UFC

(VIDEO) UFC-ov talent prisjetio se nokauta koji ga je 'probudio': 'Bio sam bahat, arogantan i nedodirljiv'

Moraes vs. Sterling
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Rijetko kad pronaći ćete situaciju gdje neki borac obilježava obljetnicu svog neuspjeha. No, jedan od najboljih MMA boraca bantam kategorije na svijetu, Aljamain Sterling, prisjetio se borbe u kojoj je prije dvije godine brutalno nokautiran od strane Marlona Moraesa. Danas smatra kako je to bila prava stvar u pravo vrijeme.

Riječ je o borbi s UFC Fight Nighta 123, koji su predvodili Cub Swanson i Brian Ortega. Sterling je tamo došao po pobjedu nad Marlonom Moraesom, a borbu je prihvatio kao zamjenski borac. Na kraju je doživio težak poraz koji je prihvatio kao važnu životnu lekciju te se toga odlučio prisjetiti dvije godine kasnije.

"Treba imati hrabrosti za odlučiti želiš li ovako nešto objaviti ili ne. Zbog očitih razloga. Društvene mreže inače imaju funkciju uzdizati uspjehe u životu, no ja sam uvijek imao drugačiji pristup koji daje neku realnu sliku. Prije dvije godine sam bio bahat, arogantan i smatrao sam se nedodirljivim. Pobijedio sam bivšeg svjetskog prvaka i bio sam u nizu. Napad na titulu činio se kao normalna stvar. Prihvatio sam uskočiti u borbu protiv borca za kojeg sam znao da je opasan, no moje samopouzdanje me zaslijepilo i nisam radio prave stvari, kakve inače radim u pripremama za borbu. Podcijenio sam protivnika i za to sam platio ultimativnu cijenu.

Inače sam u svlačionici nervozan i anksiozan. Tog 9. prosinca 2017. godine osjećao sam se drugačije, kao da idem u restoran. Naravno, čim je borba krenula ništa nije išlo kako sam zamislio. Tajming mi je bio loš, pogodio me na svakoj kontri i u svakoj razmjeni. Poslao me na pod i brzo sam shvatio kako sam u ozbiljnoj borbi. Snašao sam se zahvaljujući grapplingu i umalo sam mu zatvorio trokut nakon toga. Dozvolio mi je da se ustanem. Izgubio sam tek prvu minutu borbe, a počeo sam paničariti. Bacio sam bezvezan udarac i krenuo na rušenje. On je u tom trenutku krenuo udariti me nogom u tijelo, no koljeno je završilo točno na mojoj bradi. Ugasio me kao žarulju. Ta me borba promijenila. Teško je pronaći prave riječi, ali nakon nje sam postao snažniji i bolji borac", napisao je Aljamain u prvom dijelu svog prisjećanja. Spomenuti nokaut može vidjeti ispod odlomka.

Nakon toga je nastavio priču o onome što se dogodilo nakon borbe.

"Gledao sam prema kraju karijere nakon te borbe. Bilo je teško prihvatiti da ne pripadam samom vrhu UFC-ove bantam kategorije. Bio sam tužan, slomljen i osramoćen, moja karijera izgledala mi je kao loša šala. Neko vrijeme osjećao sam se usamljen i prazan. Jedan dan sam pogledao u ogledalu i pitao samog sebe kakav želim kraj svoje priče i kako želim da me pamte. Onda sam si dao obećanje da ću se vratiti jer imam što za dokazati. Ne svim kritičarima, medijima i fanovima nego samom sebi. Kad napustim ovaj sport ne želim za ničim žaliti. Želio sam si dokazati da neovisno o tome kroz kakva sranja prolaziš u životu i koliko nisko možeš pasti, loša razdoblja zapravo ne traju dugo. Samo loši ljudi koji te okružuju. Danas sam drugoplasirani borac UFC-a s nizom od četiri pobjede i korak do napada na titulu. Nikada nemojte odustajati od sebe, budite veliki!, napisao je "The Funkmaster".

On je ovo objavio iz razloga da dokaže kako nekada i veliki neuspjeh može donijeti dobre stvari, prije svega u načinu razmišljanja i motivaciji. Sam je najbolji primjer.

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It took a lot of balls to decide whether or not I wanted to post this... for obvious reasons. Social media tends to only highlight the highs of our lives. I always felt different about this approach, which offers a false sense of reality. I like to share the good, the bad, the funny, and the ugly, even when it hurts! - 2 years ago, this day, I was riding high on my horse. Cocky, arrogant, and feeling invincible, after beating a former world champion, and being on a new 2-fight win streak. The title shot felt inevitable... I took a short notice fight with an opponent, that I knew was tough, but for some reason, my confidence blinded me to not doing the proper things I normally did to prep before a fight. We call this, overlooking your opponent. I ended up paying the ultimate price when we stepped in the octagon, and stared each other in the face. - From the being in the back room, I felt...different? Normally, I’m nervous, anxious, and my fight or flight reflexes are peaked at an all-time high. December 9th, 2017, was different tho...It felt like I was walking to a restaurant or something else relaxing in nature. - Sure enough, the fight would begin and NOTHING went my way. My timing was off, Moraes beat me on each counter, each exchange, and even dropped me with a left hook behind the ear. I quickly realized, I was in a fistfight! I found semi-success with my grappling when I almost locked up a triangle choke, shortly after being dropped. - Marlon let me back up, after he escaped the submission attempt. I was losing this fight only a minute into it and I was panicking... I threw my last Hail Mary and tried to dive in on a takedown, from West Bubba-Fuck, with ZERO setup to my entry. Unfortunately for me Moraes threw a switch-kick, which I still feel was intended for the body, and it landed FLUSH on my chin. As Travis Scott would say, “I was out like a light”... - This fight changed me. It’s hard to find the right words how it affected me, but it made me stronger. I was the NY kid that danced after getting a finish in a fight and ironically, I did the Dab and I was KO’d and it wasn’t my intentions to dab at that moment (haha?). There was a lot of soul... (PT 1)

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(PT 2) searching to be done after that fight. It was tough not knowing if I really belonged with the top dogs in the @UFC Bantamweight division. I felt sad. I felt broken. I felt embarrassed... - I felt like my whole career was a joke. This is how I truly felt moments after “coming too” after the KO. I appreciate all my loved ones, teammates, friends, and family that stuck around for this hard time in my life. It truly felt empty and lonely for a while. - One day I remember looking myself in the mirror and asking myself how do I want to end my story? How do I want to be remembered? Right there I made a promise to get back up, stop crying, stop feeling sorry for myself, put my head down, and work like I had something to prove! Because I did have something to prove. Not to all the critics and judgmental fans that know nothing about my journey and struggle, but to MYSELF! I wanted to prove to myself that no matter how tough shit can get in life, how low you feel about yourself, that the tough times truly don’t last. Only the tough ppl do! - When it’s all said and done, and I hang up the gloves and walk away from this sport in the next 2-3 years, I know that I will have no regrets. I will know that I never quit on myself. I will know that when everyone doubted me, I still had my own back and I believed in me! - I am now ranked #2 in the world in the @UFC, on 4-fight win streak, and on the brink of challenging for a world title! Now that right there gets my hard!! Never quit on yourself!!! Be Great! #Perseverance #FunkGotNext #NeverQuit #ChasingGold

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22. studeni 2024 15:38