I have had a blast training down here lately. Since I am not really affiliated with any Jiu-Jitsu organization and I fight in MMA I don´t really adhere to the unspoken (and often spoken) rule about training at gyms outside of your own organization.

 Thus I get the best of both worlds. I can train with top guys in my area at Nova Uniao schools and at Gracie Barra schools. I have close friends in both and they are always very open and welcoming. I try to make myself available to help them with any striking or MMA related training and they in turn twist my arms out of their sockets and cut off my air supply. Seems like a fair trade.

 My first week here I was in Sao Jose do Rio Preto, my wife´s town. This week I am in Ribeirao Preto, my town, training with close friends and some of their very best students, all of whom are routinely impressive. It´s blistering hot and I have no idea how to fight while wearing what feels like heated levi pajamas (read: a gi).

 It´s always a good time learning something new. I can´t wait until next week when hopefully I´ll be able to go visit friends and gyms in Sao Paulo. It´s sure to be a hoot.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I´m working on keeping my word. The fact that I´m in Brazil has made t-shirt printing and sales more difficult and time consuming. The t-shirts are all finished but I can´t exactly fill orders from here so I am partnering with a friend to take care of the distribution. Check back soon for a new link for t-shirts if you are still interested.

 Also, I have received several requests for autographed pictures. That is awesome and I still can´t believe I am fortunate enough to have people ask, but since I don´t really have any pictures taken or an address for people to send the self-addressed stuff to, I can´t even do those. Give me one more chance to get straightened out and we´ll get both items out to you all. Thanks again for your patience.

I finally got around to updating it. That pretty much sums up what’s going on right now. Lots of changes… I truly feel that despite a hectic schedule that things will come together when the dust settles from getting packed up and traveling.

Again, I’ll be awhile in posting more updates. Check back when you can…

Training has been going well and we’ve been having fun getting Leben ready for his fight with Bisping. One of the nice things about Hawai’i is that there are lots of alternative training methods and locations to keep training interesting, challenging and fun.

 We’ve been hiking, swimming and cross-training in other sports as well as doing the regular team practices and technique. The gameplan is coming along nicely and things are looking sharp. Leben is strong as an ox and his execution is getting tighter and tighter. Bisping is in for a rough ride and that’s putting it lightly.

On a more personal side, it’s been fun getting to know the islands better. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting up with some new and old friends and being taken places I would never have known about without someone local to show me. All the guys here at Icon have taken me in like family and are treating me really well. I have a decent tan going and my pigeon English is sounding authentic as ever.

It’s been hard being away from my family especially with such a young daughter and a son that is discovering so many new things every day. My wife is a saint for taking them both on alone for so long. I am really lucky to have such a supportive and loving wife. I’ll make it up to her though… I’m gonna give her a secret vacation to Brazil in October to see her family…

I’ll be back in a week and will update my website thoroughly and will put my shirts up for sale.

It looks like the Portland UFC is no longer happening. They had scheduled me for that card but it seems that since they moved it to Vegas they decided to bump my fight to the December 10th Spike show. Stay tuned for an opponent to be named.

I just want to apologize for the lack of updates on the website. After my fight at UFC 87 I was home for a very short time and left for Hawai’i to train here at ICON with Leben. When I get back I will update the site’s text and pictures.

Also, I finished my first t-shirt but again due to time constraints and not being home to fill orders I was unable to put any up for sale yet. They look pretty nice and simple. My logo is small on the back with “The Professor” written in cursive font down one side under the arm. It’s printed on an ocean blue shirt with white font. It’s very discreet which is what I wanted. The logo incorporates green and gold as well as the blue and white on the rest of the shirt.

I’ll have the stuff on here ASAP when I get home.