How to Handle the Situation

TK (Taylor Kelly)

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Sorry ahead of time for how lengthy this is but any insight will be much appreciated.

I've been training Muay Thai for 4 months now and just joined a new gym 2 weeks ago and started training BJJ and MMA. I know this sounds crazy but I am actually considering an ammy MMA debut in less than 3 weeks. I was offered an opportunity by someone I spar with at my fitness gym in my hometown so it is in no way through my gym.

My gym has many fighters that fight for the promotion involved and 4 of them just fought at there last event. The thing is the promotion has all of there shows in GR which is about 1hr from where I live and also where my new gym is. The event in a few weeks is one that only comes around every few years and takes place in my hometown on the deck of an USS LST war ship from WWII that participated in the Invasion of Normandy (the famous D-Day battle). The fact that I only get one first fight ever and the event is so unique is what appeals to me and makes it so tempting.

I dont think anyone from my gym is participating since its a mostly ammy event and not in GR where all there other events are. Plus seating is super limited, like a few hundred people tops. Therefore I wouldnt even ask my coaches to be in my corner, in fact I probably wouldnt even let them know about it. Is this terrible etiquette for someone who just joined the gym to take a fight behind there back? I just know my skills are no where near where they'd endorse me fighting and I dont want them to feel obligated to give me extra attention because of it. Most of all I dont want to disappoint them.

My striking is fairly good and I have solid stamina as I have been training 1.5hrs a day for 4 months with the addition of 1hr cardio (stairs, treadmill) and then 45min of either lifting or bag work. I have actually been lifting hard for 4 years now so im fairly athletic and put on 30lbs of muscle over the years. I am 5'9 160lbs and would fight down at 145lbs.

The promoter is a respectable promotion that my gym has used as a primary outlet and my gym has put people into the UFC before and has many pro fighters so I am not so much worried about it being a shady promotion that is going to give me a mismatch or un-safe officiating.. I am confident and anxious to test what I got. I have been in street fights and love the adrenaline and the animal it brings out in me but I have no competitive experience with any discipline. I know from Training alone this sport is for me so I dont need this fight to confirm that, its just the opportunity. Hometown, the outside fight on a war ship turned museum, and I cant help but feel like the time is now to start getting experience. I just graduated from Michigan State last month (why I joined a new gym) and am back home now looking for a job. So right now I can put all my focus into this while I wait on finding a job.

So the insight I seek isn't related to should I take the fight because I already know its not a good idea. But just how bad of an idea is it? I have virtually no grappling experience but I am very strong and know enough of the basics to hold my own (choke submissions, BJJ positions, sprawling on takedowns, clinch technique). What I also want to know is how should I handle my gym if I take this fight? Will they be offended if they come to find out I took this fight without telling them? Will they be angry at me taking one so quickly with lack of experience? Id like to think I can keep it a secret but for all I know we might have some other fighters in the event that will prompt them to be there. They usually release the card months ahead of time but its a strange event so I have no clue if my gym will be repping already or not.

Opinions?
 
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Coaches care about their clients and their gyms. They don't like seeing students get hurt and they don't like losses reflecting badly on their coaching.

They will help you get a fight when they believe in you and think you are ready. If you go it alone, you are letting them know that you can't be trusted and that you are not worth caring about, because you take risks they wouldn't want for you.
 
That seems fair and definitely makes me second guess the opportunity. It would be a badass setting for a debut, one that would be special to me but that is sort of selfish. I just wasnt sure how un-usual it was for fighters to take fights without notifying their coaches and if its a taboo then I dont think its likely worth risking my reputation with my gym.
 
Sorry ahead of time for how lengthy this is but any insight will be much appreciated.

I've been training Muay Thai for 4 months now and just joined a new gym 2 weeks ago and started training BJJ and MMA. I know this sounds crazy but I am actually considering an ammy MMA debut in less than 3 weeks. I was offered an opportunity by someone I spar with at my fitness gym in my hometown so it is in no way through my gym.

My gym has many fighters that fight for the promotion involved and 4 of them just fought at there last event. The thing is the promotion has all of there shows in GR which is about 1hr from where I live and also where my new gym is. The event in a few weeks is one that only comes around every few years and takes place in my hometown on the deck of an USS LST war ship from WWII that participated in the Invasion of Normandy (the famous D-Day battle). The fact that I only get one first fight ever and the event is so unique is what appeals to me and makes it so tempting.

I dont think anyone from my gym is participating since its a mostly ammy event and not in GR where all there other events are. Plus seating is super limited, like a few hundred people tops. Therefore I wouldnt even ask my coaches to be in my corner, in fact I probably wouldnt even let them know about it. Is this terrible etiquette for someone who just joined the gym to take a fight behind there back? I just know my skills are no where near where they'd endorse me fighting and I dont want them to feel obligated to give me extra attention because of it. Most of all I dont want to disappoint them.

My striking is fairly good and I have solid stamina as I have been training 1.5hrs a day for 4 months with the addition of 1hr cardio (stairs, treadmill) and then 45min of either lifting or bag work. I have actually been lifting hard for 4 years now so im fairly athletic and put on 30lbs of muscle over the years. I am 5'9 160lbs and would fight down at 145lbs.

