BY: DENNIS ‘D SOURCE’ GUILLERMO

Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV
When: Saturday, Dec. 8 at 9:00 p.m. ET
Watch: Pay-Per-View ($59.95 for standard definition; $69.95 for high definition)
Live Stream: TopRank.com

In 2006, a young Cebuano by the name of Mercito Gesta crossed the Pacific to the US to realize his pugilistic dreams and hoped to follow in the footsteps of Pinoy boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, who at the time, had just taken the boxing world by storm.

Armed with hardly anything more than his courage and his fists, the 19-year-old left his family in Mandaue City and bought into the promise and possibility of a similar rags-to-riches story by a promotional outfit and its namesake.

Though things didn’t necessarily pan out the way he initially hoped, and he found out quickly that promises made oceans away were far from the reality he stumbled upon, Gesta took difficult detours, and yet found a way to arrive at his original destination. Finally, a world title fight.

After much work, some luck, and taking on every hurdle thrown at him, Gesta finally gets a crack at a world title when he faces IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez on the undercard of Pacquiao-Marquez 4 this Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“I’m ready,” Gesta told this scribe ever so succinctly.

Gesta has plenty of reason to be confident; mostly because he has put in all the work to set himself up for success.

“We couldn’t have asked more from him,” said Gesta’s co-manager and co-trainer Vince Parra. “Camp has been really good. He responded to the challenge. He showed it in his work, and his father has helped immensely in conditioning and motivating him.”

From his fight strategy, strength and conditioning, down to juicing to help with his nutrition and weight, Gesta has gone the extra mile to prepare for whatever challenge Vazquez presents.

“He’s not that fast when he throws, but sometimes he throws awkward and comes from weird angles, but the main thing with him is that he runs,” Gesta broke down his opponent. “That’s why we’ve prepared for that. I’m going to cut the ring and not chase him; time him and stay in the middle of the ring, instead of running after him,” he added.

Gesta also promised to commit to throwing more body shots to further slow down Vazquez, who has shown a penchant for boxing and staying on the outside, rather than going toe-to-toe and getting caught up with exchanges.

Gesta has also received motivation from his family, whom he has been able to bring to the US with him. “It’s been really great to have his dad and his mom up there, and his little brother to push him,” Parra said. “He’s been really focused.”

His father, Anecito, has overseen his strength and conditioning, while his mother, Mercy, ensures his diet is proper. His brother Mokz has helped in motivating him in training. All of them will be cheering him on from ringside for the first time together in his biggest moment yet.

But despite the magnitude and the pageantry that surrounds his upcoming fight, Gesta has remained his usual calm self. “He’s very relaxed and monotone,” Parra observed. “He’s confident in his skill and his abilities. It’s hard to tell the difference.”

Asked if this fight has made him feel any different, Gesta responded, “The only thing that’s different is that I’ve done more and prepared harder than ever for this fight, [...] I’m not nervous. I’m just excited to finally go out there and fight.”

The post Mercito Gesta Gets A Crack At A World Title appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Photo Credit: Chris Farina/ Top Rank
Article By Chris Robinson

The next step for budding lightweight hopeful Mercito ‘No Mercy’ Gesta takes place tomorrow night inside of the Texas Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The undefeated Gesta (25-0-1, 13 KO’s) faces off with the very brash Ty Barnett (20-2-1, 13 KO’s), hailing from Washington, D.C., in a ten-round scrap that could open up bigger doors for the Mandaue City, Philippines fighter.

There had been some pre-fight trash talk coming from Barnett’s side, with the 29-year old telling me moments before the weigh-in that he was far from impressed by Gesta, but the weigh-in between the two men showed no signs of tension whatsoever. Gesta came on to the scales weighing 137 pounds while Barnett was slightly lighter at 135.5 pounds.

While Gesta and his team have been clamoring for a title fight for the past year, this fight seems to be a realistic gauge of where the 24-year old is in his career, as a few more dominating performances against fighters on the level of Barnett will surely have him knocking on the door for such desired opportunities.

