When to start mma training
I Trained To Become An MMA Fighter In 4 Months
fighting an MMA fight in three months is
completely crazy aria is just so sweet
like I couldn't see him like her a fly I
don't want to see Aria get hurt I get
the impression that there's an underdog
within you that is trying to prove
something through this experience I
don't know if he will survive this fight
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basically this is saying that you are
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BuzzFeed is not responsible because you
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gotcha and when you say anything else at
a good stuff that includes I mean death
is possible at all of life like every
morning you wake up death is a
possibility very true my name is aria I
love romantic comedies Christmas and I
will be dedicating the next three months
of my life towards training and mixed
martial arts before competing in an
officially sanctioned fight against a
trained and experienced opponent is he
really gonna do that
why would he do that just three months
are you straining three months is not a
long time three months of training
before a fight is a very unrealistic
timeline already so this will be the
biggest challenge of my life are you
gonna be wearing headgear oh I don't
know how this is gonna work for him I
love aria but no I will not be seeing it
I don't want to see it I don't want to
see the fight I'm not very physically
active I don't think most people think
of the word fighter when they think of
me I don't know if Aria has ever been in
a fight
Aria told me that he was Buddhist I'm
worried about him I don't know if he's a
fighter
but what is a fighter because for me
this journey isn't just about trying to
overcome the physical and mental
challenges that I will be facing but
more so about trying to get inside the
mindset of what it takes for those that
actually do compete in one of the
world's toughest sports a combat sport
that allows its athletes to utilize a
variety of fighting styles mixed martial
arts continues to explode in popularity
as fighters from all walks of life seek
to test themselves inside the cage I
think my car can impact a lot of life
because of discipline what separates MMA
from any other sport is that you're
forced to deal with fear to compete in
the mixed martial arts fight the fact
that art is doing that first why I think
takes a tremendous amount of courage
it's gonna be a difficult process for
arias first fight honestly I would just
recommend take it all in it's a whole
nother world try to just open your eyes
open your ears and see as much as you
can
hey who are you well thank you thank you
so much for being a part of this journey
with me it's gonna be uh we Road gonna
be a lot of fun
one of the individuals tasked with
getting Oriya in proper condition to
compete is Steve Zim an accomplished
coach who has trained athletes including
undefeated female boxing champion Laila
Ali this is what I do for a living I
train people to be the best at what they
do
arms down he's what I would call skinny
fat 12 and 3/4 you have way too much
body fat for what we're trying to do
working with Steve to improve my
strength and conditioning is not easy at
all
let's do two minutes and see how you
feel on this anything burning yet
getting to a push-up and let's see what
we got going into this I knew one of my
biggest weaknesses was my conditioning
yes your blood sugar just dropped okay
so why don't we sit down
this isn't like going out and trying to
run a 5k and just hope I finished the 5k
this is way way up there you are gonna
put your face your body on the line you
have to make sure that you're gonna come
out of this hole that's why we're doing
this otherwise you're gonna get in there
and find out that you don't have what it
takes it's scary but if he puts himself
in the right position works his butt off
eats right shows up then we're gonna
have a big big change in him any which
way he does not lose from this so your
chin is where a lot of nerves are that's
kind of like one in the mean target
areas so you always want that chin down
and the eyes up coming out of retirement
to teach aria the combat skills he'll
need to survive in the cage is Chris
Riley a former champion and coach who
once helped lead Quinton Rampage Jackson
to capturing the UFC light heavyweight
championship you're basically what I
call on the snowboard
the minute I see that when Aria first
reached out to me about this project my
initial reaction was no first of all I'm
not coaching fighters anymore so I
didn't really think it was something
that I wanted to be involved in or or
would necessarily even be the best
person for him and then after giving it
some thought
the reality is during my time in the
sport there were a lot of people
coaching MMA who shouldn't be coaching
them at may you know we do have to
remember it's a grown man in there whose
entire purpose is to hurt you as bad as
possible you know I really thought to
myself maybe I was actually the best
person to help with this I'm not gonna
keep punching hard here I'm a top top
tapping I think the hardest part of the
training process over the next three
months Ferrari is going to be when we
have to face some real contact that's
always when people start to learn
whether or not this is something they
