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It's on
14 Oct 2009 1:40PM
After a few false hopes and false starts (for weight cutting) a fight has finally been confirmed. I'll be fighting Sara Moras at the Watford Coliseum for the Kayo MMA event on Sunday (Sunday, Sunday! Sorry I couldn't resist!) 22 November. This will be my second fight in a year which makes a nice change. The fight will be a real tough one so I've found myself back in the cycle of training for a fight.
It probably varies for everyone but for me I always seem to start off fat and out of shape. Not Ricky Hatton fat mind, but fat enough to have to cut my weight down, return to good habits and improve my cardio. I always return to fight training feeling like I'm scaling a cliff or a mountain. I gather all of the necessary tools or support and then begin the climb. The mountain always seems behemoth and steep and there always risks of injury and I definitely take a few falls or beatings on the way up. And every time I still manage to find myself reaching the top and walking into the cage. The mental toughness and emotions all now seem a familiar part of the journey. I'm tremendously grateful to be able to fight again this year (on a card with 2 other female bouts no less!) and am going to do everything I can to ensure my performance reflects this. With the fight six weeks away I am still far from the mountain peak and just emptying pebbles from my boots.
The other thing I'd been meaning to write or comment on (but got bogged down with work and training) was womens mma. Since the Cyborg v Carano fight womens mma has been getting the odd mention in the forums and mma press and even the mainstream press. I think the one theme or comment I notice occurring often is along the lines of how womens fights aren't terribly good or competitive. I found this especially interesting after I started watching the recent season of the Ultimate Fighter with Evans and Jackson. I have never seen so many boring or sloppy fights within a single weight class. I still wouldn't write off every heavy weight as rubbish, though. This is a small sample of guys in a controlled group with 50% chance of having a less than ideal coach. True I see lots of poor heavyweight fights but I also see some great ones. I often wonder how many (if any) womens fights these people have seen.
The sport is undeniably growing for women though some attitudes towards WMMA seem rooted firmly in the 1950's from some posts and comments I've seen and it baffles me. Every gym has fighters male or female, who train hard and fighters that don't just as they have fighters that are talented and competitive as well as fighters that just aren't as good. Instead of gender playing a role I would say that it's more of a matter of the coaching, the fighter's mental toughness and dedication. I would think gender is about as relevant as it would be for sprinting, basketball or football. I think the only thing where gender appears to be a hang up is on opinions and prejudices.
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