Let me preface this article by saying, no matter what hoops you have to jump through to fight, it shouldn't matter what they are. If you are someone who already loves the world of combat sports and training, this is just information for you to know so that you are prepared. If it's something that sounds like too much of a pain to even bother, well... you probably don't love the sport enough to do it anyways.
No matter what the profession or hobby, counting the days and obstacles you have to overcome is a giant mistake. To become a doctor you are in school from 8 to 12 years, but the number should not matter, everything worth having in life takes hard work and time. With that said, enjoy the journey day by day, smile with every achievement and laugh through every obstacle. I hope these five points will help you get better prepared for your fight, and take the stress away of not feeling ready, inadequate, or in doing everything last minute.
1. Physicals
In my opinion the biggest nightmare a fighter must go through. You have trained for this one fight, day in and day out, ate like a lean beast, got the match up, but now you are expected to pay out of pocket to get medical work done. Every state is different, make sure to check with both your promoter and sanctioning body what is needed and if anything will be covered. The two states I am familiar with are New York and New Jersey.
New York - Physical needed to fight no matter what level. Blood work for Hep B, Hep C, and HIV is needed for all fighters competing without gear and elbows within 180 days of the event, whether it is an amateur or professional bout. This is specific to the WKA sanctioning body, I believe the USMTA let's you fight without any need for physicals.
New Jersey - NJSACB is considered to be one of the most strict, as well as most effective commissions in the US. NJSACB requires all amateur fighters to have a physical and blood work done for Hep B, Hep C, and HIV, all of which have to be negative within 180 days of the event. Females must obtain a pelvic exam and pregnancy test from an OBGYN. "A" class fighters, fighting with no gear or with elbows must obtain a dilated eye exam, CAT scan, and EKG in addition to the exams listed above.
2. Weight Cut
To some this might be the worst part of preparing for a fight, sometimes even an excuse not to fight. With 24 hour weigh ins just about everyone cuts weight to fight, whether it is 5 lbs or 20 lbs within 24 hours. To make the weight cutting process bearable, I suggest to hold yourself accountable and lose as much weight as possible prior to the 24 hour period, that way you dehydrate yourself as little as possible. I care for your longevity, so do yourself a favor and do it in the safest way possible. With that said, be ready to say no to your friends, ALOT. They won't understand that you have to go to bed early to recover for another hard session the next morning, they don't understand you can't drink and put on bitch tits to match theirs. I have eliminated any negative people that don't understand my vision. I am an athlete which means I must train and eat like my life depends on it, because in combat sports.....hold on, in life in general this holds true.
3. Make Sacrifices
Just be ready, you will disappoint someone at some point, especially if you're doing things right. You will sacrifice time with your friends, family, with school, and with work. This happens with anyone who is driven, anyone who has a goal that they want to accomplish
anything that is worth achieving takes time and hard work!
If you were to make everyone happy all of the time, every time, you would lose yourself, and when that happens, you lose those people as well anyways. So my conclusion to this is that you should do everything you can to be the best version of yourself, the right people will hop on that train with you and support you, the bottom-feeders will just grab at your ankles and make comments like "But this won't pay your bills so why are you doing it?" You don't need to answer that question, the picture of you getting your hand raised is worth a thousand and a half words, and that gold around your waist is worth more than their imbalanced body rocking out of their expensively leased car.
4. Cancellations
There is an overabundance of people who "just want to fight". Those are usually the people who will post about it all over Facebook, tell their friends they are a fighter, and one week out, drop out of the fight with a bullshit excuse. Not to say there are no serious reasons why a fight gets canceled, the fighter might have suffered an injury during camp, a concussion which could be very serious if not assessed, and of course a positive test when it comes to blood work or a pregnancy test...Yikes.
5. Intensity aka Hard Fucking Work and Mental Toughness
I wish I can tell you it gets easier, the more you fight and the more you know the harder it gets. Once you reach a certain level things don't come as quickly, it's fine tuning small things that take a lot of effort to make the next adaptation as a fighter. It it a game of a fraction of a fraction of an inch. If you have stuck to it long enough, you notice everyone has the same skills, and that they're all strong and athletic for the most part, so what makes one fighter better than another? A million of reasons, better timing, better than good technique, better than great conditioning, a stronger will, someone who doesn't take time off between fights, someone who is on the clock while you are on the couch.
Conclusion
It all comes down to mental toughness and how bad you want it. Don't worry!
You may feel like you don't have what it takes, but it is not until you are in that fight or flight moment, where you break out of your shell. Toughness can be learned, mine was beaten out of me in a garage from the first day I ever began training for example.
Remember,
Losers Quit When They Fail
Winners Fail Until They Succeed
