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Boetsch reflects on last fight against Samman
Whether they admit it or not, fighters have a bond like no other. It’s the product of engaging in combat and knowing the struggle to make it in the world’s toughest business. Sure, there can be bad blood before a fight, but in most cases, 15 or 25 minutes in an Octagon can solve any dispute.
There was no such bad blood when Tim Boetsch fought Josh Samman in July. But there was no lack of intensity between the two middleweights, either. Samman was attempting to bounce back from his first UFC loss seven months earlier, while Boetsch was on a three-fight skid that put his spot on the roster in jeopardy.
Those were high stakes, and on the night in South Dakota, it was Boetsch who emerged victorious, stopping Samman in the second round. Boetsch had given a positive jolt to his career. Less than three months later, Samman had passed away at 28.
RELATED: Josh Samman, 28, made his mark on the sport | Tim Boetsch matchup w/ Rafael Natal at UFC 205
On July 13, it was just another fight. The winner moves on, the loser regroups and returns. By October 5, it took on a whole different meaning. Tim Boetsch will always be a part of the Josh Samman story, and he knows it.
“He was such a talent, and it was not only in the cage that he had talent and ability and was a physical specimen,” Boetsch said. “But through his writing you could see that he was an intelligent person and it’s just unfortunate that the stress of his life can take that kind of toll on somebody. I really wish that he had reached out a little bit harder or somebody had taken notice. It eats at me a little bit and I still think about it. That’s something I’m going to live with. I was the last guy in the cage with him and it’s really unfortunate that it went the way it did.”
Boetsch has always been all class, and his reaction to the passing of a fellow brother in arms is no surprise. But at the same time, there is the necessity to move on, and on November 12, he will be back in the Octagon to face Rafael Natal
on the UFC 205 card at Madison Square Garden. It’s a high-profile bout for “The Barbarian,” and it’s almost as if the win over Samman was so impressive that it erased the memory of his three-fight losing streak.
“I’m not gonna lie,” he said. “It did. That fight, I went in there with the pure intention of just throwing him down and smashing him. And my track record shows that that is the most efficient tactic that I can use in any fight. And it was a reminder that, hey, it’s good to go learn all this new stuff and hone these skills. But at the end of the day, if you need to just throw someone down and smash them, do that, because that works.”
It was a return to form for Boetsch, a fighter who always delivered his best UFC performances when he simply showed up and got into a fistfight. And that not only allowed him to succeed and keep a steady roster spot for over six years, but it garnered him a faithful fan base of diehard and casual followers.
“A lot of people can connect to that, even people without knowledge of fighting,” Boetsch said. “They can look at me in there and they’re like, ‘Yeah, he’s just smashing on that guy. That’s cool.’ (Laughs) And let’s be honest, a lot of people just want to see that. You can appreciate MMA fans that understand all the technicality of the sport, but there’s a huge number of people out there that want to show up and see somebody get smashed. And I’m willing to provide that.”
At 35, Boetsch is still that guy. Hard-nosed, old school and ready to do whatever it takes to get the win, but his greatest attribute might be his grit. It was likely what got him through a fight with Samman that many expected him to lose. But the oddsmakers never won anyone a fight.
“The odds were incredibly in his favor,” he said. “I think it was like 4 to 1 or something like that. But I’m not upset about that. I’ve been counted out in a lot of fights that have gone the other way for me. There were even people talking about that being my last fight. But I’m not ready to be done.”
You can’t teach that attitude.
“I believe that you either have it or you don’t,” Boetsch said. “Before I was involved in school sports or even elementary wrestling, me and my friends would go in the yard and tussle really hard, and there would be four of them against me and I’d come out victorious every time. It’s just something that God put inside of me – I like being in a fight and I like knowing that I can win, and I’m gonna do whatever it takes to win. That’s why I was a successful wrestler, it’s why I’m a successful fighter. As long as I’m in the fight, I believe I have a chance to win.”
On November 12, he gets to do it in “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
“It’s not just a fight,” he said. “We’re making history that night, it’s gonna be crazy, and I’m really excited to be a part of it. I have very high expectations for myself and I know I’m not on the main card, so it might be a difficult thing to do, but I think it would be pretty cool to double bonus. I’m fighting a guy who can take a beating, and I certainly know I can give one, so it would be nice to get Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night at the Garden.”
