"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want"

My first blog ever! Wow never really thought I would do this, but I never really thought that I had the capability to become a Professional Fighter. I wanted to start this blog to give myself the opportunity to connect to the world while I am in my training camps for upcoming fights. It really means the world to me all the love and support I have received since I started this journey and I want to stay connected to everyone. Also if any of these post inspire the person reading than I know I am doing my job. For my first post I wanted to share an amazing expernince I had for this last fight.

9 days before my last fight I was in Bridgeton NJ getting my medicals done so I could be cleared to fight. I had my manger, Bill Shuker who I consider my 4th older brother, had to drive me because after the eye examine I can not see at all! Haha for my 1st pro I drove myself  and needless to say the drove home was terrifying. I had to stop at a subway hoagie shop in NJ for like an hour before I could see. Anyway sitting in the lobby of the eye office was other fights waiting to get their test done. To my surprise I got the pleasure of meeting Luiz Azeredo from the Chute Boxe Academy. For those of you who do not know who Luiz is he is the first person to beat Anderson Silva and is also known for his wars with Takanori Gomi back in the Pride days. When I meet him I couldn't help to think why out of all the days I could of gone to get my medicals we picked the same day. I guess I started to think that because I am a big fan of Dr. Wayne Dyer and his writings. He has taught me many things, but one of my favorite teachings is we live in a world of no accidents and everything has a purpose and everything happens for a reason. At that moment I couldn't figure out why we were there together but as the story unfolds it all fell perfectly into its place.

Well as everyone knows the day of the fight wasn't exactly my best performance. Yes I had a bad day. No I am not making excuses. There were several factors that contributed to my lost and a series of events that went wrong. At the end of the night I am the one who has to face my problems and I have always said you have two choices A. Complain about them and let them run your life or B. Solve them. After the fight my oldest brother Nicky greeted me with a hug and a smile and told me he was proud and he walked me back into the locker room with my Trainers Steve Haigh, Kru Eric Karner, and my Manger Bill Shuker. Everyone was telling me not to be upset or worry about everyone makes mistakes, but I couldn't help this feeling of disappointment. To add to the lost I also got one of my teeth knocked out hahaha for the second time so technically I got one of my fake teeth knocked out. I always here people talk about a walk of shame well here's a walk of shame for you walk by your opponent and his corner after a lost while your holding your tooth and you hear their cheers. As I walked back to my hotel room at around 1 am I locked myself in the bathroom as I do after all of my fights and I stared in the mirror. I kept hearing myself say "what are you going to do?" I told myself that I am going to find the solution. Then I asked "who are you?" I told myself you are still a champion and that will never change. I packed my bags and drove 3 1/2 hours to my girlfriends house in Scranton. That next day I super glued my tooth back in and went to a wedding with Kate!

That Monday morning after the fight that disappointment still has not left me. I had big plans for myself after the fight and the money from winning was going to fund my plans. By 8 am Monday morning I was on my way to the Philadelphia Fight Factory to get out that crappy feeling. Once I started to break a sweat this overwhelming feeling of happiness and joy had completely encompassed me! The truth is I never started training in Martial Arts so I could turn pro, fight for a major organization, or get a contract to fight on tv it all just seemed to happen. I start training for myself, now when I say myself I don't mean to be selfish all I am saying is I started to challenge myself, to make myself happy, to see who I really am. Life is a great thing but the truth is life can be tough and your problems will not runaway from you so you have to be willing to stand in front of them bite down on your mouth piece tuck your chin and fight back. I would say that Monday's workout was one of the best workouts of my life because I got to experience that feeling of when I first step foot in the gym and forgot about everything that didn't matter i.e peoples opinions, your record, etc...

This is where everything falls into place when I drove home I was still searching some inspiration so I could email the team of individuals who help train me mentally. They were not able to come to the fight and after each fight I have always emailed them telling them how are training and visualizations worked perfectly. Still feeling great I called the one person who has always seemed to be able to give me the best advice my trainer Stephen Haigh. We talked about the fight and he gave me some awesome advice. He told me for him as trainer he always wants to warn us about mistakes we can make in a fight, but basically you can never really understand those mistakes until they happen. Basically fighting is a process and your going to make mistakes (sounds a lot like life) but you have to be willing to learn from them and make the proper adjustments to get where you want to be! It was a great conversation and I know I shouldn't be on the cell phone while driving but when I hung up the phone I turned the car radio up and what song was playing? Well none other than Everlast What it's like!!!! I couldn't stop laughing I felt like I was eating an irony sandwich since we were just talking about you really don't know what it's like until it happens. So I kept driving down 95 and the next song on the radio was Tom Petty-Learning to Fly. There was my answer that I was searching for right there playing on the radio. I am not exactly a Tom Petty fan but the words in that song told me how to respond. The truth is that really I know exactly who I am and really that's all that matters. I am learning to fly right now and I will make mistakes, but I know my outcome. I know that I am committed to becoming a champion and I have the courage to rebuild and learn from my mistakes.

To wrap everything up as for Luiz Azeredo I have the up most respect for him! I feel we got our medicals done at the same time because he showed me that my favorite fighter Anderson Silva may have lost the fight with him but he never lost his commitment to becoming a champion. As for me sure I may lose another fight, but you can trust that I will never lose my commitment to becoming the best fighter I can possibly be and I know for a fact that will lead me to great accomplishments! Thanks for your time and consideration feel free to comment it is always great to hear feedback and I will be posting every week to share some inspiration with all who read. When I get more details about my next fight I will post them immediately! Thanks make today a great one!

-Sammy O