| Starting Over -------------> Moving On |
| Written by Josh Barnett | |
| Tuesday, 25 October 2005 | |
|
Never thought it was gonna be like this. I've lost before in
competition and while it sucks it's something I can deal with.
Performing at your worst and feeling that it isn't going to improve;
that is something I have a hard time handling.
Besides the pain of letting yourself down I felt the pain of all my
family, fans and friends that I let down. In fact a very special person
visited me two days before the fight and showed my some strategy for
the fight. My friends Abeani, Megumi Fujii, Shoji, MACH, Naruse, TK,
Reese Andy, Stitch where all there to support me. My family was
watching at home and my fans had been waiting for my return. Knowing
that I let them all down because I let myself down was enough to make
me really think hard about continuing. But thanks to everyone around me
(especially Shannon) I have decided that there is no way I can leave my
career like this. Now for the fight I will clear a few things up first. I was not cut or head butted by Mirko. Besides a bruised knuckle and some bruises there is nothing wrong with me. My nose bleeds easily ever since I broke it fighting Juha Tukasaari in Superbrawl 13. I re-set it and when on to fight two more fights to win the tournament that night and it has bled easy ever since. Mirko whacked me with a short hammer right on the nose and it just started going. Before that, he hadn't hit it. I might have clipped a little high the first time but I have a hard
time believing that I hit his groin any of the other times. I think I
must have hurt him and he used it to take a break to stop the clinch
and the knees. A smart move. Mirko's flurry was a great move, but it did not daze me at all. What made it good was that he was able to get my footwork out of position and when that happened I couldn't use any of my head movement to evade his punches. After I was able to clinch him I could get my feet right and keep going. And lastly, for anyone that thinks I didn't damage Mirko (And I don't expect Mirko to admit this) you have no idea. Part of what made this fight tough to swallow for me was that I hurt him so many times and couldn't follow up. I know I made him see stars fro a couple of right hands, hurt his legs with knees and low kicks, and caused a lot of damage to the body. People don't make noises like that from body shots if they don't hurt. After all was said and done even if I had won the fight I would felt as if I had lost anyways. I have very high expectations for my performances and have almost never been truly happy with any of my fights. I always see where I could have done something better, more exciting, finished things faster. I went to congratulate Mirko later and to at the least let him know that while I like to rile things up there are things I wouldn't say and some things printed in Japan where not from me. I haven't ran around asking for a rematch since I think that that's somewhat classless. I mean hell, if you are that distraught about the fight and can't wait to fight him again then just go right back to the locker room and finish it. You want to fight him so bad then it must be a question of something other that competition and therefore you should take care of your business like a man. Way I see it if I get a rematch it should either be in line to fight for the belt or in the PRIDE GP. I had my shot and couldn't close the deal. Like with Rizzo, if the chance comes again then it can happen but in these cases, it's just competition and I can fix my personal grievances with the one I have a problem with; myself. I've started over in PRIDE now it's time to get things together and start moving on from this. Moving on to the next challenge….11/23/05 In my CD player: Beck - Guero On my TV: Hajime no Ippo DVD season 1 Abayo Josh Scientific Wrestling.com – Keeping Catch and real Pro Wrestling Alive |
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