‘Pitbull’ Alves ready to bite again after long layoff
It might be a cliché used a thousand times over the course of Thiago Alves’s mixed martial arts career, but he’s used to it and he likes it, especially leading up to his return to the Octagon on November 12 against Jim Miller.
This “Pitbull” is ready to bite, and after nearly 18 months on the sidelines, he wants to be let off his leash.
“I think it’s a new beginning,” he said. “It’s a new beginning with a new weight class where I know I’m going to be ten times more competitive and that’s scary because I’ve been part of the top welterweights for years and years. And now I have a whole new set of fighters I can go through and that’s exciting. At this stage of my career, for an old dog to be that excited, that’s a scary thing.”
It is, but it’s also scary for a veteran of over 14 years in the sport to be changing neighborhoods from welterweight to lightweight, but after his May 2015 loss to Carlos Condit and an injury-induced layoff, the Brazilian bomber decided that it was time to make a change.
“It’s like I have a brand new body,” Alves said. “I’m way more athletic, and the things I can do with my body now, I wasn’t able to do since I was a young fighter. As you get older, I truly believe that you should be getting lighter because it’s less weight for your body to carry, and I feel fantastic.”
At 33, Alves is far from old, even in fight years, and he won two straight before his loss to Condit. And while the 155-pound weight class is just as brutal competition-wise as 170 is, the American Top Team standout is eager to start getting down to business in his new division.
“I’m just now approaching my prime at 33 years old, I’ve been through everything a fighter can possibly go through, and now I’m going to a weight class where the guys are my height and probably not as strong as I am,” he said. “I have a ton of experience with me and I’m gonna bring that with a lot of strength and will to win to be the best I can be and become a champion. So I’m going to bring all this and just unleash it on all these lightweights.”
The prospects for Alves against any number of opponents is intriguing, and the exciting matchups are nearly endless. But more important is the fact that he is actually back after this layoff, as well as the one that took him out of action for two years from 2012 to 2014. He says he never doubted that he would one day be back with gloves on.
“Not at all,” Alves said. “I knew I was always due for a comeback and it was just a matter of getting there and getting it done again. It’s never a fun thing to be sidelined and injured, but because I’ve been through it so many times, I learned how to deal with it better. Life is how you handle everything that happens. So I’ve been through it many, many times and I said, ‘You know what, I know exactly what to do; I’m just gonna regroup, get better and come back stronger than before.’ I know I’m ready and willing to do the walk any given day. So it’s no big news for me.”
That news is big for fight fans and for the rest of the lightweight division, though, especially for New Jersey’s Miller, the first man the 155-pound version of the “Pitbull” will face at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s an extra motivation to be in another big show in this organization, and I don’t take this for granted at all,” he said. “I appreciate everything that I’m able to do for this company and I’m prepared to put on a show. I know Jim Miller is gonna come ready, but it’s going to be a bad night for him. You don’t want to be against me from now on inside the Octagon. It’s a bad move.”
Muhammad ready to put on a show at MSG
Despite being Chicago born and bred, UFC welterweight prospect Belal Muhammad always wanted to go to Madison Square Garden. Next month, he gets his chance.
“To be in the Garden is one of my bucket list things,” he said. “I always wanted to watch a Knicks game or something inside the Garden because it’s a historic place. I wanted to be there to sit in the audience, but to be fighting there is even bigger. When they called me for the fight, I didn’t even care who the opponent was. It was yes to anybody.”
Marv Albert would be proud.
Fight fans aren’t surprised, though. Since Muhammad said yes to a short notice bout against Alan Jouban in July, he fought Augusto “Dodger” Montano in September and then it was another yes to take on Lyman Good at UFC 205 on November 12. Good was removed from the bout last week due to a potential Anti-Doping violation that caused him to be provisionally suspended by USADA, with Vicente Luque brought in as a replacement.
Muhammad is still here and still fighting at MSG.
