Another cracking session and The Ultimate Fighther

Had an outstanding session last night - knackering but fun! Punches and elbows from the mount position - although one thing I gotta do is start working on my neck muscles...when on the bottom, keeping your chin tucked in for long periods of time gives you some serious neck ache - one more thing to add onto the regime! Also ordered me a "FCF" hoodie today - reckon that should be here in the next few days :)

Also don't forget - for those of you living in the UK - the new season of "the Ultimate Fighter (Team Rampage vs Team Griffin)" starts tomorrow night - Bravo - 11pm.

Finally - they've started accepting entries for the May 1st Reboot - YAY!

The doubting Thomas only makes Timmy Stronger!

So I really want to do some Amateur MMA bouts. Not something I think I'll ever want to do as a career but a few local competitions is definitely something I'll be interested in and certainly something I want to do by the time I'm 30 which gives me 15 months (give or take a week or 2). So I've spoken to my trainer and she reckons getting me ready in that amount of time won't be a problem. The way I see it - if she can teach me the skills, I can work on everything else such as cardio, being limber etc.

However I must say that I'm ever so slightly disappointed but greatly encouraged about how well (or not as the case may be) most people think I will perform. I can't say I'm totally surprised, underestimated from day 1 and nothing appears to have changed! "web design and programming?? You're having a laugh right??!" That's what someone said to me 12 years ago when I showed an interest in web programming. Now I'm the youngest member of an IT department working as a web team leader for one of the largest Conveyancing Law Firms in the country!

Doubt me all you want - but it only serves to make me stronger!

Gaining weight for thin people (Part 1) : Introduction

OK - those who know me will be aware of the fact that I'm not exactly "heavy set". I'm exactly 6ft and used to weigh 59 kilos/130 lbs / 9.3 stone (nope - not an eating disorder - but a metabolism that's so fast I feel like I'm going back in time!)

I'm close to 70 kilos/154 lbs / 11 stone now (and on the up) but it's not been without hard work! Anyway, all I ever see are articles about losing weight - "oooh the obesity problem" and blah blah blah. No one ever mentions a thing about people like me...the kinda guy who can eat whatever and never gain weight - and even though we're not overweight, the fact that we can eat crap and never see it in terms of rolls appearing around the mid-region, chin etc does not equate to being healthy.

Either way - I've made a decision to write a series of articles about gaining weight (I've been working on it for long enough) in an attempt to help what would appear to be "the minority" (fear not fellow thin people - I know your pain). I know there are people out there who are overweight who would dream of being able to eat anything and never put on weight but it's not a barrel of laughs for us either you know - especially if you're male (does nothing for your confidence for a start!).

So that was the intro - I'll be adding more articles relating to how I've managed to gain weight and "spreading the knowledge" that I've acquired over the years in my quest. I'll go over everything that works for me from work out plans to eating habits and lifestyle changes in the hope that it may well work for you too - so watch this space.

Chuck Liddell - My Fighting Life (Part 2)

OK - so I got like maybe 20 pages to go and I have to say this book was much better than I thought it would be. Chuck goes into details about aspects of his personal life, how he got into the fight game, goes over his thoughts and views about certain fights he's had and how he was feeling at the time (his comments on Tito Ortiz make me want to buy that book also). There's even a few of his training routines, little snippets of information cataloging everything from his favourite bouts to what his kids see as weird things that he eats (like hot sauce straight from the bottle).

Anyway, I've not read that many auto-biographies but the ones I have read (Malcolm X and Mohammed Ali) are great and this goes in there with them as a superb read. Could hardly put it down and the only down side is that I've pretty much finished reading it.

Get this book - it's an outstanding read and very inspirational. Since reading this book I've quit smoking and am working harder than ever in the gym. Not to say that this book has done that for me as I was intent on quitting smoking at some point anyway but reading it has certainly helped spur me on and also led me to the realisation that if you want to change things - bitching does not do it. Action is the only way to go.

