sfuk open mat - mixed martial arts training

In June of this year my attention was drawn to a thread on another forum whereby someone had flamed then UFC heavyweigh champ Josh Barnett over the whole steroid issue. The member claimed that he could tap out Josh at will (or something similar) and made disparaging remarks about his physique. The profile of the individual stated that he was based in London, but what he didn't know was that Josh was due to visit to corner Ian Freeman in his fight with Frank Mir. Josh responded on the forum inviting the 'troll' to tap him out and gave full details of his address in London. Needless to say the 'troll' was slow in responding.

I'd met Josh in Las Vegas when I went to UFC 36, interviewed him and got along pretty well. I'd always wondered how good 'the best' are so I posted on the thread that I'd be honoured to roll with Josh, and I'd be at the same hotel at the same time. I then forgot about the whole thing until my first night in London when I bumped into the 'Assasin'. Our conversation started something like this:

"Hi Josh, how are you?"

"Hi Jim, yeah, sure, we can roll..."

Crap.

The Whys

I'm still not sure what prompted me to post on the initial thread, or to turn up on time, or to get on the mat. I think it's because I didn't want to feel like a keyboard warrior but I'm not sure. It could have been because I thought that it would have made a good article, but I doubt it. It's probably that on the scale of fandom it's probably well above 'getting an autograph' and just below 'indecent and unnatural sexual acts'.

The Players

Josh 'The Babyface Assasin' Barnett

Over the years Josh had accumulated a record of 8-1 with submission victories in 4 of those eight wins. Weighin in at around 250lbs he had recently won the UFC Heavyweight title from Randy Couture, overpowering the defending champ for a second round stoppage. So he can reverse world class wrestlers, big deal! He is trained by 'the Wizzard' Matt Hume at AMC, who is one of the world's most highly rated, and teachnical, trainers. Capable of fighting both on his back or from above Barnett would be a formidable foe, and a highly prized scalp!

Jim Burman

Weighing in at around 195lbs holding a competition record of 0-2 in grappling only I must admit the task at hand seemed a little daunting. Trained by, amongst other, Darren 'the Pontefract Pitbull' Currie I could sense my luck was about to change. I'd been polishing my ankle and leg submission for months and was primed to go. Many would have me as the clear underdog in this match up but I know enough about martial arts to be able to spell jiu-jitsu in two different ways.

The Wildcard - Elvis 'the King of Rock and Rumble' Sinosic

Elvis came into this fairly late in the equation, I'll explain how later. Elvis in graded in Machado BJJ (I can't remember if it's Purple or Brown) and with his long limbs he was going to be awkward to handle. Plus, he holds a submission victory over Jeremy Horn, a fighter who many would rate as a world class ground technician. At least at 199lbs, he's close to my weight!

How it Goes Down

Every night Elvis had been training at about 7-8pm and Josh and Ian would train at about 8.30pm. Josh had arranged to meet me at 8pm and I was there with plenty of time to spare. The night before I'd been discussing strategies with Jim Genia, a regular writer for Full Contact Fighter and Renzo Gracie student. As Jim knows more about MMA and grappling then most people I've ever met I thought that he could give me some good ideas. With the apparent weight, strength and stamina difference he suggested that I go for the ankles. 'If BJ (Penn) was fighting Bob Sapp he'd go for his ankles' was part of the basis for his advice. Well, I thought, if it's good enough for BJ then it's good enough for me.

I was waiting for Josh whilst watching Elvis train. Regardless of what you saw on the night his guard did look really good, very active with great hip movement. Josh walks in a little after 8pm and sees I've got my kit and we warm up. It's at this point that I start to get nervous. In reality I know that this is only grappling and that if it hurts I can tap out but I still got nervous. Josh is ready in about two seconds flat whilst I'm still trying to stretch out a back that has had to sleep on a camp bed. Elvis and his trainer (Anthony) come over as they're finishing their session and Josh promptly starts rolling with Anthony. As I finish warming up Elvis asks if I want to roll so without a thought I say yes, and it's on.

Absolute Reality

In reality I had no doubts in my mind that UFC calibre fighters would be able to tap me out at the drop of a hat. To be honest, I'd be shocked if they couldn't. I started off in Elvis' guard and he proceeded to show me how good he was with arm bars and triangles. Within seconds of rolling he had caught me with a triangle and he joked with me about leaving my arm in when trying to pass. I didn't realise that I had but I joked and said that I had wanted to know how Jeremy Horn had felt during their fight. After about 5 minutes I remembered how to grapple after being a little bit phased out by the situation. I worked vigorously to pass his guard, head down to avoid more submissions. I looked up briefly and noticed that he wasn't using his hands to control me. My heart sank. The only brief period of respite was when I attempted a revese achillies hold, but that attempt, like almost everything else that I attempted, ended in an armlock. I was still trying to work the ankle with my legs as I was tapping out. After getting frustrated we switched so that Elvis started in my guard. I tried my best to sweep and submit the Australian but it was no use and he passed and I tapped. We stopped for breath and Elvis said to me 'you do know Josh is a good 50 lbs heavier than me?' to which I responded enthusiastically 'yeah, I know'.

Jim tries to sweep Elvis

Even though I was really beginning to gas badly I moved on to Josh. It was the same scenario with me starting inside his guard, but this time something was different. I expected Josh to be a lot stronger and more likely to manhandle me so I really pushed for the pass and to my amazement found myself in his half guard. My small victory was short lived however as he then proceeded to switch to a figure four ankle lock and tap me out with relative ease. It wasn't like I'd never seen the ankle lock before, or didn't know that he was doing it. It was just that his set up and execution of the move was so good that I was helpless to stop it. To make things worse Josh repeated this over and over a good two or three times. On the forth attempt I decided that I'd had enough and spotted it coming. A battle of leg locks ensued, I successfully escaped an achillies hold (hooray) only to slip into another figure four (boo). The rest of the session I can't really remember much about because I was so badly gassed. I remember him attempting kimuras and then armlocks and then kneebars. I remember me attempting not to pass out.

Elvis' game was VERY BJJ and he played it great. As I said before he had a very active guard and he used his long legs to great effect. Josh's game was different in that he loved working the half guard and leg submissions. One thing that I did notice was that when Josh grappled he covered up as if I could strike him. Plus, for a big guy he was VERY fast.

Grabbing a breather

All in All

As I slumped with my head against the lift wall on my way back to the hotel room, my body shaking uncontrolably with exhaustion I thought to myself how lucky I had been. Both of the guys that I'd rolled with had handled me with real ease but neither had resorted to strength or brutality to beat me. Both had been true gentlemen, and not cranked on submissions like some might have and demonstrated real skill and control. I saw both guys in a restaurant later on and they both came over and asked how I was doing, I must have looked a little bit more gassed than I thought. Whatever these two athletes go on to do they will always have my respect and I'll always be a fan. I'd proved to myself that I wasn't scared to get on the mat with two world class fighters and I'd had a ton of fun, which is all I'd ever wanted from grappling, and life.

Josh and a knackered Jim

Article and photos by Jim Burman, 9 August 2002