Get ready for UFC 205: Fight card for Nov. 12 | Champions Alvarez, McGregor to headline historic card | Woodley-Wonderboy welterweight title clash set | Polish stars Jedrzejczyk, Kowalkiewicz perfect for NYC | Few tickets remain, buy now
“When I was fighting on the local circuit outside of the UFC, I wasn’t getting any calls because nobody wanted to fight me around here on the smaller shows,” he said. “It was so hard for me to find fights, so I had to wait six months, seven months to find a fight, and I was taking long breaks in between, but I wasn’t hurt and I was always training. So now that I’m in the UFC, I’m able to get quick turnaround fights because I’m always in shape, always training and always learning. So why not get paid for it? (Laughs) I love to fight. It’s my playground in there, so when they call me, I’m gonna say yes, no matter what.”
That attitude has made him one of the top newcomers of the year in the UFC, as well as a fan favorite thanks to a style that always sees him looking to put on a fight. Against Jouban, he lost a decision but won a Fight of the Night bonus, and against Montano, he scored a third round knockout. It’s an impressive start, and if he can snap Luque’s three-fight winning streak, he may be looking at a Top 15 opponent in 2017. That’s the long-term goal, but for now, it will be turning the crowd that will likely be in the corner of Luque, a native of New Jersey.
“I like that type of situation where the fans are booing me,” Muhammad said. “I like to make them change their mind. After the Montano fight, they were cheering for me. I put on fights where the fans are gonna like me no matter what. They may hate me at the beginning of the fight, but at the end of the fight they’re gonna respect me and they’re gonna want to cheer for me. So I’m happy with that type of situation.”
As for the next situation, the 28-year-old isn’t just happy to be here. He’s ready to start planning his assault on the elite at 170 pounds.
“After my first fight, it (being a UFC fighter) really didn’t sink in,” he said. “Now it’s starting to sink in and I have to be at the point where I think that I belong. I know a couple guys who made it to the big show and they were like, ‘I made it.’ Then they’ll lose and be like, ‘Well, at least I made it to the UFC.’ I want to be the guy that’s ranked, that’s in title contention and that the fans want to watch. I don’t want to be satisfied with just making it. I’m gonna keep working to the point where once you say UFC, I’m one of the first names you bring up.”
UFC statement on Guido Cannetti
The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Guido Cannetti of a potential Anti-Doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on October 5, 2016. USADA has provisionally suspended Cannetti based on the potential anti-doping violation.
Cannetti was scheduled to fight Marco Beltran next Saturday in Mexico City. The UFC is currently exploring whether a replacement to fight Beltran can be arranged.
USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case. It is important to note that, under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full fair legal review process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. Consistent with all previous potential anti-doping violations, additional information or UFC statements will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
Carmouche to make history again in NYC
As the first woman to ever compete in the UFC Octagon, Liz Carmouche might have just wanted to wait around to make a little more history by becoming the first fighter to ever compete in Madison Square Garden, hence her 19-month layoff from active duty.
She laughs at such a suggestion.
“If I had known that’s all it would have taken, then I would have let everything fall down and be like, ‘I’ll let it all go and just wait it out,’ because eventually this awesome opportunity is gonna wait for me and I can just take grasp of it and run with it.”
Obviously that isn’t the case with the No. 9-ranked women’s bantamweight contender, who faces Katlyn Chookagian at UFC 205 on November 12 in her first bout since a win over Lauren Murphy in April of 2015.
RELATED CONTENT: Carmouche fighter bio | Matchup with Katlyn Chookagian
“It seemed like the timing of life,” she said of her absence. “Everything came to a climax all at the same time and a heavy wave swept me out to sea and I finally made it back to shore. Between business issues, family issues, medical issues, you name it, anything underneath the sun, it all decided to smash me all at once. So I had to kind of step aside from everything and focus on that. But I was able to get everything in order and now I am back on the grind harder than ever.”
Making the call to put a momentary halt to her fight career was a bold one, but instead of trying to fight while distracted and then ending up with a bunch of losses, Carmouche made the right move, as the United States Marine Corps veteran is well aware that a fight career doesn’t last forever, so it was time to pay attention to life outside the Octagon. Not that it was easy.
“It was really difficult, but if there’s one thing that I’ve learned is that with our fight life, it’s such a short-lived period,
and at any moment it can be stripped from us,” she said. “So I own and operate a gym full-time, and whether I have a bad training day or not, I still have a job I have to do. If I got in a car accident and I was a paraplegic and my fight career was over and that was the only thing I was banking on, that would be it for the rest of my life and I’d be screwed. And that’s the realization I had. I have the ability to realize that whether it’s that I retire or something terrible happens, I have to be prepared for a long life and a future ahead of me with a real career that’s gonna be there for me. I give everything I have to fighting – I always have and I always will – but I also have to prepare for the idea that it may turn out that I’m going to live to 80 years old and I’m gonna need something there for me. So I’m trying to prepare for that and help take care of my family.”
