Some days, we had “king of the mats rolling,” which meant that we were split into two groups in a tournament-style set up. If you lost against any opponent, you were disqualified and did not proceed. Winning let you proceed to the next round until one man stood out as the king. I regularly did well but never won. My day came; I won the first round with a guillotine, which is a type of head lock submission that puts strain on the neck and chokes you at the same time. My second opponent was a big guy, about 250 pounds, and he was strong! He slammed me on my back. I guess he wanted to win just as badly as I did, and I knew I was in for a hard round.
I had him in my guard, which meant that while on my back I had my legs wrapped around his torso. It’s not the worst place to be, but also not the best, and we both knew it. He was trying hard to pass the guard and lock me in a submission to gain the advantage. But the beauty of jiu-jitsu, literally translated from Japan as “the gentle art,” is that technique will always conquer strength in the grappling realm. I went for an arm bar, swinging my leg across his face while holding his arm, which put tremendous pressure on his elbow joint and forearm.
He lifted me off the mats and slammed me down in a last effort to save his place in the tournament, and it worked. The intense slam made me loosen my grip on his arm and he took the opportunity to pull his arm out. Within the scramble, I got my guard back and kept him close as I sucked in his head to my chest to catch a breath. From there, I saw the perfect opening to my favorite move. I reached around his arm and pushed it across his face with my left hand as I sucked in his head with my right hand to lock it in, known as the “head & arm triangle.” From this point, there was a lot of pressure on his neck, choking him out, but I took it a step forward to gain more leverage. I popped my hips and twisted to the left to roll him on his back to reverse our positioning so that I was on top, keeping a lock on the head & arm triangle. I simply proceeded to the side mount, where I went to the same side of the choke to apply extra pressure, and I knew he was done. About two seconds later, he tapped. I immediately let go of the choke and he took a big breath of air deep into his lungs. I just made my place in the finals.
In the finals, my opponent was a really athletic guy that I knew would be a handful. He was boney and technical, my nightmare. I kept my mind on track; I wanted this win too much to let him get in my head. We circled for a good twenty-five seconds before I went in for the shot, a single-leg takedown, where I lunged in on him with one knee on the mats with the rear leg following to the front while I grabbed his front leg, placing me in a squat-like position. This kept the momentum moving to his side, which made him lose his balance and fall.
“Wow,” I thought in revelation. “I took this guy down.” It gave me a huge boost of confidence. I knew that if I could use my strength to offset his speed, I could finish this. I used my elbows to put pressure on his inner thighs to the point that he opened up his guard, just what I needed to pass. Once I was in his side mount, I was having difficulty keeping him down. He had squirmy hips, which meant he was not half bad on the ground. I had to work twice as hard to keep my position. I was breathing really hard while he stayed composed. The lactic acid was really starting to set in at this point, my muscles were burning and I was having difficulties getting a good breath in. But, one thing I was beginning to learn through all of my MMA training was that I had heart. My arm could have stopped working from all of the lactic acid built up in my shoulders, but I would still keep going with one arm. There was no way in hell, in my mind, that I was not going win.
I tried going for a key lock, but he got out of it quickly. From there, I transitioned to trapping his arm with my leg, getting him in the crucifix position. Now I had his arm and head pinned so I could use two hands to submit him, or so I thought. I was trying to transition, looking for a Kimura, but he almost actually threw me off of him. I managed to maintain position in the side mount. He was trying to push my head with his inner hand against my jaw, and I figured that maybe I could get an arm bar; but, before I could collect my thoughts, my instincts took over and I put his hand across his face, placed my weight on it, clasped my hands around his trapped hand and head, and squeezed. I had him in the head & arm triangle. I squeezed as hard as my weakened muscles could and with only one minute left in the five-minute round, he tapped. I felt a surge of emotions, followed by complete fatigue, coupled with happiness. I had finally done it, and against some tough seasoned competition.
The next morning, I made my way to the Carling Heights Community Centre with a sense of anxiety of what was to come. Once in the building, which was a newer, modern center for almost any sport imaginable, there was a long line waiting to enter the gymnasium for a seminar. Over 200 spectators and practitioners filled the oversized area, with mats in the center and large bleacher-style seats surrounding the area. I bought a Suffer System long-sleeve shirt from the merchandise table, as did most people there, and awaited the champ. Matt Hughes walked in from a side room, with a half-smile and wearing a Suffer System shirt himself. He walked with confidence, his stocky image mirroring what I was used to seeing on television.
We started with warmups, running around the mats, changing directions, and incorporating jumps and stretches; nothing too taxing, but enough to get the muscles warmed up and the heart pumping. Next, we got paired up and the seminar started with Matt Hughes showing us some of the techniques that helped him attain—and keep for an impressive period—the UFC belt. I learned how to properly perform a single-leg takedown, how to stuffone, different variations of takedowns, punches, and jiu-jitsu moves. To be honest, I cannot remember most of them now, as seminars tend to be that way. You are bombarded with so many moves and detailed descriptions that by the next day you only really retain ten to twenty percent. It was a long seminar, so we had a lunch break, during which we could get pictures and autographs with Matt, or we could opt to wait until the end of the seminar. The line was short, so I decided to meet the real-life UFC champ for the first time ever.
As I waited in line, I had no idea what to expect. I thought it was a cool experience. When I was fourth in line, a guy in his mid-twenties was amped as he spoke to Matt and asked him if his picture could be of Matt choking him out. Matt seemed laid back, but at the same time a complex guy. He menacingly smiled and said “Sure, let’s do it.” As Matt put his hand around this guy, you could tell there was a mismatch between a kid off the streets with a small belly and this machine of a man—a world champion. Everyone in line was laughing, and just as my first calculated thought processed, the guy went to sleep; he got choked out by Matt Hughes. To be honest, Matt did not actually try to choke him out, and he seemed perplexed as he prevented this guy from slamming to the floor and slowly laid him on the gym floor. Seconds later, he came to, smiled as he got up, and asked his buddy if he got the picture. His friend was put on-the-spot and turned red, and said “Man, I don’t know how to use your camera.” It was like a comedy sketch done live, absolutely everyone in line started laughing and clapping. You just cannot make this stuff up.
It was finally my turn to have my picture with Matt, I shook his hand firmly and asked if I could get a picture with him, to which he replied “ I don’t know, can you?” I just smiled and stood there while he laughed out loud to himself, and then a weird silence ensued. I honestly did not know what to say or even if I should say anything to that as he just stood there. But I got my picture with Matt, thanked him for coming to our city, and wished him luck in his upcoming fight. I did get to hold the UFC belt that he brought with him for the pictures, which to my surprise was much heavier than I had imagined and quite shiny, too. My first meeting with a UFC champ was a bit lackluster. Maybe I just built up the day more than I should have.
The second half of the seminar was faster paced. Milton and the guys did a great job organizing the event. Matt was a really good instructor, as he was very detailed and knew how to put things together to make us understand