The first time I met someone who told me they did the workouts in the magazine, I was genuinely shocked. I don't know why. I mean, they're good stuff. The training advice we present is contemporary, functional and most of all, effective.
Still, when they told me they followed the workouts, I couldn't help mask my surprise. I guess it was more that someone actually read them. It still weirds me out when people tell me about stuff they've read in the magazine. I'm like, 'yeah, I know, I probably wrote it'.
We just finished Issue 36 of the mag, it went off to print yesterday, and is out on sale next week (look out for it, it's a bloody good one this month, but then I say that every month. Although it really is good). I'm working on Issue 37 of the magazine at the moment. That's the one that goes on sale in early April.
I got an email from Barry Gibson not so long ago with his one of his latest sadistic, *ahem* sorry, effective training routines. It used a powerbag (or a home-made sandbag), something I have access to. I actually asked Barry to do his article on that particular piece of kit, as we received one into the office not so long ago and I asked him to review it, expecting him to thoroughly beast it. He did, and he reported good things, so killing two birds with one stone, it made sense that he do a training article on it too.
The powerbag
So I went into the gymtonight, complex written out and in hand, and faced Barry's sandbag challenge. The program goes like this:
· Burpee clean and press x 8 · Zercher squat x 8 · Shouldering x 8 (4 reps per side) · Zercher lunge x 8 (4 reps per leg) · High pull x 8 · Floor Press x 8 · Body lock hold and carry x 100ft
You do the complex for time, treating the above as one round with a minute rest between rounds. I managed three rounds, with my time for each round coming in at an average of about 3.15.
I'd like to thank you now Barry. My legs, back and arms hurt. In a good way, of course.
Seeing as I'd spent an hour doing BJJ then the above powerbag complex, I thought I'd earned myself a treat. David Swann, our resident chef-fighter and author of our fantastic monthly recipes, also available in the 'Performance' section, sent in a really interesting recipe, again for Issue 37. When I saw it, the first thing I asked Dave was "Isn’t that a bit naughty?" "I suppose it is," he said. It's a cheeky Chorizo Pasta dish that isn't exactly low on calories but is high in taste. Perfect for a post-deadline celebration or when you're not in fight preparation.
The oh-so-tasty Chorizo Pasta dish
I'll admit I look at David's recipes each month (and of course the awesome photos by his dad Robert Swann) and generally think, "mmmm I’d love to try that". For some reason, I never do. I like simple to cook dishes that I don't need to think about.
So seeing as I'd given Barry's complex a go, I thought I'd really go the whole hog and try cooking Dave's recipe. And man oh man, am I glad I did. Sure, it was one hell of a guilty pleasure (especially as I washed it down with a large glass of red), but it tasted goooood!
So there you have it. We do practise what we preach here at Fighters Only.
I'm now 6 weeks out from my semi-pro European Title fight (well, 5 weeks and 5 days).
The good: I'm only 6 weeks away from being able to have a MacDonald's for breakfast, KFC for dinner and a Burger King for supper. The bad: I've got 6 weeks worth of grilled chicken and raw spinach coming up.
The ugly: I've got a team of savages looking forward to torturing me in the gym 5-6 days a week. The training really steps up a gear now.
(More after the jump)
This means ahead of me I have; thousands of burpees, hundreds of rounds of sparring (usually with fresh partners every round), dozens of cuts, bumps and bruises (mostly on my face and shins) and most probably an injury or two to look forward to.
I'm fighting Christopher Sprong from Team Hilti in Sweeden. The Hilti Team is infamous for having great BJJ skills which is perfect for me stylistically, I train with a dozen excellent grapplers and my game's evolved around that. I thought a sprawl and brawl fight was in the pipelines using my long reach to jab his face to mincemeat. After further research I ended up finding out my opponent was actually taller then me (I'm 6"3, so he must be a lanky welterweight). I've also recently found out Mr. Sprong is a good thai boxer. As I haven't trained with anyone taller then me since I was 16 or 17, I realised I would need to find a gym with someone who mimicked his size and style, but wasn't really sure where to go.
While filming the technique section for Fighters Only Peter Irving offered an invite to train with his team, Knuckledraggers as he has a handful of tall stand up fighters for me to spar with. So this past Saturday I turned up and managed to get 5 or 6 rounds of sparring in which was pretty cool. After that I was slammed a couple of times as we worked on wrestling (I was put with the heavyweights), then I rolled with Peter and he raped me (in a Ju-Jitsu sense). Pete caught me in brabo chokes, darce chokes and every other choke there is with a stupid name. It was good fun though, now I'm looking forward to going next week.
