eight weeks before every fight there or move back home for good.
Everything had changed 100 percent for the better since my last time there. The gym had doubled in physical size, members, coaches and skill level. I was blown away! I didn't want to leave that first workout.
After the fourth day, I felt like a brand new person. I was re-motivated and re-energized. After one workout Duke looked at me and said, "When I first met you, you trained like a burned-out wrestler. Now you're like a little kid again, excited to learn." I could have run through a brick wall.
Along with all the other changes to that gym, Duke's coaching style seemed to have completely changed. I was there for several weeks and never once heard him talk of anything but fighting – just technique, philosophies, history, thoughts, experience, everything fighting-related. What is more impressive, I never saw him anything less than 100 percent enthusiastic. He had become the coach that motivates a whole room of athletes just by walking in the door, and his staff had followed his lead. I was the new guy, the visitor, and only a couple of them had remembered me from my last time there. Every coach there offered any amount of time and knowledge that I requested. I believe that Duke, his staff and his athletes have created a gym that will soon be recognized as one of the top five in the world to train.
I can't remember everyone's name there that I need to thank, but I need to thank Duke, Scott and Scott, "Red" Schafer, Pat Berry, Anthony "Showtime" Pettis, Razak Al-Hassan, Karl, the tall skinny BJJ coach, the 140-pound boxer that punches too hard, and everyone there for making me feel like part of the team.
A couple weeks ago when I decided that I wanted to write another column, I wanted to outline all the horrible things that the California State Athletic Commision did to me. (I still plan on doing that column.) But after spending time with Duke and his guys, I have a new attitude toward fighting and life in general.
I am still more than a little disappointed that I have not been paid what I was promised for my time in England and that phone calls and emails have been ignored, but I can write that off as a lesson learned.
I know that I have a mountain to climb, but isn't that what MMA is about – challenging yourself? I love a good challenge, I love to fight, but what is even more important is that I love to battle and I am finding my stride. And I think to myself, what a wonderful life.
I am fighting Dante Rivera on the Sept. 11 (my birthday) Ring of Combat card. I am then flying right back to Milwaukee on Sept. 12.
mmajunkie.com
He is right in that he took Allan down. Controlling the fight...debatable. Allan had Sean in guard for 90% of the first round and continually worked for arm bars a triangles. Sean did out work him in striking though. Sean was relentless, he threw strikes constantly but he only landed 2-3 strikes.
The second round started and Allan hit Sean with a straight right and then a solid head kick. It didn't do much but stun him for a sec and then Sean took him down again. Allan was back to guard and Sean was too tired to defend the submissions. He was trying to strike and Allan caught his hand slid into the armbar, Sean had his hands clasped together for a second and then the grip broke, end of fight.
by Sean Salmon on Sep 02, 2009 at 3:00 pm ET
Here I am, back again! I'm sure some of you are wishing I would just go away. Not gonna happen as long as I have something to say, and right now I have a lot to say. But, I believe what I have to say this time just might embody the spirit of MMA.
Let's rewind to several months ago. I had pretty much let my personal life go to hell (not going into detail), so obviously my training was also nowhere near where it should have been. And to make matters worse, I decided to add excessive drinking to my growing list of problems.
Now it's June 3, and I am flying back to Columbus, Ohio, from Manchester, England, where I was training with Wolfslair helping some of the team's fighters prepare for their upcoming bouts. The plan was to fly in on June 3, fight in Cleveland on the 6th and then fly back to England on the 7th.
I left England and was given a very serious warning: "If you get hurt in that fight, don't bother coming back." My opponent for the fight was 6-6, so obviously getting back to England to learn and train with some of the best was my priority.
Seeing how my opponent had just a 6-6 record, I figured I could easily bully him into rolling over for me, collect the easy win, and return to England. But it didn't happen that way at all. Someone forgot to tell my opponent to roll over and quit.
I handled him very easily for the entire first round. He was able to land one very good elbow to my temple. I am embarrassed to admit that my first thought was that, "If he cut me and I can't go back to England, this is not worth it." How in the world could I be in a fight and think that if I got cut, it is not worth the win?