At 32, Carmouche has a long way to go before 80, and there’s still plenty of time left in her fighting life, which she is happy to get back to next month. Add in that she gets to return in Madison Square Garden, and that has amped up her excitement level, especially since she helped in the fight to get MMA sanctioned in the Empire State.
“A few years ago, I was one of the fighters that they brought to go to Albany and help lobby to legalize MMA in New York,” she said. “And one of the things I said when I was leaving there was, ‘Man, I really hope that this pays off and that I can be one of those fighters that’s fortunate enough to make history and be one of the first fighters to fight in Madison Square Garden.’ That’s everybody’s dream. Anybody that’s ever watched boxing or MMA, that is the place to be. My mom was born and raised in New York City, and to be able to fight for her and fight there and bring that to all of our family that’s wanted to see this, that’s a gift to me. I’ve been to Madison Square Garden. That’s a beautiful place, and I can make history now and be there.”
As for her opponent, rising star Chookagian, Carmouche knows that she’s in for a tough fight, but after being away for so long, she would have fought anyone, and she let UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby know it.
“I told him I just want to get in the mix,” she said. “I don’t care who it is, I don’t care when, where. I just want to fight – that’s all I care about now.”
She laughs.
“I was kind of nagging him.”
That’s okay. It shows that the time away hasn’t dulled Carmouche’s fighting spirit. If anything, the break has ignited that fire.
“We all go through different difficulties in life, and every time we can come out on top and survive through it and only get sharper through what we’ve learned, it makes us better people. It shows us our character and what we’re made out of, it makes us stronger, and that’s exactly what it’s done for me.”
Kennedy’s connection to NYC runs deep
For New York fighters like Chris Weidman, Rashad Evans and Rafael Natal, November 12 is a date they won’t ever forget as they compete in Madison Square Garden for the first time. Yet it’s a native of San Luis Obispo, California – Tim Kennedy – who may have the deepest connection to the Big Apple as he prepares for his UFC 205 bout against Evans.
“I enlisted into the United States Army because of 9/11,” Kennedy said, recalling the terrorist attacks of 2001 that devastated a nation and brought it together as well.
Ten days before September 11, Kennedy had just turned 22 years old, and like many young people that age, was working a job that wasn’t a destination, but a blip on the journey. That journey changed significantly that morning.
“I was sitting at a computer in California during the dot.com bubble,” he said. “I was answering customer service emails on the east coast, so I had gone in early that day, and I watched the second plane crash into the tower live. I was standing at the recruiter’s office that afternoon.”
Kennedy went on to become a decorated member of the United States Armed Forces and an American hero. And when he sets foot in New York City less than two weeks from now, it’s not just another fight.
“New York was the genesis of who I am and what I became,” he said. “To become a Special Forces sniper, a Ranger-qualified Green Beret, having gone to every single corner of the world, fighting terrorism for America. And New York is the beginning of all of that for me. My family – my dad, my grandparents – they’re from upstate, so I have a connection to the state itself, and it’s significant to me on a lot of different levels. It’s the jewel of the American spirit, it is the true melting pot, it’s the cornerstone of what America is. Even though the state itself and the politics and all that junk don’t necessarily jibe with who I am, New York is America. It’s still blue collar, it’s still hard work, it’s still the Yankees, it’s still everything that sometimes we wish we were and sometimes we’re not.”
If that doesn’t make a New Yorker a fan of Kennedy, nothing will. But there will still be those who boo him on November 12 simply because he’s fighting Niagara Falls’ Evans. He’s cool with that.
“It’s fine,” Kennedy laughs. “It’s one of the endearing characteristics of New York, how passionate and loyal New Yorkers are to their teams, to their athletes. There could not be more loyal and committed fans. So I’ll go out there, and if they’re booing me, I’ll still be proud that I’m fighting in New York.”