To put it nicely, cutting weight is horrific. Especially when in life you're surrounded by idiots who don't have a clue why you do it or what cutting weight even is. They still however manage to voice their opinions on cutting weight. In the past I've been told; "why are you dieting, your not even fat", "Just eat loads curry's and fight in a heavier division" and my personal favourite; "Why don't you just eat nice food like pizza and chips, but less of it"? I've also got my mother trying to tell me it would be better for me If I ate weight watchers cakes as my main meals, as they only have one point per bite. The ratio of clever people to illogical people around me must be 1:10, it really is that bad.
Something weird happened the other morning. As I wandered around the house in my boxers making my breakfast I stopped to look in the mirror (as you do). Besides noticing my legs are growing at an incredible rate I realised I'm starting to regain a 6 pack. I haven't had one of those since November! This has given me more motivation then ever because not only will I be able to make fight weight, but girls might start finding me attractive once again. Score!
I've also decided to give up alcohol for good. Not for any benefit to my health, but for the sole reason of I hate slobbering drunks. It would be hypocritical of me to constantly slag them off and avoid them at all costs if I was one. People always ask why I don't drink and I often get called boring by my mates as they wobble about trying to find their equilibrium, but it doesn't bother me. I'm still haunted by some of the things I done as a kid while under the influence of 'White Ace' so I suppose its kind of a relief.
Ever since I left school and stopped going down to the beach getting drunk with large groups of charva's my weekends have really went downhill. So when there is a local MMA event on it really makes me happy. Lucky for me, Total Combat 23 is this Saturday. On the star studded card I have my younger, troublesome cousin Sam 'The Lonely Villager' Sexton fighting. Sam is like Nick or Nate Diaz, but more arrogant and less of a marijuana supporter. My MMA Coach; Eddie Ng takes on Jason Ball in a British Welterweight Title bout. In his professional debut he stopped Lee Doski with his trademark 'Lucky elbow'. But seeing as elbows have been banned in Total Combat now, his luck may have run out. Main eventing the Card is my uncle Colin so all in all it should be a good night out.
So that's my wrap up for the week folks. Keep it real.
Lots of Love, Jack "gonna be champ in 6 weeks" Sexton
P.S: apparently there will be camera crews filming Mark 'Spenna' Spencer as he prepares for his bout with Ross Pearson at Total Combat. Expect the Sexton trio; myself, Sam and Joe to try at all cost to make a cameo in this, preferably without the camera crews realising. Keep an eye out for us!
Check these clips from a show by the National Geographic Channel. They measure the power that various mixed martial artist such as Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz and Bas Rutten generate. It's genuinely fascinating stuff.
Every month in Fighters Only we feature a scantily-clad hot lady with a sometimes tenuous connection to MMA (they at least need to know what the sport is, but hell, we've still got more ethics than Ultimate Grappling when it comes to this).
Quite often we rely on the goodwill of photographers and the models in obtaining the pictures we need, but there are one or two people we love working with.
One such person is Luis Aguirre. Luis shoots for Heavy Hitters Fight Gear, an up and coming fight wear company out of SoCal who employ a very clever strategy of getting loads of hot chicks to model their gear and generally hang around, posing and looking gorgeous.
Luis and HHFG have hooked us up with not one, not two but THREE chicks in the last year or so, which we are eternally grateful for.
Even though we're sometimes slow in responding to emails and very slow in sending out copies of the mag, Luis still shows us love by posting pics of his most recent spots in the mag on his Flickr Account. Thanks, Luis.
Check out these beauties.
Also, HHFG have got a calender out, available through their website. Check it out!
I've always loved reading. I've been a pretty voracious reader since my early childhood, and my book collection is, to be honest, a bit ridiculous. My bookshelves are not only completely filled but stacked two deep as well.
I'm not a huge fan of sports books, mostly because I find them tedious. Books on combat sports are slightly more appealing only for the subject matter, with boxing literature being particularly noteworthy.
