Eric's Log - "About Dang Time"

[onebigeric]

Rocky- Your comments always humble me, and your log always motivates me to try and keep up

Chesti- Yeah, I hate me too....wait a sec


My poor little log is in neglected mode again, but I'll get my last couple of sessions and my Chesti-requested loss story up in the next few hours.

 

[Hypocrisy86]

Eric, your gonna be able to push a 747 one legged one of these days man
keep it up and you could push open a solid vault lol
680WU? thats unheard of buddy, your getting in the ring with ronnie buddy
your strength is beyond massive, natural hulk

 

[Tunen]

Looking forward to the updates bro Always fun to read the log of such a powerhouse as yourself. Knowing that reaching similar levels of strength is unrealistic

 

[Rocky]

Rocky- Your comments always humble me, and your log always motivates me to try and keep up

As if you have to keep up with me!! I think Ronnie is the one looking over his shoulder!

 

[Lionheart]

God damn ,your strong!!

 

[onebigeric]

Hypo- Thank you Ronnie is on a different planet than me, but I'll do what I can to emulate his quad workouts of insanity.

Tunen- I may be strong, but I can't touch your cuts. Your front squats are nothing to dismiss either:xyxthimbs:

Rocky- I just calls 'em as I sees 'em

Lionheart- Thank you I have tall man's syndrome, and as such I've just found that pushing the envelope on quads is the way to growth for me.


A few hours has turned into a few more; I'll be sure to update my log this afternoon. Once again, thank you so much for all of the views and support here guys

 

[philosopher]

Awesome weights as usual. keep up the good work

 

[onebigeric]

Philosopher- Thank you for stopping by in my log

Alrighty, I'll toss up my last couple of sessions here, followed by my loss story for Chesti.

Shoulders

Standing Side Laterals

35X15(warmup)
40X15(warmup)

Barbell Military Press

135X15(warmup)
225X15
315X7
285X11

Seated Side Laterals

40X10
50X10
60X9ugh

Chest Flye Rear Laterals

140X15(warmup)
200X15
230X11

 

[onebigeric]

Chest

Decline Barbell Presses

135X15(warmup)
315X12
315X9
275X11

Hammer Strength Flat Press

225X15(warmup)
315X15
405X11
495X6disgust:I've hit that for ten before, but it was when it was sloted as my initial lift)

Incline Barbell Press

225X15
225X17
225X17
225X11ugh

Cable Crossovers

100X15(working warmup)
120X10
150X11

Triceps

Behind the Head Dumbbell Presses
70X15(warmup)
100X15
115X11
125X8

Overhead Rope Pulls

100X15(working warmup)
150X15
150X15
150X16

Single Arm Cross Pulldowns

40X15
55X9
50X13

Nothing spectacular, but it was groovy all the same. I'm excited to train after work tonight, and my cardio has been coming along more as well

 

[Hypocrisy86]

495 for presses, INSANE BUDDY, you can hit the 10 man
overall thats one massive workout!

 

[onebigeric]

Hypo- Thank you I'm going to hit said presses first in my next chest workout, just to see what I can do.


Alrighty, here's my loss story. I actually love this experience; I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I had been in MMA for about two years at this point, and I was riding on seven straight wins. I wasn't nearly as trained as I am now; in retrospect, I think I was seriously lucky in going undefeated for that long. No real flukes mind you, but luck all the same. All my fights up to that point had been in small-ish venues, and I believe I was getting a slightly inflated sense of myself at that point. I feel truly blessed that humility came knocking on my door.


I'd received good notice on the fight itself, and I was training hard. I was too used to winning though, and I couldn't see myself doing anything but in this bout as well. That's a good mindset to have, but not when it's laced with pride.

Fight night came, and I was a little jittery in the back. I made up for it by warming up continuously, but it did drain my tank just a bit. I got my five minute warning, and I was good to go.

Music hit and I made my entrance. This was my first decently sized venue, with about 700 people in attendance. I played to the crowd a lot and they seemed to dig it; my opponent then made his way down. He looked ready and dead calm; I re-evaluated my strategy then and there, which was a mistake mentally if nothing else.

We were scheduled for two five minute rounds as we weren't the main event on the card. I'd planned on coming out fast and banging with the guy, and when the bell rang, I did just that. Problem was, he came right out throwing leather as well. I caught a nice right that made me stumble less than thirty seconds in, and the only thing that kept him from capitalizing was the stiff left I connected with when he tried to rush in. We each backed off at that point, circled for a second or three, and then started in again.

I started mixing in some good leg kicks with my combinations, and he countered that with some seriously accurate overhand rights. There was absolutely no give in this guy, and I realized three minutes in that I was in my first true war. The crowd had been going nuts the entire time, and that raised even more when he shot in and secured a nice double leg takedown on me after I'd thrown another 1-2-leg kick combo. I cinched him into my guard though, and as I heard the one minute scream we were frantically scrambling for position; him to pass, and me to position a submission.

I was able to negate a lot of his attempted ground and pound/passing, but I was using up a lot of energy doing so. Almost out of nowhere, my legs settled into a perfect triangle choke. I cinched that freaking thing in with everything I had, and I could hear him wheezing. Just as I felt him going a little limp, the freaking bell rang. Bollocks

I immediately released the hold and rolled away. I helped my opponent up, and out of nowhere he smiled and hugged me. It was a little werid, but it did put a sloppy smile on my face; the crowd roared at the sign of sportsmanship. As I made my way to my corner though, I realized that I was freaking tired. Looking across I could see that my opponent was as well; we'd both gone out and thrown everything down for an entire round. It was a beautiful moment of clarity.

