Taking my first kickboxing fight in October - advice?

[DoctorTaco]

Just for shits and giggles I thought I'd see what sherdoggers have to say

I'm 6'4, currently 210, 78" reach, fight will be at 185

I've been training consistently for the last year
Did karate as a kid
Mostly wrestling and bjj experience outside of that

Most of my sparring partners have had several amateur fights and I piece all of them up regularly. I spar 3x a week. Do big conditioning workouts on Saturdays. I need to do more roadwork but I get runners knee really bad on my right leg anytime I run more than a mile or two.

Any tips/thoughts/advice?

I tell everyone a couple things before that first fight- first off I remind them they're gong to learn to fight 3 times. the first time you learn to fight is on the pads and bags, in partner drills, etc. once you get that down you get to start sparring. when you start sparring you have to learn to fight all over again. eventually though you spar as well as you do anything else in the gym. the third time you learn to fight is when you start competing. you won't perform as well as when you spar for those first few fights but eventually you fight as well or better than you spar.

the other example I use walking across a 2x4 on the ground vs. walking across one thats suspended between two buildings. its the same, but different.

you should go to other gyms for sparring to have different partners and sparr with people at your level or better.

this. This is the closest way to get the same feeling as a an actual fight. you'll be in a strange place, in a strange ring sparring someone you don't know. his coach will be cornering him, yours will be cornering you while strangers watch. despite what ever agreements your coach and the other coach come to, the sparring will be spicy. if you're fighting in october I would recommend getting out of house for sparring at least 3-4 times.

 

[Joshua King]

My advice: have as much fun as you can. If you aren't having fun, the juice won't be worth the squeeze.
Also, good luck, Sherbro!

 

[Stuart0502]

Are all your 3 sparring sessions in the week at the same intensity?

If your going at 50% every time then it can be quite a shock to the system going 100% for the first time on fight night.

The timing is completely different and you will soon find out if you have decent power mechanics.

Also are you going straight in for a pro fight with no smokers or amateur fights? Sounds like you are cutting a lot of weight.

 

[Stuart0502]

Other than that if you're "piecing up" your sparring partners (which is a bit of a dick thing to say about your sparring partners by the way), you should go to other gyms for sparring to have different partners and sparr with people at your level or better.

I suspect a more accurate description of what's going on is that he's "out-tagging" his sparring partners.

From there he's making an assumption that if it were a real situation and every strike was landing full power then his sparring partner's would be pieced up by the end of the session.

The phrase "pieced up" implies to me that a beating took place which I doubt is the case in this situation.

Obviously I'm just guessing here though.

 

[Joshua King]

Are all your 3 sparring sessions in the week at the same intensity?

If your going at 50% every time then it can be quite a shock to the system going 100% for the first time on fight night.

The timing is completely different and you will soon find out if you have decent power mechanics.

Also are you going straight in for a pro fight with no smokers or amateur fights? Sounds like you are cutting a lot of weight.

He makes very valid points. ^
Throwing to hurt somebody is completely different than friendly sparring where you want to remain friends and have training partners afterwards.
I'm a huge advocate of not cutting much if any weight, as well (just me personally). Imo it's better for overall performance and longevity as well as reducing injury.
Cardio should be a prime focus. However good of shape you're in, it can't be good enough. The adrenaline dump is huge in your first several fights, and simply being able to keep your hands up, throw, and make it to the end can literally be the difference between winning and losing.