FloCombat Gym Stories with John Dodson
FloCombat Gym Stories with John Dodson
John Dodson kicks off a new weekly series on FloCombat as he shares his best story from the gym.
By Tony Reid
Fighters may forge their legacies under the bright lights inside the cage, but their skills are built inside the gym.
With the amount of time an athlete in MMA spends on the mats working to improve their wrestling and jiu-jitsu, or sparring with their teammates, there needs to be some levity in the air to balance out the grind from time to time.
And while gym culture is usually hush-hush in the fight game, FloCombat has some of the biggest names in the sport bringing you their best stories.
In our new weekly series our own Tony Reid talks to your favorite fighters about their favorite stories generated from training, and first up is former UFC flyweight title challenger turned bantamweight contender John Dodson.
“The Magician” has arguably the most devastating power that exists south of the lightweight division, and a personality on par with his knockout ability. Dodson is coming off his first round destruction of Manny Gamburyan last month at UFC on Fox 19, which served to mark his return to the 135-pound collective in spectacular fashion.
Dodson is also a fixture at the famed Jackson/Winkeljohn gym in Albuquerque, and he shared his favorite tale with FloCombat.
“One day I walked into the gym, I was having a bad morning, I was down in the dumps, and I had already got beat up,” Dodson said. “The workouts weren’t going well for me that day. I walked around the gym and there were nothing but a bunch of flyers hanging everywhere. It was a picture of me sitting on top of Rashad’s (Evans) shoulders with me looking at him.
“It was photoshopped of course and it said, ‘Rashad is training kids for the next generation of MMA and this is how he’s doing it.’ It said, ‘Jackson’s MMA outreach for troubled youth. Jackson’s MMA: Making a difference in the community. This is a great story of hope, triumph and courage as Rashad helps little John reach his dreams and a brighter future. Please contact Jackson’s MMA if you would like to join Rashad helping those in need like he did for little John.’
“I still have a copy of it to this day, this is some funny shit. No matter how down in the dumps I am I know my team will always come out and do something to help me get back on track.”
While Dodson tests himself with the best in the world on a daily basis in New Mexico, that doesn’t stop him from wondering what it would be like to scrap it out with fighters from different realms in combat sports. If Dodson had the chance to pick his dream opponent--or opponents in his case--The Ultimate Fighter winner wouldn’t hold back.
He’d pick the biggest name and the biggest frame he could find and would finally bring some legitimacy to the term “super fight.”
“Floyd Mayweather,” Dodson said. “That pretty boy wouldn’t be so pretty when I got done with him. His nickname is “Money.” He won’t have money when I get done with him; he will be broke, broke as a joke. He thinks he’s the best fighter in the world because he hasn’t been beat in boxing. Well, then come in and fight the best fighters in the world in MMA.
“I’d also fight Alistair Overeem. I want to know if speed really does kill. I want to know if I’m the fastest man on the planet. If I can hit him first then he might go down. I know he’s only going to have to land one shot on me and it will kill me. I want to know if I land 50 million shots will it hurt him?”
Fighters may forge their legacies under the bright lights inside the cage, but their skills are built inside the gym.
With the amount of time an athlete in MMA spends on the mats working to improve their wrestling and jiu-jitsu, or sparring with their teammates, there needs to be some levity in the air to balance out the grind from time to time.
And while gym culture is usually hush-hush in the fight game, FloCombat has some of the biggest names in the sport bringing you their best stories.
In our new weekly series our own Tony Reid talks to your favorite fighters about their favorite stories generated from training, and first up is former UFC flyweight title challenger turned bantamweight contender John Dodson.
“The Magician” has arguably the most devastating power that exists south of the lightweight division, and a personality on par with his knockout ability. Dodson is coming off his first round destruction of Manny Gamburyan last month at UFC on Fox 19, which served to mark his return to the 135-pound collective in spectacular fashion.
Dodson is also a fixture at the famed Jackson/Winkeljohn gym in Albuquerque, and he shared his favorite tale with FloCombat.
“One day I walked into the gym, I was having a bad morning, I was down in the dumps, and I had already got beat up,” Dodson said. “The workouts weren’t going well for me that day. I walked around the gym and there were nothing but a bunch of flyers hanging everywhere. It was a picture of me sitting on top of Rashad’s (Evans) shoulders with me looking at him.
“It was photoshopped of course and it said, ‘Rashad is training kids for the next generation of MMA and this is how he’s doing it.’ It said, ‘Jackson’s MMA outreach for troubled youth. Jackson’s MMA: Making a difference in the community. This is a great story of hope, triumph and courage as Rashad helps little John reach his dreams and a brighter future. Please contact Jackson’s MMA if you would like to join Rashad helping those in need like he did for little John.’
“I still have a copy of it to this day, this is some funny shit. No matter how down in the dumps I am I know my team will always come out and do something to help me get back on track.”
While Dodson tests himself with the best in the world on a daily basis in New Mexico, that doesn’t stop him from wondering what it would be like to scrap it out with fighters from different realms in combat sports. If Dodson had the chance to pick his dream opponent--or opponents in his case--The Ultimate Fighter winner wouldn’t hold back.
He’d pick the biggest name and the biggest frame he could find and would finally bring some legitimacy to the term “super fight.”
“Floyd Mayweather,” Dodson said. “That pretty boy wouldn’t be so pretty when I got done with him. His nickname is “Money.” He won’t have money when I get done with him; he will be broke, broke as a joke. He thinks he’s the best fighter in the world because he hasn’t been beat in boxing. Well, then come in and fight the best fighters in the world in MMA.
“I’d also fight Alistair Overeem. I want to know if speed really does kill. I want to know if I’m the fastest man on the planet. If I can hit him first then he might go down. I know he’s only going to have to land one shot on me and it will kill me. I want to know if I land 50 million shots will it hurt him?”