A little explanation as to the "Version 2.5"

It was asked of me on a forum I frequent to expain the whole Version 2.5 thing. The forum is known as the UnderGround and is the largest MMA forum of its kind. I am going to cut and paste what I wrote there:

Earlier this year I fought in the KOTC in Florida. I had a tough opponent in Wilson Goviea from ATT. I trained my ass off for that fight. I was also fighting 205 at the time so I was eating a lot trying to keep weight on. I got myself in very good shape. I joked around about being Version 2.0. A new and improved Rory so to say. It sort of stuck.

I fought next in July again at 205. Again I trained hard and ate harder getting prepared far another tough opponent. The Version 2.0 stuck. I had not necessarily improved but maintained the same high level.

I was next slated to fight Carl Malenko. This time I would fight at 185. I trained harder then ever before all while cutting weight. I got myself in amazing shape cardiovascularly and cut my body fat down to probably 6-7%.

I felt that I had exceeded where I was in the past. I had improved almost everything about myself: conditioning, abilities, my physique...I was new and improved yet again so to say...Version 2.5 (just like in software). We joke around that I now come with anitvirus protection... :). It might be cheesy but it works.

I now have a goal in mind when I start to train for my fights. It is to get back to where I was for that fight (although it never happened...but it will) with Malenko. It might seem silly but it is a sorce of motivation for me now. I hope that answers some of the questions surrounding that. Someone once asked if I ever cut down to 170# (which will never ever ever happen) would I then be Version 3.0. I told that person I would most likely be Version R.I.P.

I think I am still full!

I ate my @$$ off yesterday. I had to lie down on the floor for a little while. I ate so much it hurt. It was so good though. We had garlic mashed potatoes (cooked by your's truly), corn casserole, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, turkey and fried turkey breast (all of which was either cooked or supplied by my brother and his wife). We started with some cheese and crackers as an appetizer. We also managed to down about five sour apple martinis a piece. They were delicious.

After dinner and relaxing we headed over to some friends for dessert. I could hardly eat but I managed to force some apple and pecan pie down. The apple pie was sugar free and not very good even with the whipped creame on it. What a waste. The pecan pie was yummy though.

Back at work today. What a freaking drag. I wonder how much I weigh? Managed to get some studying done. It has been fairly slow today. Luckily I get to come back tomorrow to work 10-3. Come on, don't you wish you could be me for a day? Probably just do some more studying tomorrow while recovering from the inevitable hangover I will have in the morning LOL. Yeah mom, I am going to get drunk tonight and there ain't nothin' you can do about it. Neener, neener, neener :).

Is getting drunk anyway for a high level combat athlete such as myself to act? Probably not, but I need some time off from all of that. I deserve it and will not feel guilty about it. I am back in the gym Monday lifting heavy again and getting stronger. I don't have to worry about my weight until after the New Year. I will continue to eat clean starting Monday and start conditioning again in the evenings with the team.

I did some work on the website. Nothing major yet. There is still lots to do. It needs a massive revamping and updating. Hopefully I can continued to find some time for it. Take a look if you have never been there The HardCore Gym.

Hope everyone had a happy, healthy and safe holiday. I know that I have lots to be thankful for and I think yesterday is just a nice way to put it all in perspective. I am very happy with where I am in life right now. Sure I wish that I had better job and was making some real money. Although I know that I am in pursuit of a greater good and this job serves that purpose. I will hopefully be in Nursing School next June and I have some big fights coming up soon.

I have a wonderful family whom I love dearly, great friends, a great gym and a fight career that is starting to blossom after all these years. Life is good and money isn't everything. I work to live and I don't live to work. That is hard for a lot of people to say. I don't have anyone else to worry about so I need to make the most of this while I can. Until next time, this is Version 1.5 (yeah, yesterday messed me up that badly LOL) signing off. Later

Happy Thanksgiving

Only an hour to go before I get out of this place. It is slow as all get out and I want to go home. I only had class this Monday. I start class back up next Monday. It will be nice to have the day off tomorrow. I get so few of them with this job. I pretty much work Monday-Saturday. I only ask off for training or fighting related things.

