My mixed martial arts (MMA) debut
Flo ready to fight
I was down at the London Shootfighters gym last night and experienced at first hand the hard work and dedication the guys have for their sport. I knew this was a difficult discipline but I was amazed to see how technical and complicated some of the fight moves are, and also how fit you need to be to compete in MMA (mixed martial arts).
The Shootfighters gym in west London is run by three guys, Marios Demetriades, Paul Ivens and Alexis Demetriades. They organise classes for beginners and kids who want to learn a discipline, as well as train professional fighters and provide proper practice fights in their combat cage.The gym is slick and well run, and all the fighters seemed to really enjoy being there. I am a great believer that sport can bring positivity and discipline, so it was great to witness this at the gym.
London Shootfighters incorporates a mixture of Boxing, Wrestling, Kickboxing, Brazilian JuJitsu and Submission Wrestling. They have one of the largest turnover of participants from across the globe, from experienced fighters to those new to the game. Most notably, the gym is the home to many professional fighters, and as many champions such as Dream champion Marius Zaromskis, UFC fighters John Hathaway and Mostapha Al Turk and other stars such as James Zikic, Zelg Galesic, Jean Silva, Alex Reid and Przemyslaw Mysiala.
There are many more pics for you to see under the media section but I thought it only fair to share with you the brief and very frightening encounter I had with a 22 stone fighter called James Thompson, who jumped in the cage with me and picked me up as if I was a toothpick. As you can see from the pictures below, it was not much of a contest!
Flo on John Thompson's shoulders
A huge thank you to everyone down at Shootfighters. I’m hooked!
Hi Florend comment allez-vous? je m’appelle mamadou et je suis tres fier de vous. Je me rappelle lors de votre match a portsmouth vous etiez incroyabe et a la fin vous m’aviez remu votre maillot j’etais aux anges et jusqu’a maintenant je l’ai et j’espere qu’un jour on se verra et que vous le signerez pour moi.
Mamadou le malien
ohlalala mon flo d amour!!! trop marrant ,il te porte comme un sac de patates lollllllll je t aimeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Cool pics! I use to box many years ago, but dislocated my shoulder, and feared it might happen again, so never went back. It really is a great work out! Your next career move?
Non mais ce n’est pas possible de te soulever sur une épaule?!? c’est qui ce mec?
En tous cas t’as l’air d’avoir pris ton pied!
A plus, rendez-vous au stade de France.
brilliant sport. teaching incredible self-discipline/focus! i kick box (afraid of JJ on the floor) wish i’d bn there congrats on game yesterday, u guys had Stoke real confused
I can’t wait for ufc 119. It should be an awesome showing.