Emotions aside, Kennedy is more than focused on the task at hand next month. Despite Evans’ resume at 205 pounds, where he was light heavyweight champion and a constant presence in the top 10 before and after winning the belt, “Suga” will be making his maiden voyage to 185 pounds, and as far as his opponent is concerned, that’s a trip into a shark tank the likes of which he’s never seen before.
“The speed is definitely different,” Kennedy said of life at middleweight. “The power’s the same. Luke (Rockhold), Jacare (Souza), myself, Chris Weidman, Derek Brunson – everybody hits hard and everybody’s fast. They have the speed of the 155, 170 guys and the power of the 205 guys. I think the 185 division is the most dangerous and the most athletic in all of the UFC. If you look at the top 10-12 guys, it’s scary. It’s a frightening group of dudes.”
Kennedy remains one of the scariest, despite being out of action since September of 2014. Following his controversial
Michael Bisping.
“I’ve been with and beaten most of the guys at the top, including the champion,” he said. “If you go back and look at my Jacare fight, it wasn’t controversial like the Yoel Romero fight, but everyone else in attendance thought that I beat him that night. And Yoel, I still can’t even count that as a loss. I knocked him out, he didn’t answer the bell. In every world of pugilistic competition, that’s a loss (for him). I have a huge win over the champion, I’m 4-1 in my last five fights with my only loss being a super controversial, asterisk loss. A win here (against Evans) in decisive, explosive fashion, you have to say, ‘Should Tim Kennedy be fighting Michael Bisping next?’ But you’re never going to hear Michael Bisping say my name. If he fights me, I can knock him out, I can submit him, or I can brutalize him for 25 minutes like I did last time. I can do that anytime, and he knows it.”
Dana on hand at World Series Game 3
UFC President Dana White made a special appearance on the FS1 World Series Game 3 pregame show, talking big fights, making his game picks, and sharing a few laughs with Pete Rose, Alex Rodriguez and Frank Thomas.
.@ufc President @danawhite joins the Game 3 pregame show NEXT on FS1! #WorldSeries https://t.co/IRoLnZszhP
— FS1 (@FS1) October 28, 2016
.@ufc President @danawhite with the guys NOW on FS1. #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/jC2Slp99s4
— FS1 (@FS1) October 28, 2016
The UFC boss is in Chicago with his father-in-law, a lifelong Cubs fan, and visited with the FS1 guys to talk about the mega UFC 205 fight card and Ronda Rousey’s return.
Fans can watch World Series Game 3 between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs on FOX.
USADA Statement on Adam Hunter
USADA and the British Columbia Athletic Commission (BCAC) announced today that UFC® athlete Adam Hunter, of New Brunswick, Canada, has received a two-year sanction for an anti-doping policy violation after testing positive for multiple prohibited substances.
Hunter, 32, tested positive for tamoxifen metabolite, boldenone metabolites, methandienone metabolites, drostanolone metabolite, and clenbuterol following an out-of-competition urine test ordered by USADA and conducted by one of its partner national anti-doping organizations, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, on August 11, 2016. These non-specified substances are prohibited at all times under the BCAC Anti-Doping Policy and the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, both of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List. On the WADA Prohibited List, tamoxifen is a substance in the class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators, while boldenone, methandienone, drostanolone, and clenbuterol are substances in the class of Anabolic Agents.
Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, the standard sanction for an anti-doping policy violation involving a non-specified substance is a two-year period of ineligibility.
Hunter’s two-year period of ineligibility began on August 26, 2016, the date on which he was provisionally suspended by USADA and determined to be in non-compliance with his BCAC signed declaration. In addition, Hunter has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to August 11, 2016, the date his positive sample was collected, including forfeiture of any title, ranking, purse or other compensation.
“By testing athletes and upholding anti-doping rules, as we’ve done in this case, the BCAC and USADA are helping to protect athlete safety and maintain the integrity of the sport,” said BCAC Commissioner Wayne Willows.
USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart further noted, “From day one, the goal of the UFC Anti-Doping Program has been to promote a clean Octagon and allow athletes to compete on a level playing field. Working with partners like the BCAC helps to ensure that goal becomes a reality.”
USADA conducts the year-round, independent anti-doping program for all UFC athletes. USADA is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental agency whose sole mission is to preserve the integrity of competition, inspire true sport, and protect the rights of clean athletes. The anti-doping program run by USADA for UFC athletes includes education, science and research, testing, and results management. Official UFC Anti-Doping Program information and athlete resources are available at UFC.USADA.org.