I haven't really done any training this week and we are closed today through Sunday. I plan on getting back in the gym Monday and stepping the training up Monday night. Going to lift hard and try and put a few pounds on. Not going to worry about my weight because I am not going to fight again until February. In the mean time I will try and do a few jits competitions to keep active.

I spoke with one the gentlemen involved in the AFC (Absolute Fighting Championships) promotion about fighting February. Looks like I am on the card and it will most likely be against the same opponent I was originally slated to fight in October, Carl Malenko. I had trained my butt off preparing to fight him and he pulled out with about two weeks to go. He got injured in training or something. I might just get another shot at him in a three rounder. The show is in Ft. Lauderdal. The fact that both my mother and grandmother are in Florida makes fighting down there great. Not only do I get to fight in Florida, but I also get to see my family...and all on someone else's dime. Not too mention I get paid for betting someone up.

My manager is trying to get me a fight in Canada as well on the next Apex show. Looks like I might get myself a pretty good opponent for that fight as well. I don't want to say anything until it is finalized but it looks good.

Here is a picture from my most recent victory. Yeah, some guys have all the luck. I mean that is the two guys that got to take home each of those girls...niether of whom was me :(. So I got that going for me LOL.



I am making mashed potatoes for tomorrow's dinner. My brother and sister-in-law are taking care of most everything else. It is the three of us, my brother's in-laws, and a close friend whom we have taken in for the holiday. I am going to eat my ass off tomorrow. Until next time. Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. Version 2.5

Another day another dollar

Well my test Monday did not go nearly as well as I had hoped. I had a hard time Sunday getting motivated to study. Although I did spend a few hours doing so, I guess it was either not enough or not good enough. I managed to make either an 82 or an 84. I gave away 4 points on two questions that I should never have got wrong. I am not pleased and I know it is still a "B" but it hurt my test average which consisted of 92, 100 and 92 (at least I think that is right). I guess it is hard to be superfighterninja guy and superstudenteinstein nerd all at once. But I am trying my hardest :).

Not much else going on. Worked all day yesterday. It was dead in the office so I got a lot of paperwork done. After work I drove into Atlanta with a good friend to see that concert. The show was awesome. It ended late and we headed to the Steak n Shake for dinner before heading to Athens. It was delicious. I had a Bacon n Cheeder burger, fries with sausage gravy, chile and a shake. I was quite full and in some pain afterwards LOL.

The scale is at the gym and tonight will be my first night back in since Thurday. I can only imagine what I weigh right now. I am thinking maybe closer to 200 then 195. I will be starting a new lifting routine, as per Adam, probably right after the holiday. He wants me to eat more and lift heavy to try and put a few pounds of muscle on. Everyone told me that I looked skinny this weekend. Shit I am 6'2.5" tall and 185 pounds when I weigh-in. I tell them I am not skinny, I am lean :). They might be right though. This is a good weight for me though and I will make people take notice.

We have a grappling tourny Dec 4th. Training will revolve around getting a team ready for that. Training for a jits tourny is so much easier then training for a fight. It will be a nice little break although I will still train hard. Much less mentally demanding as well in my opinion. I probably won't fight again until February. My manager is working on some things for early next year. Could be some big things happening. Keep checking in to find out all about it. Back to work.

The results you have all been waiting to hear about.

So the past few days have been hectic, long and extremely rewarding. Friday kicked off early with my lab quiz. I am proud to say that I got a grade of 100. Go me! Let's first discuss the events that proceeded waking up Friday morning. I was aroused from sleep around 1:40 am with some stomach cramping. That was the time the Super Colon Cleanse decided to kick in. I will give you the Reader's Digest version of events. I spent about 40 minutes in the bathroom with my ass on fire. I was exhausted, the ordeal was exhausting and then all was well with the word. Too much information I am sure LOL. Nevertheless, I went to bed Thursday night at 196# and woke up at 188#. I was therefor on weight and unconcerned.

I was able to eat just a little bit throught the day and even sip some water. I was still quite thirsty and hungry throughout the day but it was not terrible. I drove to Atlanta with a friend whom was staying with us and fighting on the card as well. He was actually fighting an up-and-coming young fighter in the main event. He is managed by my manger so we took him in and made him comfortable. He flew in from Phoenix on his own. Good fighter and it was a pleasure having him aroung. More on that in a bit.

