I’ve been invited to participate in a round table discussion about the last UFC (105) today. It will be televised and more than likely aired this evening so that is a great opportunity for exposure and networking. If you are in the U.S. it’s unlikely you will see it but check out Premiere Combate if you are here in Brazil.

Also, plans are steadily moving forward for our move back “home” to a smaller town about 10 hours away by car. We have been considering the move for awhile and it seems the time is finally here. We are tentatively moving mid-December. There are some great untapped opportunities in my town which make starting something there an attractive proposition. We’ll see how things go but it sounds pretty promising.

That’s all for now.  Take care all and have a great time training…

Other than that, I’m waiting for word on fight opportunities. I hope something comes along soon so I don’t have to spend another 6 months waiting to fight again…

I’ll keep you updated.

The practices were hard and the sacrifices were made. Now it’s time for a little more work before the fun. I need to cut a bit more weight tonight during a workout and maybe a little extra for a pre-cut so I can drink some water before bedtime. It’s no fun trying to sleep dehydrated. Then it’s just a matter of waking up for the real weight cut tomorrow then sitting around waiting until I can get weighed-in and EAT. I have been dreaming about all the different things I want a bite of after weigh-ins.

Get ready for the show. This is going to be a great card. There are lots of important fights on it even if they aren’t the biggest names. The fights being important to the fighters makes the fights better than when the fights are just between popular fighters. There is a lot on the line for a bunch of guys on this card. I’m guessing this card will be one to remember.

Yahoo Sports

MMAWeekly

I can’t wait to go.

I would like to issue a reward based challenge here, as I did in that discussion, to all you keyboard guru’s and hackers who have connections or skills or both. I would like a copy of the event (both days). If you can’t find the entire event then at least the day I fought (August 24th). If you can’t do that then at least my fight against Ray Steinbeiss. Ray doesn’t have it either, at least he didn’t last time I talked to him. Obviously you will get more from me if you give more…

Whoever hooks it up will get some neat-o stuff. Probably some UFC stuff and some free gear. If money is your deal, something can be arranged.

Let me know keyboarders…

Nogueira KILLED it winning all 3 rounds quite dominantly. Randy showed why he is an icon in the sport but Nog is just craaaazy! Congrats to my friend and teammate!

I also felt bad for Demain Maia. I think he has a better fight than that to show but Nate is great and had his number. Great timing on the right hand coming over the kick (who knows why Maia was kicking).

In any case, my turn is coming up, but I think it’ll be hard to beat a 7 second knockout. Duffee should hold that record for awhile… Also, how about Evan Duham? Good showing by the Oregon youngster, eh?

So my own official website has gone into disrepair and my unofficial website (read: my myspace page) is equally unchanged and nearly forgotten. I’ll be spending some time updating both to fill in the spaces that have been left by the changing news. Keep an eye out.

My next fight is against Mike Pyle at UFN 19 on September 16th in Oklahoma City. I expect a very tough and ready Pyle since he wasn’t able to show his game when he stepped in for me against Larson on short notice. I’ve known Mike for awhile and I know full well that his last fight was no measure of his skills. I’m training for the best Pyle has to offer. I don’t believe he has enough for me and I’m more than ready to move up in the ranks after some recent disappointment.

He’ll be in the fight of his life on the 16th. I doubt Mike underestimates me but who knows, he wouldn’t be the first. Expect a fast paced, high impact fight.

I’m excited to get back to hard training and the team. The shock and trauma of the ordeal is slowly wearing off so hopefully everything will go back to normal. Everything, of course, with much more attention to our surroundings but normal nonetheless… Lucas will go back to school, I will go back to training and Lu and Gabi will do what they do. Things should be smooth, hopefully.

After some discussion with the UFC, I’ve discovered that my next fight will likely happen in September. There is no date set and no opponent determined. I will send news as I receive it. It’s nice to know the UFC is supportive of my situation and has done everything above and beyond what I have needed.

So that’s that.

Now I’m in Portland visiting my family and working out with the guys down at TQ. It was great to see those guys after so long. It’s still a tough room and it is a unique challenge training with anyone at the pro team. I hope to make it in a few more times before I leave back to Brazil.

I’ll likely visit some friends at other gyms around here too like Greg Thompson and Nate Quarry’s place and perhaps Portland Thaiboxing. There just isn’t a lot of time. I’ll see how far I can stretch the time…

Gotta do a bunch of shopping too. I already went to Best Buy to replace a bunch of the stuff those bastards stole from me and next I’ll probably get some clothes for the kids. They are growing so fast! I need to call Kris too (hi Kris!) and see about some tennis shoes.