Also on the card, one of the area’s finest local talents will display his skills when undefeated junior featherweight prospect Jesse Magdaleno (10-0, 7 KO’s) faces off with Brazil’s Aldimar Silva Santos (17-2, 9 KO’s).

Another notable in action will be unbeaten lightweight hopeful Mickey Bey Jr. (18-0-1, 9 KO’s), who meets journeyman Robert Frankel (30-12-1, 6 KO’s). Bey is trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr. and has been itching for a title shot himself.

The post Mercito Gesta 137 lbs vs Ty Barnett 135.5 lbs appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Watch Alliance MMA Pro Team’s Cage Training Coach Manny Rodriguez as he instructs these Professional Mixed Martial Arts Fighters through a Cage Training Session. Fighters include Ross Pearson, Wilson Reis, Forrest Griffin, Matt Van Buren, Alp Ozkilic and Alejandro Garcia. They are training in Las Vegas at Throwdown Gym.

Follow Manny @manny_mma

The post MMA Cage Work With Coach Manny Rodriguez & Alliance MMA at Throwdown Gym in Las Vegas *VIDEO* appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Brandon Vera trains alongside Coach Doug Balzarini, Master Lloyd Irvin, Alexander Gustafsson, Matt Van Buren, Ross Pearson, Kristian Lexell, Papy Abedi, Alejandro Garcia, Edwin Aguilar, Wilson Reis, Franklin Camacho, Scott Heckman, Joe Taimanglo and Jimmy Harbison. At TAPOUT Gym in Las Vegas.

The post Brandon Vera Muay Thai Training and Pro Fighters From Alliance MMA at TAPOUT Gym in Las Vegas *VIDEO* appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Ross Pearson training with Alliance MMA at the TAPOUT gym in Las Vegas. Also in the video is Coach Eric Del Fierro, Coach Andreas Michael and Frank Camacho.

The post Ross Pearson: Cauliflowers, Drills, Bag Work and Tools. Training With Alliance MMA at TAPOUT Gym appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Article by Jesse Holland
“Forrest Griffin told us that (Alexander Gustafsson) has been out here [in Las Vegas] and he’s been beating the living shit out of everybody. Forrest Griffin said this guy’s the real deal and he’s been out here in Vegas kicking everyone’s ass. He said people don’t even want to spar with him. He came here to Las Vegas to up his game and I guess he’s been beating the shit out of everybody. People are like ‘Yeah, I’m not fucking sparring with him today.’”

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight brawler Thiago Silva recently said he was ready to kill or be killed in Sweden, which is what it might come down to when he locks horns with native son Alexander Gustafsson at the UFC on FUEL TV 2 event on April 14 in Stockholm. According to UFC President Dana White (via Studio MMA), “The Mauler” has been kicking so much ass in “Sin City,” guys don’t even want to spar with him at the gym. Will he be able to carry that dominance over into his main event against Silva in less than a month?

The post Dana White: Alexander Gustafsson is Kicking So Much Ass, Guys Are Afraid To Spar With Him *VIDEO* appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Article By Strength & Conditioning Coach Doug Balzarini
Week 3 was another great week. They are long grinds, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Like last week, I was in San Diego on Monday training clients. I truly enjoy working with so many different populations; it challenges me and keeps me on task and always wanting to learn more. During a normal week, I will work with a UFC champion, many amateur and professional fighters, middle-aged business executives, athlete clients in their 20′s, and a client who is in her mid-70′s. After a full day of training at various locations (beach, playground, MMA facility), I hit the road back to Vegas. I’m getting to know the I-15 highway too well lately.

Tuesday in Las Vegas

Tuesday started with a grocery run. Team Cruz had the day off from training so I hit Whole Foods right when it opened. I’m beginning to feel like Norm on Cheers when I go there now…the lady who works the juicing machine is quite nice. Dominick and the Alliance team went to spar at Tapout, however, I stayed back to catch up on paperwork. I have a number of articles and videos that I need to try to finish up in the next week or two. My projects have definitely taken a back seat since the TUF show started. I put 10 guys through a S&C session Tuesday night at Tapout gym. It was similar set-up to our session last week…

1. Dynamic Warm-Up
2. Med Ball Complex
3. 2 Strength Circuits
4. Finisher – TRX ab work

Also, some Grid foam rollers arrived today which will be a great addition to our routines. The guys are getting banged up so some SMR work will certainly help out.

