The hard-flung overhand rights that Gabriel Gonzaga launched at Stipe Miocic during Saturday’s UFC on FOX 10 co-main event may have hurt him worse than they hurt his opponent. Gonzaga came out strong in the first round of the heavyweight scrap, only to grow visibly fatigued and inactive as the fight wore on. Ultimately, “Napao” lost a unanimous decision.
Breaking his right hand early in the fight may or may not have had a lot to do with that, but what is for darn sure is that the Brazilian’s paw was straight jacked-up after the bout. MMA House has released a video of a hand they say is Gonzaga’s taken from what appears to be backstage in the United Center or a hospital room Saturday night.
Check it out above. If you’re a hearty soul, go ahead and try it while eating lunch.
The top of “Napao’s” hand is cartoonishly swollen and puffy, kind of like there’s a fat stack of oatmeal cookies underneath his skin. Why did my mind choose that as an analogy? Is it bad that now I want cookies?
Anyway, Gonzaga deserves a cookie after that disgusting injury, especially after losing. Go get yours, ‘Zaga.
The hard-flung overhand rights that Gabriel Gonzaga launched at Stipe Miocic during Saturday’s UFC on FOX 10 co-main event may have hurt him worse than they hurt his opponent. Gonzaga came out strong in the first round of the heavyweight scrap, only to grow visibly fatigued and inactive as the fight wore on. Ultimately, “Napao” lost a unanimous decision.
Breaking his right hand early in the fight may or may not have had a lot to do with that, but what is for darn sure is that the Brazilian’s paw was straight jacked-up after the bout. MMA House has released a video of a hand they say is Gonzaga’s taken from what appears to be backstage in the United Center or a hospital room Saturday night.
Check it out above. If you’re a hearty soul, go ahead and try it while eating lunch.
The top of “Napao’s” hand is cartoonishly swollen and puffy, kind of like there’s a fat stack of oatmeal cookies underneath his skin. Why did my mind choose that as an analogy? Is it bad that now I want cookies?
Anyway, Gonzaga deserves a cookie after that disgusting injury, especially after losing. Go get yours, ‘Zaga.
I got off the Oedo subway line from Shinjuku station at the Kiyosumi Shirakawa stop and waited for a few minutes to meet up with my guide for the night, Stewart Fulton. Stewart is a Scottish ex-pat who has lived in Tokyo for over a decade. He’s also a professional fighter and has bled and sweated with some of the best fighters in all of Japan.
On this Friday night, Stewart is taking me to the gym of the man UFC president Dana White has said is the best fighter to have ever come out of Japan — Yushin Okami. Uncle Dana may very well be right about that.
Stewart has told me that I can train with the group of select professional fighters that Okami will lead tonight but also warned me that it is a sparring day and that they go hard. After three straight days of hard grappling at other schools in Tokyo, I’m fine with sitting through tonight’s session as a spectator and leaving with my head still attached to my body.
I wonder out loud to Stewart what kind of mood Okami will be in tonight. He hasn’t done many interviews since being cut by the UFC. Okami’s release shocked some observers since he is still clearly a top middleweight. Surely, it shocked Okami as well. Who knows how eager he’ll be to talk about the topic.
Luckily, there are plenty others to discuss. Namely, training.
Stewart tells me that over the years he’s been amazed that Yushin has never appeared to be injured during training. Injuries happen constantly in training and fighters are almost always nursing several of them that vary in severity.
“I’ve never noticed him favoring an injury during practice,” Stewart tells me.
“Either he doesn’t get hurt or he’s very good at not showing it.”
I got off the Oedo subway line from Shinjuku station at the Kiyosumi Shirakawa stop and waited for a few minutes to meet up with my guide for the night, Stewart Fulton. Stewart is a Scottish ex-pat who has lived in Tokyo for over a decade. He’s also a professional fighter and has bled and sweated with some of the best fighters in all of Japan.
On this Friday night, Stewart is taking me to the gym of the man UFC president Dana White has said is the best fighter to have ever come out of Japan — Yushin Okami. Uncle Dana may very well be right about that.
Stewart has told me that I can train with the group of select professional fighters that Okami will lead tonight but also warned me that it is a sparring day and that they go hard. After three straight days of hard grappling at other schools in Tokyo, I’m fine with sitting through tonight’s session as a spectator and leaving with my head still attached to my body.