Chookagian Gets Her Madison Square Garden Fight After All
Katlyn Chookagian thought her opportunity to fight in Madison Square Garden had passed her by.
A win over one of the greatest female boxers to ever emerge from New York City, Christina Cruz, would have put the Pennsylvania native in the Mecca of boxing, but a split decision loss in the New York Golden Gloves semifinals instead sent Cruz to win another one of her record ten titles in the storied tournament.
Chookagian eventually moved on to mixed martial arts, and on November 12, she gets her MSG fight.
“If I would have won (against Cruz), I would have fought in Madison Square Garden,” she said. “Then I started doing MMA, and I was like, ‘Man, I lost my chance to ever fight at Madison Square Garden.’ But now, the first card there, I’m fighting, so I’m super excited.”
Call it glory delayed, not denied, and Chookagian won’t just be on the first UFC card to be held in Madison Square Garden; she’ll be the first mixed martial artist to compete in the building when she faces Liz Carmouche in the UFC 205 opener. That’s a lot of pressure, but Kenilworth, New Jersey’s “Blonde Fighter” isn’t feeling an ounce of it.
“I’ve had a lot of fights,” she said. “Including amateurs, this is like my 15th fight and I’ve done a bunch of boxing and kickboxing fights before I started MMA, so every fight feels kind of the same. This fight is awesome because I’m on the same card with my teammates Frankie Edgar and Eddie Alvarez, so being on the card with them and having that energy in the room during the camp has definitely helped. But I don’t feel any extra pressure.”
If anything, the 27-year-old thought that nerves might get to her in the lead-up to her UFC debut against Lauren Murphy in July. But against the former Invicta FC champion, Chookagian fought like an old pro en route to a unanimous decision win that lifted her pro MMA record to 8-0 and showcased a slick striking style that had her one step ahead of Murphy all night.
“That’s how we train all the time,” she said. “I see some fighters, they fight and then they go on vacation for a month. That fight, I took it on two weeks’ notice, and when I fought in regional promotions, my last couple fights were five-round fights, so coming off that to a three-round fight was a lot easier. But the biggest thing I work on all the time with my coaches Mark (Henry) and Jamal (Patterson) is footwork. That’s what we do non-stop. I train 15 sessions a week and three days of sparring, whether I’m in camp or not, and we spar exactly how we fight, so that’s what helps it become natural. It’s almost like I’m doing it without thinking. Sometimes when I’m in there, I feel like I’m a robot for my coaches. (Laughs) Whatever they say, I do exactly that and it’s been working for me, so I trust them.”
In addition to her technical skills, Chookagian delivered a fast pace that kept her in control throughout the Murphy bout, and that’s something that will likely aid her against former world title challenger Carmouche, who will be coming off a 19-month layoff by the time the two step into the Octagon. That work ethic isn’t just developed in the gym though. It’s developed in several gyms, as well as on the road as Chookagian travels all throughout New Jersey and even to Brooklyn and Manhattan to get her work in.
“I don’t want to complain because some people live in areas where they go to their gym and they have two coaches and that’s it,” she said during a week in which her car battery died and she got two flat tires during her travels. “I’m lucky to have these different opportunities around me. Yesterday, I went to Gleason’s to spar, but I’m not complaining because I get to box with world champions. I go to Renzo’s and I train with girls and guys that are black belt world champions. I wrestle with State champions. So the little bit of sacrifice to spend driving everywhere and traveling is definitely worth it.”
That’s a lot of sacrifice. Plus, you can add in that her boyfriend lives in Long Island. But she laughs it off because she doesn’t know any other way than this. She says even days off produce the thought of going to the gym, while a proposed break after a fight could lead to her being in the gym on Monday, “Just to watch.” But that’s the way she’s built.
“It’s my lifestyle,” Chookagian said. “I’ve done martial arts my entire life since I was four years old, so I don’t know anything different. All my friends are through training and I just can’t picture my life without it. Even when I’m retired and old I’ll probably still be doing jiu-jitsu.”
But for now, she’s in the UFC and ready for the Madison Square Garden fight she’s been waiting for. There will be no retiring anytime soon.
