Interesting latest blog from JMac....He seems to think tht Lawlor is going to want to take it to the ground...
Only a couple days before my fight and I have a totally different feeling than usual.
First of all, I?m in Fairfax, Virginia for the first time. It?s always nice to visit a new city, but it?s very different than what I?m used to. We?re staying at a hotel that?s off the beaten path and it?s pretty dead. I feel like the UFC guys are the only ones in the hotel.
It?s very different from fighting in Montreal or Toronto or Las Vegas. It?s totally quiet. On the other hand, it?s beautiful here; I?ve never seen a place with so many trees. That helps you to be relaxed.
Secondly, we?re fighting on Tuesday, and it?s definitely strange. It throws everything off just being at the hotel on a weekend and not really doing anything but relaxing and getting mentally focused on your fight in the early part of the week.
That being said, (my trainer) Josh (Russell) pointed out to me that I haven?t fought on a Tuesday since I submitted Ed Herman in my first UFC fight. So that could be a good omen.
But most importantly, I?m in a totally different mental state than my past couple fights. In the past, I overtrained so badly that I was so burned out by the time I got to the fight. This time I purposely made an effort not to do that. This time I?m relaxed, and not overwhelmed.
I?m really looking forward to this fight with Tom Lawlor. He?s definitely a tough guy, but I just don?t see where he can beat me. He?s obviously a better wrestler, but if he does manage to wrestle me to the ground, I?m pretty confident I will submit him.
If he decides to keep it standing, which I?m sure he won?t, I?ve got a better reach and more experience there, so I can strike with him. I?m definitely more comfortable there than him. I know he comes to fight, and brings it to his opponent, so it?s going to be a good fight.
It?s weird because the card has an interesting feel to it with a lot of Canadians (3) and Brazilians (4). There?s myself, T.J. Grant and Yves Jabouin, and then a couple Brazilians I?ve not seen before or are terribly familiar with who they are.
I definitely think the headliner should have been Donald Cerrone vs.Jeremy Stephens. I?m really excited for that fight. When I was going to the hotel, people were talking about that fight and Jeremy was there, and he said it?s the kind of fight that only comes around once in a lifetime. He was excited about the fight because he knows Donald is a guy who is going to stand in front of him and want to throw down.
I think Cerrone?s going to take it though, using his reach and his kicks. Although, he didn?t look good at all in last fight against Nate Diaz. In fact, he just didn?t look like himself.
That?s something the people have said that about me in my last fight against Alan Belcher. In hindsight, it?s like I said before, I was just so overtrained, and that was my fault, I did it to myself. I was facing a high-level guy, and I really want to be prepared, so I overdid it. It?s unfortunate, because you think you?re doing the right thing, but it ends up being a detriment.
And then you can also lose your motivation. I don?t know if that was the case for Cerrone in his last fight, but it certainly looked the case.
As for the main event, Dustin Poirier is a good up-and-comer, but I think it was Chan Sung Jung?s reckless fighting style that bumped him into a main event. It might not be the best for his brain or his win-loss record, but it sure is making everyone, including the UFC brass, take notice. And a win over Poirier could easily move him in position for a possible title shot.
Now it doesn?t matter how many times I do this, I?m always a bit stressed about my weight. I?m a relatively big guy, I walk around at about 210 pounds when I?m not getting ready for a fight. Anthony Johnson is out of the UFC because he didn?t take weight cutting seriously enough. You need to walk around at a weight that you know if you had a fight in six weeks you could make weight and if you don?t do that you?re not being responsible as a fighter.
Saturday morning I was around 199 pounds, which is good for me. But it should be a miserable last couple days as usual before weigh-ins on Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. ET.
And then on Tuesday it?s fight night on FUEL TV and Sportsnet in Canada. My fight wasn?t originally going to be on TV, but they?ve made it a six-fight main card. Mine is the first one on television, so I plan to get the night started on a good note.
Jason 'The Athlete' MacDonald is a Canadian mixed martial artist. He lives in Red Deer, Alta., with his wife Kelly and four children, boys Tristin and Keel, and girls Jett and True. He blogs regularly for sportsnet.ca.
