Jonathan Brookins never fit the mold of an average professional fighter.
It’s essentially why he became one of the more interesting personalities spawned from recent seasons of The Ultimate Fighter. Rather than destroying the house and barking nonsense at opponents, Brookins preferred the peace of meditation, often questioning the very nature of his existence and how utterly strange the fight world truly is.
So it’s not altogether surprising to hear that, following a disappointing submission loss to Dustin Poirier last weekend, Brookins is eyeing an indefinite leave of absence from mixed martial arts, in order to embark on a spiritual journey to India.
“Pursuing this sport with the mindset that I have is counterproductive,” Brookins admitted to Fightland. “It didn’t make sense. Mindset is everything. If this is what I’m going to do with the rest of my life it can’t just be a circular argument. It can’t just be about nothing. This quest to be a fighter has gotten to be frivolous, to be the wrong pursuit. I know it can be pursued the right way, but I know I’m not anywhere close to it. I’m not really down to live this temporary, right-now way of life.
“I’m looking for a mindset to exist better. I think that I can find a happiness about myself, a way of living, where my constitution is more sound. I think that martial arts has been a positive, but it hasn’t been as much as it could be. I want to find martial arts for real.”
Brookins confessed that he isn’t quite sure how long he’ll be gone. For all he knows the call of competition could draw him back before the end of next year. But if it doesn’t, and this is really the end, then he’s alright with that. And surprisingly, in a roundabout way, it’s all because of Poirier.
“The kid walks up to me after the weigh-ins,” Brookins reflected. “Gets in my face and says, ‘I want it more than you.’ All tough guy. ‘I want it more than you, bro.’ I was like, ‘What the f–k? How does this kid know he wanted it more than me?’ It was an interesting thing to say, but it was really true. It was the weirdest true s–t talking I’d ever heard in my life. Usually people just talk s–t and you’ve got a rebuttal. That was the first time it really made me think.
“It’s all mindset now. I know that nothing’s going to go wrong because I have the gift of this mindset this kid gave me to win. All he had to do was tell me he wanted it more. That’s easy enough; I can want a lot of things. And I know the formula to make it happen.”
6 MUST-READ STORIES
Brookins leaving to India. Speaking to Fightland, Jonathan Brookins announced intentions to take an indefinite leave of absence from mixed martial arts and embark on a spiritual journey to India.
Faber open to 145 fights. In an interview with BJPenn.com, top-5 bantamweight Urijah Faber admitted he would be open to competing at 145-pounds again if a fight was big enough: “I can compete at a couple different weight classes if I wanted to. I’m durable and I have a skill set.”
White: TUF house ‘terrified’ of one fighter. According to UFC President Dana White, the entire cast of the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter is ‘terrified’ of one particular fighter who has a tendency of sending opponents to the hospital.
Masvidal injured, end of Strikeforce confirmed. An injury to Jorge Masvidal has forced the lightweight to withdraw from his expected bout against Pat Healy at Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine. Additonally, Strikeforce and Showtime executives officially confirmed the January card would be Strikeforce’s final show, while adding the first ever UFC/Strikeforce cross-promotional bout with former champion Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza vs. UFC middleweight Ed Herman.
UFC 157 bookings. A trio of bouts have been confirmed for UFC 157: former Strikeforce contender Robbie Lawler vs. Josh Koscheck, top-3 featherweight Chad Mendes vs. Manny Gamburyan, and Dennis Bermudez vs. Matt Grice.
Rousey: UFC ‘more pure’ than Olympics. Soured by her Olympic experience, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey said of her current pursuit, “The UFC and MMA stuff is so much more pure compared to all that.”
MEDIA STEW
Benson Henderson delivers the most Benson Henderson answer imaginable here, and it may be the reason he’ll be roaming around the top of the division for years to come.
Last week you might remember Alan Belcher pieing Ben Askren in the face. Well, Askren got his revenge.
Fascinating mini-documentary right here. MMA is still illegal in Cuba, and there’s only one active gym in the country. I’ll let the video description tell you the rest: “The fighters on coach Evelio Padron Ferrier’s team wrestle on concrete floors, use the ocean for endurance training, and practice techniques pulled from memory and bootlegged DVDs.”
No sign of that guy who’s supposedly sending people to the hospital. Though Mr. Sonnen looks rather sharp, as usual.
Remember the guy who made a ridiculous Cung Le wrap? He’s back with a sandwich dedicated to Roy Nelson. Oh, boy.
(HT: MiddleEasy)
THE MULLET WILL SAVE YOU
The world ends tomorrow I guess ! DAMN!!! Wish I would have gotten my black belt in BJJ …
— Mike Pyle (@Mike_Pyle) December 20, 2012
OUCH
Can you believe all these bone spur was in my arm. This time I’m going give my body enough time to heal. Thanks… fb.me/z1gsKV5G
— Cung Le (@CungLe185) December 20, 2012
SEE WHAT YOU’VE DONE, DANA
I DIDN’T! U ppl drive me crazy “@jonsconesjones: @mieshatate All joking aside Miesha, why did u turn down a RR rematch?”
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) December 21, 2012
HAPPY B-DAY
@danawhite completely unexpected twitter.com/ChuckLiddell/s…
— Chuck Liddell (@ChuckLiddell) December 20, 2012
An epic birthday party with my great friend @danawhite twitter.com/ChuckLiddell/s…
— Chuck Liddell (@ChuckLiddell) December 20, 2012
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Thursday, December 20, 2012):
- UFC 157: Chad Mendes (13-1) vs. Manny Gamburyan (12-7)
- UFC 157: Josh Koscheck (17-6) vs. Robbie Lawler (19-9)
- UFC 157: Matt Grice (16-4) vs. Dennis Bermudez (9-3)
- Bellator 89: Eduardo Dantas (14-3) vs. Marcos Galvao (13-5-1)
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day sees sampark return with: Submissions Series: The Guillotine
During the French Revolution, a ruthless execution method had been invented, The Guillotine. The Guillotine decapitated anything in its way from bone to flesh. As the Reign of Terror grew to an end, the method had slowly began to fade away. Little did they know a crushing submission would be named after the execution method.
Before we cover the basic types of guillotines, I would like to cover the basic grips. There are 3 main grips used to finish a guillotine choke, and those are the traditional monkey grip, McKenzietine grip, and the S Grip.
Traditional Monkey Grip
The monkey grip was made famous by Renzo Gracie. Below he explains how he prefers to finish the guillotine with his “monkey grip”
The grip is connected when the hand grasps the wrist, notice how Renzo closes his other hand into a fist so the opponent cannot attempt the peel the fingers to loosen the grip.
The McKenzietine or Cup-and-Saucer Grip
This grip stormed the MMA world and was made famous by Cody McKenzie as he choked his opponent out unconscious in a matter of seconds. The McKenzietine starts be wrapping the neck with one arm then grasping the closed fist and applying pressure upwards with the other palm.
Watch how Erik Paulson of CSW demonstrates the grip.
Tons of gifs and analysis after the jump…
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we’ll include it in Monday’s column.