So that’s what’s going on… I’m still glad May is ending. My birthday is June 7th so that’s a good way to start a fresh month! Take care.

After several months of training, tapering for the fight, dieting, traveling and even cutting half of my weight the day before weigh-ins my fight has been canceled.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission did not approve some of my medicals and we couldn’t hussle them all out in time despite last minute physicals, blood tests, international conference calls and even a little prayer. No joke, I really prayed.

I’ve been told that I would likely be put on the earliest possible show in any slot that opens at welterweight. That is little relief since I was ready now and need the money but it will have to do.

Mike Pyle is stepping in to replace me at the last minute. Mike is a great guy and a great fighter and it’s nice to see him get in the UFC, just not at my expense. I wish him the best though because he deserves it and is a friend.

My apologies to Brock about the last second change and my congratulations on your new baby.

Sorry again to my friends, family and fans. It is a very disappointing situation but I will be even more prepared for my next fight.

When it rains it pours…

 They took me into the lobby asking about a doorman and cameras. There were none and we proceeded upstairs. I told them things could go badly if they didn’t let me tell my wife what was happening before barging through the door at dinner time. I opened the door and told my wife we were being robbed. She looked at me from the sink smiling with a plate in her hand as the kids ate at the table. She saw a short guy behind me and thought it was our friend from the gym. I stared at her and said, “Lu, I’m serious.”

As the 5 poured into the kitchen Lu grabbed baby Gabi and followed orders to take herself and the kids to the bathroom where they stayed. I walked through the house and complied with whatever they asked. They took whatever they felt was valuable including money, jewelry, a MacBook, my Sony flatscreen, Nike shoes, my kids toys and dolls and even raided the fridge. One of the cows drank my son Lucas’ chocolate milk. That was messed up. I actually asked her, incredulously, if she was going to drink the children’s milk. She rolled her eyes and put back the three chocolate milk boxes she was holding and finished slurping the rest of the box she was drinking.

So they filled my backpacks and my new UFC bag with my new UFC hats and hoody along with the rest of the stuff I mentioned. They took my iTouch, iPod and other small electronic devices. Sunglasses, HDMI cables and even some flip-flops all became targets. They finally finished and decided they needed a ride out. By now everyone was crying because they didn’t want me to be taken.

After they loaded everything into the car they told me to drive them to another neighborhood which bordered a slum. It was hard not to wonder if I would be coming back or not. After all they hadn’t hidden their faces and we were going to be close to “disappear-land.” In the end, they had me turn down a couple of streets in the fairly nice neighborhood before the slum. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Is it now?” I thought maybe I should try to take them and at least not go down without a fight. After all would they start a crossfire while they were all in the car? I held my breath for a second and waited to see what they decided to do since they were arguing about how exactly to proceed with leaving the car carrying bags full of my stuff and a TV.

A taxi dropped a lady off right in front of us and they decided to catch the cab. They made me help get the stuff out of the trunk and chatted up a storm acting like they were my old friends who were buying my TV off of me. The cabby glanced over at me with an investigative look. It wasn’t his first barn dance. He knew something was up but I could only give him my best I’m-sorry-and-good-luck-with-this look. They piled in and waited for me to leave before them.

I returned home to several of my friends and neighbors at my house with my family. The crooks had asked me to knock on all of my neighbors’ doors but I had told them I was new here and had never met them and that they might be suspicious if I came calling for the first time at 10:30pm on a Tuesday night for no apparent reason, especially if my voice cracked or sounded strange. They had bought it and left without door hopping. My neighbors were grateful.

The police came later and the next day I filed a police report and looked at some mugshots. I don’t have very high hopes of justice being served but I did my part and got out alive. I guess there’s that comfort… My wife was already having some difficulty adjusting to Rio. Now, she is 100% sure she will not live here another day. Guess we’re moving back to our hometown away from the big cities. We’ll see how things go in that scenario. I’m not sure where that puts team training and stuff but I’ll be with my family and I think I’ll make it work. I’ll just take it as another adventure…

All the best from the Wilsons

Chris, Luciana, Lucas and Gabriela

I had a great time talking to Chris Fries from The Lights Out Show the other day. Check out this link to hear me talking mad smack about Brock. No, I really didn’t but the interview was fun.

http://www.thelightsoutshow.com/2009/04/volume-274-lights-out-show-mma-radio.html

Also, Marc over at KnucklePit.com had some questions about how things were going nowadays. He last spoke to me right before my fight with Hieron. Check out this new interview where his intro made me sound badass. I love it when people do that…

http://www.knucklepit.com/mixed-martial-arts-chris_wilson.htm

Soon the UFC website should be putting something up on their site as well but they can’t really do that before I answer their questions. I guess I should get on that. I really don’t want to piss them off. Cheers (with water).