really like doing or not so that that
will be the you know kind of key
determining factor as to how this is
probably going to turn out
I mean we've worked so hard and here we
are it's fight night
now it's gonna be what its gonna be it's
been it's been a journey but I have a
full full belief in him that he'll he'll
do well he well he's done everything
he's needed to do in preparation pick it
off before you get in the cage yet I
know there's a lot of people who kind of
laughed him off a little bit and whatnot
but I know what he's made of I know that
he's gonna go in there he's gonna move a
lot of people wrong that's for sure
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as training progresses chris is able to
secure a gym for aria to train out of
I've known Chris for a long time he was
like a mentor to me he called me on
Sunday
and asked if I could help him out like
with this project I could not say no you
know of course I'd say yes hanging in a
fight in three months
is absolutely crazy and a dinky as the
biggest pair of balls ever we actually
Pat it up and got in the ring especially
since he's never fought anything he's
gonna have to get used to getting
punches thrown at him he has to get used
to getting kicks donut and he actually
has to get used to getting beat up the
sparring session was definitely a shock
in the system it was like okay this is
how it feels to get hit by someone who's
not even trying to really hurt you
biggest challenges are teas in the face
is mentally getting ready to train so on
top of the fight training I'm supposed
to do with Chris I also have five days a
week with Steve doing a strength and
conditioning work at his gym and then on
weekends I'm also supposed to do cardio
so there is no day of full rest for me
while training multiple times a day
Arya's diet is also under scrutiny by
the team at trifecta nutrition who are
trying to help ensure that Aria comes in
at his scheduled 145 pound featherweight
limit trifecta basically came up with a
diet plan
it's basically focused on just clean
eating and making sure I'm hitting my
macros so for example I'm supposed to
hit 150 grams of protein in a day while
keeping under 1900 calories the
excitement of the first week falls away
after the first week when you start to
see how hard you're pushing how hard
you're pushing this entire project seems
to be the only thing on my mind I'm
always thinking about things like my
diet I'm wondering if I'm training hard
enough I'm wondering who my opponent's
going to be I'm thinking about this
constantly and it's just it's it's a lot
it's a mental thing he's never done it
so I don't know which way he's gonna go
it's a combination
yeah the physical but I
I can handle the physical that's not the
problem it's going to be up here
if I'm trying to meet you in the side
your leg or into your gut and you dump
down to try and grab a double and eat
that mean we will expect you to fight
through that unfortunately because
basically your face budding his knee at
that point I mean like everybody I feel
like this was unexpected for aria cuz
he's the like most gentle polite nice
person but I've also like believed in
him since the very beginning of this I
feel like he can definitely do this
I'm sure art is going through a little
bit of nervousness but it's gonna be
okay you know
usually nothing really hits until you
walk like right in there and then they
close the door and then that's when
everything gets real you know so you see
what happens if you get choked out guess
what
then you wake up we'll let you know who
won okay I'm not gonna stop a choke I'm
not gonna stop a choke
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it was very scary and intimidating they
were they went in blood Oliver yeah I
hope that doesn't happen Arya we need to
get into the mindset that we're gonna
see him get his ass beat even if he wins
my first fight was fifty seconds where I
got punched in the face and then I shot
the worst double leg I've ever shot in
my life and I got choked you know
fighting is nothing to be taken like
Leah it's not a game the entire point of
the sport is to hurt the other person
that's a reality that's not often talked
about I'm afraid of what your face is
going to look like
have you used me watching fights I've
been watching a lot of fights in there
like their eyes some people can't open
them when it comes to the dangers that
exist in MMA the truth is there's no
limit to them and I took this on with
that weight on my shoulders I mean I'm
very aware of how bad it can get can you
talk yes there's the ability to tap out
but you know what makes the person tap
out is that they're in so much pain they
can't take it anymore I feel like you
wouldn't done I feel like you would wait
until you're passed out yeah I I I told
myself this now but yeah I my plan is I
if he wants to where he's gonna knock ya
I've been real pleased with what I've
seen from aria so far I think things are
starting to come together
I always get a lot stronger than when we
first started I mean when we first
started it was not spectacular now he's
picking up much heavier weights
he's break between sets are down to 30
seconds or less sometimes we'll go 4
sets in a row with almost no break 5 10
seconds back on five seconds back on the
biggest thing that's gonna come there's
more of a mental issue that's the