Wednesday in Las Vegas

Wednesday started with my morning sprint work, buckwheat pancake breakfast for Dom and I, and then off to the TUF set. I helped out a few of the guys with some mobility work and then they worked on Kickboxing drills with takedowns. Dom led them through some great drills and movements. He is really taking his “coaching” role seriously and I think all the members of the team enjoy having him as a coach and are learning a ton. We left the set and went to Tapout where the Alliance team had a BJJ practice. While they trained I rolled with a purple belt. It was only my 4th time in my gi…and it showed. She (yes, I said she…what?) kicked my $%#&. We trained hard going 8 rounds at 7 minutes apiece. For the record, I only got tapped out one time in 56 minutes…I’ll take that against a purple belt.

After practice, we had a quick lunch (salmon, quinoa, asparagus) and then right back to the TUF set. I put Team Cruz through a strength circuit that included a combination of power work and strength training. I incorporated some TRX work, tire flips, hip thrusters, rope pulls, and a challenging finisher of Concept2 Rower sprints with heavy dumbbell carries. The strength training sessions with the TeamCruz guys is a bit challenging because we never know who’s fighting the following week. My main focus for these guys is injury prevention. After that, I’m working on full-body training with a focus on pulling muscles, shoulder joint integrity, t-spine/hip/ankle mobility, and overall power development and muscle endurance. I’ve created a solid template with these guys and they have all felt the benefits.

Wednesday night I put Dominick and Jeremy Stephens through a predominantly body-weight session. The guys were still hurting from the 10 8-minute rounds of BJJ they did earlier in the day (and I thought my 56 minutes was a lot!). I included a lot of shoulder and t-spine mobility work along with plenty of glute activation. A couple body-weight circuits came next and we finished up with a couple sets of sprints. In and out in 45 minutes.

Wednesday night finished up back at the condo with Dom and the Famous Stars & Straps crew. I prepared some turkey burgers while Dom did some interviews.

Thursday in Las Vegas

Thursday was another long one. Sprints with Team Cruz on the TUF set started things off and then back to Tapout for the Alliance team. I went through a strength training workout with Shannon Slack (Team Cruz wrestling coach) while the rest of the team sparred. A quick lunch and then right back to the TUF set for weigh-ins. Our boy, Justin Lawrence, was right on and had a great stare-down with Cristiano Marcello (article image on the home page). The rest of the team went through a ground-game session while Justin began to rehydrate. We checked his weight one hour after weigh-ins and he had already put 11 pounds back on! After training, some of the Alliance team went to train, however, Dom and I went back to the condo to chill. I cooked up a bunch of food and then worked on an upcoming article for One Result.

Friday Fight Day in Las Vegas

Fight day Friday began with an early morning run, omelets, and the TUF set. The team sparred while I stretched Justin out and worked on some mobility drills with him. He has solid flexibility which definitely helps him with his kicks and power.

After training, the Alliance crew hit up Tapout for a wrestling session. I trained with the guys and we worked on fundamentals. After getting beat up by Wilson Reis for 90 minutes, we went to the condo to shower up and grab lunch. After a quick break, we were back at the TUF set for the fight. Much like last week, the Team Cruz fighter followed the game-plan perfectly! Lawrence threw his mean left hook in the second round and it was over. It’s so rewarding for me as a coach to see these kids succeed. All the hard work they put in truly does pay off. Lawrence is a special kid and someone I’m going to be rooting for long after this show is over.

With Dom still in control of the fight picks, he chose our #3 guy, Myles Jury, to take on their #1 guy, Al Iaquinta. Should be another solid battle. Sadly, I had to leave the winning locker room for another drive back to San Diego. Thankfully, these guys make the drive a little easier with these wins.

I’ll be back next week for my week 4 recap.