I wonder out loud to Stewart what kind of mood Okami will be in tonight. He hasn’t done many interviews since being cut by the UFC. Okami’s release shocked some observers since he is still clearly a top middleweight. Surely, it shocked Okami as well. Who knows how eager he’ll be to talk about the topic.
Luckily, there are plenty others to discuss. Namely, training.
Stewart tells me that over the years he’s been amazed that Yushin has never appeared to be injured during training. Injuries happen constantly in training and fighters are almost always nursing several of them that vary in severity.
“I’ve never noticed him favoring an injury during practice,” Stewart tells me.
“Either he doesn’t get hurt or he’s very good at not showing it.”
********
Yushin is dressed in spats and a long-sleeved rash guard but doesn’t mix it up with the other fighters tonight. Tonight, he is Coach Okami and, stop-watch in hand, he leads two straight hours of drilling and sparring for the other five pros in the room.
Stewart wasn’t lying — they go hard in sparring. A number of times, fighters clearly get their bells rung but don’t back down. Afterwards, the training partners still smile and joke with one another as well.
Yushin is stern when giving instructions but seems happily engaged in this role. He tells us that he’s held that position of group leader for about five years.
All of the fighters are around Okami’s age but it’s clear they have respect for the top-ranked middleweight.
After practice, with Stewart as our interpreter, I ask Okami about coaching, what he’s got next and how prepares for fights. First off, is it true that he doesn’t really get injured?
Okami laughs and says that luckily, right now he doesn’t have any major injuries.
“I get injured just as much as anyone,” he says.
“But, no, I don’t have any big injuries now at all. There’s no secret to staying healthy. I make sure I get taken care of. If it’s a small injury, you just work around it and keep getting stronger in other ways.”
When pressed, Yushin does allow that a lot of effort goes into staying in shape. For Okami, as is the case for boxing great Bernard Hopkins and UFC hall of famer Randy Couture, not having an off-season is key.
“I do take care of what I eat all year round,” he says. “Even if I’m not fighting in the near future, if it’s quite a ways away, I don’t take any time off. There’s no off-season. It’s pretty much consistent training.”
That approach has served the 32-year-old well throughout his career and is likely his best chance at getting back on the winning track in this uncertain time for him. Okami has won three out of his last four UFC fights but was still cut after losing last September to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.
Now, Yushin waits to see who and where he’ll fight next in the WSOF. His UFC release is clearly not a topic he enjoys talking about as he looks towards the future, but he does admit to being shocked by the move.
“At the time I was shocked,” he says. “But the only way is to move forward…All that matters are my actions from here on out.”
Okami has trained a bit in recent years in America with the likes of former opponent Chael Sonnen. As he talks about fight preparation in his own Tokyo gym, Yushin says that his goal is to combine the best elements of America-style training with Japanese methods for himself and the teammates he leads here.
“In Japan, training is a daily thing,” he says. “What you do in a day is important. But, in the States it seems like what matters most is what you can do in a week. That’s one of the main things I’ve brought over here – how to plan your training out over a week, rather than just think about what you’re doing that day.”
Here in his Tokyo gym, Okami is trying to create a new, hybrid way of training. “Basically, I want to take the good points of what I’ve learned in America and the best parts of what I learned here in Japan and mix them,” he says.
“It’s an amalgam of what I’ve learned in both countries.”
Okami also says that, though he wants to himself return to the U.S. for more training camps, whether he does for his next one will depend on who he fights next. Also, the ultimate goal is to eventually re-create the well-rounded training environments he’s experienced in America, here in Tokyo.
“I have been helped a lot by training in America and I do want to return there,” he says.
“It depends on the opponent but I do want to train there again with people who have helped me a lot. I also want to bring more of that atmosphere to Japan so I can have camps like that here in Tokyo.”
After seeing the hard sparring he facilitated, it isn’t a surprise to learn that Okami believes what makes Japanese training special and unique has a lot to do with a simply love for going hard.
“The strong point for Japanese fighters and training comes from a long time ago,” he explains.
“The Japanese are crazy about training. We just go at it. It’s always been there. Having said that, having to train at different gyms for different skills — I’d rather it be in one place like it is in the States.”
