I just got home from an extended weekend trip down to the interior to visit family. Had an amazing time at the siblings visiting my younger brother, and my brother in law, sister and their new baby, my niece, Mila. A perfect baby and a beautiful family! I squeezed in a few hikes, some camping on Kootenay Lake, and some serious time in the sun... However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the ZUMA family, I can't wait for some hard training. Back in tonight for some boxing/muay thai and sparring. Nick (Twitter:@nickdriedger) is still super sore in his legs from a grueling day of plyometrics, so I think I'll be working leg kicks tonight ;). My friend Sarah Kaufman (Twitter:@mmasarah) is fighting July 22nd at the upcoming Strikeforce card vs. Liz Carmouche. She is a monster and as scary as it is, is always improving, I can't wait to watch her do what she does. I am very confident in her coming out with the win. She is the technically superior fighter, she is stronger than ever, and is so smart in the cage.

AFC: 5 Judgement Day is only 3 days away, brining Sarah Kaufman, Nick Driedger and myself closer to our fights. Preparation has been as hard as ever and weigh-ins couldn't come any sooner. My weight is on track and you will see the best I have to bring. Reading over this rambling (not) blog post I've noticed how concise and short my sentences are, it must be fight time. For those of you who can't attend be sure to check out the AFC's online broadcast at http://www.gfl.tv/Events/Fight/MMA/AFC_5__Judgement_Day/951 and support your local fighters!

Whatchoo Lookin' At?

As you may or may not know Adam and some of the team are in Mexico for Adams wedding, so the rest of us are holding down the fort, and of course, Adam has us continuing to train hard.  Even if you wanted to take an easy night, maybe recover a bit. You watch Ryan Janes or Diego Wilson (preparing for his bantamweight title bout March 16) for 30 seconds and are immediately motivated to pick up the pace. Tonight we sparred, and my ear took a little bit of a beating. After class Alexi and I were laughing about how it looked, you think twenty minutes later it may be a conscious thought, my ear looked disgusting.

It wasn`t.

On the way home I stopped off at the grocery store to pick up a few things, lettuce and bananas, run in, run out. Quick and easy. Me being the overly nice guy that I am, I am giving everyone a half smirk and a gestural ``hello`` with a nod. I am moving fast so I hardly notice no one really returns the look, and when they do they are taking a startled step away or it seems VERY forced. This would be my clue that I had dried blood on an already apparent, unappealing cauliflower ear.

It wasn`t.

By the the third person I am beginning to think, ``Well that wasn`t very nice. Atleast nod.`` or ``Someone is upset they are alone on Valentines day.``  and even becoming slightly defensive, and completely over analytic and thinking ``Ya know, people have such stereotypes about fighters, they assume I am a meat head because I have scars on my face, a battered nose and a.... a bloody cauliflower ear.`` A bloody cauliflower ear that I am currently walking around the grocery store with. Hood went up.
Evidence points to meathead :)

Reverting back to my initial comment, the wedding was today. Congrats to both Adam and Andrea and enjoy your vacation! See you soon.

I understand I have been a little lackluster in keeping my blog updated before my fight at the AFC 4 event last night, my head was in an entirely different world and I won't let it happen again! My coach was able to get me a fight about 4 weeks prior to the bout, we always try and stay in the best shape possible so preparation was not an issue. I had a good, hard camp leading up to one of the best weight cuts yet, friends and teammates Sarah Kaufman, Tyler Dolby and his new pooch Duke kept me laughing the entire time I was dropping the weight. Everything went as smooth as it could. As for fight night I think I paced backstage during the 3 round fight before mine and didn't say a word, went out and fought explosively and let my punches go, finishing my opponent by ground and pound 1:05 into the first round. Much respect to Dan Laughey for coming out and scrapping like he did.

I have to say thanks to everyone at ZUMA who helped me prepare for this fight. You guys are more than a team, and coach that fight was all you, man! Unfortunately for you I think I should start up a win streak here and spank you in NHL 11` for the majority of the day.