biggest thing and fighting is your is
your head I'm as far as for the other
people on the in the school today as
we're going to kind of increase the
toughness training sparring will
probably be more of a factor no one's
gonna give you advice when you spar and
now they're gonna you up you know
they're gonna try to get you they're
gonna try to tag you and they will tag
you
they will tag you right ru is gonna get
hit he's gonna get hit pretty good
at that moment is going to be real like
the pain will be real the shock will be
real everything will be real and then
we're gonna see in that moment where
they still wants to do this or not I
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love you Aria but no I don't think so
I'm just gonna say no I'm just gonna go
ahead and say no I don't think he can
fight someone he's too nice I think that
he's going to lose I know that he's
going to lose he's probably one of the
softest people I know I honestly feel
like he's just gonna go into the match
and get hit like a couple of times and
like okay that's cool that's enough for
the video every time you throws a punch
he's gonna apologize I know he'll give
it his all but I think it might be a
waste of time mostly I get the
impression that there's an underdog
within you that is trying to prove
something through this experience and
I'm wondering what that is when I think
of MMA I think of just I guess I think
about how fearless these these fighters
are these men and women mm-hmm the
courage it must take a common thing that
is brought up as always people saying oh
you you can't do this you're too nice to
be able to do this and and you want to
be fearless yeah one two body shot
remember how you scooted on it you're
too far away oh and you dropped your
right hand I'm trying my best friend to
just sort of focus on why I'm doing this
but at same time you know maybe all
these people are right you know maybe
I'm just not cut out for this I think
you are putting a very hard timeline on
yourself that's making your challenge
greater than the average person but is
that a bad thing anytime anyone chooses
the path less traveled what you're gonna
get from the peanut gallery is you know
a bunch of doubt and negativity because
most people honestly are afraid to take
a road that's not been traveled before
you guys love to critique
you would never have even made it to the
cage because the minute your hands
started getting wrapped your legs would
get so weak that you would never make
the walk from the dressing room to the
cage in many ways I kind of resent the
notion that I'm a nice guy I don't like
that label I like every day being
friendly to people I like greeting
people opening doors for them but I
don't like the idea that I'm incapable
of switching that off the fact that Aria
is such a nice guy is in no way shape or
form related or connected to his ability
to be successful in MMA I think the
biggest myth is that we're all a bunch
of meatheads that just want to punch
each other in the face and we're all
angry all the time
completely not the case I think they're
some of you know the nicest most humble
people on earth I think the true martial
arts is humble and I think one of the
main reasons for that is you get your
butt kicked a lot one of the things that
keeps drawing me back into the sport
even as I try to get out is it's always
really nice guys I'm working with our
heads so far he's a really nice guy aria
is really sweet down earth humble now
whether or not he can you can turn that
switch on to being a fighter is you know
it's completely up to him you know that
that's all in his head everyone has the
capability of doing it whether or not
you can do it in 3 months I guess we'll
see a big fire this I also just want to
let you guys down like what if what if I
lose I mean every fight one guy wins and
one guy loses that's sports that's
competition
I've been training guys as you know for
over a decade
you think all my fighters won all the
time no we don't gain confidence and we
don't truly gain success without
failures failure is one of the best ways
than learning something and we're so
fearful of it I think in so many ways we
create this false sense of security
because of it and we never take risks we
never take leaps of faith and I think
you look at the special people in this
world they're doing something different
you're testing your own limits and
you're going to be stretching the
boundaries of your identity
and that's an amazing experience for
anyone to be able to be aware of you
being accomplished
it's from the process and the journey
not the outcome
jab it head kick good breathe again good
cross hook kick
nice even though I tease you and I say
it's crazy and all that I wouldn't be
doing this I wouldn't be coming here you
know I'm taking an uber you know 30
minutes each direction right now like it
if I thought this was a ridiculous waste
of time and you weren't capable I mean
why would I sign up for it I believe in
you I've seen this for a long time
obviously I spoke to Daniel he thinks
you can do it so if we think you can do
it you can do it now what's left is
convincing yourself that you can do it
it's crazy for Aria to come in after
four months of training a lot of these
guys you know come out of the womb
wrestling or doing karate or whatever it
is so they have years and years and