Yushin Okami the fighter may have years yet left on his accomplished competitive career. However, one can’t help but look forward a bit and be excited at the prospect of his leading the next generation of Japanese MMA coaches.
Like all career fighters, “Thunder” Okami has learned a lot about fighting over the decades. Unlike most of them, however, he’s already eager to share that knowledge with others to help create new champions.
I spent last week in Tokyo, Japan, to cover the Glory year-end championship kickboxing event and interview and train with luminaries of Japanese MMA. I’m only now beginning to process everything I experienced and saw but here are five immediate take aways.
1. Japanese Fans are No Longer Silent During Fights, But They are Still Hella Observant
Watching Pride events on television years ago, I used to marvel at how attentive and respectful the Japanese fans in live attendance seemed. During most of the action, it seemed as though you’d be able to hear a pin drop in even the largest of super arenas because the fans watched in almost complete silence.
Then, a fighter might make a minor adjustment towards a submission that most American fans would not be able to recognize as the offense it was, and the previously silent Japanese crowd would “ooohh,” and “ahhh.” In my American fight world of boorish booing, louder t-shirts and indifference to any aspect of fighting that wasn’t a competitor being knocked unconscious, Japan seemed like a magical place where people watched fights live with the understanding and respect they deserved.
This past Saturday, I watched a Glory kickboxing event live inside the Ariake Coliesum in Tokyo, Japan. It wasn’t MMA, but I was still excited to not only watch the great strikers on the card, but to experience a Japanese crowd in person for the first time.
Well, they are no longer silent during fights. Apparently that part of fight-viewing culture in Japan has changed in the past ten years or so.
Fans shouted throughout bouts and hooted and hollered. Still, they seemed to know what was going on much more so than American crowds I’ve been a part of or witnessed. Little bits of the fight were still appreciated by the crowd and they showed tremendous support to anyone who showed perseverance and heart in a fight, even if it wasn’t the crowd favorite.
I spent last week in Tokyo, Japan, to cover the Glory year-end championship kickboxing event and interview and train with luminaries of Japanese MMA. I’m only now beginning to process everything I experienced and saw but here are five immediate take aways.
1. Japanese Fans are No Longer Silent During Fights, But They are Still Hella Observant
Watching Pride events on television years ago, I used to marvel at how attentive and respectful the Japanese fans in live attendance seemed. During most of the action, it seemed as though you’d be able to hear a pin drop in even the largest of super arenas because the fans watched in almost complete silence.
Then, a fighter might make a minor adjustment towards a submission that most American fans would not be able to recognize as the offense it was, and the previously silent Japanese crowd would “ooohh,” and “ahhh.” In my American fight world of boorish booing, louder t-shirts and indifference to any aspect of fighting that wasn’t a competitor being knocked unconscious, Japan seemed like a magical place where people watched fights live with the understanding and respect they deserved.
This past Saturday, I watched a Glory kickboxing event live inside the Ariake Coliesum in Tokyo, Japan. It wasn’t MMA, but I was still excited to not only watch the great strikers on the card, but to experience a Japanese crowd in person for the first time.
Well, they are no longer silent during fights. Apparently that part of fight-viewing culture in Japan has changed in the past ten years or so.
Fans shouted throughout bouts and hooted and hollered. Still, they seemed to know what was going on much more so than American crowds I’ve been a part of or witnessed. Little bits of the fight were still appreciated by the crowd and they showed tremendous support to anyone who showed perseverance and heart in a fight, even if it wasn’t the crowd favorite.
It would have been cool to experience that observant silence that I’d noticed through television years ago, sure. The Tokyo crowd did not disappoint me, however. They were just a bit different.
2. Kickboxers Seem to be Much Bigger Stars Than MMA fighters
I remember reading and hearing years ago that, although Pride would fill large arenas and many of its fighters enjoyed fame, K-1 fighters were far more popular. I can’t speak to all of that but I will say that kickboxing, even in this slightly scaled-down and new, post-K1 incarnation, seems to be very popular in Tokyo.
The stadium looked nearly filled to me and the crowd clearly had old favorites like Remy Bojansky and Peter Aerts, as well as popular new champs like welterweight Nieky Holzken.
