Training of Erik Morales:

[Sinister]

"El Terrible" Erik Morales was one who always had trouble making 130 as he progressed in his career. So for his third fight with Manny Pacquiao he went as far as to hire a new Conditioning Coach to help him slowly make it down to his weight class. Despite a devastating loss, the one thing Erik manages to do was come to the fight in good fighting shape without looking like walking Death. Here's a glimpse of how he did it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmW0y-ampXM

 

[Brendon Katz]

why has nobody commented here? thanks kk

cool, i especially liked that rotator cuff work on the back extension machine, doing both sides at the same time > doin each side separately.

 

[Sinister]

It's funny you mention the rotator cuff work. That joint is one of the most fragile and often injured. I saw more of Erik's program with this conditioning coach (the grey-haired guy in the video) and he said the focus was to keep Erik losing weight gradually and still explosive and full of endurance.

That's the reason the same old Erik showed up against Pacquiao. He was game, and fought hard, but Pac was just too much.

Oh and I don't think people in the Conditioning forums are used to seeing Pros train yet like they are in Stand-up.

 

[SPAZ650]

lol i had my girlfriend translate it for me..... good stuff

 

[Standard]

wasn't really too impressed with the intensity that they showed, pretty much positive that it was just the way it was filmed, i would much rather have seen a full out workout. Good find anyways, always good to see what works for other people


hey KK whats is regular walking around weight? 130 is pretty tiny, but this is coming from a guy who could lose both legs and probably still need to cut weight.

 

[Sinister]

Morales walks around at about 168 these days. He bloats up pretty good.

Keep in-mind this footage was shot kind of far out and in that footage he's at about 150 or so, maybe 145. On HBO they did the Countdown to Pacquiao/Morales III where they showed more of his conditioning and the intensity got higher the closer he got to the fight.

He started losing weight gradually, which is something he had never done before. Doing it easily and steadily as opposed to drastically cutting quickly.

 

[Standard]

Pretty damn impressive for a guy his size to be able to fluctuate nearly 40lbs. Yeah i think it would be interesting to see what one of those little sparkplugs trains like at full tilt.


Just curious KK what would you think the ideal weight for me to fight at is? 6'2" weighed in after my gym workout at 223, BF i would assume to be 11-12% There is a vid in my training log if that helps.

 

[Sinister]

Pretty damn impressive for a guy his size to be able to fluctuate nearly 40lbs. Yeah i think it would be interesting to see what one of those little sparkplugs trains like at full tilt.

Stand-up technique, Training of the Pros thread. You get to see some of the speedballs go all-out.

Just curious KK what would you think the ideal weight for me to fight at is? 6'2" weighed in after my gym workout at 223, BF i would assume to be 11-12% There is a vid in my training log if that helps.

Thanks for asking this because it gives me a chance to clarify on the Art of finding proper weight classes (which there seems to be confusion about around here). MMA fighters and a lot of Kickboxers fight way too heavy for themselves. This is something I've also noticed with some of the local Muay Thai guys. One kid who just got sponsored is my height and fights at 175, he's too short. He has a couple of losses because of it and FINALLY he's moving down where he belongs.

Before I answer you directly Standard I'll tell you about the last guy who was training with me in Florida. His name is Jacob and he has an account here as capoerista. He's exactly your height, 6'2" and when I met him I guessed that and his weight (214, I said 215) when looking at him. BUT, he's not thick-framed. He's got strength but he has more of a lanky build. So I told him it'd be best for him to fight at 185. Because he had enough bodyfat to lose to get there and at the same time would retain strength and be at a size advantage over a lot of guys at 185. Recently he went to the TUF tryouts in Hollywood (that's where he lives and I lived, I would have went were I still there), and though he didn't win either of his two matches (lost one and drew the other), he did impress Dana.

Now for you? You're different than Jacob. You HAVE a thicker more muscular build. Plus you have natural strength and are stocky even for a guy over 6'. This all of course is just the glance I got of you from that video. So I'd say you're good to go at Heavyweight. You're not too short to compete with the Sylvias of the World, and you could still get into supreme condition at about 220 of muscle. Now if you wanted to be UBER strong for a weight division you could cut down to 205, but with your height I don't think that's wholly necessary.

 

[Standard]

Thanks for the reply KK, obviously its going to be difficult for you to give get a good impression from a side shot. HW though, dang, big boys.

 

[Sinister]

Well see that's why it's crucial to get with a Coach who knows what he's talking about. The reason I say you can hang wit the Heavies is because you're not MUCH smaller than most of them height-wise, your naturally strong as Hell, and you have a low center of gravity judging by your build. This would come in handy against the guys who have only height on you. And against those who would have height AND weight, you'd be able to utilize speed possibly while perhaps matching their strength.

