"Becoming a Pro UFC Fighter: Mastering the Steps, Discipline, and Mindset of Conor McGregor" is the ultimate guide for aspiring fighters who dream of reaching the pinnacle of success in the UFC. This comprehensive resource takes you on a journey through the steps, discipline, and mindset required to become a professional fighter, drawing inspiration from the legendary Conor McGregor. With expert insights, training techniques, and invaluable advice, this book equips you with the knowledge and tools needed to excel in the world of mixed martial arts. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced fighter, "Becoming a Pro UFC Fighter" is your roadmap to achieving greatness in the octagon.
Conor McGregor's trainer tells the amazing story of his long road to success in the world's fastest-growing sport Growing up in Dublin, John Kavanagh was a skinny lad who was frequently bullied. As a young man, after suffering a bad beating when he intervened to help a woman who was being attacked, he decided he had to learn to defend himself. Before long, he was training fighters in a tiny shed, and promoting the earliest mixed-martial arts events in Ireland. And then, a cocky kid called Conor McGregor walked into his gym ... In Win or Learn, John Kavanagh tells his own remarkable life story - which is at the heart of the story of the extraordinary explosion of MMA in Ireland and globally. Employing the motto 'win or learn', Kavanagh has become a guru to young men and women seeking to master the arts of combat. And as the trainer of the world's most charismatic champion, his gym has become a magnet for talented fighters from all over the globe. Kavanagh's portrait of Conor McGregor - who he has seen in his lowest moments, as well as in his greatest triumphs - is a revelation. What emerges from Win or Learn is a remarkable portrait of ambition, discipline, and persistence in the face of years and years of disappointment. It is a must read for every MMA fan - but also for anyone who wants to understand how to follow a dream and realize a vision. 'For anyone interested in following their dream to the end of the line' Tony Parsons 'It kept me up well past my bedtime' Sean O'Rourke, RTE Radio One 'Remarkable' Irish Times 'Kavanagh is open and honest about his upbringing ... The journey hasn't been easy, but Kavanagh's inbuilt determination has carried him all the way' Irish Examiner
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the world’s most popular UFC fighter, Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, comes a startlingly honest portrait of a fighter’s journey, highlighting the lessons that propelled his rise from bullying victim to internationally celebrated athlete and champion. There’s more to winning battles than fists and feet For world-renowned professional fighter Georges St-Pierre, the greatest asset is not physical strength or athleticism—it’s a sense of purpose. From his beginnings as a small, mercilessly bullied child first discovering karate to his years as a struggling garbage collector who spent all his free time in the gym, his hard-fought rise in the sport of mixed martial arts, and his long, painful recovery from a career-threatening injury, Georges never lost sight of his ambition to become the greatest martial artist of all time. In The Way of the Fight, Georges for the first time reveals what propelled him not only to become a champion but to embrace obstacles as opportunities to build character. The Way of the Fight is an inspirational look into the mindset of a master. To Georges, all life is competition, and there’s no more perfect metaphor for competition than the life of a fighter. He explains the value of discipline, risk and even fear, with the wisdom of one who knows that nothing is assured—his next fight could always be his last. Drawing inspiration from fighting legends, Eastern philosophy and a trusted inner circle, The Way of the Fight is a powerful, life-changing guide to living with purpose and finding the way to accomplish your loftiest goals.
Part of the Bruce Lee's Fighting Method series, this book teaches how to perform jeet kune do's devastating strikes and exploit an opponent's weaknesses with crafty counterattacks like finger jabs and spin kicks.