Point is, the fans knew what and who they were watching. Peter Aerts had fans crowd around him at his hotel before the fight.
In contrast, I was on a subway train for a few minutes with one of the very best MMA fighters Japan has ever produced, former UFC title challenger Yushin Okami and no one batted an eye at him. Okami is sponsored by Under Armour and, I believe, was also sponsored by Nike. He’s fought on MMA’s largest stage for years. Still, he was just a big Japanese dude to those around him on a subway train on a Friday night. I’m betting Okami would get a lot more attention around the hotel lobbies in Vegas than he does in his home city.
3. The Glory Rules May Suck, But Hot Damn are the Fights Still Fun to Watch
Before this past Glory event, I spoke with the former star fighter and current top coach who does color commentary for their telecasts, Duke Roufus, and pretty much asked him to admit that Glory rules (and K-1 ones before them) basically stunk. I kinda gave the same opportunity last fall to Tyrone Spong as well.
I don’t know much about kickboxing but here’s my beef: most of these top kick boxers have trained Muay Thai, the most complete striking art the world has ever known — with all it’s clinching, take downs, elbows, shoulder strikes, etc — for years and indeed even fought under those rules many times. However, once they get to the big leagues, they are not allowed to use many of the devastating weapons they’ve honed because the promotion has either severely limited those rules (clinching) or made them illegal (elbows).
I don’t like those limitations for similar reasons that I don’t like forced stand ups or forced clinch breaks in MMA (or that very useful and realistic moves like knees to the head of opponents on the ground are not allowed). I stand by my stance that the fights would be more interesting, realistic and even safer if allowed to be more pure versions of themselves but having that stance didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the Glory fights one iota on Saturday night. Perhaps I just got lucky because it was an exceptional card that combined hungry young local fighters, new champions and old legends, all fighting their hearts out with the refs not making themselves known too often.
This was the first full Glory card I’d ever watched and it delivered amazing fights. Since Saturday, I’ve gone back and watched the past few events. Those were quality all-around as well. Basically, it is easy to get hooked on Glory kick boxing fights. I’ll always prefer MMA to everything else (because it’s the most complete, realistic fight sport) and I’ll always push for it to be its most complete, real self, but now I also know I won’t be missing many Glory cards from here on out.
4. You Can’t Judge a Gym By it’s Size
In major cities in the states, many of us are used to fight gyms that are literally the size of warehouses and factories. LA and Vegas have scores of these. Even in land-short New York, giant gyms like those of Renzo Gracie exist.
And you know what, those gyms are cool as hell. That said, many of the gyms in gigantic Tokyo are tiny. Like, really small. Doesn’t matter. There’s great instruction, hard training and skilled champions being produced in these gyms. In just five days, this writer visited three different ones and trained at two. Yuki Nakai’s Paraestra gym was maybe twice the size of my hotel gym and I can’t say enough good things about how quality it is.
The former Shooto champion Nakai produces his own excellent students, like Shinya Aoki, and his gym also attracts the best pro fighters and Jiu Jitsu champions to its open sparring days. There’s good reason. The training is respectful but hard and competitive.
And, it goes on for hours and hours. Nakai loves teaching and the fight so much, the clock and the schedule on the wall have no bearing on how long the actual training session goes. Training stops when everyone has either left or is exhausted on the side of the mat.
The Abe Ani Combat Club (AACC) is where former UFC champ Josh Barnett trains and teaches when he’s in Tokyo, and brothers Hiroyuki and Masatoshi Abe have produced some of the best Japanese champions in MMA, both male and female. Their space, in a Gold’s Gym, is bigger than the mat space I have at my home gym but it would still look small compared to the mega gyms of Vegas.
Pro fighter, Scottish ex-pat and Cagepotato vet Stewart Fulton took me to the gym that Yushin Okami runs in Tokyo. Again, it was more than spacious to me, but tiny compared to the McDojos that are popping up in U.S. metro areas of late. Funny enough, neither Okami, nor the other high level professionals training that night under his direction needed more space to become as good as they have. None of the gyms I visited had rings or full cages to work with. Cages are hard to come by in Tokyo gyms, Fulton tells me.
For certain, ring and cage training is useful during training camps to get practice cutting off distance. That said, just a few days in Tokyo can teach even “more is more” American martial artists that you can’t judge a gym by its size.
