This post was originally published in 2012. Sadly, weight cutting has been back in the MMA news lately for all the wrong reasons. While fighters would undoubtedly be better off if nobody cut weight, there are no easy solutions to stop it from happening. Unless and until things change, education and understanding the risks is crucial.  Weight cutting is a frequent topic of obsession for fighters and debate amongst fans. Some have argued that it amounts to cheating. Others point out that when done badly, it can be one of the most dangerous aspects of MMA. Dehydration can result in ..read more

As part of my big clear out, I’ve been going back through my blog archives and revisiting some of the things I’ve written over the years. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be re-posting a few of my favourites. This one from 2010 seems like a good place to start. Someone asked me a question this week about how I deal with pre-fight nerves. It’s something that’s individual to each fighter, and that comes with experience. Here’s some thoughts about the way I approach it and the tools that I’ve found useful in dealing with it. Before some of my fights I worked with a good sports psychologist ..read more

Here’s another repost from 2010. Looking back over the last five years, there’s been a lot of change within the MMA world. Women are now competing in all the major promotions, and many more are getting involved in combat sports at amateur and recreational levels. Although finding good training partners is less of an issue for female fighters than it used to be, much of this is still relevant.  People sometimes ask me whether I think it’s better for female MMA fighters to train with other women, or to train mostly with men. The argument is sometimes made – often by women who have predomina ..read more