Being a fighter you do have to pay attention to your weight. Trying to be conscious of what I am putting into my body, yet still being able to eat something with differing tastes is always a challenge. So every now and then I will post a recipe, or just post something I added to a meal to make it more enjoyable. The majority of my meals consist of chicken, broccolli, and quinoa (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/quinoa-nutrition-facts.html.). This monday I had a chicken breast, with some quinoa for lunch. I prepare my lunch a night in advance, and after over cooking my chicken I noticed I had run out of soya sauce. It is very high in sodium, I know, but you do need a little bit of flavour in there. I needed to add something to my meal. I should have started this blog post off with a little background on my inherited eating habits. I grew up watching and eating my fathers cooking, and damn can he cook. He just...well he is very open to ingredients, for example. There is no such thing as mixing two individually good flavours and ending up with a poor result. It's simple mathematics after all, 1 good food + 1 good food = 1 delicous meal. So we would have things like, soya sauce on popcorn, or soya sauce instead of pasta sauce on a traditional italian style pasta. No milk? No worries, a little water to moisten your cereal and you're even better off. So there I was in the kitchen looking for something to add to my chicken, and the blueberries in the fridge just seemed revolutionary. I was onto something. I made 3 small incisions in my already overdone chicken, jammed the blueberries inside and put it back in the oven. 5 minutes later it was done. The berries had heated to the point of bursting, releasing juices throughout the chicken breast and returning it to a succulent texture. The combination of the sweet berries and the... chickeny chicken were.... well they were half decent at the time, but when they both cooled down it was nothing short of gross. I drank each and every bite down with a mouthfull of water.

So remember, just be inventive in the kitchen and you never know what average tasting things you can come up with!

You're welcome.
- Connor "Team Spirit" Wood.

My blog went down almost instantly after posting my last one. My IP address had been banned, and since I am moved into a new spot I have a new IP :) I moved in with my training partner slash roommate Nick again, why? Because I am a 6'065" 155 pounder and he does what I tell him, when I tell him. He gives me first dibs on the shower in the morning, gets my breakfast ready and always remembers to put my outfit in the drier, an ordinary situation becomes very volatile when I have to put on cold jeans.

AFC 3 went well for the team, a big congrats to both Diego Wilson and Nick Driedger for coming out and looking as impressive as they did. Diego came out as explosive as ever. He controlled the fight start to finish and won by submission in the first, transitioning from the back to a beautiful armbar, it has to be my favourite submission I have seen in an MMA fight to date! Nick came in and tore through his opponent. Beating him at every exchange, landing a big slam and getting the tap from a cro-copesque rear naked choke. I was first off in the night and didn't show up to fight. I will give props when due and congradulate Darcy James who came out and fought hard. A well placed knee, followed by a series of hard punches in the first secured the KO. I will be back, and I will be in there to hurt. Being a fighter isn't only about stepping in the cage with your shirt off and chucking knuckles. It's possessing the ability to fight through adversity and always come out stronger. I've continued to improve and am now more hungry than ever.

Since the event, I went down to Everett to watch my teammate and friend Sarah Kaufman defend her Strikeforce bantamweight title. Seeing Sarah go in there and fight SO consistantly well in every single discipline of the sport is nothing short of inspiring,  that slam finish was even better live!! Also Ryan Ford has returned after a hard camp to Edmonton and will be back in the MFC. He continues to improve at an alarming rate and will be fighting next friday night on the MFC - 26 Retribution card. I can't wait to watch, Ryan is one of the most exciting fighters in the world and is always punching with the intent to hurt you. After reading over this post, the caliber and continued success of the team is obvious. Thanks and congrats to our coach, the mad scientist Adam Zugec, I can't wait for the next camp.

So it looks like I'll be fighting alongside my boy the Notoriously Nasty Nipple Twistin' Nick Driedger on the upcoming AFC 3 card in July! Ryan Ford is back in town to help out and prepare for his own fight and TFC World Title defense. As always the mad scientist Doctor Adam Zugec will be watching over every aspect of the camp, making sure we are in the best shape and looking sharper than ever. I'm anticipating a fun, hard camp and an even better fight night.




Go Team!