The post The Ultimate Fighter Week 3 – TEAM CRUZ Strength & Conditioning Coach Doug Balzarini appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Article By Mike Chiappetta
Two months after losing the most important matchup of his young career, Phil Davis is picking up the pieces and focusing on the future. Davis, who is currently in Las Vegas as one of Dominick Cruz’s assistant coaches on the current edition of TUF: Live, hasn’t yet thought about when he’ll find his way back into the octagon, only about bringing a newer, better version of himself to his next performance.

On a Monday interview on The MMA Hour, the light-heavyweight admitted that the tension involved with the huge spotlight may have gotten to him and affected his performance.

While that led to a loss, Davis is choosing to look at the bright side, which is the opportunity to look back at his performance and address his shortcomings.

(Editor’s Note: The Phil Davis interview begins around the 1:05 mark.)

“I’m glad he poked holes in my game,” he said. “Because now I can fix some of those holes and know where the No. 2 guy in the world is going to beat me. Now I have a benchmark. Losing is not the worst thing in the world. The worst thing in the world is not getting better. I’m glad I got that fight. I’m glad I got it twice, and I’m just real excited about where I’m at in my career.”

Asked what some of those holes are, the first thing Davis pointed out was a desire to improve his striking. But he also acknowledged that experience was a big factor in the fight. While he was tense and anxious, he could sense that Evans was calm and relaxed.

He also pointed to his first-round trouble costing him later in the fight. He was caught in a crucifix late in the opening round and expended a lot of energy trying to escape and ensure the fight was not stopped. That only made things worse.

“I got myself into one of the situations where you’ve got to go all out to get out of that, and put out a lot of energy,” he said. “That kind of put me behind on momentum, and from there, Rashad was just the calmer guy. He eased into the fight better. More and more, I was trying to do more to gain momentum and he was just calm and collected. He was an opportunist. He just took advantage of everything that came his way.”

Davis described his performance as “all gas and no brakes,” saying he never let the fight slow down to a pace where he settled in.

Despite the defeat, his excitement to return to the gym came quickly afterward. While he wouldn’t offer a timeframe or potential opponent for his return date, he did offer a prediction for the upcoming title match pitting Evans against Jon Jones.

His pick? He likes the underdog Evans to snatch the belt away.

“They’ve trained together and Rashad knows Jon Jones’ game like a teammate would,” he said. “That’s something only a teammate would know, so I’m going to go with Rashad. A lot of people don’t give him a fair shake in this fight but it’s a pretty tough fight for both guys.”

While he waits for his next fight booking, he’ll be seen alongside Cruz on TUF, helping to school the team’s young fighters during the 13-week run. He’ll also hope to learn a few things himself. As he made clear, he hopes to leave observers with an indelible impression his next time in the octagon.

“I’m taking it day by day,” he said. “The last thing I want is to give an incomplete performance. My next performance I want everyone to go, ‘Wow, yes, this guy is for real.’”

The post Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis on Loss to Rashad Evans: ‘I’m Glad He Poked Holes in My Game’ appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

You Beat That, I’ll Smack You! – Jeremy “Lil Heathens” Stephens Video Blog Las Vegas 3

Follow Jeremy Stephens
Website: http://www.lilheathenmma.com/
Facebook: LilHeathenMMA
Twitter: @lilheathenmma

The post You Beat That, I’ll Smack You! – Jeremy “Lil Heathens” Stephens Video Blog Las Vegas 3 appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Dominick Cruz TUF Live VLOG Haircut Square Salon Las Vegas

The post Dominick Cruz TUF Live Video BLOG Haircut Square Salon Las Vegas appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Article by Michael David Smith
The top pick on this season of The Ultimate Fighter showed why with an impressive win.

Dominick Cruz made Justin Lawrence the first pick when the coaches selected their teams on this season of The Ultimate Fighter, and when Lawrence stepped into the Octagon with Cristiano Marcello on Friday night, he made Cruz’s pick look smart.

Lawrence out-struck Marcello in the stand-up exchanges in the first round, then started landing with more power in the second round and ultimately connected a left hand to Marcello’s chin that knocked Marcello flat on his back, ending the fight by second-round knockout.

