Gil Martinez Blog: A VERY Happy New Year!

Christmas was great. I hung out with my family and friends and had dinner at Ray Sefo’s house. I ate more at Thanksgiving but I still ate way too much during Christmas.

I’ll be at UFC 141 on Friday. I don’t have any fighter on the card so I’ll be able to enjoy all the fights as a fan.

As far as the main event, I’m leaning towards Alistair Overeem. