Almeida gassing vs. Cote

[Bram Wiley]

Almeida was shown with Martin Rooney (of elitefts and Training for Warriors) in preparation for this fight. Rooney discussed his Hurricane training system and how Ricardo was using it, etc. But then Almeida gassed.

Link to Martin talking about Almeida's training from June 30th:

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I just get the feeling that no matter what training system (bodyweight, weights, sprints, etc.) you use to prepare yourself, unless you put the time in with grappling/takedowns and striking/pad work/sparring, it doesn't matter.

By the sound of it, Almeida put the time in the gym in, but he gassed halfway through his fight. He kept a hard pace in the first round, but, even still, that was all it seemed he had.

Opinions?

[Sonny]

I think there are just too many factors to take into account here, I don't think it's just a matter of Fighter A training more/better than Fighter B.

Almeida was coming off a pretty long hiatus which no doubt had an effect on him both in terms of conditioning and "ring rust."

[Bram Wiley]

You may be right, Almeida hasn't fought more than 1:08 in 4 years. But he did fight that minute just 5 months ago.

I'm talking purely about gassing, running out of an energy in a fight or not. I was disappointed to see it happen after a round when he's been showing up for gym workouts. I'm just speculating that more time and effort on the mat and in the ring prior to Cote would have prevented it from happening.

[Bram Wiley]

Well, I sent in a question to Martin Rooney at elitefts.com about it. I hope he responds, I'm guessing the question will get asked by other people as well. I'll post his reply if I get it.

[kiridoku]

Originally Posted by Bram Wiley

Well, I sent in a question to Martin Rooney at elitefts.com about it. I hope he responds, I'm guessing the question will get asked by other people as well. I'll post his reply if I get it.

Thanks, man. I'd be really interested in his take.
Maybe I've sipped the TrainingForWarriors koolaid or something because I thought to myself before the fight "at least Ricardo will have some crazy strength & conditioning over Cote..."

I was really disappointed. In heez performanz.

[Standard]

Originally Posted by Sonny

I think there are just too many factors to take into account here, I don't think it's just a matter of Fighter A training more/better than Fighter B.

Yeah there are alot of factors that could have come into play, it could have been that he wasn't expecting to work as hard as he did for take downs, or maybe the shots he took really started to wear on him in the later rounds as cote did land a few solid shots, also he worked the legs later on which will make a guy look gassed because of his mobility

[vince89]

Maybe he just wasnt in that good shape to begin with. You cant expect a fighter to get superhuman cardio in 1 training camp. Like when fighters take time off and they lose they say its 'ring rust' but its just that theyre not in shape. It takes time to build up the energy systems and you cant really do it all in 1 training camp imo.

[Bram Wiley]

Martin,

Big fan of your website and your articles at graciemag.com.

I was curious what you thought about Ricardo Almeida gassing in his fight vs. Patrick Cote. It was sad to see, I really liked what I saw of Almeida going into this fight and was pulling for him.

I read that he trained a lot with you, so his gym conditioning was good. Do you think it was ring rust or lack of mat/ring time in fight prep or even going too hard in the first?

Thanks,

Bram
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bram,
Thanks for writing in and thanks for the feedback about the articles and for pulling for Ricardo.
I just returned from the fight in Vegas and I am still completely bummed. He did not look or perform like himself and still it could be argued that he won the fight. If one of the 2 judges in the split decision sees it for him, things would be seen very differently.

His training camp went like the previous ones, and he was in good cardio shape. He stated that in between the first round when some guy ran in the ring and almost cut his glove off by mistake instead of a tiny piece hanging off and he knew Cote was getting extra rest, something happened physically and mentally. You could see the fatigue after the first that he described and like many of fans out there, I was in shock.

I dont think it could be attributed to ring rust, since he fought well in Feb, but you cant rule out the fact that when Dana announced the winner would get a title shot (and obvious compensation that comes with that) that there was added pressure. Having him down in the first like he did and smelling blood in the water could have attributed for sure.In the end, there are so many variables to consider, it can drive you crazy. Trust me, I have been through them all.

There is only one thing that I am sure of: I will never count Ricardo out, and he has 4 fights left on contract to redeem himself and I am sure he will. We have been training together for 8 years and it has been 6 since he last loss. Incredibly, that loss turned into a great positive for us and lead to the win streak he had after that. I hope and believe that this does the same. I stand by him and will point the finger at myself to ask what I can do better in the future as well.

A true winner does not pause or move backward in defeat, he moves forward. Just like Quinton said after his shocking loss, sometimes it is just not your night. So I think you can either view this event as a big problem, or a pandora's box of big possibilities. I choose the latter and am looking forward toward great things to come vs. back at things we can no longer do anything about.

Life is a series of challenges that come crashing to the shore over and over. Anyone that tells you it is not, is selling you something. The key is not that problems will arise, but how you respond to them. I believe that tough times do not define a person, they are a chance to reveal him.

Thanks again and I look forward to the next opportunity with Frankie Edgar fighting in 2 weeks.


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[TheAth-ah-lete]

Good stuff, pretty decent of him to respond so thoughtfully, and agree with much of what has been said above. Cardio is affected by alot of things, and he did mention in the post fight interview that the glove issue messed with his head. I believe him, he wasn't making excuses he was just talking.

Seems like a reay cool guy too.

[Wally Champ]

Props to Martin for taking the time to reply, very eloquent and accurate.