The promoter is a respectable promotion that my gym has used as a primary outlet and my gym has put people into the UFC before and has many pro fighters so I am not so much worried about it being a shady promotion that is going to give me a mismatch or un-safe officiating.. I am confident and anxious to test what I got. I have been in street fights and love the adrenaline and the animal it brings out in me but I have no competitive experience with any discipline. I know from Training alone this sport is for me so I dont need this fight to confirm that, its just the opportunity. Hometown, the outside fight on a war ship turned museum, and I cant help but feel like the time is now to start getting experience. I just graduated from Michigan State last month (why I joined a new gym) and am back home now looking for a job. So right now I can put all my focus into this while I wait on finding a job.

So the insight I seek isn't related to should I take the fight because I already know its not a good idea. But just how bad of an idea is it? I have virtually no grappling experience but I am very strong and know enough of the basics to hold my own (choke submissions, BJJ positions, sprawling on takedowns, clinch technique). What I also want to know is how should I handle my gym if I take this fight? Will they be offended if they come to find out I took this fight without telling them? Will they be angry at me taking one so quickly with lack of experience? Id like to think I can keep it a secret but for all I know we might have some other fighters in the event that will prompt them to be there. They usually release the card months ahead of time but its a strange event so I have no clue if my gym will be repping already or not.

Opinions?

Don't do it! You're not ready at all. Sounds like you're tough and confident, but this is double reason why you should wait and build your skills. You should spend at least a couple years or more learning, at which point you'll have a better idea of your style. If you throw yourself in the fire too soon then you risk short-circuiting your development in order to win now.
 
That seems fair and definitely makes me second guess the opportunity. It would be a badass setting for a debut, one that would be special to me but that is sort of selfish. I just wasnt sure how un-usual it was for fighters to take fights without notifying their coaches and if its a taboo then I dont think its likely worth risking my reputation with my gym.


When my buds were getting ready to fight, we'd travel around to all the MMA gyms and spar everyone. They knew they were ready to fight when they could spar with any amateur fighter and hold their own.

Sparring pros is usually safer than fighting amateurs as long as you don't offend them.

It's a great adventure and lets you know where you stand. I highly recommend the dangerous hobby.
 
Yeah it's easy to get fired up about an opportunity when your only looking at the situation through a best case scenario perspective rather than analyzing the situation with consideration of possible consequences. I needed to hear this, thanks for providing that insight guys because your both absolutely right. I wouldnt just be cheating my coaches but also myself by not being patience.

When my buds were getting ready to fight, we'd travel around to all the MMA gyms and spar everyone. They knew they were ready to fight when they could spar with any amateur fighter and hold their own.

Sparring pros is usually safer than fighting amateurs as long as you don't offend them.

It's a great adventure and lets you know where you stand. I highly recommend the dangerous hobby.

That's pretty ballsy considering your challenging someone in there own house but also sounds like a good way to let your competitors know your fearless and mean business.

Obviously I dont care about being picky with the guys at my own gym but I do get contacts and spar around with anyone I see hitting bags or sparring at my local fitness gym, or gym at school if I talk to them and they say they train at an MMA, Taek, or MT gym. I usually try to spar with bigger guys (my main partner at school was 230lbs and built) because I know it will make the guys in my division seem like children compared to what im used to and I also dont like giving possible competitors some experience training against a southpaw like myself cause I like to hold that advantage.
 
Talking to your coaches beforehand seems a much better idea then possibly explaining to them why you got beaten to a pulp doing something they would have talked you out of.
 
With 2 weeks no you don't know chokes subs amor anythkng you mah think you do.. But you don't...

Anyways... You be getting in there with a tough dude skills... Plenty people has done it in the past and as long as your opponent is another one in the same cathegory.m you ain't going to die... Just make sure you are not pair with someone with much experince
 
Talk to your coaches and let them know what you are thinking. If they are good coaches they will steer you in the right direction. The promoter can be shady as hell and just want an easy win for one of their guys.
 
For me if you really broke ties with your last gym and your just starting at the new one, you're pretty much a ''free agent''. If you don't go in with your new gym shirt you actually can do whatever you want. I think it's fair how you do it because you don't ask them for special treatment or to train you to fight, your just going to the classes and you do your stuff.

It would be another thing if you've been training with them for 5-6 months or more though.

At my gym they created amateur events where we fight against other guys in the gym affiliations. It's about 13 schools and they can put on about 10-15 fights events 3-4 times a year. When you commit yourself to a fight they ask you to come 3-4 times a week and they give you a special training during normal classes with more sparring. They also do some seminars on weekends with all the ''fighters'' so they can train with each other even if they're not from the same gym.