Today I have to run and recover a bit. It’s nice to have my running route mapped out right beside the beach… If you have to run, it’s a great spot. Today’s run is about 3.75 miles. That’s a fairly normal run for me with some being a bit shorter some a bit longer. I usually get it done pretty quickly unless I work in some exercises at the stations next to the beach (pull-ups, dips, crunches, etc).

I can’t wait to fight.

http://www.DominionFightGear.com/

Stay tuned as I’ll let people know as soon as I do.

bummer…

As always I train for everything including the pleasant surprise of him trading on the feet but of course I expect the worst and train for it. Lots of wrestling and jiu-jitsu so I’ll be sharp there. I doubt I’ll forget how to strike any more than he’ll forget how to wrestle so this is the best training camp for me. I’ll be in shape and ready for war.

Aside from training the family is loving Rio. Unfortunately our belongings still have not arrived. They are scheduled to arrive on the 8th but we’ll see how long it takes to actually get my stuff. As if living in an empty house doing hard training twice a day isn’t enough, I have dealt with the worst customer service ever by almost every company I’ve tried to get anything from. What’s up with that?

Stay tuned for updates. I’ll try to post pics later.  mmmkay, buh-bye

I haven’t written for awhile because I just haven’t had much to say. Even I have trouble describing what’s going through my head. It’s a weird sensation to have anger and frustration clouding your mind. I’m dealing with it like anyone else, by drinking heavily (just kidding). Just believe that I will train hard and put on a good show in my next fight.Everything happens for a reason I guess.

Sometimes when you just feel like screaming in people’s faces it’s better to go to the gym or go for a run or something even if those people deserve to have someone screaming in their faces.

In the end I suppose I can feel happy that at least the UFC knows what’s up and have renewed my contract. Everyone else, well… you’ll always be everyone else. Haters hate, fighters fight, it is what it is.

No excuses, just get ready for the next fight… you know?

More later…

There were some good things about the experience which I will try to focus on however. Fight of the night bonus was 65K. After I give away a bunch of it to managers and trainers and such I will still have enough to pay the money I owe in bills and to the IRS for back taxes. So that is a HUGE upside to this whole thing. I will be debt free. Also, I will have enough to send my belongings to Brazil in a container. It can’t get pretty expensive and the bonus takes some of the pressure off because I know I will be able to do it.

When I went to the hospital to get x-rays (an accidental head-butt broke my nose in 2 places about 1 minute into the first round) I met Akihiro Gono who was sent for a routine check-up after his loss to Fitch. I have to admit, he is an absolutely polite and pleasant person. We spoke for a while and even got a ride back to the MGM together in time to watch the car wreck that was GSP/Penn.

Another awesome thing was that when I got there the UFC brought in a gear bag with a bunch of hats and a couple of hoodies for all the fighters. It was the first thing I had ever gotten from them. It was awesome. When I was laughing with the brass about it the top guy in the office, Greg, produced a package with a bunch of postage stamps and delivery cancellations. He tossed me the package and says, “Next time you leave update your address, we’ve been trying to get this to you for three weeks.” He handed me a beat up UPS package and inside is a brand new 8GB IPod Touch. I laughed so much I almost cried. That was by far the highlight of the trip along with the bonus. It was just cool to be remembered and receive a gift. After 2 fights in the UFC I was beginning to wonder if I was getting lost in the shuffle.

Also, I got to see many of my friends from the States who went down for the fights. I didn’t win but I got to hang out with some very dear friends. All in all, I had a good experience. My new team supported me well and assisted me with everything. Winning is the only thing that could’ve made it better. After my nose heals up I will be back to training 200% harder. I hope to show a better fight next time around and hopefully stay injury free throughout the bout.

Engrish moment: Fight train is the hardest but delicious.

Sorry in advance for those who don’t know what Engrish is.

So I’m on a strict training schedule with diet to accompany. I should have no problem with weight or energy for my fight. Knock on wood to not get hurt in training. I’m doing 2-a-days with wrestling, sparring, submission and MMA alternating days. 1 workout on Saturday and something fun and not too difficult on Sundays.