“It felt amazing,” Lawrence said afterward. “We worked that all week during the training camp — my left hook, my hands, my movement.”

It was an impressive performance by Lawrence that has to make him, at the moment at least, the favorite to win this season.

Marcello is one of the most experienced fighters on the show, a 34-year-old Pride veteran and Brazilian jiu jitsu instructor who has coached some of the best fighters in the world at the famed Chute Box Academy. But he was never able to take the fight to the ground against Lawrence, and his striking was not impressive.

As for the “reality” portion of the UFC’s reality show, this week’s episode wasn’t as compelling as last week’s, as the fighters resorted to silly pranks like defacing the photos of coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber that hang in the gym. A couple of contrived confrontations between Cruz and Faber felt more like they were going through the motions of promoting their own upcoming fight than exhibiting genuine bad blood.

The fight itself, however, was solid: Lawrence looked good, and he looks like he might just be the best fighter on this season of The Ultimate Fighter.

The post Justin Lawrence Defeats Cristiano Marcello on The Ultimate Fighter Las Vegas appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

UFC Fighter Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens & TEAM CRUZ in Las Vegas at SunBuggy.com March, 2012
Follow Jeremy Stephens
Website: http://www.lilheathenmma.com/
Facebook: LilHeathenMMA
Twitter: @lilheathenmma

The post UFC Fighter Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens & TEAM CRUZ in Las Vegas at SunBuggy.com *VIDEO* appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Article by MMAViking.com
I’m sitting by the pool again. We just got home from a sparring session at TapouT training center. Tapout’s facility is great too; they’ve got everything and more.

Otherwise, except for training, eating and sleeping not much is done actually. Our routines are getting set and, as much as we enjoy the training, we’re sometimes questioning what to do in between. In one way Las Vegas isn’t that great because the only thing to do here seems to be gambling ore something money/gambling-related. But in another point of view what do we do a normal training day at home?

Well I know one thing that I do, I get to hang out with my son, whom I miss bad right now but apart from that I wouldn’t say I get that many things done always. So it might just be the magic of Sin city that’s playing with me. Like getting the ”missing the buffet” kind of feeling (like when you’re about to dig in to a great buffet and you don’t want walk out of it with regrets..).

Anyway, we are trying at least. Yesterday we went to one of them big outlets to look around for a bit and we found some good stuff. We also managed to kill a sushi-buffet..

Right now when sitting in the sun, which I’ve missed for about 8 months, I don’t really feel an urge to do something special either. I think I’m going to ride this one out till tonight when it’s time for conditioning.

Wednesday

Today my body’s sorer then in a long time. Mainly thanks to Coach Doug from Alliance (www.alliancegym.com/coach-doug-balzarini-the-ultimate-fighter-update-my-first-week)

Doug puts together smart and grueling trainings with whatever he has and there are no excuses when training with the guys from Alliance. So today’s first training at Drysdale was an extra nice experience. Especially since I got to roll a lot with Robert himself. Robert is a beast. He made me feel worse than my first grappling class ever ☺

His classes are great; he mixes good technique drills with a lot of sparring with different goals. After two hours of that you could say you feel like you worked out and the Thai-food we got ourselves after was more than welcome I tell you.

About Kristian Lexell

Kristian Lexell will be blogging for www.MMAViking.com during his trip to Las Vegas. He is a veteran of fight sports, with MMA bouts going back to 2001, plus boxing and Muay thai experience. The Swede returned to the cage in 2011 after a four year absence, and has since collected two wins with one loss. Known as “Lex”, the powerful middleweight trains at Stockholm’s Nexus Fight Center. The Gothenburg native won MMA Viking’s KO of the Year in 2011 with his KO of Allan Love at Battle of Botnia 4. Lex most recently won a Muay Thai match at Söderslaget in December at Nexus Fightcenter, and will be announcing his next MMA bout soon.

For more information visit Sherdog’s FightFinder and www.kristianlexell.net. Lex is sponsored by OMPU (www.ompu.com) and Sthlm Shoot (www.nexusfightcenter.se).

