Leonard Garcia went back to the basics in order to get back on track.
Leonard Garcia changed something in his training camp, entering his fight with Jameel Massouh at WEC 42.
The adjustment backfired, and it almost cost Garcia his second straight fight.
Garcia narrowly escaped the Massouh fight with a split decision victory, and the lesson was learned.
Garcia didn’t need to get bigger or stronger, instead he just had to do what he did best — carry the loaded dynamite in his hands, show a competent ground game, and listen to the trainers at the most high-profile camp in the world.
“I wouldn’t do the things I normally do,” Garcia (13-4) said. “I thought: Strength and conditioning. I got blinded by my strength and conditioning coach, who was fired after that fight. I was overtrained. That wasn’t Leonard Garcia.”
Garcia looks to return to form when he takes on Manny Gamburyan Wednesday at WEC 44 in Las Vegas. To prepare for the bout, Garcia has gone back to his old training methods.
Though Garcia is expecting the two of them to stand and trade, he’s ready if the fight goes to the ground.
“I do better when people pressure me,” Garcia said. “It’ll be a hell of a fight on the ground as well. He has really strong takedowns. With that being said, I’ve done wrestling. I feel confident coming into this fight.”
So what drove Garcia to drastically change his training camp for his bout against Massouh?
Garcia said the loss to featherweight champion Mike Brown made him want to become stronger to compete.
“Mike just made me feel human again,” Garcia said. “I thought my kickboxing was superior and my jiu-jitsu was good enough and roll with everybody. After Mike put me back in my place, it raised my eye brows and made me reevaluate myself. At that time killing myself was the answer.”
By killing himself Garcia meant he spent day and night focusing on becoming just as strong as Brown and worked on his cardio non-stop. There were days when he became concerned that he was diabetic, because he was constantly drained and tired.
He rarely trained his jiu-jitsu or his stand up, only taking part in the classes offered at Greg Jackson’s gym.
All of it because Garcia never wanted to lose agin.
“That was my drive to do that to kill myself like an idiot,” Garcia said. “I never wanted to lose again. … Every time I would leave the gym shaking, thinking I was doing the right thing.”
In the fight against Massouh, Garcia won the first round, but he got caught in a D’arce choke in the second round, and at times looked like he was out on his feet.
Luckily for Garcia, Massouh’s arms tired out and the hold was released, but Garcia was still groggy.
After the third round, Garcia looked extremely fatigued and was relieved when the decision went his way.
“I didn’t listen to my coaches. All I can say is that the choke was deep,” Garcia said. “I did feel weird when I came out of it.”
After the fight, all of Garcia’s teammates talked to him about going back to what worked.
“All of my teammates have pointed me in the right direction,” Garcia said. “For them to take time out of their day, sit down, talk and work with me, you feel important. … Everybody was putting their two cents and I’m putting it all together.”
Garcia knows what’s at stake. A win would put him back in contention for another crack at Brown, while a loss sets him back down the featherweight ladder.
And did Garcia learn his lesson? He said so, and it’s time to prove that he did
“[Training is] a science,” Garcia said. “You can’t kill your body. … This is a fight for the fans. I’m going to never stop coming forward. I look forward to a great showing.”