So I end this entry with a little inspiration quote from Bruce Lee (I actually have this on a poster in my gym at home): -

"Knowing is not enough, you must apply; willing is not enough, you must do"

Tito Ortiz leaving the UFC

So apparently this is old news to some people but not to me!! Tito Ortiz will be leaving the UFC and has 1 more fight left which will take place at UFC 84 against Lyoto Machida! I've mentioned Machida a few times being as I saw him fight before he got to the UFC and the dude has serious skills. He also trains with Anderson Silva of all people so that's gotta help! I'm a fan of Tito but I think he's met his match here. The Light Heavyweight division is not what it was a few years ago and with guys such as Chuck Liddell, Thiago Silva and Rampage Jackson - I don't think it leaves much room for Tito to hold the title again. Anyway - it's all bad blood apparently which is a shame and considering that I'm a fan of both fighters I'm not quite sure who I'll be routing for. On one hand I think it would be cool for Machida to go all the way to getting a belt and I don't see him getting beat down any time soon. On the other hand...this is Tito's last fight (for the UFC anyway) so it would be very cool for him to go out on a plus but we'll see.

Either way - it's not like it'll be the end for the geezer - apparently he'll be running a new show called "Anytown - Beatdown" which I think is a cracking premise for a show. You get 2 rivals (who are regular shmoes) - train em for a bit and then let them have the off in a cage match. CLASS!

Check out more on that here.

Chuck Liddell - My Fighting Life

Yup, went to Waterstones today and scored me a copy of Chuck Liddells Autobiography - good read so far and that's just the prologue. Read a few reviews on Amazon as it seems a few fighters are doing this now. Tito Ortiz has one on the way and Matt Hughes has one out now (although the reviews on that are not good and apparently his arrogance extends to the written word too).

Anyways - Gonna be digging into that this weekend and will give a mini review when I get it finished. And unlike Hughe's debarcle which I have no intention of splashing out any coin/time/reading energy on, I think this will make for a good read indeed.

Visit Chuck Liddell's Official Web Site and/or Get the Book at Amazon (UK)

Matt Serra and GSP Interview

So I found this interview and I gotta say, the interviewer is a complete idiot! Matt tells the geezer the score but you can see him getting riled a little and I can't blame him. Shit stirring little weasle!

Anyways - I like Matt Serra - he's a way cool dude from everything I've seen of him. Could be he has GSP's number but I don't think so...we'll see though. Good luck to the pair of them I say.

Until my better is my best...

So had my grading last night...90 minutes of scrutiny but it was mucho fun. By the time I got home I was shattered! Fell asleep within 15 seconds flat and today I just feel a bit drained. Think it's gonna be carbing up on the ol Pasta later on. Anyways - was a double grading...so with any luck - I would have nailed both of em but I find out on Monday.

So...(holding up right hand)

"I will, never rest, until my good is better and my better is my best!"

One thing I will say...I really need to tap smoking on the head. My cardio is a joke at the moment and I wanna be able to push myself without my nicotine addiction getting in the way!

Because I'm feeling Geeky and Cultured

Decided to quote a little Shakespeare in code...geeky I know but I care not...

(2 B || ! 2 B)

(For the non geeky of you this translates to: to be or not to be)

15 years in Jail over a "white lie"

So been reading this article about some poor geezer who goes on a site looking for some "nudge, nudge, wink, wink". Meets up with this chic who is also a paying member of the site, they hop on the good foot, do the bad thing and then end up loosing contact after a short while. Next thing you know - poor fella is at home, having a brew (watching Maury no doubt) and the old bill come knocking on his door. Turns out this chic was 14!! Dude now has to spend 15 years in prison...talk about harsh!! I mean, people say "Well he should have been able to tell" but that ain't always the case...the amount of chics I went to school with who were dating 20-30 yr olds who had no clue about their true age is almost shocking. Me for example...I've always looked ridiculously young for my age....most people put me between 22-24 (I'm 29 in a few months). On the flip side, I work with a dude who is 24 and looks like he's in his early 30's!!