Whereas Jacob would be at a supreme disadvantage because he's not built the same way. He'd get overpowered and eaten up. And the funny thing is when I told him that, he told me that it happens to him all the time in training when he goes against guys either his size with more weight, or much bigger.

 

[Standard]

Really good point KK, it really is suprising the differences that people have even at the same height and nearly the same weight.

I do think at my size i would have to try and develop a quick in close fighting style to be able to utilize my strengths. I think that was another point that you brought up when discussing another persons weight. As "cool" as being an conventional striker would be i don't see it suiting up well with a weight and height disadvantage, mind you cro-cop is basically my size.

Once i get settled down from finishing school i'll really try my hand at fighting, may check out MacRea's gym, he basically lives in my backyard. We also have a terrific jiu jitsu instructor in town.

 

[Brendon Katz]

kk - im 5'6 and 169, bf around 18%. what weight class do you think i should be in for mma? i dont have a any vids or pics posted anywhere. ill have a vid in feb at the latest hopefully, im competing in amateur mma then, but maybe even before that ill get a vid from sparring or something.

 

[skeet]

kk - im 5'6 and 169, bf around 18%. what weight class do you think i should be in for mma? i dont have a any vids or pics posted anywhere. ill have a vid in feb at the latest hopefully, im competing in amateur mma then, but maybe even before that ill get a vid from sparring or something.

I'm 5' 5 1/2" and I've cut down to 145 and 6% bodyfat, I'm seriously considering going down to 135.

 

[damian55]

This is something i have always wondered myself.

What if a guy like anderson silva who is 6'2 lanky, and even a strong 185er decided he wanted to bulk up. Weight train a little bit, improve his strength. Im sure he would be a contender at 205.

or look at Roy jones, he was dominant at every weight class he was in. James Toney is another one.

Dont you think an athlete can adapt to his weight, whether its 205 or 185, if he strength trains accordingly? Does it really matter as long as your not built like Gomi and want to become a heavyweight?

 

[Brendon Katz]

I'm 5' 5 1/2" and I've cut down to 145 and 6% bodyfat, I'm seriously considering going down to 135.

65kgs? holy shit i havent weighed that much since i was like 13. my goal is just to get down to 155lbs eventually, i dont really want to go below that becuz none of the real big name orgs have a division under 155. when i started trainin my coach told me i could get down to 65kgs, but since then my body composition has changed a lot and i dont know if it would be possible without sacrificing strength. if i went into boxing, id get down as low as possible though.

 

[Sinister]

kk - im 5'6 and 169, bf around 18%. what weight class do you think i should be in for mma? i dont have a any vids or pics posted anywhere. ill have a vid in feb at the latest hopefully, im competing in amateur mma then, but maybe even before that ill get a vid from sparring or something.

I was going to say 155 or lower. I'm 5'10" and I'm heading for 155. So imagine fighting me, you'd be at a disadvantage from the get-go.

This is something i have always wondered myself.

What if a guy like anderson silva who is 6'2 lanky, and even a strong 185er decided he wanted to bulk up. Weight train a little bit, improve his strength. Im sure he would be a contender at 205.

or look at Roy jones, he was dominant at every weight class he was in. James Toney is another one.

Dont you think an athlete can adapt to his weight, whether its 205 or 185, if he strength trains accordingly? Does it really matter as long as your not built like Gomi and want to become a heavyweight?

That's not always true though. Roy Jones started out as an exceptionally gifted athlete. James Toney uses a style that very few can master that focuses on keeping him safe behind his defense. And both were busted for steroid use, so they had a little help in their weight jumps.

One thing you learn in Boxing is that it's more difficult to HURT guys that are 10lbs or more heavier than you are. And for grappling one could assume it'd be a bit more difficult to throw them around as well unless you're that much of a technican wizard.

 

[Brendon Katz]

I was going to say 155 or lower. I'm 5'10" and I'm heading for 155. So imagine fighting me, you'd be at a disadvantage from the get-go.

id imagine your very tall for the 155 lbs division though? yeh my coach is 5'11 or 6'0 and weighs 72kgs (you do the maths, its about 155) and hes the guy i spar most often with, so im kind of used 2 dealing with a huge height disadvantage.

 

[damian55]

One thing you learn in Boxing is that it's more difficult to HURT guys that are 10lbs or more heavier than you are. And for grappling one could assume it'd be a bit more difficult to throw them around as well unless you're that much of a technican wizard.

So if you gain ten pounds does it make you less susceptible to getting hurt?

 

[HP_Nut]

This is just something I noticed (I'm no expert), a lot of the top guys at LW (155-160) are around 5 foot 7 (Gomi, Mach, Kawajiri, Shaolin, Sherk, etc are between 5 foot 6 - 8).

 

[Sinister]

So if you gain ten pounds does it make you less susceptible to getting hurt?

It depends on who you're fighting. If you gain ten lbs as a Welterweight to fight a Middleweight, then no. Because the Middleweight will be naturally bigger.