Until now, not withstanding the dime a dozen ghost written biographies, we've only had a few MMA books to choose from. Most notable is Clive Gentry's No Holds Barred, probably the best on the market. Eric Krauss put out Brawl, which just about held my attention but felt like a watered down version of what could have been a great idea. He also wrote the UFC propaganda pamphlet Warriors of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which I gave a token read but found nothing of interest in.
Sam Sheridan's excellent A Fighter's Heart is a fantastic story. Well off, well educated and well travelled, Sheridan stepped into a ring in Thailand and a cage in the Midwest. He sparred with Olympians and meditated with monks. All in all he lived about five lifetimes in the space of five years, and put it all down on paper for us to share. It is one of my favourite books in life inside a gym, and Sheridan spent time with Miletich, BTT and more.
My other favourite is Marcus Trower's The Last Wrestlers. While not strictly MMA, it is the story of Trower's own love of the grappling arts, and on his travels (Mongolia, Kenya, India etc) he stopped off in Brazil and met legends such as Goes, Sperry et al. I liked his book so much I hired Marcus to write for the magazine.
I was wondering when we'd see more books come out on the subject of MMA. Given it's current boom in popularity I figured it would be no time at all before we saw someone come along and try to cash in. I have heard of a few book projects on the go but usually these things are kept pretty quiet.
I was browsing the web earlier and found this (go to about halfway down the page).
"Sports Illustrated writer L. Jon Wertheim's ULTIMATE GLADIATORS, an inside look at the colorful champions of the rapidly emerging sport of mixed martial arts and the explosion of the Ultimate Fighting Championships league (UFC), to Houghton Mifflin."
So I guess it'll only be a matter of time before we see a tonne of hastily written books hitting our shelves. I remember that for years the only books about MMA on my local bookstore's shelves were Ken Shamrock's Lions Den and Gentry's NHB. Looks like we'll be getting a section of our own at this rate.
It's the first Thursday of the month, and that means one thing; Fighters Only hits the shelves!
Inside this months issue...
Features:
BJJ in MMA, from Kimono to the Cage Superfans of MMA, are you one?
Exclusive Interviews with:
Kimbo Slice UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva Urijah Faber Samy Schiavo James Thompson
Plus:
Fighters Facts: Andrei Arlovski Matt Hughes on his new book Harley Flanagan's love for MMA UFC 80 and Year End review Equipment focus: shin pads Kitbag: Dean Lister 11-page training Zone
...and much, much more
The World's Leading Mixed Martial Arts and Lifestyle Magazine is available in WHSmiths, Borders, Barnes and Nobles and all other good newsagents now. Subscriptions are available via www.fightersonlymag.com
Non-art lovers and casual fans of MMA, don't worry if you start reading this post with no idea as to what I'm talking about. Unless you're a follower of photography or a rich patron of the most dynamic combat sport in the world, you probably haven't heard about the book simply titled 'Octagon'.
Octagon is the result of a four-year project by photographer Kevin Lynch. A commercial photographer based out of LA, he was commissioned by the UFC to document the organisation with view to putting it into a high quality tome accessible only to those with large amounts of disposable income. The standard version of this book (yes, there is also a deluxe version) comes in at a staggering $2,500.
[More]
But then Octagon is no normal book. At 20 inches by 26 inches and over 400 pages long, it is hand bound in finest Italian leather and printed on paper so thick you could build a house out of it.
But what about the inside? Those who were aware of the book's release were so focussed on the physical nature of the book the contents were often ignored. Well that's understandable, as most people have never laid eyes on a copy, let alone had chance to peruse its pages.
Last week a friend and I visited Hamiltons Gallery. Tucked away on a side street in a very moneyed area of London, this intimate space is one of London's leading exhibitors of contemporary photography, yet even they had to think twice about bringing Lynch's work to the capital's art lovers. "We weren't sure what kind of reaction we would get," said Charlie, gallery manager at Hamiltons. "But everyone who has come through here has been really positive."
I met Charlie in Newcastle a few hours after BJ Penn had completed his demolition of Joe Stevenson. He was in full-on party mode having just had his first taste of a live MMA event. In tow was Kevin, having come over from the States to be there for the opening night of the exhibition two nights previous.
Lynch is a slight man with a scholarly air. He was wearing a hoodie advertising Redbelt, the MMA movie scripted by David Mamet, who wrote an introductory essay to Octagon. Lynch certainly doesn't come across as the kind of person who would normally be a fan of MMA, and it is exactly this quality that makes Octagon so interesting.