years the thing is if if you're ready
and if you can demonstrate a little bit
of aptitude which she has you know we'll
give you a shot because so much of what
we do isn't just skill it's all heart
and mind you know you have to be strong
to get in there
I want your wrist firm so that way I
wrap it too tight it's impossible to
really anticipate how someone's going to
react the first time they've ever done
something like this it will for sure be
in somewhat overwhelming experience for
him but he is about to tackle something
that's very very difficult so I think he
gets a lot of props for just going
through with it
this is how they filmed reality together
just the way you guys attracted that
happens ripples records one month before
his scheduled fight Aria receives word
from spar star that they're being forced
to push their event back until July 6th
giving Aria an additional five weeks of
training they were supposed to find me
someone when I was June first but now
that I mean at this point I don't know
like how much more experience I gonna
have on May 31st Aria receives the news
that his opponent has been found
Kayson match a young fighter who
recently lost his debut fight by
decision I grew up in Chino California
I've been training in total for a little
bit over a year the past month or so has
been tough it's been law training but
now knowing an opponent seeing a face it
kind of just makes it all real and just
gives me kind of like this this
finishing line this end goal to barrel
towards okay let's see let's see pics we
have photos I'm thinking which one is he
I can tell you this guy's a real
opponent I've always wanted to fight on
my parents always told me no it's
homeschooled up until a junior high and
then I eventually dropped out joined the
army and now I'm here I mean he's a
military guy so that one one concern is
that he is in really good shape the
military does ingrain a certain level of
conditioning also a certain level of
fortitude the fact that he's lost his
first fight means nothing to me I mean
tons of great fighters have lost their
first fight I'm more scared somebody
that loses in somebody who wins because
when you lost you know what that feels
like it doesn't feel good and you can do
anything kid not to lose again
he wants that a career in MMA so it's a
lot more riding on this on him than
Dario sorry hasn't won one fight and
done he's already lost his first fight
so he's a chip on shoulder and I can't
want to lose I mean when you want you
want only two starting off your career
that's bad my upcoming fight means a lot
to me it's only gonna be my second fight
I'm trying to make a career out of this
I want to go pro eventually and I want
to make it with all the big guys I
believe my first fight opened up my eyes
to see the improvements I need to make
that opponents hit me tough no joke the
fact that he wants it doesn't mean like
he's gonna be hungry and he has a lot to
prove and he wants to live law
but so is Aria like Aria has invested so
much time and effort into this that like
if Aria loses it's not gonna be for lack
of effort I think that in the beginning
I was very skeptical of arias success
rate and now like he really has been so
dedicated so my expectations have
already been surpassed now we're at the
point where there's no time for doubt no
time for fear it's do-or-die time
what's up aria I think it's crazy about
again in this cage with me but props
teaming on fight day casein weighs in
three pounds over the 145 pound limit my
cutting process was a very drastic this
time I should have dyed it a lot sooner
than I did and I had it cut a lot of
weight in a short amount of time yeah
it's kind of tough that he didn't make
weight because that's five pounds he has
an argument just might replace it
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despite being at a disadvantage due to
the weight difference with the risk of
having the fight cancelled altogether
Aria still agrees to take the match
truthfully the the thing I'm most
worried about fer Aria is that he
wouldn't get to showcase what he's been
working on I think the worst case
scenario is he immediately gets taken
down and submitted and so he can't show
off his stand-up training is grappling
training I'm nervous like always don't
care who it is everybody gets nervous
before if I just trying to calm the
nerves my my last fight what was my
first fight I have stuff I plan on doing
it's just a another stepping stone for
me I feel like Aria is gonna give this
everything he's not half-assing any of
it
his progressions been fantastic at first
I was hoping we get him through the
first round then I was thinking maybe we
can get him to finish this fight at this
point he can win this he's not weak you
know the Aria is a pretty strong kid he
gets hit and he hits back which is a
great thing when it comes to my hopes
and expectations
I just want RIT to come out of this with
positive feeling about himself and about
the experience and I think that he's
done everything he can do to make that
happen
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of course I have days where I've thought
why do I do this why am I doing this to
myself
I do have a lot of mental doubt I think
a lot of Fighters have self-doubt I
think what brought me into fighting is
doubt what brought me into fighting is
fear I've always had a problem with