5. Beware the Bowing, Humble Man
All too often, arrogance is seen as confidence. Chest-puffing as strength. In fact, there are few better indicators of insecurity and weakness.
Training at a gym in Tokyo — a city where literally every person I encountered during my week there at least acted overly polite — is a good way to learn that humble-acting, smiling, and bowing guys can be warriors. The cultures of the gyms I trained at were such that when someone wanted to spar with you, they came over smiling, shrugging, bowing, with hands clasped together, humbly asking if you would train with them. Then, they’d train hard as fuck.
I’m not talking about cheap shots, because I didn’t experience any of that at Yuki Nakai’s gym or at AACC. I’m just saying that these meek-acting, bowing, almost cowering dudes turned into twirling, smashing, submission-hunting machines once it was time to flip the switch.
You can’t judge a gym or opponent by their size, you also shouldn’t be fooled, one way or the other, by how they act before the fight happens. Bowing just may mean that they know they’re bad enough mofos to pull it off. Like the guy wearing rainbow colored grappling tights.
Last week, UFC welterweight contender Matt Brown herniated two discs in his back and was forced to pull out of his scheduled fight against Carlos Condit this Saturday at UFC on Fox 9. As he explained to CagePotato, he initially hoped a cortisone shot would help him feel well enough to fight, but that didn’t pan out.
Now, he’s benched from most physical activity for a month other than his therapy exercises. The good news is that if rehab goes well, Brown could be back training full contact in two months.
“The prognosis for me is basically that for one month I’ve got nothing but rehab. There’s no bending over to pick anything up and I can’t have any impact in any shape or form. No running. Nothing like any of those types of things,” Brown says.
“After two months, assuming rehab goes well, I’ll get a second cortisone shot and should be able to go full contact again.”
If Brown does his physical therapy to a ‘T’, he says he’s told that he should be able to avoid surgery on his back. Despite being so badly hurt, Brown says that he couldn’t bring himself to pull out of the fight on his own.
“I knew in my heart I wanted to do it,” he says.
(Brown smashes up Jordan Mein at UFC on FOX 7 in April. / Photo via Getty)
Last week, UFC welterweight contender Matt Brown herniated two discs in his back and was forced to pull out of his scheduled fight against Carlos Condit this Saturday at UFC on Fox 9. As he explained to CagePotato, he initially hoped a cortisone shot would help him feel well enough to fight, but that didn’t pan out.
Now, he’s benched from most physical activity for a month other than his therapy exercises. The good news is that if rehab goes well, Brown could be back training full contact in two months.
“The prognosis for me is basically that for one month I’ve got nothing but rehab. There’s no bending over to pick anything up and I can’t have any impact in any shape or form. No running. Nothing like any of those types of things,” Brown says.
“After two months, assuming rehab goes well, I’ll get a second cortisone shot and should be able to go full contact again.”
If Brown does his physical therapy to a ‘T’, he says he’s told that he should be able to avoid surgery on his back. Despite being so badly hurt, Brown says that he couldn’t bring himself to pull out of the fight on his own.
“I knew in my heart I wanted to do it,” he says.
“In my head I knew it probably wasn’t the best idea but I couldn’t get myself to say it out loud. I needed [my family and coaches] to push me to pull out of the fight.”
Brown admits that watching or even talking about fights right now is a bit of a bummer for him, given that he was so close to a huge fight and now can’t even move without pain. He doesn’t allow for self-pity to set in, however.
“I can’t change it so I just need to go about my way and enjoy the fights,” he says of the UFC on Fox 9 card.
As for when he does return to fighting, Brown’s immediate target hasn’t changed.
“Carlos Condit is still on my mind,” he says. “I definitely want to still fight him if that works out.”
As we all know, UFC moneyweight Vitor Belfort is down with Jesus. We’re cool with that. Whatever gets you through the night and helps you be kind to people during the day, is our motto (oh, you didn’t know that about Cagepotato?). Plus, it’s fun to laugh at Michael Bisping getting Bible-thumped by Belfort after mocking the Brazilian’s faith.