The Book
If you're expecting Octagon to be full of the greatest action pictures ever taken, you're going to be disappointed. Instead, Octagon is mostly comprised of portraits. If you've ever seen The Ultimate Fighter, you'll have seen them on the walls of the dressing rooms the fighters warm up in before the elimination fights. They follow a simple format. A straight on shot of the athlete before the fight, and another after. Usually presented side-by-side, the differences can either be minute (a bead of sweat on the brow signalling a quick and easy win) or severe (misshapen faces, open gashes, closed eyes and crushed noses).
The juxtaposition is simple yet striking, and each portrait conjures up visions of how the contest must have played out. No description is given, so whether the battered face is that of a victor in left unsaid.
There are a small number of staged shoots that explore movement with various well-known fighters either shadow boxing or jumping around in front of Lynch's lens, and there are numerous reportage-style images of pre and post-fight situations, locker rooms, backstage corridors and so on. The insertion of these helps to describe the lifespan of an event and pace the book, slowing it and allowing the powerful portraits to stand out. Yet the documentary side of Octagon could have worked equally well if done as a separate project.
The action photos are maybe a little disappointing at first, at least to educated observers. They are often abstract and at odds with traditional sports photography methods, but then you remember Lynch is an outsider to the game and his pedigree is in fashion. It is then they start to become clear. The angles taken, the moments chosen and the positions presented are those of someone gradually becoming familiar with a deep and complex entity. On the surface, mixed martial arts is as simple as you can imagine: Put two men in a caged arena, allow them to fight under predetermined rules until one is declared winner.
Jess Liaudin right in the centre of a huge double-page spread from UFC 70. Check out the t-shirt
But there are layers to be peeled away, and Lynch's unsullied eye picks them out where an insider would take them for granted. It is this quality that makes Octagon so special. Had another equally skilled photographer taken on the project, there is no doubt he could have produced something just as visually impressive as Lynch. But would it have been as interesting? I doubt it. I doubt it very much. Because at times there is an innocence to his approach, sometimes a wariness and quite often a respectful distance. Lynch knows he is being given access to places and moments off-limits to all but the most trusted of team members. Via him, so are we.
As a body of work, Octagon is stunning. It contains some of the most striking portraits I've ever seen, but more importantly it is a fascinating record of four years in the life of the UFC, in particular a period where the sport grew from struggling curiosity to full-blown sensation.
Running the worlds leading MMA lifestyle magazine is easy. Its employees are lazy and have no talent; anyone with half a brain could do their jobs….
…Just kidding!
I've spent the last week and a half with the team behind Fighters Only and my perception has completely changed. I imagined walking into a stereotypical office full of fight fans typing away article after article. For some reason unknown to me, I never wondered how the magazine was put together, where the artwork came from, who sorted out the sales and marketing and about a hundred other jobs that you would overlook if you were not in the media industry.
Jack at his desk in the editorial dept.
I've been trying to come to the Fighters Only (FO) office for a while now to get some work experience and see how it all works behind the scenes, but it never quite happened. When I was told FO was moving to a new office and I could come in for a week or two I was over the moon.
The reception area in the FO office
I arrived at the office on my first day about an hour late after being sucked into Newcastle town centre's miles and miles of one-way roads and bus-only lanes. After standing outside for ten minutes (nobody heard me ringing the door buzzer twenty times) administration exec and PA Angela Smith welcomed me in. Angela is the driving force behind the Administration department and is the reason you lot who are subscribing or ordering back issues actually receive your copies. My favourite Angela moment had to be the first time I heard her answer the phone in the reception area, her voice changed to possibly the poshest I've ever heard. Bare in mind her voice is quite posh anyways, so this was on a whole new level of professionalism!
Angie, posh voice on stand-by
After being told our managing director (MD) was somewhere upstairs I set off on the hunt for Mr. Rob Hewitt. I've known Rob for years now, we used to train together when I was a young buck and he used to bully me. When I started getting better he faked a knee injury to avoid taking a beating from a 16 year old. That's the way I remember it anyway, his side to the story may differ slightly.
Business-wise Rob is the Don. There are always fighters, TV producers and loads of rich men in suits coming into the office to see him. I never really look at him in a businessman role as he's always been a friend, but it was shown how much respect he has across the globe when the UFC's Marshall Zelaznik said at the UFC 80 press conference one of the reasons they brought the UFC to Newcastle was because of Rob giving his opinion that the North East of England has a huge MMA fan base. That means all you Geordies owe him!