confrontation so I think this is me
forcing myself to deal with those fears
I fight mainly because I think if I
didn't I would read it it's 20 years
down the line I don't want to look back
and say oh I wish I would have done this
even when I came up with this dream
people thought I was going crazy I'm
like I'm not born to survive
I want to leave I want to have this
feeling that I'm leaving I've had people
tell me this is stupid you shouldn't do
that while you're spending your time in
the gym go work full-time go do this go
do that
Riaan let's go in the army again I'm in
LA people ask me why are you doing this
why are you doing this for a video why
are you doing this for BuzzFeed and the
thing is I'm not doing it for a video
I'm not doing it for BuzzFeed I mean I
guess the simple answer is that I'm just
doing it for myself you cannot gain
strength and wisdom without adversity I
think you just have to have that faith
in yourself and faith in your journey in
France they said something like first
take away a mountain when you have it
fed you can climb a mountain without
realized
that amounted you don't need to have a
successful fight to have the I proved
myself moment you don't have anything to
prove about who you are to anybody like
you have nothing to prove to anybody
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here we go folks featherweight bout
cases with a size advantage here also
weighed in about six pounds heavier than
Aria love the piece of headgear that
Ryan speaks is way the exact is for the
BuzzFeed documentaries with the referee
Camden Aria come before calling that jab
case a look at a counter with the reach
a little bit he is not throwing out of
it
there's a right hand although four
months in a tie it looks like car has
got a bit of a stance on him kind of the
loops here some other information to
make smart straining he's certainly made
the stand right gonna case in the
throwing punches so he's not afraid to
get in there and mix it up he's fought
in the front headlock real danger
getting guillotine the case in connect
his hands there he goes
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always tap as he taps no matter back he
was driving though body shots okay he's
in trouble here though I can't see the
other indication hello well walked up it
is do all the way out
joking all the way
the scale indeed
so it's audience at home unconscious
here one is about 104 seconds in
and are you hit the ball goes to sleep
in his debut fighting a bush casein
match now it looked like it wasn't it's
weird because the past few months have
been so frantic non-stop chaotic at
times but now 24-hours before I actually
fight someone it's all just calm and
whatever happens tomorrow
win or lose it's weird but it's like it
doesn't really matter to me I started
this whole journey trying to learn more
about the world of MMA this this culture
around fighting but if there's one thing
I've learned it is really that all of us
we really are more than the labels
people give us whatever lies ahead
tomorrow and for whatever stick come
after that I'm ready hey aria we've just
gone through some really crazy
whatever the result has been it's an
incredible accomplishment look you'd
want to say that you're a good guy and
you did something that is pretty
impossible for the average person to do
win lose draw dude you're my freakin
hero I just want you to remember that
that you got heart man you go hard you
got balls I want you to take that that
strength and we take it with you and
everything else that you do in life it
doesn't matter you want to lose you know
it just matters that you get in there
you should be really proud of yourself
however it worked out I'm super proud of
you I believe you know you're gonna get
out of this a better stronger man with a
great story and an experience that will
last you a lifetime I think what makes
someone a fighter is truly did their
mentality so much of what a fighter is
is what you don't see it's their heart
is the determination
through persistence when you're beating
up another fighter or winning a fight
with ease I think it's easy to say that
oh you know they're a great fighter I
think a true fighter is the one that is
dealing with the struggles dealing with
the adversity has the ability to suffer
and training and perhaps suffer in a
fight and find success in one way shape
or form I think we're all fighting in
different ways and I think that's why we
have a lot of admiration for people in
combat sports is we do see a piece of
ourselves and if we don't see a piece of
ourselves we see something that inspires
something in us because we all are
fighting in some way shape or form and I
think when you see someone who can
really deal with adversity and answer
with courage that's what a fighter is
it's not necessarily whether they're
winning or losing it's how they respond
to chaos look at the commitment that
isn't somebody that came in here to have
a good time and oh I'm gonna do a show
about fighting this is a guy who became
a fighter
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coming
something says
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when
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see
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you
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