Weigh ins went well, saw another friend of mine whom was also fighting on the card. He and a cornerman drove up from Miami (11 hours) and managed to drive around Atalnta for an hour lost :(. IT was good to see him as well. We all had dinner together the four of us. Afterwards the three of them headed to the hotel and I to my friend's to watch a movie, hang out and sleep in late.

Woke up around 10:30 am, had some breakfast with my friend and then drove to do some training. Got a good roll in with a few different friends at a gym in Midtown. I rolled with people that I trust so as to make sure I did not get injured. I felt great and ready to relax for the next few hours. Everyone told me I looked skinny. I told them I was lean, not skinny. Fuggers LOL.

Fast forward to the event, The Destruction at the D.A.C. (Dekalb Atlanta Center). The event was the next installment in The Fight Party Productions. Myself and two of my training partners were to fight. My superheavy won his fight after taking some heavy blows and finally getting to the clinch. He then unloaded some huge knees on his opponent. One of them managed to split his opponent open quite badly. The ref stopped the fight and the doctor came in to evaluate. Doctor stopped the fight due to the cut. My boy sustained a concussion but is okay today. My next guy was all ready to fight and we come to find out that his opponent had just up and left earlier. He got in his car, said nothing to anyone, and went home. What a lameass.

My friend from Miami won his fight with a rear naked choke as the round ended. I was up next. My opponent came out hard and threw a big punch that grazed me. I certainly was unprepared for it. I recomposed myself, he threw a low leg kick with not much on it. He then quickly shot a double leg. I sprawled, and we came back up with him still somewhat locked around my waist. He is about 5'6" and 190#. I then whizzered him and we ended up in half guard. I was then able to pass to side control and evenually get to mount. He held on for dear life. I was able to make some space and as I did he gave up his back. I got my hooks in, turned him up and finished with a rear naked choke of me own. I did not get hurt at all and it was over fast. The HardCore Gym went 2-0 and in two weeks had a combined recored of 5-1. Not freaking bad.

My friend from Phoenix won his fight by triangle choke at the 2:20 minuted mark of the first round. His opponent is a way too overhyped young fighter. In my opinion the kid does have quite the future. He is a physical specimen and has all the tools. He just needs to remove himself from his coach and manager. The guy seems like a scumbag without a clue. The worst kind. My friend looked great and this is a huge win for him. I was more excited for him then I was even for myself. He popped his rib but otherwise was unscathed.

All in all it was a great few days. Just had a great brunch at Harry Bisset's downtown with friends. I am stuffed and feeling good. I will now spend the rest of today studying for my test tomorrow morning. No rest for the weary. No worries though because I am on track and things are going as planned. Next up will be a few grappling tournaments and then I will fight again next year in February and then again March in Canada. That should be fun!

Is anyone actually reading this?

So I am definitely starting to stress out about everything going on in my life right now. The quiz, the fight, test, making weight, bigger things to come in my future...deep breathes...one....two...three. Okay, I am better again. I just hate these types of weeks when everything just slams into you all at once. There never seems to be enough time to get it all done. I therefore took a half day at work today to come home and do some studying.

I am okay on the fight front I believe. I have been training hard and the weight is good. I am drinking my water and watching what I eat this week. I am worried about my lab quiz Friday though. Not to mention trying to study right now is hard as hell. I am so distracted with everything going on around me.

One of my closest friends and teammates just moved back to Athens and subsequently back into my apartment. He is one of the top 205# in the country. It is so great to have him back, both as a friend and as a training partner. He is going to elevate the level at the gym so much. It is going to take my own game to another level and continue to motivate me to get to that next place...the big show or as we call it in the Biz, The UFC. I know I have what it takes and I have proven I can train and prepare as well as anyone. Just need to get a few big wins and then I am there. We shall see.

I have spent too much time away from the books. Need to get back to it. I have to leave for Atlanta at some point to pick up a fighter whom we are cornering this weekend. He is managed by my manager and is fighting in the Main Event. So not much time left for my studies today. I will write more later when things aren't so hectic.

