What could have easily become a vacation or a setback, the UFC crew from Auckland quickly seized as an opportunity to evolve spending the month training with Professor Andre Galvao and his Atos HQ team.
Israel Adesanya was supposed to be on a routine trip to Las Vegas to coach teammate Carlos Ulberg through Dana White’s Contender Series, but New Zealand’s strict COVID-19 travel protocol delayed his return home. Stuck in the United States alongside his teammates the champ spent the month rekindling his interest in grappling. With just over one month of training in San Diego the UFC Middleweight Champ got more out of this experience than he anticipated. Here are three key take-aways from his trip:
“Let go and know your role”.
During his last training session in San Diego Professor Galvao surprised Izzy with a well deserved purple belt promotion, a moment Izzy considers the most memorable experience of this trip. He confesses that he has struggled with imposter syndrome coming as a mixed martial artist into a strictly jiu-jitsu training environment. Professor Galvao is known for holding his athletes to the highest standards to earn their belts, so Izzy is putting his belief in that, “I trust his judgement. He wouldn’t just give it to just anyone who wasn’t worthy of representing the school”.
As the UFC Middleweight champion holding an undefeated UFC record with 15 of his 20 victories coming by way of knockout it would be understandable for him to just keep working what’s working. The champ emphasizes the importance of learning and growing, “I don’t know another UFC champion in my position that would just go to a school and be willing to be tapped out by everyone, pretty much. You have to be willing to let go and surrender, and know your role. I didn’t come here as a UFC Champion. I came here as a mediocre-ish blue belt, and I evolved pretty fast in four weeks. Now, I’m leaving a legit Atos purple belt”. He’s committed to training weekly in the gi to keep up his jiu-jitsu and continue to evolve his game. He’s knocked plenty of people out, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s choking them out very soon, as well.
“Be brutally honest with yourself”.
Good days and bad days come for everyone, even for someone as successful and consistent as Izzy. I asked him what he does to deal with the moments he feels unfocused or unmotivated. “Sometimes, it just comes down to discipline”, he says. He explained to me that other times, you learn when to push yourself and when to pull back, but ultimately it comes down to knowing yourself and being brutally honest. “I talk to myself sometimes and leave little video diaries to myself so when the moment passes I can go back and remember it”. He says it helps keep himself accountable for both his successes that he has earned, and the struggles he has overcome. Whether you keep a video diary or talk to yourself in the mirror, the key is to be ruthless and brutally honest with what you need to do to be your best, and then do it.
“Be of service to your people. Do good unto others”.
There’s a lot more to training than just grappling. Izzy told Flograppling, “Apart from jiu-jitsu I’ve learned just the etiquette here. Being around Professor Andre, you know, I think I do well for people, but this guy is so nice, genuine, humble, and giving. He is in the art of service”. Whether it’s the equal regard with which all students from white belt to black belt are treated, or the generosity the team experienced during their stay, Adesanya says his most important take-away is to be kind. “I’m leaving here a better grappler for sure, but most importantly, a better man”.