Dewey's Diva
04-29-2006, 12:58 PM
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/500193.html
MacKay?s journey lands him in mixed martial arts show
By MONTY MOSHER Sports Reporter
Jason MacKay has made a journey literally and figuratively to get to tonight?s mixed martial arts show at the Halifax Forum.
The pride of Hopewell, Pictou Co., will make his debut in the steel cage before more than 5,600 fans in the first mixed martial events for Nova Scotia.
The show is dubbed Extreme Cage Combat and will feature Gideon Ray of Illinois, a veteran of two Ultimate Fighting Championship matches, against Edmonton?s Jason MacDonald in the main event.
In a world powered by testosterone, MacKay is an unassuming guy from rural Nova Scotia just looking to test himself in a sport he has come to love. It is a sport that has made him sacrifice.
The 29-year-old MacKay has had to hit the road for his dream, driving three or more nights each week for years to train at a martial arts gym in Halifax. He?s had to drop 20 pounds in the last eight days just to make his weight class of 155 pounds.
"I want to walk away with a good show," he said at Friday?s weigh-in. "And I want ? both of us walking out on our own. Hopefully, we?ll concentrate on submission and there won?t be a lot of blood."
He started in the martial arts nearly 20 years ago. His efforts went through the roof in November when he learned he could compete on the Extreme Cage Combat show.
To the untrained eye, the cage combat world is a scary one.
At the rules meeting Friday, fighters were instructed on the rules for this show. It is OK to grab an opponent by the throat, but a fighter can?t crush his opponent?s windpipe. A fighter can knee another opponent when he is on the ground, but the knee has to be below the solar plexus not in the groin.
The rules are designed to keep fighters from serious harm, but there?s plenty of room to inflict some serious hurt.
MacKay knows the risks and still wants his night in the cage.
"I need to do it," said the former corrections officer now working for TrentonWorks. "In saying that ? I?m quite certain this isn?t for me. But I need to try it and tomorrow I will know one way or another. This is one big test for me. I don?t want to be 40 years old wondering if I could have done it."
There were some grim faces around the room Friday as many of the rookies began to face the reality of their debuts.
Already gaunt from the dehydration, MacKay had the look of a condemned man.
"I?m extremely nervous," he said. "I?m probably the most nervous of anybody in our group. I express it because I don?t mind saying I?m nervous. Hopefully, that will keep me a little sharper.
"My problem is lack of aggression. When I have something to trigger me, I can defend myself. But when you?re in a cage across from someone who?s never done you wrong, it?s kind of hard for me to get that aggression level up. I?ve been in my fair share of fights, I?ve just never picked them and I don?t go looking for them."
He?s a jiu jitsu aficionado who will try to make his opponent, Ontario?s Mike Large, submit when they face off in their bout.
"Punching?s not for me and I don?t like getting hit either. For me it?s more about controlling on the ground."
The first event has sold so well the second is already tentatively planned for July.
( mmosher@herald.ca)
MacKay?s journey lands him in mixed martial arts show
By MONTY MOSHER Sports Reporter
Jason MacKay has made a journey literally and figuratively to get to tonight?s mixed martial arts show at the Halifax Forum.
The pride of Hopewell, Pictou Co., will make his debut in the steel cage before more than 5,600 fans in the first mixed martial events for Nova Scotia.
The show is dubbed Extreme Cage Combat and will feature Gideon Ray of Illinois, a veteran of two Ultimate Fighting Championship matches, against Edmonton?s Jason MacDonald in the main event.
In a world powered by testosterone, MacKay is an unassuming guy from rural Nova Scotia just looking to test himself in a sport he has come to love. It is a sport that has made him sacrifice.
The 29-year-old MacKay has had to hit the road for his dream, driving three or more nights each week for years to train at a martial arts gym in Halifax. He?s had to drop 20 pounds in the last eight days just to make his weight class of 155 pounds.
"I want to walk away with a good show," he said at Friday?s weigh-in. "And I want ? both of us walking out on our own. Hopefully, we?ll concentrate on submission and there won?t be a lot of blood."
He started in the martial arts nearly 20 years ago. His efforts went through the roof in November when he learned he could compete on the Extreme Cage Combat show.
To the untrained eye, the cage combat world is a scary one.
At the rules meeting Friday, fighters were instructed on the rules for this show. It is OK to grab an opponent by the throat, but a fighter can?t crush his opponent?s windpipe. A fighter can knee another opponent when he is on the ground, but the knee has to be below the solar plexus not in the groin.
The rules are designed to keep fighters from serious harm, but there?s plenty of room to inflict some serious hurt.
MacKay knows the risks and still wants his night in the cage.
"I need to do it," said the former corrections officer now working for TrentonWorks. "In saying that ? I?m quite certain this isn?t for me. But I need to try it and tomorrow I will know one way or another. This is one big test for me. I don?t want to be 40 years old wondering if I could have done it."
There were some grim faces around the room Friday as many of the rookies began to face the reality of their debuts.
Already gaunt from the dehydration, MacKay had the look of a condemned man.
"I?m extremely nervous," he said. "I?m probably the most nervous of anybody in our group. I express it because I don?t mind saying I?m nervous. Hopefully, that will keep me a little sharper.
"My problem is lack of aggression. When I have something to trigger me, I can defend myself. But when you?re in a cage across from someone who?s never done you wrong, it?s kind of hard for me to get that aggression level up. I?ve been in my fair share of fights, I?ve just never picked them and I don?t go looking for them."
He?s a jiu jitsu aficionado who will try to make his opponent, Ontario?s Mike Large, submit when they face off in their bout.
"Punching?s not for me and I don?t like getting hit either. For me it?s more about controlling on the ground."
The first event has sold so well the second is already tentatively planned for July.
( mmosher@herald.ca)