So this is an interview that I did with Rocci Williams, a UK mixed-martial artist who recently made his comeback fight on September 5, 2009 (he’s the bloke on the left with the ripped abs).
He’s been following the Ultimate MMA Strength and Conditioning Program for a few months now, using it for his last boxing match, and this latest MMA bout.
He shot me an email after this fight telling me the circumstances of the fight and I thought it’d be really helpful for those of you who are less experienced or about to have your first fight to hear exactly what goes through your head before a match and how to deal with it.
He shares everything he’s gone through in finding the right coaches, to being put into fights he wasn’t prepared for, to learning to be in control of what fights you take and don’t take. He’s also from the UK – so to me, the shit he says sounds pretty funny, plus he’s got a pretty good sense of humour.
Rocci also tells you how he started out doing strength and conditioning, doing all the ‘hardcore’ stuff, but it not really leading to gains where it counts – in the cage.
I’ve seen this all too often with fighters, which is one of the reasons why I put the Ultimate MMA program out there.
OK so enough background, enjoy the interview.
– Eric
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START OF INTERVIEW
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1) Rocci, give us a little bit of your background and history in MMA in both training and competition.
I didn’t grow up with any martial arts or boxing background, although with a name like Rocci it was only a matter of time before I done some form of combat. When I got in my twenties I joined a club that claimed it taught Vale Tudo when in fact it was a local jujitsu guy adding a few strikes to the mix, from here I got thrown into my first cage fight with only a set of balls and a tough chin, skills and conditioning didn’t enter my game this was then added to loss after loss and a massive destruction in any natural confidence that I once had.
I then came across a boxing coach who was willing to adapt and change her way of coaching to help toward the striking of MMA, by this time I had joined another supposedly MMA club which was only an hour and a half once per week, but striking was picking up and I started to feel confident again, I re-entered the cage with some skills but still conditioning and other skills I felt were lacking, I ended up dropping the guy in the first minute but made a mistake in which he capitalized and using his superior wrestling skills to mount and ground and pound me until the ref stopped the fight – this however was a positive loss. I was getting frustrated so I decided to take myself seriously and not let money grabbing promoters shove me in with opponents that were above my station.
I took a year out and in this year had the luck of meeting a freestyle wrestling coach, so now I had a boxing and a wrestling coach I had padded out my garage and filled it with the necessary equipment, I called in sparring partners from back grounds such as jujitsu, boxing and muay thai all the pressure was on me as I was in control of my training, I spent hours reading material on training for mma, kettlebells, flipping tires you name it I acquired it, I was striving to better my game, then my coach came across the Ultimate MMA Strength and conditioning package which included Nutrition–itsu, the mental game by Brian Cain and cutting weight safely, I read it and took a chance on following it.
2) Now this latest fight – tell us how it all went down including who you were up against and what all the circumstances were leading up to the fight.
Firstly I had to pick a promoter that I thought wouldn’t stitch me up with an unfair match up, they got me a guy who was mainly stand up and his record was 4-3-0, this seemed ok so I took it, well anyway 2 weeks prior to the event my opponent had pulled out with an injury, they then matched me up with an opponent that was 2-2-0 this seemed also like a good match up as I only had 1 win out of my six fights.
On the day of the fight I felt tired, sick and heavy, I had spent a year out of the cage training out of my little garage against a guy who trained from the London fight factory, known for its good BJJ and wrestling so naturally I was thinking what this guy was going to do, he knew my record was poor and that may have given him that edge, now I knew my hands were good as I entered a couple of unlicensed boxing matches during my year out to stay active, I won both by unanimous decision, but this was MMA and all I could remember were my losses in the cage.
So I was told I had to do an interview, I walked into the room where this was taking place and there was my opponent doing his bit for the camera, my ears perked up and I heard everything as if my life depended on it, then I heard something that for me screwed up my mental process, the lady asked how many fights he had, his answer was ‘I have had 8 pro fights with 6 wins 1 draw and 1 loss’ this guy has had more wins then I have had MMA fights, but even that was BS as I later found out, man he was arrogant and sure of himself, he then proceeded to say that he trains in Japan and that was it I was thinking all kinds of crazy stuff, these words came into my head – Samurai – Pride – Jujitsu, it sounds funny but the mind plays tricks on you and I had wet pants.
After his cocky interview he came over and asked if I was Rocci I answered ‘good luck for tonight’ and then just stared through him, but at this time I just didn’t think I would win but I knew I had to look as though I didn’t give a crap!
3) What were you thinking in the moments before the fight, for example, in the warm-up area in the locker room, walking into the cage (ring?), during the stare down, and before the initial bell?