It’s hard to focus on just my fight with all the other important things I have to do here. I have to get into the apartment, find a school for my son, figure out my post-fight trip schedule and pricing for both my belongings overseas being shipped here and buying things here. Heaven knows I could use the bonus… Watch out John, I’m pretty motivated.

Other than that, absolutely nothing is going on in my life except trying to get my permanent visa again. Boring, eh?

I’m fighting John “Doomsday” Howard at UFC 94. I signed my contract awhile back but didn’t know I was at liberty to divulge the details. Perhaps he had not yet signed, I’m not sure. In the article on mmajunkie he said it was signed so now I guess it’s official.

Take a look:

http://mmajunkie.com/news/13498/ufc-newcomer-john-howard-signs-to-fight-chris-wilson-at-ufc-94.mma

He seems to be a heavy-hitter with some mat time. I will prepare the welcome wagon just for him.

In the meantime, training is going well. I will go back to my town for the holidays and then come back to Rio to finish up in January. See you soon…

 Acabei de assinar minha próxima luta. Será em Las Vegas no dia 31 de janeiro no UFC 94. Não posso divulgar o nome do adversário ainda. É um cara pouco conhecido mas sempre treina forte e quer surpreender. Espero contar com a torcida dos amigos e da família pra mais este combate.

 Pra toda galera que tá ligada na luta, vcs devem conhecer o Premiere Combate. Fui convidado para gravar um quadro de entrevista no canal de lutas aqui no Brasil. Vai ser muito maneiro. Quando passar eu aviso…

Grande abraço

 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.

 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.

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

 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.

http://www.cagesidelive.tv/

Just follow the Listen Live links and you’re off to wonderland!

Steve was tough like I knew he’d be. I feel I could’ve given a better performance than I did but I’m not going to beat myself up too much over it. I know I need to improve in several areas and I’ll be back to training hard in 8 days. Steve hung in there until the bitter end after showing great whiskers in every round. I felt he got a bit desperate at the end but I didn’t take enough advantage from the top.

In any case, it provided me with some much needed cage experience in the big show. Right now, that’s probably what I needed the most to improve and show even more of my game next fight. Hopefully, I will get another fight as soon as November. I’m excited about my future challenges and opportunities.

Thanks for all the support!!!

My profile on UFC.com:

http://www.ufc.com/ChrisWilson 

Here are some play-by-play’s:

MMAWeekly.com:

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=6834&zoneid=13

MMAJunkie.com:

http://mmajunkie.com/news/5022/ufc-87-live-updates-round-by-round-coverage-and-official-results.mma

Sherdog.com:

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/ufc-87-seek-and-destroy-play-by-play-13960

Check it out…

My weight is looking great. It’s starting to look like I’ll have about 7 pounds to cut tomorrow which is a breeze. I’ve finally figured out how to diet down correctly and cut the weight sensibly so I don’t suffer.

My opponent seems to have taken offense to the pre-fight hype wherein I’ve said that I was a better fighter than him. How odd… Of all the smack talk you hear, that seems pretty tame. We had to do a couple takes in the interview until they got the sound-bites they wanted. I’m sure they’ll edit it and sensationilze it. Crazy, they don’t rest until you say something they can blow out of proportion. More power to’em though. It’s just funny that ole Steve-o thinks it’s real… Well, I guess my fist in his face will be real enough… I just meant the hype up to the fight.

If I have time I’ll try to write again before the fight, if not check back later as I’ll be adding pictures when I find them on the interwebs.

http://mmarated.com/articles/article/news/20080804/chris_wilson_looks_to_prove_his_worth_at_87-15854.html

Anyway, have fun with that.

 http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=13751

And I wouldn’t live up to my nickname if I didn’t say that the article contains some ear stinging passages. Maybe I’ll call him back and see if I can’t get a few sentences checked… hahaha.

Honestly, much of what we discussed is paraphrased in the article with some artistic license being used for spice. No harm no foul though. I’m glad the piece is up. Special attention to a couple of corrections…

“I don’t consider myself a ‘grammar-titian’ or anything like that,” he says. “But if you don’t want to use the language correctly, don’t.”

There are 2 mistakes here. The first is the word “grammatician” which is misquoted. The second is that he left off the rest of the quote which totally inverts the meaning of the sentence. It should read, “If you don’t want to use the language correctly, don’t… But don’t expect me not to poke fun at you.”

It wasn’t a permissive or dismissive sentence as it appears in the text.