Talk about weak!! I ain't saying nothing should have been done - what I am saying is 15 years is an awful long time all because some chic decided to lie about her age.

You can read more about it here.

Belated Happy Birthday and my ridiculously priced book

So, was a friends birthday a couple of weeks back and didn't feel right calling her but still wanted to say Happy Birthday in some way, shape or form...so - Paulette - Happy Birthday! I didn't forget.

Meanwhile, my "A year in the life" book arrived today. UFC are doing a special run of 500 of these bad boys so decided to score me a copy. Now this is not the 1st thing I've purchased from the UFC store. Got my Octogan Necklace from there too and all went well with that so I figured this should be the same. Now, the book itself is pretty much a picture book with photos from the best fights of 2007. It's nicely bound, looks cool and for a book - weighs a ton. Here is where the problem comes in. Go to the UFC store and the book is down as $50 (£25). Add another $20 for carriage (£10) and thats not a bad score at $70 (£35). Now here is where the b*tch comes in - I had to pay frieght and duty on this bad boy which cost £67 ($134)! So I am now the proud owner of a book that cost me £102 ($204)! 3 words jump to mind at a time like this....WHAT THE HELL??!!!

UFC 85 - LONDON BABY!!

3 Wild guesses who has tickets to UFC 85 at the O2 Arena??? ME!!! MUHAHAHA!!

Too right I do! Liddell vs Evans - I'm hoping Evans gets a beat down!!
June 7th - WOO HOO!!!

Fantasy Interactive and Propod

Anyone notice how FI have gone REAAAL quiet about ProPod? A shame if you ask me...especially as it was meant to be live a good few months ago!

The Amsterdam Trip

Yeah...so kinda realised I never actually mentioned a fat lot about my trip to the Dam apart from the fact that it was a good time n all o that. Anyways...initially the entire thing was turning out to be a complete cluster fuck! The chunky fella in the picture is my best mate Wayne (I call him Chunky). Anyways - the idea was...he leaves from Birmingham...I leave from Leeds/Bradford and we get there at roughly the same time (about 9am).

So - flights on time, gets to the Dam on time and just before we're about to land the Pilot be like "There's too much fog so I'm gonna have to divert and pick up more fuel". My first reaction? "Fucking Pussy!!"...fair enough you quite literally could not see the ground but with technology these days it couldn't be that hard. Either way we end up going to Rotterdam Airport - stuck there for an hour and then off to Amsterdam when the weather clears. My mate had the same problem but that poor fucker ends up in Brussels and unlike my pilot...his drops him off, tells him to catch a coach and then buggers off and leaves him. Poor git had to catch a 2 hour fast train and by the time we meet up I'm checked in, have had lunch at my fav place (Deli France...the apple cake is freaking AWSOME!!) and I'm in Betty Boop half cained and giggling like a kid! Poor git did not look happy at all! Other than that...the trip was pretty cool...gotta try and remember the name of that Noodle place though cos it's freaking awsome and I would recommend it highly!

UFC 82 and my glorious return from Amsterdam

Well - managed to get in home quite literally at the "Tale of the tape" for the Silva/Henderson fight and the shit didn't even get passed the 2nd round! I knew that was gonna be the case and I even guessed it was gonna be a submission, so I'm going to start doing my predictions again. Either way, glad that Silva won...the form on those front kicks was freaking perfect too considering the speed!

Anyway - the trip to the Dam was mucho fun as usual...don't think I've laughed so much in ages and I found this AMAZING noodle place on the Dam Rak...cant remember the name but it's directly across the way from the big Grasshopper and it's got the name WOK in it I'm sure...dinky place but they do rice or noodles with whatever you want on there. Freaking AWESOME!!