The post Kristian Lexell’s Las Vegas Blog – Killing the Sushi Buffet appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Video by findjayson

We follow UFC Bantamweight World Champion Dominick Cruz into his training camp in Las Vegas, NV for a little preview of his routine and a look at his team.

The post Inside UFC Bantamweight World Champion Dominick Cruz’s Training Camp – Las Vegas appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

See how UFC Fighter Alexander Gustafsson is training for his bout against Thiago Silva for UFC on FUEL TV 2

The post UFC Fighter Alexander Gustafsson’s Training Camp in Las Vegas Video Blog 2 – UFC on FUEL TV 2 appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

UFC Fighter Papy Abedi Update From Las Vegas Translation By Kristian Lexell
Training at Drysdale Jiu-Jitsu in Las Vegas.

The post UFC Fighter Papy Abedi Update From Las Vegas Translation By Kristian Lexell appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Every week or so I plan to share a couple thoughts and experiences I had while out in Las Vegas for the MMA reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter”. For me, week 1 began on Tuesday (3/6) when I made the extremely windy drive out to Sin City first thing in the morning. I got settled in to my condo which will be my home for the better part of the next 3 months. I met up with my 3 roommates, UFC Champ Dominick Cruz, Tigger, and Marley. The first guy you probably know, the other two are Dom’s cats. It was abundantly clear that the cats would rule the roost when they made quick work of one of the foam rollers I brought out with me (FYI – foam rollers make great toys for cats to sharpen their claws on).

It was then off to the TUF Gym to sign some paperwork, get our ‘Team Cruz’ attire and get a lay of the land. It was a fairly typical gym, except for all the lights and cameras of course. The strength training area was decent size and had some of my favorite tools there including; TRX, Concept 2 Rower & SkiErg, Woodway Treadmills, and plenty of tires.

We left the TUF facility, coordinated with the 10 or so athletes and coaches that were all there, and made the 20 minute drive to Wanderlei Silva’s MMA facility for a strength and conditioning session that I led. Having never been in the facility, I wasn’t familiar with the layout so I had to quickly set up two circuits that the 10 athletes would do simultaneously. It’s a good sized facility that had many of the tools that I like to use with the guys. My athletes for the session included Dominick Cruz, Alexander Gustafsson, Ross Pearson, Cyrille Diabate, Papy Abedi, Jeremy Stephens, Wilson Reis, and Shannon Slack. Yes, a bunch of studs. We had a solid 45 minute session that included some mobility work, wrestling drills, and some power development with plyos and resisted sprint work. After the session, it was back to the condo to relax for the night.

Wednesday

Wednesday began with some personal early morning sprints (I still have to train too) and then off to find some local grocery stores. In addition to training Dominick, his training partners, and the TUF athletes on Team Cruz; I also have the responsibility of stocking Dom’s fridge with quality food. I’ll be handling a lot of his nutrition while I’m out there so I wanted to make sure we had the right “fuel” in the house. I found a Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods and got lots of fruits and vegetables, organic meats and eggs, potatoes and rice and quinoa, and fish oils & Vitargo which are two “supplements” that I do recommend. After shopping, I joined the fighters for a trip to Drysdale Jiu-Jitsu for an intense 2+ hour training session. I got to participate…well, “participate” may be the wrong term. I got man-handled during the training but I did learn a lot. The highlight was a new arm-bar escape that I had never seen before (which is sweet since I’m often on the receiving end of arm-bars). I returned to the condo to prepare some food, then met up with Dom and the team for some evening pad work. We all returned to Silva’s gym where I helped a number of the guys with some mobility work, stretching, and some foam roller movements to help with their injuries and imbalances. After their pad session, it was back to the condo to chill.