Also, Renzo (not Royce) Gracie was the one who said the bit about the best fighter winning if God didn’t interfere. I believe it was at the end of “The Smashing Machine” documentary where they did a piece on Renzo.

Anyway, thanks for the exposure and the article Chuck, I appreciate being cast in a good light.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/radio.asp

Just as a reminder, check back often for links to interviews and radio appearances as they occur in the media leading up to the fight. I will post links as I get the news they’ve been published. Toodles.

Click here for a preview of the show: http://955thegame.com/Personalities/FightNight/tabid/87/Default.aspx

Click here to listen live:                        http://955thegame.com/Multimedia/ListenLive/tabid/69/Default.aspx

I also thought it was pretty cool that he took some of my kickboxing classes and didn’t just sit on the sidelines with a pen. His book delves into the mind of the fighter and does a great job capturing what it’s like to train in MMA.

Here’s a link to check it out: www.intothesharktank.com

I’ve spent some extra time in submission grappling sharpening up a few techniques and also having a little more fun with that part of my game. I always take training so seriously and sometimes I make things harder or more strenuous than they need to be. I’m back to having fun training and also back to getting better.

I’m excited to fight again!

I heard there might be a show in Portland in the coming months… Hopefully they will consider me for that event as well. I’d like to fight every 3 months or so for awhile…

 How about this 86 card, huh? Sounds exciting!

Schultz showed why he’s the Champ against a tough guy in Deividus. Big ups yo…

Well now I get my chance. I get to fight a tough kid who usually likes to bang, I get to do it in Vegas over 4th of July weekend, and there’s a chance it will get shown around the world. I’m pretty damn excited.

As for Steve, he comes from a good camp and has had a lot of success in his past outings. I’m glad to fight him and have nothing but respect for him. Unfortunately I am going to be looking for some material for my highlight reel but I’m sure he knows that and I expect no less from him.

This is the only time I’ll say this or it will ruin the build up. At the last UFC they asked me point-blank to “not be so nice” so for this fight I’m gonna get under his skin. It doesn’t change the fact that I respect him and the ATT family.

Also, sorry for the delay on the t-shirts… They’re coming. Later

I signed to fight on July 5th at UFC 86. As far as I know, both camps signed the fight and barring any injuries the fight will happen. Why not just announce it? I don’t want to step on any toes, but if they don’t announce it by this weekend, check back on Monday cause I’ll give up the gold. I guess they’ll let me know if they don’t like it.

I was just thinking, “When she’s older she’s going to see my first fight after she was born. It will have been dedicated to her. I wonder who the opponent will be for that fight?”… Poor guy.

http://www.cagesidelive.net/

http://www.suturemagazine.com/cwilsonpostfight.html

UFC 82 results

QUICK RESULTS:
-Anderson Silva def. Dan Henderson by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:52, R2
-Heath Herring def. Cheick Kongo by Split Decision, R3
-Chris Leben def. Alessio Sakara by TKO (Strikes) at 3:16, R1
-Yushin Okami def. Evan Tanner by KO (Knee) at 3:00, R2
-Jon Fitch def. Chris Wilson by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Andrei Arlovski def. Jake O’Brien by TKO (Strikes) at 4:17, R2
-Luigi Fioravanti def. Luke Cummo by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Josh Koscheck def. Dustin Hazelett by TKO (Strikes) at 1:24, R2
-Diego Sanchez def. David Bielkheden by Submission (Punches from Mount) at 4:43, R1
-Jorge Gurgel def. John Halverson by Unanimous Decision, R3

Well, I wasn’t able to bring it back this time. Despite the loss I believe I was able to show that I am an immediate threat to the division and a title hopeful with adequate preparation. I hope the UFC enjoyed my work.

Thanks to everybody who backed me and believed in me.

The trip itself was kind of fun. I got to sign posters and stuff and got my picture taken. I ended up getting a fight poster so that was neat. Met a bunch of fighters and UFC folks. The hotel was really nice with very comfortable beds. Starbucks closed too early everyday because we were downtown but the hotel had their drip coffee. mmmm….. Well… that’s a wrap. I will update from time to time as things develop.

There are many websites that covered the weigh-ins so it should be a relatively easy matter to get pictures and even video of everything. I weighed-in at 169.5 lbs and Fitch at170 lbs.

I found out after weigh-ins that there is a substantial amount of money available in bonuses too, which is a great motivator (like I needed more motivation)…

I went to bed late and got up late which is typical of fight day for me. I’ll spend the rest of the day up to the event lounging, snacking, napping, visualizing and thinking about my family.