That said, a new promotional video for a North Carolina mega-church that features Vitor Belfort is pretty damn creepy. In the video, the church abducts parishioners who are not paying enough attention during church services, blindfolds them, sticks them in a van (cultish enough for you, yet?) only to drop them off in the center of a cage with the Phenom himself.
Belfort is dubbed a “values enforcer,” which is the type of term we all should be a little wary of, even in jest, especially coming out of the deep South. In any case, Vitor treats us all to some amazing acting and those spiritually deficient church-goers are scared straight and are presumably returned to their church more obedient than ever before.
As we all know, UFC moneyweight Vitor Belfort is down with Jesus. We’re cool with that. Whatever gets you through the night and helps you be kind to people during the day, is our motto (oh, you didn’t know that about Cagepotato?). Plus, it’s fun to laugh at Michael Bisping getting Bible-thumped by Belfort after mocking the Brazilian’s faith.
That said, a new promotional video for a North Carolina mega-church that features Vitor Belfort is pretty damn creepy. In the video, the church abducts parishioners who are not paying enough attention during church services, blindfolds them, sticks them in a van (cultish enough for you, yet?) only to drop them off in the center of a cage with the Phenom himself.
Belfort is dubbed a “values enforcer,” which is the type of term we all should be a little wary of, even in jest, especially coming out of the deep South. In any case, Vitor treats us all to some amazing acting and those spiritually deficient church-goers are scared straight and are presumably returned to their church more obedient than ever before.
Yay.
Alright, maybe we’re just going extra hard on this because the church in question has a profiteering pastor who has become a millionaire off of his particular dorky brand of rock evangelism. Maybe that’s why they could afford to hire Belfort to do this video.
Or, perhaps Belfort was convinced to do it for free because it was for a church. In which case, oh Vitor…we know that your faith has taken you from being a toe-sucking hedonist to a presumably still toe-sucking family man, but show some discretion with who you support, homie.
From the cage to the battlefield, some forms of bravery are easy to recognize. Then there are the daily acts of minor heroism, the kind that never get publicized. While everything Caros Fodor has accomplished in his career has made him worthy of respect, it’s hislifetime commitment to another fellow human being that makes him truly stand out as an unsung hero. Caros represents the heart and soul of MMA, and his story deserves to be heard.
*******
It had already been one of the more interesting work conversations I’d gotten to have with a fighter this year when I asked a last question as sort of an afterthought.
Seattle-based lightweight Caros Fodor was open in discussing his former life as a Marine with me. A Strikeforce/UFC vet who currently competes for OneFC, Fodor always wanted to be in the military, enlisted right out of high school and found himself in boot camp at just 17 years of age on September 11, 2001. From there, he was sent to Kuwait, and eventually Baghdad in the spring of 2003 as a part of the United States’ invasion of Iraq.
The realities of war — civilian casualties, cruelty to and destruction of the host nation, and bureaucratic banalities — changed Caros’ mind about wanting a career in the military. The carnage he’d taken part of also left him angry and suffering from PTSD when he returned home.
He had nightmares. He drank. The nightmares wouldn’t stop so he drank more. Caros and his friends went out most nights and started brawls.
From the cage to the battlefield, some forms of bravery are easy to recognize. Then there are the daily acts of minor heroism, the kind that never get publicized. While everything Caros Fodor has accomplished in his career has made him worthy of respect, it’s hislifetime commitment to another fellow human being that makes him truly stand out as an unsung hero. Caros represents the heart and soul of MMA, and his story deserves to be heard.
*******
It had already been one of the more interesting work conversations I’d gotten to have with a fighter this year when I asked a last question as sort of an afterthought.
Seattle-based lightweight Caros Fodor was open in discussing his former life as a Marine with me. A Strikeforce/UFC vet who currently competes for OneFC, Fodor always wanted to be in the military, enlisted right out of high school and found himself in boot camp at just 17 years of age on September 11, 2001. From there, he was sent to Kuwait, and eventually Baghdad in the spring of 2003 as a part of the United States’ invasion of Iraq.
The realities of war — civilian casualties, cruelty to and destruction of the host nation, and bureaucratic banalities — changed Caros’ mind about wanting a career in the military. The carnage he’d taken part of also left him angry and suffering from PTSD when he returned home.
He had nightmares. He drank. The nightmares wouldn’t stop so he drank more. Caros and his friends went out most nights and started brawls.
