AKA MMA Part 1

Thursday afternoon in San Jose, Fighters.com was welcomed into Javier Mendez’s American Kickboxing Academy by fight manager ”Crazy” Bob Cook (5-0) to watch the pros sweat, twist, and roll on the mat.

AKA is home gym to Fighters.com’s top welterweight contenderJon Fitch(17-2), fourth-ranked “Kos” Josh Koscheck (10-2), lightweight “Punk” Josh Thomson (14-2), UFC heavyweights “Hungarian Nightmare” Christian Wellisch (8-4) and Cain Velasquez (3-0), Affliction heavyweight “Headhunter” Paul Buentello (25-10), and other professional fighters.

The two-hour session was led by drill sergeant  Koscheck, who instructed fighters in wrestling drills.

(Koscheck and Fitch requested not to be photographed; but, Fitch gave Fighters.com a video interview after he trained.)

Thomson donned a rubber suit and shook his money maker around the mat to drop five-and-a-half pounds to make the 155-pound limit he successfully reached later at the Strikeforce weigh-ins.

Former Bodog and UFC middleweight Trevor Prangley(17-5) must’ve weighed a solid 220-pounds and rolled most of the session with Velasquez.

Buentello stepped into the ring to work on his boxing in preparation for his 19 July fight with ninth-ranked heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3).

Buentello tightened his combos and sured-up his “D” with AKA’s boxing coach.

Velasquez was the most intense fighter at AKA.  His mouth stayed shut, his gaze forward, and he took instruction from the vets while rolling with Prangley and Wellisch.

Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (8-5) shadow boxed in preparation for his Friday title defense versus “El Toro” Anthony Ruiz (20-10).

Wellisch grappled frantically with both Buentello and Velasquez, twisting the fellow heavyweights into his repertoire of submissions.