Now this was the first time I had my wrestling coach in my corner and in fact the first time I had a decent corner team, we were going through the warm-up and I was so nervous that I felt as though I had never done wrestling before. To add to the whole pressure I was first fight and it seemed as though I had only a few minutes before that call came in that I was on in 3 minutes, my legs started to feel shivery and my nuts felt as if they were trying to hide, I looked into the mirror to see if I could see fear in my eyes.
Making my way to the entrance I could hear the buzzing of the crowd getting hyped up wanting to see action, in my head I was telling myself don’t rush in because some fat drunk bloke wants to see blood, and trust me I have done this in the past and it has cost me, I am in control of my actions, I also knew more than anything that I could go 3 rounds and I wasn’t concerned about getting over and done with for the sake of gassing out.
My two coaches and I are standing behind the curtains waiting for my announcement at this time I am light on my toes I am starting to feel it, I DON’T GIVE A CRAP, I DON’T GIVE A CRAP, my boxing coach and I touch fists as we do before every pad session, she then says ‘tonight Rocci is the beginning’ I take off my t-shirt and walk down toward the cage, not hearing music or crowd noises just seeing the cage and the bright lights, I enter, go over to my corner the words of advice from my coach were as follows ‘Hunt him and Hurt him’, I turn around see my opponent with that smug look as my record of 5 losses and 1 win gets called out, I’m ok as I have my trigger hands (if you ever watch BJ Penn in his corner before his fight his hands are shuffling around his chin waiting to explode, I also do this to get me in my zone, to get me ready) I see him with his hands dangling as he is bouncing side to side, my instincts tell me that he wont stand with me even though he claimed earlier in his interview that he would implement his muay thai, the ref call us in, I look through him, now I have him! I saw a glimpse of uncertainty.
4) I’ve talked a bit about your success with my Ultimate MMA program in some of my previous emails, but tell us exactly what you were doing before, what the results were, and what your results were after following the Ultimate MMA program.
I was trying out programs that involved Tabata, sledge hammer, punching drills, burpees and kettlebells, at one point I got addicted to gaining equipment that would help my performance, I was following protocols that I believed that would help improve my strength and conditioning and at the time I was around 87kg I wasn’t overly muscular and on the other hand I wasn’t ripped like you would expect to see from a pro fighter, but then I took your advice before my second boxing match as I had to get down to 77kg and it was on the day weigh in with no time to replenish or hydrate it had to be all conditioning.
I was performing Crazy 8s and following the Nutrition-itsu guidelines and before I knew it I had a ripped core I actually weighed in at 77 with all my clothes on, and that fight was a breeze I won in dominating fashion against a boxer who had won his last two by first round KO, again I didn’t question my fitness at all (click here to watch this boxing match).
I then went on to follow the Ultimate MMA program from start to finish, working through the phases, now following these to the last detail is a must, I planned my time out and made a massive commitment to follow this program, I believe that all the phases help build a foundation that I was missing when I was mindlessly flipping tires old school style.
I knew this was working for me as I was out working my sparring partners in the evening and being able to produce great gains during the day doing the strength and conditioning program, I was on it physically.
5) So what’s next for you?
Being one of the lucky winners of the Advanced Power for MMA I will definitely implement the program; I have 100% confidence in your training and know that it will take me to the next level.
I will be looking to fight in January, although there is the opportunity to fight sooner I feel I have been in control of every decision for the last year and they have been the right ones, so I will start following the program mid September, also working on tightening up my mma game as I feel there were areas that need improving, the footage will give me a better idea but until then its time for me to take a well deserved break.
Additional – being put into fights when your not 100% ready can have a massive effect on your mental game, my advice is to plan and prepare, you don’t want to be asking yourself if you have covered every aspect just before the ref asks if your ready to fight!
Turns out that in total my opponent had a total of 17 pro and semi pro fights with 6 losses, if I knew this before I would have definitely not have taken the fight, I had doubts that I would win, but I wanted to win badly and that’s what got me the ‘W’ I believe the fight was a clinical performance transitioning naturally, going with the quote of BJ Penn – Flow with the Go! Result Rocci Williams – Winner by rear naked choke 1min 40 in the first round – and I’m no jujitsu guy!
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END OF INTERVIEW
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This is the program Rocci used – that you can get started on RIGHT NOW to stop wasting time in the gym and take your performance to the next level, but if you do get it, make sure to follow Rocci’s advice and STICK WITH IT:
Awesome job Rocci, way to throw down and win a big comeback fight! We all definitely look forward to hearing more about your results in the future, and thanks for all of the great tips that any fighter can use to improve. If you got anything make sure to thank Rocci personally.
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