Minute was up, the referee set us, and the bell rang again. We both came out smiling, enthusiastically slapped gloves, and started all over again. He immediately tried to shoot, but I sprawled and stopped the attempt. I transitioned to underhooks and threw in a nice knee that I felt connect, but as I went for another he grabbed my rear leg, hoisted me up, and slammed me to the mat. It wasn't the cleanest slam I've had/made/seen, but it was glorious. He immediately went from side control to a full mount and tried to posture up; basically tried to work his knees into my armpits in order to limit my mobility.

Before he fully could though, I planted my feet, grabbed his left leg, and bucked and rolled him over. I threw the leg and transitioned to side control, then quickly threw my left leg and achieved a full mount. The whole exchange took maybe six seconds, and it's still to date one of the most furious stretches I've had in MMA. Again, it was amazing; the crowd screamed their approval.

I successfully postured up and started to fire down shots. He was covering well, so I started swinging my strikes in from the side to break the predictibility. It worked, and he started eating some serious hits. Thing was, I didn't see or feel him panic at all. All of a sudden, I feel two hairy snakes wrap around my chest and face; he'd thrown his freaking legs up and basically crucifixed me backwards to beat my mount. He was a freaking monkey, and I was in a bad position. I used the motion of the pull to roll and twist away from his attempted vice; it was ugly, but it got me back on my feet. He got back to his, the crowd screamed, and we started circling again.

Someone shouted out two minutes, and we both just snapped. Bomb for bomb, we just railed each other; his right leg was getting purple, but it almost seemed like he didn't freaking notice it. At this point I was bleeding from the bridge of my nose, and I'd opened him up under his left eye. We were both hitting near empty when someone screamed one minute. We just kept going though, and I think I remember seeing a lot of people on their feet; honestly, things got a little hazy at that point.

Out of nowhere, I was falling. There was a searing pain in my left knee, and I was yelling like a freak. Seconds stretched into eternity, and I remember seeing a lot of white little spots.I can't remember if I tapped or not, but the next thing I knew, the bell was ringing and everyone was screaming. In reviewing tape I saw that my opponent had scissored my left leg in a freaky little takedown manuever; having it isolated, he cranked in a serious kneebar [basically bending my knee backward]. I tried thrashing around, then slapped down with my right arm as I tried to roll or something. The referee interperted that as a tap, and the fight was called.

Decision: Loss via Kneebar at 4:53 of the Second Round.

Everything really came into focus in a snap after I heard the bell ring. The pain ebbed away and I felt my leg being released. I scrambled into the ropes and just propped myself into a semi-sitting position on them, basically in shock. My corner team came over with the on-site doc to check me out, but I really didn't notice them much. What I did notice was my opponent, head bowed and on all four in the center of the ring. He then crawled over to me (and through the people around me, which was hilarious in retrospect), grabbed the back of my neck with his right hand, and basically headbutted our foreheads together. He gave me some extremely humbling props and thanked me for the opportunity to step in and fight; he then stood up and made his way to his corner to get cleaned up. I was helped to my feet and taken over to my little alcove for the same treatment.

As I sat there, I was overcome with the beautiful honesty of the moment. I had come out and put absolutely everything I had on the table, and my opponent had done exactly the same; I'd lost to a truly better fighter, and I was honored beyond words to have done so. That moment of clarity has kept me hungry in my training ever since, and I imagine it always will. We both made our way to center ring for the official announcement, and the crowd wouldn't stop screaming during the entire thing. After the ref raised his hand, he walked over and raised mine. I was seriously crying a little at this point, and it was awesome. We hugged, said a few more things to each other, and actually made our way to the back at the same time.

The main event ended up being a gassed out snooze fest, and in light of that the promoter gave us each $250 for having the fight of the night. It was the first time I'd been paid to compete as well, so that was another little landmark. I went home that night beat up and uglier than usual, but it was the first real time that I truly realized how much I loved MMA. The honesty and excellence of the sport surpasses anything else on the face of the planet in my mind, and I'm continually humbled and grateful for being a part of something so great.

 

[Hypocrisy86]

Wow... that made me cry a little man
he seems like a nice guy, i hope your knee recovers man
wish i was there to cheer ya on bud
dang.. i should do these fights, ive been smashed on the head with a slugger without blinking once, taken hits is easy. but damn, you stood your ground, what you did is truly motivating. do your best, give it all... and without getting paid, you have true sportsmanship. thanks Eric!

 

[miamiracing]

wow what a great story brother
i really enjoyed it.. sometimes you win sometimes you loose but you life what you fight for

and great workout too.

miami

 

[Lionheart]

Incredible..thank you for telling that story!

 

[Chesticles]

That was great man, you know most people would just be bitter about losing, but it's good to see you take it in stride Big E

Any chance of a rematch?

 

[philosopher]

Great story. You have to know how it feels to lose as well. I always say what doesnt kill you makes you stronger. Next time hes yours

 

[Rocky]

As always a truly inspiring read of what sounded to be an awesome experience for one reason or another. That's the best way to look at things like that and take away what you can from it which it sounded like you did.

I don't even think I'll bother to mention the sheer incredulity of yet another weight destroying session that preceded that little tale.

 

[Tunen]

Couldn't rep you bro but that fight story is just awesome. You have a way of expressing yourself that is very captivating. Huge props for posting this!

And the shoulder presses are friggin SiCK!

 

[Bulkboy]

time for updates big guy!;D

 

[PrizeFighteR]

Wow dude what an awesome story! Your presses are nasty. Need updates for sure!