Tag: Trevor Wittman

The Truth About Knowing When to Walk Away

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, NewsIn the weeks leading up to the night he was supposed to formally announce his retirement from professional fighting, Frank Shamrock kept telling himself that he wasn’t going to go through with it. Not really. Not now….

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In the weeks leading up to the night he was supposed to formally announce his retirement from professional fighting, Frank Shamrock kept telling himself that he wasn’t going to go through with it. Not really. Not now.

It was classic Kübler-Ross Model stuff, he realized afterward, and not without reason.

“For me, it really was like a death,” Shamrock said. “I went through the various phases. At first it was disbelief. I’d think, I’m not really going to do it. But then, I am feeling like I should do it. Second was, once I started moving in that direction, I didn’t really want to do it. I thought maybe I could change it and do something different. Then after a couple weeks, I finally accepted it. I knew I had already made that decision and started it, so I had to accept it. That was the crying phase.”

Gruesome Foot Injury Gives New Meaning to Fighting Through Adversity

Filed under: FanHouse ExclusiveIt takes a lot to gross out a seasoned fight promoter. Once you’ve seen enough blood on the mat and enough broken bones, you start to become immune to it all. At least, that’s what Jamie Addie of Fight to Win promotions i…

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It takes a lot to gross out a seasoned fight promoter. Once you’ve seen enough blood on the mat and enough broken bones, you start to become immune to it all. At least, that’s what Jamie Addie of Fight to Win promotions in Denver thought. Then he saw what happened to Justin Salas‘ foot.

“It was gross, man. I’ve seen a thousand fights and many different situations, but I’ve never seen that in my life,” Addie said.

Neither had Salas. Neither had his trainer, Trevor Wittman. It hadn’t even occurred to them to be worried about something like this.

Despite Love of Boxing, Trevor Wittman Happy to Have Moved on to MMA

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveWHEAT RIDGE, Colo. – Trevor Wittman has a case of strep throat. Maybe. At least, there’s a chance he does, and for a top MMA trainer, a chance is too much.

In his line of work, which requires getting right in the f…

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WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. – Trevor Wittman has a case of strep throat. Maybe. At least, there’s a chance he does, and for a top MMA trainer, a chance is too much.

In his line of work, which requires getting right in the faces of elite professional fighters who are anywhere from several months to several days away from important fights, he can’t risk the possibility that he might accidentally infect them. They have enough to worry about, and he can practically feel the white spots popping up on the back of his throat every time he swallows. This explains his uniform for today.

“I swear I don’t normally dress like a ninja,” the 35-year-old Wittman explains as he leads me into his little office inside the Grudge Training Center.

Trainer Trevor Wittman Explains Why He’s the Happiest Man on Fight Night

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveIn some ways, Trevor Wittman is to a UFC pay-per-view as a great character actor is to a Hollywood blockbuster. Even if you don’t know his name, you recognize him as soon as you see him on screen.

That’s because th…

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In some ways, Trevor Wittman is to a UFC pay-per-view as a great character actor is to a Hollywood blockbuster. Even if you don’t know his name, you recognize him as soon as you see him on screen.

That’s because the 36-year-old Wittman — trainer to fighters like Shane Carwin, Rashad Evans, Nate Marquardt, and several others– has a trademark. While other trainers and coaches are scowling their way to the cage, Wittman is the slightly goofy guy who’s grinning like a golden retriever with his head stuck out the car window.

“Brock [Lesnar] told me, ‘Man, you’ve got the most intimidating smile in the game,’ Wittman laughs. “You look across the cage at the other guys and you usually see that tough guy look. Me, I’m just happy to be there and excited to see my guy perform.”

Shane Carwin Blames Referee Josh Rosenthal for Setting Off Chain of Events that Led to Loss to Brock Lesnar

(Rosenthal, WTF? You made me dump my adrenaline with your sweet talk.)
When Shane Carwin went from the being on the brink of dominantly beating UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar in the first round of their title tilt last Saturday night to feebly su…


(Rosenthal, WTF? You made me dump my adrenaline with your sweet talk.)

When Shane Carwin went from the being on the brink of dominantly beating UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar in the first round of their title tilt last Saturday night to feebly succumbing to an arm triangle choke in the second frame, many people were left wondering,"What the hell happened?"

Carwin, who originally claimed that his body locked up as a result of lactic acidosis, now says that his lack of energy to finish Lesnar was a result of a massive adrenaline dump, caused by the instruction of referee Josh Rosenthal. 

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Trevor Wittman Calls Shane Carwin “Gift from God”

Anytime Brock Lesnar is set to fight it’s pretty normal for the imposing heavyweight to receive a ton of pre-fight attention, after all, nothing resonates more with the mainstream media than a previous stint as a professional wrestler…This time around the story line surrounding Lesnar is even more intriguing, as it wasn’t long ago that […]

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Anytime Brock Lesnar is set to fight it’s pretty normal for the imposing heavyweight to receive a ton of pre-fight attention, after all, nothing resonates more with the mainstream media than a previous stint as a professional wrestler…This time around the story line surrounding Lesnar is even more intriguing, as it wasn’t long ago that the champion’s career was in doubt due to a nasty case of diverticulitis (and let’s not forget Lesnar’s remarks regarding healthcare, which got that spotlight scalding bright).

In addition to Lesnar’s stardom and abilities (Dana White told Ariel Helwani he believes the Minnesota Monster is the UFC’s biggest commodity), what puts tomorrow night’s UFC 116 main event at the top of the ‘must see’ list, is opponent Shane Carwin. While he may not have the high profile of Lesnar yet, the massive heavyweight has also quickly become a UFC star, in part due to his 5-XL fists which have pounded out every Octagon opponent he’s faced thus far.

So, how special is Carwin? Well in a recent interview with MMA Fighting, renowned Grudge trainer Trevor Wittman said this, when asked to recall his initial assessment of the former collegiate football / wrestling star.

“I went home that night thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, with his size and ability, I finally got my gift from God, a heavyweight champion,’” Wittman told MMA Fighting.

Gift from God? Pretty hard to top that in the compliment category. Someone up there is blessing MMA fans with a pretty huge fight that’s for damn sure; to bet on it head here.