Thursday

Thursday morning included another personal morning workout and then back to Silva’s gym for a morning sparring session. Again, I helped a number of the guys with their “pre-hab” routine and then observed Master Lloyd Irvin train a few of the athletes on their ground game. We left the gym, had lunch, and then went back to the TUF gym where we got to meet all 32 contestants for the first time. It was a great experience to meet all the guys, learn about their unique backgrounds, and get to know their personalities a little bit. Without naming any names, you could see right away that some guys came off more calm and confident than a few of the others. I had my top 3 already picked out after 5 minutes. I’ll reveal their names after the show. They had all just weighed in for tomorrow nights live premier so everyone was eating and refueling their bodies for battle.

Friday

Friday was back to Drysdale for some more ground work. I observed today since I was still pretty sore from my Wednesday beating. It was another “who’s who” of athletes on the mat. I learned a lot again even if I was just observing this time.

After the session, we had to eat and then get back to the TUF gym to prepare for the premier. You could feel the energy in the air as the contestants filed in to their respective locker rooms. I’ll admit I got fired up when Dana popped into the room, gave a 20 second speech that included an F-bomb or two, and then quickly left. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but I was ready to hop the octagon fence when we was done talking and go a few rounds.

We were given 16 of the fighters and helped warm them up for the fights. Coach Eric and Ross held mitts for them while Wilson and Shannon did some light wrestling and BJJ to help them prepare. I stretched a few of the guys out and helped them stay loose. The temperature in the room was high and when Stitch Duran came in to tape the guys up, we knew it was almost go time. Once the fights started, the night flew by. With 16 fights on the card, they were all only 1 5-minute round. Just 5 minutes to decide your fate. Just 5 minutes to determine whether or not you make the show, get in to the TUF house, and give yourself a shot at a UFC contract. It was a whirlwind of emotions once the fights got rolling; joy and happiness in the room when our guy won, and frustration and tears when our guy lost. It was up and down the entire 2 1/2 hours.

After the show was over, I took a moment and looked around the room…there were still winners and losers in there. A small room filled with big emotions. It was an intense moment. I congratulated a few of the winners and consoled a few of the losers and then left the building around 9pm. The next 5 hours would be spent in my car as I drove home to San Diego to train clients for the next 2 1/2 days before driving back. This coming week I get to train the 8 contestants on ‘Team Cruz’ for the first time. I can’t wait to see how these guys handle some conditioning work. My sessions will be a bit different in set-up since one of the guys will be fighting every Friday.

I’ll fill you in on the training sessions once we get started. The future posts will be more about our training sessions (after the show airs of course) throughout the season. Be sure to tune in every Friday night on FX and be sure to root for Team Cruz! If you don’t watch I’ll tell Tigger and Marley…and you don’t want that.

The post Coach Doug Balzarini The Ultimate Fighter Update: My First Week! appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Check out Jeremy Stephens and his experience with Alliance MMA in Las Vegas for the TUF camp. He visits Wanderlei Silvas Gym, Drysdale Jiu-Jitsu and The Gun Store!

Follow Jeremy Stephens
Website: http://www.lilheathenmma.com/
Facebook: LilHeathenMMA
Twitter: @lilheathenmma

The post Chicken, Sparring, Jiu-Jitsu & The Gun Store! UFC Fighter Jeremy Stephens Video Blog Las Vegas 2 appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Music Credit: Conan The Destroyer – Battle Song

Coach Andreas Micheal Working With UFC Fighter Alexander Gustafsson & UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz At Wanderlei Silva’s Gym in Las Vegas. Also in this video, Coach Eric Del Fierro working with UFC Fighter Papy Abedi.

The post Coach Andreas Micheal Working with UFC Fighters Alexander Gustafsson & Dominick Cruz at Wanderleis appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

UFC Fighter Jeremy Stephens Video Blog Las Vegas 1: No Gambling, Just Wrestling & Scrambling. View how Alliance MMA Fighters Jeremy Stephens, Phil Davis, Alex Garcia & Shanon Slack are living, in Las Vegas.

Follow Jeremy Stephens
Website: http://www.lilheathenmma.com/
Facebook: LilHeathenMMA
Twitter: @lilheathenmma

The post UFC Fighter Jeremy Stephens Video Blog Las Vegas 1: No Gambling, Just Wrestling & Scrambling appeared first on Alliance Training Center.