Ironically, perhaps, MMA helped save Fodor. He walked into Matt Hume’s AMC Pankration gym hoping to become a better street fighter, only to leave street fighting behind forever and pick up a new career in professional MMA.
It’s an inspiring story. A disillusioned warrior losing his way, then finding it again after learning to fight the right way and for the right reasons.
So, with all due respect to his opponent at OneFC 13: Moment of Truth, Vuyisile Colassa (who deserves respect just for having a name as cool as that), it was no fun watching Fodor lose a unanimous decision early this morning. You can’t help but want a guy to do well after he’s come so far.
Losses can be lethal to a young fighter’s career. You never know how many chances you’ll get to rise through the ranks.
Whenever Fodor retires from MMA, you wonder the same thing you wonder for all these guys and girls — what will they do and will they be alright doing it?
A little of that was in my mind when I asked Caros during our conversation a month ago about his future plans. He mentioned that his mother had only signed the waiver to allow him to enlist in the Marines after he promised her he’d stay a reservist and only go active duty after he completed his college degree.
The attacks on the U.S. of September 11, 2001 took that decision out of his hands for a few years. I asked Caros if he thought he’d go back to school and get a college degree after he stopped fighting professionally.
He likely would not, he said. Though, Fodor did mention, as an aside, that he did have a central part of the rest of his life already planned out.
“I probably won’t go back to school,” he said.
“I have the rest of my life kind of planned out already, though.”
He left it at that, but I couldn’t. I prodded Caros for further explanation.
“I run a companion home,” he explained.
That was the first time I’d ever heard of the term or concept.
“I live with an autistic friend of mine. A companion home is where you have a life-long agreement to be someone’s companion. I pretty much have him with me until I can’t do it anymore. I mean, I could always choose to change my mind but it’s pretty much for the rest of our lives. Autistic foster children age out of that system and then they still need a place to live.”
I was astounded to learn that people good enough to give this kind of commitment to another human being who was not even of blood or romantic relation existed. I guess I’d never thought about autistic foster children much at all, to say nothing of where they live after they age out of the foster system.
And, if such companions existed to care for these individuals, certainly they would be older, grandmotherly types. What kind of young man in his twenties makes that kind of commitment with the rest of his yet-to-be-realized life?
Whatever kind of man Caros Fodor is, I suppose.
Caros and his companion are no strangers and the fighter has been exposed to these issues for most of his life.
“My adopted mom ran a foster home for autistic kids,” he explained.
“So, ever since I was 16 I went there and did odd jobs. I met this guy 11 years ago when he was a little kid. Once he turned 21 in May, he moved in with me. It’s just me and him until he doesn’t need me or until one of us passes away.”
To the ears of someone who thinks one-year apartment leases are too onerous, the simple words Caros was saying left me dumfounded.
“He’s like a little brother to me. He’s cool with me,” Fodor said plainly, as if it were no big deal.
To him, perhaps, it isn’t. I asked Caros about logistical things — like what he would do if he ever wanted a serious partner, or if he wanted to get married? Wouldn’t that other dude that lives with him kinda cramp his style?
“I’m free to do whatever. Currently, I’m not married,” Caros said.
“It would be a subject that I’d discuss with them, for sure. I really wouldn’t be interested in someone who was not cool with Garth. He’s a great guy and super innocent.”
Caros Fodor once wanted to be a good soldier and protect the innocent from a rough world. Once war showed him that things don’t always work out that cleanly, it left him nearly broken.
Nearly. Caros rebuilt himself and found a profession for his fighting spirit after all.
More importantly, the warrior found a gentle path by which he could indeed protect the innocent. It may not be the grand scale of a war, but Fodor has learned it is still possible to be a hero, to one person, one life at a time.
I got the feeling from talking with Caros that he’d scoff at that type of description — his being a hero — or even take offense to it. That’s fine. I stand by it.
Fodor has come a long way from being an angry, street fighting rough neck. He’s already taken his MMA career further than most ever will.
So, while you feel bad for him after a loss like the one he suffered on Friday morning, you get the sense that Caros Fodor won something much more important a long time ago. And that, no matter where else his MMA career goes and however much longer it lasts, he’ll be just fine.
