I wanted to follow up after my victory on Saturday. I didn’t realize it had been a whole year since my last win at UFC in Nashville, but I knew I sure missed the feeling of winning. The week after a fight is either the highest high, or the lowest low. Fortunately, this week is a high. 

Everything went to plan. I felt great. I was able to implement my plan and work to finish the fight. One of my goals was to mentally slow down the action of the fight. A lot of times in a fight, things happen so fast, and you do things automatically. I wanted to reach a balance of voluntary and involuntary actions/ reactions. I was able improve on this area, which is one of the reasons I was able to go for the kill when the timing was right. When the ref stopped the fight, I literally had to ask if this was reality. It was awesome to feel the energy of my hometown crowd, nothing like it.

I have a million people to thank, so I’ll name a few of the major players. Let’s call all of them “Team Spaniard”. My brother ChAd does just about everything you can imagine. He has also assumed the role of my S&C Coach, and it’s been awesome. My trainager Mike, my boxing coach John, and all of AMA Fight Club and Renzo Gracie BJJ helped me to improve dramatically. Fighters would be very limited w/o a great team and trainers.

Another big aspect of this fight was the help I got from my family. Selling tickets and Tshirts is no easy task. The logistics of selling, collecting, meeting up, etc. is a great deal of stress. My entire family had a big role in making sure all I had to do was show up and fight.

A big thanks goes to my sponsors, most of them local businesses, who see the value in associating w/ me. I value my roots, and to have these companies support me means a great deal. I do my best to represent them and spread their brand as well as I can. So a big thanks to: Sheetz, Kranich’s Jeweler’s, Al’s Tavern, The Summit Tennis and Athletic Club, RC Print, and Intimidation MMA. 

And lastly to my fans and supporters, fighting in the big show is awesome, but being able to fight in front of a hometown crowd is an unbelievable experience as well. I know the time/ money it takes to come to my fights, buy shirts, or simply show your support, so I can assure you it doesn’t go unnoticed!

This was just Step #1 in getting back on top. MMA is a rollercoaster, and I’m grateful to be going up the incline on this one :)