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This is what has happened this week PART 1
31 Aug 2009 2:48PM
That time already... man, my life is getting eaten away by writing blogs!!! This is what has happened this week...
M1 Team England
As you can imagine the current focus with Team England is training and game plan, in preparation of the up and coming semi-finals in Russia. The rumour is that Team Russian Legion will be making wholesale changes to the team that we saw against Turkey, which is very frustrating. It's typical of the way some of the teams have run themselves in the tourney. With us, it's been a case of choose a team and stick with it. The only changes we have been made have been unavoidable due to injury to other engagement. So the team we started with in Japan, Ian Butlin, Si Phillips, Matt Thorpe, Tom Blackledge and Robbie Broughton, is pretty much the team we have had through out and the team that we will take to the finals... that's the idea of a TEAM. The replacement fighters have only been for very real reasons, such as Danny Giblin (look out for him in the up and coming Total Combat MW tourney next week!) replacing Tom Blackledge in the Kansas leg. This was due to Tom being injured. Dave Keeley replaced Robbie due to Robbies fight on affliction and with Ian "Beverley Hills" Butlin now retired, Scott Hewitt is the permanent light weight fighter. Out team going into the Semi's will be Scott "Honey" Hewitt, Si "The Exeter executioner" Phillips, Matt "The mighty 12 gauge" Thorpe, Tom "Bruno" Blackledge and Robbie "The Bear" Broughton... just one change from the very first leg of our campaign. That's how it should be! Anyway... back to the prep! We aren't sure of our opponents, so focus is on our guys, not out opponents. Developing their styles to match the typical Russian style. It's challenging, although we know our guys are better skilled and have a more flexible style. As always, we are confident. The most frustrating thing has been the lack of attention from media. You would expect that Fighters Only or MMA Universe would of been on the phone, eager to interview the team heading into the semi-finals, yes?....well, no actually. It can be depressing that the guys are working hard, but don't appear to be getting the coverage or respect they deserve. Hopefully when we are through to the finals all that will change. Team England DESERVE the support of the media and the UK fans base... COME ON ENGLAND, COME ON ENGLAND!
Team Colosseum
The Team Colosseum diary is filling up nicely, we currently have 5 fighters training for a total of 6 fights. It's great when this happens as it gives each session a real focus and livens it up. Every fighter eager to give it their all in training. This can also help the guys who aren't fighting, who get a glimpse of what it takes to be a fighter... well, a small fraction of what it takes. We've also picked up a number of new guys recently, which is awesome. A couple of them have got some real fire in the belly and can be a handful. One guy has been training for about 6-7 months and has bags of potential, a real firecracker.... I'm crap with names though... so I'll tell you his name next time.
Let's talk about the fighters who are training for fights.... in no particular order. Sam Fergusson. Wow! Sam is 19-20, just a young kid really, but over the last 12 months he has come on leaps and bounds. His record isn't a reflection of his potential, he sits at 1-3, however, he isn't pro yet, so it doesn't matter. AM/SP (I hate the term Semi-pro... it's basically Amateur in this sport) is where a fighter builds experience and develops his style, so results don't matter. Pro is where it counts. I paraphrase myself when I say "Amateur is for getting in and trying, professional is for getting in and doing!" Sam is dropping to WW this time around, a good move. He is now leaner, faster and sharper, without loosing any of his power. His next fight, on AMMA, will be a barnstormer! (Sam will be fighting on the ISKA show in Bolton, October) Also on AMMA is new comer Ste Lane. Fighting at LW, Ste is a friend of Tommo's and has been with us for maybe 5-6 months. He has previous experience and is quickly becoming a valued team player. He has an awesome skills set and I have seen him troubling even some of our experienced guys. We have some things to work on, but his skills inspire confidence. After the AMMA show, we have guys on the ISKA show in Bolton, promoted by our good friend, Darren Sherlock at Salford Fight Factory. I haven't known Darren for long, probably only 2-3 months, but he is my kind of guy. A No shit merchant... just gets on with it. He also lives and breathes martial arts! Anyway, on this show we have Sam, plus two other guys. Steve Hazeldine fighting at Welter. Steve has been training for a long time in Muay Thai and MMA and actually teaches our MMA fundamentals class at Colosseum. In his last outing he submitted his opponent in the first round. Steve can be quite and he doesn't look like your typical fighter, but he is very skilled and as tough as old boots. Very deceptive. I think his opponents look at him and believe they are in for an easy night... so wrong! The final fighter I have mentioned before, Chris Thompson. Chris is a great lad, both in and out of the gym. I can't say how highly I respect the way he has bonded with the team, he really has become one of the foundations of the squad and I hope is around for many years to come. Another guy with a deceptive record. He is in exceedingly good shape, excellent on the ground and with solid power. He is another tough hombre. Would never back down in a fight and never give in. I hope to work him on the pads more for this fight (I usually get so involved with Matt's training.. sometimes it's not fair to the other fighters) and send him into his next fight with confidence.. so he comes out with a big shiny "W". I'll be commentating on the ISKA show, alongside with good friend Ian Butlin. Ian and I have commentated together a number of times before, on shows such as Champions. It works well... it's like Brains and Brawn, Beauty and the Beast... I won't say who is who though!
PART 2
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