In the second round, I took him down again. He went for an armbar, I defended it (only to prove to myself that he couldn't get it), and then I put my arm back in to give him the win so that I could return to England, healthy. Just so you all know, that is the most embarrassing thing that I have ever admitted out loud.
It got even worse the next day when I got a call from England saying that they were all going to Germany for UFC 99 and it really wouldn't be worth it for me to return to England. My first thought was, "I got what I deserved."
I was miserable, depressed, I let me personal life continue to spiral out of control, and I figured more drinking was the answer.
I did absolutely no training for a month. I didn't run, I didn't lift, and I didn't even look at my boxing gloves. I wanted to quit fighting, but I didn't believe that was the answer either. I was so lost.
Then I got a call from Noah, the matchmaker for Ring of Combat (ringofcombat.com) in Atlantic City, N.J. He asked if I wanted to fight Dante Rivera, a former cast member from "The Ultimate Fighter," and that the fight was two months away. I couldn't say yes fast enough. Rivera is an opponent with a skill set that can beat me, but if I took advantage of all eight weeks available to me, my thought process was that I could beat him soundly and start climbing upward again. I felt re-motivated and was going to use Rivera as an excuse to put my life and my career back together.
All of a sudden, I had a reason to wake up again, a goal to toward which to strive. I still felt that I needed a little more change.
I had spent some time a year or two earlier training in Milwaukee (where I was born and still have a lot of family) at Duke Roufus' Gym (milwaukeemma.com). I had liked it there, but I felt that I didn't take full advantage of all the knowledge walking through Roufus' doors each day. So I called Duke and asked it I could return for a week or two. The next day I was driving the eight hours to Milwaukee.
Of course I have to thank my cousin Kyle, his amazing fiance Jenny, and Milo for letting me live with them. If you haven't met me, you might be surprised to learn that I am not always the best house guest.
I believe it was exactly one hour after my first workout at Duke's that I knew I had to spend all eight weeks before every fight there or move back home for good.
Everything had changed 100 percent for the better since my last time there. The gym had doubled in physical size, members, coaches and skill level. I was blown away! I didn't want to leave that first workout.
After the fourth day, I felt like a brand new person. I was re-motivated and re-energized. After one workout Duke looked at me and said, "When I first met you, you trained like a burned-out wrestler. Now you're like a little kid again, excited to learn." I could have run through a brick wall.
Along with all the other changes to that gym, Duke's coaching style seemed to have completely changed. I was there for several weeks and never once heard him talk of anything but fighting – just technique, philosophies, history, thoughts, experience, everything fighting-related. What is more impressive, I never saw him anything less than 100 percent enthusiastic. He had become the coach that motivates a whole room of athletes just by walking in the door, and his staff had followed his lead. I was the new guy, the visitor, and only a couple of them had remembered me from my last time there. Every coach there offered any amount of time and knowledge that I requested. I believe that Duke, his staff and his athletes have created a gym that will soon be recognized as one of the top five in the world to train.
I can't remember everyone's name there that I need to thank, but I need to thank Duke, Scott and Scott, "Red" Schafer, Pat Berry, Anthony "Showtime" Pettis, Razak Al-Hassan, Karl, the tall skinny BJJ coach, the 140-pound boxer that punches too hard, and everyone there for making me feel like part of the team.
A couple weeks ago when I decided that I wanted to write another column, I wanted to outline all the horrible things that the California State Athletic Commision did to me. (I still plan on doing that column.) But after spending time with Duke and his guys, I have a new attitude toward fighting and life in general.
I am still more than a little disappointed that I have not been paid what I was promised for my time in England and that phone calls and emails have been ignored, but I can write that off as a lesson learned.
I know that I have a mountain to climb, but isn't that what MMA is about – challenging yourself? I love a good challenge, I love to fight, but what is even more important is that I love to battle and I am finding my stride. And I think to myself, what a wonderful life.
I am fighting Dante Rivera on the Sept. 11 (my birthday) Ring of Combat card. I am then flying right back to Milwaukee on Sept. 12.
mmajunkie.com