One of my most memorable matches

The 2008 Pan-Ams was my first gi tournament I did after winning the Mundials in 2007. I was considered one of the favorites for the absolute and the favorite for my weight class. Going in to the tournament I had a few difficult things to overcome. I got cut in training the week before and had to get stitches. I went in to the tournament without doing any live training for over a week. Also, the gi I was going to wear was illegal and I didn't find out until the day before I was going to compete. So I had to get a new gi and I didn't have enough time to put any patches on it. These were little things that just annoyed me, I still had every intention of having an excellent performance, particularly in the absolute. The absolute is one area where I still haven't shown my true potential. After winning the Mundials in 07, I really wanted to win my first absolute title. Well, I put an extreme amount of pressure on myself and just ended up not performing. My first match in the absolute was against Octavio Souza. I knew he was a dangerous opponent, but for some reason my head wasn't in the match. I got off to a slow start and ended up down 6-0 within the first couple of minutes. I woke up and tried to come back, but I just didn't have enough time. I lost 6-2. This was heartbreaking for me. I had won the Pan-Ams twice before and I really wanted to win the absolute and not only did I not win, but I didn't even make it past the first round. I was a world champion and I lost in the first round, this was unacceptable! The rest of that day all I did was think about how I let my own mind affect my performance. To be the best, you can't have any doubts or inconsistencies. I couldn't sleep that night, I was so upset. The only thing that was keeping me from going crazy, was that I would have a chance to make up for it the next day. I told myself that I was going to let go of all of the pressure and just open my game up for my weight class. I started off well, submitting 2 opponents to get to the final against Tussa. Tussa is a very game opponent. We had competed against each other a couple of times before that & I knew that he was going to come after me. I started the match feeling good, getting my game going and then I fell right into his triangle. It was very tight! I started to think that this could be it and then I had a long conversation with myself. If I tapped it would've destroyed my tournament performance. Lose in the first round in the absolute and come back the next day to get submitted, it would've been awful. I made an agreement with myself to hold out and go to sleep if I had too. This was my test to make up for the weekend. If I could make it out of this triangle, maybe I could come back and win and show everyone how determined I am. I could have a great comeback, if I could just escape. I knew I had good triangle defense and I just had to withstand his leg strength for a little while. I was stuck in that triangle for nearly 4 minutes! When I finally escaped, I was very dizzy. I got my senses back together and then I felt myself go into the "Zone". The only thing that was on my mind was to win! I have felt so focused on only a few other occasions. I gave everything I had to come back and win that match. After it was over, I was so exhausted and weak. I was also very very hot and my mouth was unbelievably dry. That triangle took so much energy out of me. In the end, I was very proud. I felt like I had proved something to myself and I will never forget how it felt to win that match. It was a very special moment for me. Here is the video:





I will post another technique video in the next few days explaining the sweep I used at then end to win. Stay tuned!