Beside the site I have been working very hard in the gym as evidenced by my recent run in PRIDE. After that dismal performance against Mirko things had to change or I had to hang it up. That loss and Shannon is what finally pushed me hard enough to get my feet moving and put into motion the machine that will allow me to perform at my best. I have moved all my training to Orange County in CA, specifically Erik Paulson and OC Shootwrestling and Lou’s Training systems. They have been the foundation in my physical preparation that has helped me to the finals of the PRIDE Openweight GP. They are also going to help me to grab the gold and get my shot at Fedor and the position of #1 fighter in the world. I like the sounds of that.  

For every fight since Mirko 2 I have flown down to Anaheim and stayed in a hotel, rented a car and lived, ate, and slept fighting. Lou has me doing things in the gym that I know my competition isn’t or couldn’t do and Erik has sharpened my skills and helped developed the game plans that have been taking my opponents down and out. I have a great support group of fighters that come in to spar and workout with me like: Rampage, John Marsh, Big Dave, Rani Yahira, Junior Gazze, Eric Keahi, Jay Martinez, James Wilks, Danny Suarez, Freddy George and many others. I also have some great friends that have really helped me to relax and enjoy life outside of the gym. In fact one of them, Erin Toughill, is getting married July 8^th. Congratulations!

It’s not just me that have been coming down to train in the OC but I have brought Hiroyuki Abe and Megumi Fujii as well and intend to have Shannon and anyone else who would train with me do the same. I truly believe in the network I have down in the OC and know that it will bring out the best in anyone else who is willing to endure the torturous training. You can anything you want as long as you’re willing to give up everything for it. This is true.

I also was able to talk with some great companies and bring them on board. The first time I saw an Affliction shirt on my friend Justin Levens I immediately wanted to know where he got that bad ass shirt from. I met one of the owners through a friend and we dug what each other did. Affliction has been great in keeping me taken care of with a great wardrobe and PR through their site. I think that they are making the coolest gear out there and I can’t wait for their denim line to drop too. Take look at there wares here:    

In my fascination with cars and doing my tuning I contacted an outfit called Lethal Performance. Turns out as they are fans of mine we are both bigger fans of Mustangs and laying 25ft patches of rubber. I’ll be doing an installment series on how I take my stock Cobra and turn into a street beast all with my own two hands and all with parts you can order through Lethal Performance. They also carry go fast parts for Corvettes too. Check them out   

In my CD player: Olive –Trickle and The Sword – Age of Winters

On my TV:  Venture Brothers season 2 on Adult Swim

Abayo

Josh