One last thing I have been thinking about the last two days. I came up with a new bumper sticker/t-shirt slogan. "Second hand smoke kills...but please, YOU first" What do you think. By the way that is copyrighted so don't be bogarting my flavor.

My new computer got here yesterday.

It is awesome. I got it set up last night and took care of installing a few things on it. It is great. Have one or two more things to take care of before it is fully operational. The alarm went off yesterday at 5:20. I hit the snooze once (a massive 7 extra minutes of lying in bed is very clutch) and finally got out of bed. Nothing like being up at the crack ass of dawn to go do some cardio. Not to mention it was freezing yesterday morning.

I did a five minute warmup on the seated stationary and went right into my sprint intervals. I did 5x1 min intervals keeping the rpms up over 170 and took 30 active rest in between. Active rest means that I just continued to pedal slowly until the next sprint. After those five intervals I did another 5-7x30 sec intervals on thirty seconds rest. Did a little cool down and went home to eat some breakfast.

The weight is right around 192# so I am not worried so much about it. I had 3 egg whites and 1 yolk with two slices of low card toast with just a little bit of jelly. I started in on some water and my morning coffee. I drink coffee every morning. Helps get me going at that early hour. Not to mention it helps get going some other more internal functions (if you catch my meaning LOL).

Had class yesterday morning. We finished up the Central Nervous System (CNS). We also got back our lab quizzes from last week. I managed to make a 92 and was none too pleased. I completely blanked on one or two of the questions and lost full credit for them. I knew that material so well and choked. Sure a 92 is still an A, but I should have scored much higher. I am sure I still have the highest grade in the class but that just pisses me off.

Worked all day (as I do everyday as well as most Saturdays) and then trained last night. We had a small class. Maybe it was the weather or it being Monday but it was unusually small. All we did was grapple for about an hour or so. One of my training partners managed to pop a rib within the first minute of our grapple. I know what that is all about. Sucks real bad and never truly heals. I still get rib soreness from an injury over two years ago. After we got done rolling around we did 2x5 minute rounds of GPP. I feel good and I am ready to go on Saturday. I will be happy to fight, but happier to give myself a little break from being at such a high level.

I slept in this morning since it is fight week and I will train tonight. I do not do "two-a-days" during fight week. Until later, this is Version 2.5 signing off :).

Taking a study break

So I purchased a new Dell last week. My computer decided it wouldn't turn on the other day so I got on line and bought a new one. My present computer is old and not all that great anyway. My new Dell gets here tomorrow hopefully. Anyway, I am studying and decided to take a break. Thought maybe I would take the cover off the computer and see if there was a loose connection or something. Lo and behold, I tinker for a second or two, put the plug back in, and guess what computer I am typing this up on LOL?

Should I be upset that I just spent about $550 on a new computer? I still think it was a good idea. This computer is always crashing and I just felt like getting something nicer. Granted I probably wouldn't have done so had this one not gone on the fritz like it did. I can now add Computer Engineer to my resume I guess :).

Pretty much took the weekend off from training to recover. I have to go food shopping later and get some groceries. I can tell you all about my phobia of going food shopping some other time. I start the water diet tomorrow and should hopefully have no problem making 190# on Friday. I cannot wait to get back in the ring. After the last fight didn't happen in October I have been jonesing to kick someone's ass LOL. I hope some of my friends whom have never seen me fight come out to experience Version 2.5.

Presently listening to Digitally Imported through the Winamp website. They play some really killer techno tunes. I love techno dance music. I especially like listening to it when I am studying. I sometimes get caught up listening to lyrics and therefore don't concentrate as hard on the material I am suppose to be learning. Techno really doesn't have true lyrics so it makes for good background noise.

Well, back to the books. I have a lab quiz Friday, fight on Saturday and then a test on Monday. Yeah for me!!! Man this stuff can pile up sometimes can't it?

Some random info on your favorite MMA fighter

I am still at work until 3:00 pm EST. I am listening to the greatest radio station: Idobi Radio. It plays a lot of Emo/Punk type music. Some of my favorite bands including, Something Corporate(thank you Megan), Taking Back Sunday(thank you Chad), Brand New(Chad again), NFG, Good Charlotte...and many more are all played all day, everyday.