I hope you all enjoy the fight, it should be a great one!

We spent most of the day sleeping then went for a walk in the brisk (read: f’ing freezing) outside air. Before we knew it the day had flown by and it was time for an evening workout. Water intake is still sky high and the workout was medium intensity, medium length. I don’t have lots of weight to cut so it should be a breeze.

Today we did all the photos and video interviews for future marketing and pre-fight stuff for Saturday. I had to sign a ton of posters and stuff and fill out some paperwork too. It’s kind of cool being here but I’m ready to fight. I’m also excited to get home for my wife’s birthday… What a party it will be!

Tomorrow more of the same… Light nutrition (mostly fruits, veggies and raw unsalted nuts), low salt, high water and a medium workout.

It’s kind of a weird feeling getting ready to leave for such an important fight. I am excited to go but I hate to leave my family so soon after just getting back from being gone for 2 weeks. My son has been stuck to me like glue. I took him to Chuck E. Cheese today as a farewell, so to speak.

Once we get in to Columbus tomorrow I’ll try to rest then break a sweat in the evening. Still dropping a couple pounds so I’m watching my diet and as long as I stay away from the excess salt and fried food (which is pretty easy for me), I should have no issues. I still want a Twix though, or a Watchamacallit…

Sunday… well. Sunday the ladies are having a baby shower for my wife. She’s 7 months pregnant with our second child, Gabriela. Life is still going on despite the UFC excitement and it really helps me remember who I am and what really matters to me. Don’t get me wrong, Sunday I’ll do a light weight, high rep, quick workout in the morning but then I drop her off and get together with the guys to play some Axis and Allies and/or watch the Blazer game and complain about the women or some nonsense. I’m actually looking forward to seeing my friends again after being gone for almost a month (1 week Hawaii, 2 weeks Big Bear, a couple days worth of travel and another hard week training here). When we meet up they’ll tease me and drink beer and tell me I’m gonna look fat on t.v. or something. Gotta have people like that around to keep it real. At night I may swim instead of run… It’s so hard, I sink like a rock after a few laps.

I have a few more 2-a-day workout days left then it’s just focus and visualization with one workout a day to keep the blood flowing and cut a little weight. I’ll probably stop 2-a-days on Sunday. At this point the hay is in the barn and I need to keep myself healthy for the showdown. You know, get some oxygenated blood flowing to all the little sore spots so they are in tip top working condition by fight time.

Besides, I’m not cutting too much anyway, only coming down from 185. I’ll probably have to cut 8 in water by fight time. I’m usually 183 to fight. If it weren’t going to adversely affect me, I could probably eat chocolate pancakes everyday and not worry too much about it. However, clean food = better performance regardless of your weight, so I’ll nix the Twix bars until after the competition. I do love Twix bars…

So, back in Portland now… 

Today I sprinted stairs all around Mt. Tabor. 3 on the narrow stairs, jogging, 1 on the wide, more jogging then some interval sprints. That doesn’t mean too much to anyone who doesn’t know Portland, but I’ll just tell you… it’s hard. I felt the “jello legs” for sure. I’ll have my second workout soon. It should be a good mix of cardio and technique without too much heavy joint pounding. I got that this morning. Herman and Follis went to Tabor with me. buh-bye

In Portland I plan to get one workout Saturday evening then continue with 2-a-days until I leave for the fights. I’ll keep you posted.

In completely unrelated news, the betting lines I saw had me at +425. I’m a great dog bet… I think. I wonder if I’ll ever be favored in a fight? I’ve had title defenses where I wasn’t favored… Go figure. Take care everybody.

 I was thinking “Why does he want to borrow shoes right now?” hahaha

Turns out we weren’t quite done. Peter Graham and I were headed to do hill sprints… I said a little prayer so God might keep me from having a heart attack and we were off. Peter runs fast, more like a welterweight than a heavyweight if you know what I mean. Good times. We did a bunch, I don’t even know how many.

In about a half an hour we will do our evening workout… I wonder what surprises the evening holds.

So the weekend is here. We’ll probably do a couple workouts (regular ones) over the weekend and hit it hard again during the week. Some of the guys headed down to Temecula and will be back tomorrow and some went home because they were only here for a week. Waiting for some fresh guys to get here… should be fun.

Vinni and Sokoudjou are up here cracking jokes. Brian Stann, Kristoff Soszinski and 3 French guys (Xavier, Greg and Cyrille) are here too. Others are in and out. So far it’s been a great time for training, seclusion and comraderie. I’ll try to write more later…

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