Posts by Gareth Lewis
Fit for purpose

Recently, I’ve had a few people ask me the same question: “how do I get fit for MMA?” The answer is not as simple as you might think. Getting fit in general isn’t too tricky – for the most part you just have to train. Getting fit for something specific, however, is a little different.

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Gareth Lewis
KISS

Keep It Simple Stupid is one of the best things I have been told. In this blog, we’re going to look at the simple things that can improve your striking, wrestling and BJJ.

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Gareth Lewis
Shark hunt

There was a fight announced this week, scheduled for the 31st October. As an MMA blog, you would assume that I’m talking about some big, upcoming UFC title fight… I am not. This fight is between Mark Hunt, a fighting legend, against a former Cronulla Sharks rugby league player, Paul Gallen.

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Gareth Lewis
The come back

Mike Tyson is, without a doubt, one of the best and well-known boxers in history. He also happens to be one my personal favourites. Lately, he has been posting training videos online and said he wants to fight again.

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Gareth Lewis
Make the call

In a recent UFC event, there was a bit of a controversy regarding the stoppage of a fight. Max Rohskopf decided to call it quits at the end of the second round. The controversy arose due to the interesting the reaction of his corner.

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Gareth Lewis
Getting out of first gear

Since we went into level 4 of the COVID alert systems, I have found myself in a position I am finding quite hard to get out of. Here’s hoping that the remedy is on the horizon as I know I am not the only one suffering due to this.

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Gareth Lewis
Switching off the Power

When coming up against a powerful opponent, whether it be in sparring on a competitive fight, it is very difficult to deal with. Over the years I have leant a few tricks that may help.

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Gareth Lewis
Half Throttle, plus one other

After watching the Woodley vs. Burns fight, I was left feeling frustrated with Woodley yet again. This blog will address my concerns and analysis of Woodley, but it will also show an interest in the Jon Jones saga.

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Gareth Lewis
Watch your step

COVID-19’s lockdown period meant I had a lot of downtime. Because of this, YouTube became a rather good friend of mine. Watching videos of people sparring against good fighters, doing the wrong thing, and getting their ass kicked became common place in my home.

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Gareth Lewis
Getting back into it

With the recent shift from alert level 3 to alert level 2, some restrictions have been eased. We have been allowed to extend our bubbles to friends and family. And with this, life has taken a step closer to normality. As a result, training can start back up… This is going to be interesting.

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Gareth Lewis
Before there was MMA

With COVID-19 putting a hold on many sports around the world, some of you got a taste of what life was like prior to the widespread popularity of MMA. For those of you that did not know the world before MMA, this is how we got our fix.

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Gareth Lewis
The Benefits of Training MMA

For those of us who train MMA, the main focus is to upskill and become more practiced in making fewer mistakes. You are constantly trying to beat the people you train with. However, for those less competitively inclined, there are many more benefits than getting better at MMA.

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Gareth Lewis
Common wrestling mistakes in MMA

Wrestling is a massive part of MMA. It allows a fighter to keep it standing or to take it to the ground. However, not many people in MMA have wrestled. This is especially true in New Zealand. This is due mostly to the inaccessibility of wrestling, particularly if we look at somewhere like the States. As a coach here in NZ, I see what I call the common mistakes when wrestling in MMA.

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Gareth Lewis
Another top 5

Last week I went through my top 5 favourite male fighters in MMA. This week we are looking at the ladies. Again, this is based on who I think are the best and it is very subjective – everyone has their own opinions, and I respect that. This list will move from 5 to 1, with 1 being the best in my opinion.

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Gareth Lewis
My top 5

As an MMA coach, I am often asked about fights, fighters, hypothetical fights and who are my favourites. For all those that are wondering, this is the list of my top 5 MMA fighters. This does not mean that they are the 5 best of all time. However, an argument could be made for all of them to be near the top of any MMA list

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Gareth Lewis
Lockdown is in lockdown

So, quite a lot has happened since I sat down to write last week. The most significant event has been the announcement by the Prime Minister that on Monday, New Zealand was to enter a level 3 alert response to covid-19. And by Wednesday 11:59pm, the country would be in complete lockdown at emergency level 4. Weirdly, this all seems like a long time ago.

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Gareth Lewis
Mike Tyson vs Bruce Lee

An interesting topic came up at work the other day. Who would win in a fight between Mike Tyson and Bruce Lee? To me, there is no question as to the winner. However, after some consultation, it seems there are a lot of people that don’t share the same view.

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Gareth Lewis
The fight everyone is talking about

As I sit down to write this, Adesanya vs Romero is only a few hours away. However, the fight that everyone is talking about is Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson. People seem to think that it’s going to be a close fight – but not me.

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Gareth Lewis