If you’ve been following my blog recently you’ll know that this the last piece of my Absolute Combat series.

In the last blog i briefly mentioned that Doni felt the fight had been stopped prematurly and protested a fair bit about it. There’s been a fair bit of chat about it on the Cage Warriors forum,youtube and the Battlefield forum…thats right…i have mad internet stalking game.

I’ve refrained from getting involved in internet arguments as you just end up like a couple of the inbred twats on Jeremy Kyle going back and forward..however i would like to have my own say on what happened.

A lot of comments have been that people,mostly B-field guys,saying that they thought the fight was stopped too early. I can honestly say that i really don’t think it was. I dont think the left hook that dropped him was enough to stop him but the first shot i landed on the ground felt super solid…i felt his chin through the glove..from the video i can see  i landed at least another 2/3 hard unanswered shots before Doni got to his knees…from there i landed a left to his head as well. At the time it felt like i was hitting him for a long time and i was wondering how long Neil Hall was going to let it continue.

In Doni’s defense i don’t think he was totally unconscious but i do feel that he was hurt and badly stunned and as far as i’m concerned i wasn’t planning on stopping  hitting him anytime soon.

Doni was pretty pissed off and protested a fair bit while we waited for the result to be announced. This in turn pissed me off and soured the moment a bit for me. Managed to grab a word with him and shook his hand,though i got the feeling he didnt want to,told him i thought it was a fair stoppage and that it was a good fight,well done etc

To his credit Doni did come speak to me later to offer his congratulations but i still got the feeling that he really didnt accept it…think his words were,”if i’d got a win like that i suppose i’d accept it to”  

I suppose i knew there was going to be a lot of bullshit spoken about the fight,and…well i went looking for it

Pretty sure it was one of the first things i did when i woke up on Sunday morning…yes im a sad cunt but at least i admit it.

Apart from the early stoppage chat most of the banter was that i was getting a shoeing and that i was just lucky.

This fucked me off no end(if you read the last blog you’ll know i can be melodramatic so bear with me here)

Comments such as “doni lost after beatin the S**t out of him for 99% of the time” and “Donni was unlucky, pure and simple. Everytime that the guy twitched donni was weighing him in, purely bad luck !” were classics. 

Along with people saying he was winning and dominating til he lost made me both laugh and piss me off.

Ok….yes Doni started faster than i did but i’d hardly say he was dominating or even clearly winning…. he landed some leg kicks,and a body kick….but its not like i spent the majority of the fight up against the ropes getting tee’d off on til i swung an arm.

I always said Doni was a faster starter than me,he’s also a southpaw which is always going to require a bit of getting used to.    My gameplan was always to feel him out for the first part of the round and see how he was moving and gauge distances and reactions before trying to implement my own attacking-counter fighting(yes that does make sense )game

I suppose what gets me most is my hard work and dedication being dismissed as luck.

For me,Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Every shot i threw in the fight i’ve thrown literally thousands of times in shadow boxing,drilling,pads and sparring. I’ve been preparing mentally for this fight since summer as i thought i’d be fighting him at Oran Mor. I’d spend rounds just working single shots,then short combos i.e left hook-cross,2 left handed shots-jab to left hook etc etc

In the last couple of weeks before AC i’d grab someone and just drill counters from shots i expected Doni to throw along with other gameplan things i thought i’d use/do during the fight.

In my life i’ve been lucky lots of times…..i was lucky to pass my exams as a kid as i put shit all effort into them,i’ve been lucky when driving like an idiot numerous times not to have killed me or anyone else and just last week i was very lucky to land wedged in a manhole at work after a 3 foot fall and not go through to a further 20 foot drop and  certain serious injury.

I’ve never put as much effort into anything in my life as i do with mma,bjj and my fighting.I’m first in the gym every morning and usually one of the last to leave. I read up on training,study videos,take care of my diet,get beaten up by people every fecking day,sprint up hills til i want to throw up ,the list goes on….so please……please…..don’t put me doing well down to luck,because if thats the case i might as well can the training and development and just go in swinging for the fences……or ropes.

I know Doni and his team want a rematch with me but to be honest i dont see why i should. No offence but i won the fight and i won in 80 seconds…..not in a 3 rd war that went to decision.

I think Doni is a great fighter and he’ll go far in the sport and if our paths cross again somewhere down the line then maybe we will fight but for now there’s a lot of fights i’d like to take to see what level i can take this to.(something i’ll cover in my next blog )

thanks for reading

Dean 

www.twitter.com/hurricane_dnft