The life of an aspiring young athlete is one of many sacrifices. We sacrifice our time, energy and health for our sports. MMA is viewed by many as a sport for tattooed thugs and gangsters, but today I read a comment by one of our local MMA referees John Cooper that I think describes the sport I have come to love.
“So many sports have a tendency to damage its participants. Marathon running is probably one of the harshest in terms of damage to your body. We weigh the risks/rewards and spent little time regretting decisions. The kinetic chess that is MMA has little to do with “fighting” and everything to do with the discovery of the purest form of athletic competition. My body & mind vs. that of another man. No technological advantages with respect to equipment. All other sports are metaphors for fighting. There is “violence” in all contact sports, MMA just lets you see it in its pure form. Not hidden under uniforms, helmets, & locker rooms” – John Cooper
I have always maintained that I view MMA the same as every other sport. A set of rules are laid out for the competitors and they go out there and put it on the line. Some sports have balls and nets and teammates, MMA has two competitors that get locked in a cage with 4 ounce gloves, a cup and given 15 minutes to figure out who is better. It doesn’t get any rawer than that. I love the diversity in MMA; you can have two fighters that come from completely different backgrounds of martial arts but when the cage door locks, they are equal, nothing else matters other than who can conduct themselves better in the “kinetic chess match that is MMA.”
Almost two weeks ago, I did some damage to my knee while sparring with Marcus “Lelo” Aurelio helping him prepare for his fight against one of my previous opponents Matt Dwyer. For those of you who follow Battlefield Fight League, which I suggest you do will already know that Lelo won by a devastating slam that knocked Matt out on impact.
The doctor is still not 100% sure if it’s my MCL or meniscus that is hurting. All I know is as of right now I can’t train, at least not on the mats. There are however, lots of things that I can do in order to make sure that my down time, isn’t lost time. I can do lots of things to help my career along such as; get into better shape, watch lots of tape and even build my online profile. As silly as it is having Facebook “likes” and Twitter followers has become an essential part of MMA. It lets promoters know that you have a following (and therefore worth more money) and same goes for sponsors.
Speaking of sponsors I would like to thank: FVSTR, Dominant Ground, Reflex on Kingsway, Drako, Passion Sports, Tippet Richardson, Kombat Nation, Klench Kustom Guards, Canusa Fight Team, and Echelon Fighter Management and of course MMASucka.
Thanks for reading
“Mitey” Micah Brakefield