Among the legendary athletes of the 1920s, the unquestioned halcyon days of sports, stands Gene Tunney, the boxer who upset Jack Dempsey in spectacular fashion, notched a 77—1 record as a prizefighter, and later avenged his sole setback (to a fearless and highly unorthodox fighter named Harry Greb). Yet within a few years of retiring from the ring, Tunney willingly receded into the background, renouncing the image of jock celebrity that became the stock in trade of so many of his contemporaries. To this day, Gene Tunney’s name is most often recognized only in conjunction with his epic “long count” second bout with Dempsey. In Tunney, the veteran journalist and author Jack Cavanaugh gives an account of the incomparable sporting milieu of the Roaring Twenties, centered around Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey, the gladiators whose two titanic clashes transfixed a nation. Cavanaugh traces Tunney’s life and career, taking us from the mean streets of Tunney’s native Greenwich Village to the Greenwich, Connecticut, home of his only love, the heiress Polly Lauder; from Parris Island to Yale University; from Tunney learning fisticuffs as a skinny kid at the knee of his longshoreman father to his reign atop boxing’s glamorous heavyweight division. Gene Tunney defied easy categorization, as a fighter and as a person. He was a sex symbol, a master of defensive boxing strategy, and the possessor of a powerful, and occasionally showy, intellect–qualities that prompted the great sportswriters of the golden age of sports to portray Tunney as “aloof.” This intelligence would later serve him well in the corporate world, as CEO of several major companies and as a patron of the arts. And while the public craved reports of bad blood between Tunney and Dempsey, the pair were, in reality, respectful ring adversaries who in retirement grew to share a sincere lifelong friendship–with Dempsey even stumping for Tunney’s son, John, during the younger Tunney’s successful run for Congress. Tunney offers a unique perspective on sports, celebrity, and popular culture in the 1920s. But more than an exciting and insightful real-life tale, replete with heads of state, irrepressible showmen, mobsters, Hollywood luminaries, and the cream of New York society, Tunney is an irresistible story of an American underdog who forever changed the way fans look at their heroes.
From the acclaimed author of A Fighter’s Heart comes an “entertaining and enlightening” look inside the mental game of mixed martial arts fighting (Dave Doyle, Yahoo! Sports). In his acclaimed national bestseller, A Fighter’s Heart, Sam Sheridan took readers with him into the dangerous world of professional fighting. From a muay Thai bout in Bangkok to Iowa, where he fought the toughest mixed martial arts stars, Sheridan threw himself into a quest to understand how and why we fight. In The Fighter’s Mind, Sheridan explores the mental discipline required of an elite fighter. In his training, Sheridan heard time and again (in Yogi Berra fashion) that “fighting is ninety percent mental, half the time.” But what does this mean, exactly? To uncover the secrets of mental strength and success, Sheridan interviewed dozens of the world’s most fascinating and dangerous men. He spoke with celebrated trainers Freddie Roach and Greg Jackson; champion fighters Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, and Marcelo Garcia; ultrarunner David Horton; chess prodigy (and the inspiration for Searching for Bobby Fischer) turned tai chi expert Josh Waitzkin; and the legendary wrestler Dan Gable, among others. “Fantastic . . . One of the best MMA books I’ve ever read, and I’ve certainly read my fair share.” —Eric O’Brien, “Way of the Warrior,” ESPN radio “You don’t have to care about fighting, or even know that MMA stands for mixed martial arts, to find insights into human behavior in Sam Sheridan’s The Fighter’s Mind.” —David M. Shribman, Bloomberg
Filipino Combat Systems chronicles the creation, evolution and core concepts of one of the fastest growing martial arts in the world. It overcomes the shortcomings inherent in martial art instruction manuals by focusing not on technique, but on the strategy and philosophy of movement behind the technique. Written by a first generation student under the authority and supervision of the system’s Founder and Grand Master, this work is an excellent introduction to the system. FCS is one of the most practical combat oriented martial systems in existence, bridging the gap between the ancient fighting arts and the modern world.
Are today's boxers better than their predecessors, or is modern boxing a shadow of its former self? Boxing historians discuss the socioeconomic and demographic changes that have affected the quality, prominence and popularity of the sport over the past century. Among the interviewees are world-renowned scholars, some of the sport's premier trainers, and former amateur and professional world champions. Chapters cover such topics as the ongoing deterioration of boxers' skills, their endurance, the decline in the number of fights and the psychological readiness of championship-caliber boxers. The strengths and weaknesses of today's superstars are analyzed and compared to those of such past greats as Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jack Dempsey and Jake LaMotta.
"I didn't care about what would happen. He might win the match, but he could never beat me. I was living my dream, traveling the world with complete freedom. Nothing could put me down. The play button was pressed again. My opponent took my back and I tapped to a bow and arrow choke. I laughed and shook his hand, as I stood back up. I was out of the competition. Everything was perfect. Life couldn't be better." After a training partner commits suicide, Christian Graugart feels obliged to do something with his life. Starting his own gym, dedicating almost all his time to the art of BJJ, alters everything, including the way he sees himself. The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Globetrotter is not only a story about traveling and training in martial arts. It's about all the things that can happen to you if you choose to truly stay alive until you actually die.
