Behind the Scenes — A Fighter’s Sacrifices
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The crowd is excited on fight night. The sound of cheering and excitement is heard throughout the venue.
However, the road behind a fighter’s travel to that point is long and involves a great deal of sacrifice.
The day in and day out grind and dedication is what makes a good fighter. It’s important to think about what these athletes go through before the big show takes place.
Food:
A fighter needs to always be aware of what he is putting into his body. However, in training camp it’s even more important.
Feeding the body to fuel training requirements is essential to keeping up their strength. Eating healthy is more time consuming for a fighter and usually costs more.
Social Life:
It’s hard to have a social life when you are a fighter. Some fighters attend training camps far away from their loved ones.
Going to any social function involves watching what you eat. It’s important to get a good night’s rest leading up to the fight. So late nights are a no-no. Fighter’s need to be extremely dedicated to stay on track.
It’s important they surround themselves with friends and family who understand their purpose and journey.
Work/Life/Training Balance:
Balancing work, life, and training can become a true juggling act. Until the big pay cheques for fighting start rolling in, fighters still need a daily job to pay the bills.
This constant work/life/training balance can be incredibly stressful.
Cutting weight:
Cutting the final pounds can be grueling. Can you imagine having to lose 10-15 pounds in a few days?
Most people can’t do that in a few months. Everything that goes into their bodies in advance of fight night needs to be carefully scrutinized. Some athletes rely on water loading causing them frequent trips to the bathroom during the day.
Some use saunas or hot tubs to sweat off the pounds. This is hard on the body and can be extremely stressful for the athlete.
Medical Tests:
Medical requirements are strict for MMA fighters. These tests can be expensive and are paid for at the fighter’s expense.
MRI’s, physicals, and ophthalmologist exams are not cheap. All these tests must be up-to-date and ready to provide in advance of fight night.
So, the next time you are watching a fighter make his walk out to the cage, remember what he/she has gone through to make it there.
It’s more than just that night.
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Make sure to follow The Scrap News (@thescrapnews) on Twitter.
The Scrap’s Caroline Romero is a journalism graduate and has 3 children involved in combat sport. Make sure to follow her son Simon Romero on his Behind The Grind podcast on YouTube.
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