I have fought MMA all over the world. I have fought in South Africa, Japan, Georgia, Florida and Massachuesettes. My trip to South Africa was by far the greatest experience of my life up until this point. I recently picked up the diary I kept for the nine days myself and my friend Forrest were there. The trip was late November, 2001. Such an amazing time. I would love to go back and visit someday. It is a very beautiful country.

It is a beautiful Saturday morning and I am at work.

I freaking hate this s$%t. Working on Saturday's suck donkey cack. Yeah I said it...cack. Did a little training last night after work. Hardly anyone showed up. UGA plays Auburn today and I believe a lot of people headed out of town for the game last night.

Started with 3x4 min of jump rope on 1 minute rest. I remember when my shoulders were so bad that I could hardly get through even one three minute round of jump rope. I have certainly come a long way since those days. We next moved on to some grappling for the next 30 or so minutes.

I was training with one of my relative beginners. I got a little careless and spent the next 3 minutes fighting off a guiottine attempt. It was close, but I managed to work my head free without much pain at all. He almost had me and I let him know it. Stong kid and his game is coming along nicely.

After grappling we did 2x5 minutes of GPP (general physical preparation). Basically it consists of lots of different excercises non-stop for the five minute round. Excercises include but are not limited to: jumping jacks, mountain climbers, squat thrusts, sprawls... I really didn't want to be in the gym at all last night so we only did the two rounds with a 30 second interval per excercise. My body is not my biggest fan right now. Going from hard training for that last fight right into training for this one hasn't given me any real time to recover. When the referee raises my hand Novemeber 20th it will all have been worth it.

I start my water diet Monday. Adam (coach/trainer/brother/best friend) picked up the following book: Training for Warriors by Martin Rooney. It is a great book and a must read for the MMA athlete. The week long weight loss program for the week preceeding weigh-ins was what got me down to 185# for my last fight at the end of October. It also helped my friend Charles, whom is always cutting hard to get down to 185#, make weight easier then he ever has in the past.

Time to get some studying done while I sit here and do nothing. GO DAWGS, KICK AUBURN'S ASS!!!

Anywhere but here please.

Basically I just found one more thing to distract me from my actual job...this blog. So I got that going for me LOL. Is a blog supposed to be anonymous? How am I supposed to write bad stuff about people if they know it is me writing it? Does that mean I have to bite my tongue and not talk about everything or just keep it on a short leash? I am sure I will figure it out or piss some people off along the way.

I will have some thoughts on that latter part just a little bit later. It concerns a friend whom I spoke with Tuesday night after not having talked with him for a long time. More about that at some other time.

Quick clarification. I am fighting November 20th in Atlanta, Ga. It is a Fight Party Production. This will be my first time fighting in Georgia since August of last year. It will be good to finally fight in front of a home crowd. Although I don't much mind fighting in someone else's backyard. Just makes winning that much sweeter.

Some thoughts on training last night and this morning

I felt like such last night. Not sure if I am getting enough carbs in my diet. I was dragging big time. Still got a good workout in but was not pleased. I am fighting on the 20th at 190 and the weight seems to be right where it needs to be.

Was suppose to get up and do some cardio this morning but that was as likely to happen as Kerry is to win a recount. I am feeling a little beat up. Didn't take any time off between training for my last fight (which didn't happen on Oct 30th) and this one coming up. That is a long time to maintain this level.

Took a lab quiz this morning on the muscles of the lower extrimity. I knew the material very well and still managed to blank out on few questions. Oh well, I have the highest grade in the class. Although with only 14 questions on the quiz, missing one or two hurts my average. Whatever.

Sitting here at work right now. I am obviously getting a lot done LOL. It is freaking miserable out right now. Rainy, cold and gross. I am going to try and get a few things done. I hope y'all enjoy my new blog. Check back soon. I will do my best to update regulary

Just got it started and have to leave :)

I will put up more tomorrow. Have to go train then do some studying for my Anatomy and Physiology lab quiz tomorrow morning. I hope that you will enjoy reading a little bit more about Version 2.5.