I found Rob behind a mountain of boxes setting up furniture. As we were moving box after box we conjured up a plan: I would wear a pair of the most horrible spectacles I've ever seen in my life (I found them on the floor) when I was introduced to the guys that worked in the office. The first to come in was Jim Burman, sadly the glasses fell apart as I said hello so that trick never worked.
Jim, marketing guru. Sandwich, check. Plastic dog, check. That's how he rolls.
Jim is Fighters Only's marketing manager and as he puts it, the "do everything" guy. Jim keeps the website looking good and is the FO representative when engaging the mainstream media. He's probably one of the best people to do this job, as he always makes sure there is an accurate portrayal of the sport in the newspapers, on the radio and television. Plus if he wants he can act posh and sophisticated (although deep down he's a dirty-minded, slightly twisted man who enjoys acting a fool and laughing at our Geordie accents and slang).
Another role Jim has is he is the Sun Online's resident expert on the UFC. This involves making fight predictions on upcoming UFC shows. Like the new kit reviews in the magazine? Thank Jim, he is one of the many guys who road tests then reviews the stuff we get sent. On top of all that he still finds time to contribute a bit of writing to the magazine. Clark Kent; eat your heart out!
Jim and art director Pete
After screwing together four chairs (that didn't want to get put together) in the dining area, Pete Falkous and David Kirkland walked in. To this day I still believe they saw our struggle with the rebellious chairs and timed it so they didn't have to help us put them up. Pete is the Art Director and Davey is the Advertising and Business Development manager.
Pete the art director loves Macs but hates cameras
Pete was unlucky enough to be stuck with me in his office for my short stay and he's always got his music on. What surprised me was how he would be playing N.W.A gangster rap one minute, then the next song would be some form of heavy metal, then the next would be classical and then the Village People. Quite a variation! Pete's job is to do all the artwork and graphics in the magazine. He also helps organize the placement of where articles go in the order of the mag and a load of other design-related stuff like logos for the merchandise.
Davey, money maker and major shaker. The exclusive FO gumshield is broken out for big deals only.
What do David Kirkland and Rampage have in common? They are all about the 'chedda'! Davey sorts out all forms of advertising for Fighters Only and aims to bring in as many clients as possible. He also helps his clients increase their revenue so basically if you work with Dave, you get money. The first time Dave tried to explain his job to me I didn't really understand what was going on, too many advertising terms were used for me. I do remember however when I looked at the figures jotted on his whiteboard I was quite impressed. I nearly shed a tear when Dave told the heartbreaking story of how he wanted to work for FO for years, but there was never a position available. He had to slave away living on barely any money just gaining work experience here and there, then seven months ago a job became available which he grabbe with both hands. The thing that stood out most about Dave was his break-dancing skills. Every time he made a business deal he decided to bust a move. It was like that scene in The Office over and over again.
Davey shows off his latest bling
Hywel busts out the thing that keeps his contributors in line. Don't make him open the can!
The following week (after we had sorted out the office) it just happened to be UFC 80 week. Seeing as the UFC was in Newcastle our editor Hywel Teague came up for the week. Hywel lives in Manchester and works from home. Hywel's job is to sort out what goes in the magazine and also commissions all the writers. Hywel loves playing with his balls…. his miracle balls that is! (As featured in "New Stuff", issue 35). I once walked in on his rolling about on the floor like a dog, obviously I was a bit worried for his mental health, until he explained the balls are used to massage your back.
Well that was my first week with Fighters Only, I look forward to the next. I never got to tell you about what we got up to behind the scenes at UFC 80, but that's another story for another blog.
I went over to the Caged Steel training centre in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire today.
I'd seen pics and know a few people who'd been, but I was genuinely blown away by how nice it is.
I went over with some members of our Fight Team so they could make use of the cage, and while they were mashing each other up I went onto the main matted area and shot the following video.
I've been training jiu-jitsu quite a while now. Since 2002 I think. I had always played with stability balls and used them in my training, but it was only late last year I really got into using them regularly. They're great fun, very good for grapplers and most importantly, cheap and easy to come by.
I hope you like the following vid, it's just a little of what you can do with an empty mat and a stability ball.