We had a guy at our gym that we trained basically from nothing for 5 months, after only a month he asked for a fight. So he started the special treatment for classes. Everybody sparred with him, we all helped him a lot, the head coach was spending a lot of time to make him ready. So after 4 months of preparation for the fight we learned that the event was postponed by about a month. Which suck but it's only a month more to get ready. But the guy got really angry about the situation and registered to fight in a boxing match in a shitty event run by the local boxing gym. The coach wasn't happy at all and explained to the guy that it was a dick move to the gym and for himself also because our events are in a controlled environnement, we match up people well, it's a place to learn not to get yourself hurt badly. But the guy wanted to fight NOW and the he eventually left the gym.

Right now I train at 2 gyms, one for BJJ and one for kickboxing/mma training, the kickboxing/mma gym didn't have enough grappling for me and even if they have some Thai boxing classes at the BJJ gym, I like my kickboxing guys too much to leave the gym. I made it clear with the Kickboxing gym that I'm only at the other gym for BJJ and if I do anykind of fight it's gonna be under their training and that I will follow their path. I don't brag about training elsewhere, only a few guys knows about it at the Kickboxing gym. At the BJJ gym it's all about gi-BJJ so I never talk about my kickboxing training to anyone, the headtrainer knows about it but he really doesn't care about it.
 
If you feel the need to not tell your coaches then that is a red flag right off the bat. Tell them, see what they say. If they say no, don't do it. If you are going to be repping their gym's name, it would be a pretty foul move to do it behind their backs.
 
Lol. Don't make it bigger in your head than it should be. If what you say is true about "this sport being for you" then your first fight will mean absolutely nothing in hindsight. The "specialness" of a first fight is short term thinking lmao.

The real beauty of fighting isn't in winning just for the sake of winning a first fight imo. It's about seeing your martial arts skills improve each fight going forward. Your first fight is most likely going to be the most cringe worthy fight when you look back and see how improved you are. The last thing on your mind is gonna be the "super special D-day first fight boat event"... it's gonna be your performance.

Also, win or lose it's only going to be bad news.
Lose: Well whatever it's expected, you got beat down or owned super quickly and wasted everyone's time who was involved (mostly yours)

Win: You now think you're the shit. It's a curse in disguise and not only does it stunt your growth, it puts a false confidence in your head that it's ok to under prepare and still be able to beat guys. (And you already have that if you're thinking of taking a fight with only stand up training)
 
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I've been training Muay Thai for 4 months now and just joined a new gym 2 weeks ago and started training BJJ and MMA. I know this sounds crazy but I am actually considering an ammy MMA debut in less than 3 weeks. I was offered an opportunity by someone I spar with at my fitness gym in my hometown so it is in no way through my gym.

I smell a setup.

I dont think anyone from my gym is participating since its a mostly ammy event and not in GR where all there other events are. Plus seating is super limited, like a few hundred people tops. Therefore I wouldnt even ask my coaches to be in my corner, in fact I probably wouldnt even let them know about it. Is this terrible etiquette for someone who just joined the gym to take a fight behind there back? I just know my skills are no where near where they'd endorse me fighting and I dont want them to feel obligated to give me extra attention because of it. Most of all I dont want to disappoint them.

In answer ot your question, based on the above quote - this is a VERY bad idea.

My striking is fairly good and I have solid stamina as I have been training 1.5hrs a day for 4 months

With respect, at 4 months, no. You're striking isn't "fairly good". It might be in comparison to where you started, but that's not a comparison you get to consider when looking at taking an actual fight.


The promoter is a respectable promotion ...

I'm no DanTheWolfman, but I've been around. There's no such thing as a "respectable promotion". There are some that are much less shady than others, but they all operate in the margins from time to time and to varying degrees. You seem like the exact kind of person (and I don't mean this to be insulting - you're just inexperienced) who takes a fight on good faith and is told something like "your opponent is the same skill level as you. It will be even. Don't worry about it." and then ends up with a monster that needs a squash match to pad his record. Happens all the time. Even in the less shady promotions. It's the fight game. That's just how it works.

As a coach myself, this whole thing just screams of horrible idea. Please reconsider.
 
Its an amateur match. Worst thing that happens is you get your ass kicked like half the other guys on the card, tuck your tail between your legs, and go back to training. As a coach, getting new guys to the gym who are motivated to take fights is a good thing.
 
This thread reminds why it is the responsibility of the coach to look after his competitors.

In this case, ts is getting set up pretty bad.
 
these guys are all making this a way bigger deal than it is, its an ammy fight that doesnt mean anything

dont hide it, but dont ask permission either-if they want to argue then let them know the reasons you listed here, and tell them you wont rep their gym if its a problem for them

but if you want to do it, just do it
 
these guys are all making this a way bigger deal than it is, its an ammy fight that doesnt mean anything

This is unbelievably irresponsible advice. Yeah, it's "just an ammy fight", so it means pretty much nothing on his record. On the other hand, I've seen multiple people carried out of the cage on stretchers and rushed to ERs. Even though they were "just ammy fights"...

Combat sports like MMA /boxing/kickboxing/muay thai, etc aren't something you screw around with. You don't get to "dabble" in these and they need to be taken seriously and responsibly. Taking a fight well before you're ready and without consulting the people who SHOULD be consulted (random strangers on the internet don't fall into that category) is asking for trouble.
 
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