# My Amateur MMA Debut (Long Write-Up)



## Never_A_Reflection (Aug 13, 2013)

Well, after 7 years of karate training, with 4 years of judo stuck in there, I took the plunge and competed in my first amateur MMA fight. My opponent was a wrestler who came into this fight with 3-0 record, having just won his last fight in June by KO. This was technically a Welterweight fight, but since it's ammy they weren't really strict on that--I cut the weight and came in at 170.7lbs, and he came in at 175lbs (supposedly). The fights were scheduled for 3 minute rounds, and the rules made elbows, knees to the head, foot stomps, and you could not knee or kick a downed opponent.

The first round is honestly embarrassing. I was feeling really calm until the bell rang, and then I got tunnel vision that made my opponent look REALLY far away and made me feel slow. Very soon after the fight started, he threw a jab that I was sure I slipped, only to get popped in the mouth with it. That made me hesitate enough that he was able to take me down, and for the rest of the round I was focused on slipping his punches as much as possible, controlling his arms and posture (the dude was STRONG, though), and trying to threaten submissions. I actually did come pretty close to getting an armbar at one point, but he slammed me and that was enough for him to turn his arm and escape it. The slams didn't really bother me, and most of the punches were glancing so those weren't too bad either, but it certainly LOOKS bad. I suppose it's not too bad for having a ground game that is 95% judo . In looking back on it, I see all kinds of opportunities that I missed, but hindsight is 20/20.

When the second round started, I decided I had nothing else to lose since he had already taken me down and beaten me up, so I threw the kick I knew he was open for. In the video I watched of his previous fight, I saw that he was open for a lead leg (my right) kick to the head. When he came out in the first round, I saw it but couldn't pull the trigger. In the second round, I saw it and I knew he was going to dive for a punch or takedown (since he had so much success with it in the first round), so as soon as he moved I stepped off-line and threw the lead leg. In the video it looks like my knee hits him, but I actually hit him with the bony knob where my ankle and instep meet. There was some controversy about it because knees to the head are illegal, so they checked with me several times, as well as checking all the cameras. One camera made it look like a knee to the head, another made it look like the kick hit the body and my right hand hit him in the face, and the other showed that it was my foot that hit him. The official outcome was KO due to head kick at 11 seconds in the second round, and I was awarded Knockout of the Night (no money, though, since it was ammy). Here is the frame where my foot connects--you can see the shadow of his arm on my calf, proving that my knee was past his head when I made contact:







The video is from the stands, so it's a little shaky and noisy, and my friends and coworkers were adding commentary. The video is also unedited, so it has everything from the walk-outs to the post-fight interview (that I didn't know was going to happen), so you may want to skip ahead. The second round starts at around 7:20.






tl;dr - First round sucked for me, so I kicked the dude in the head. GIF's:


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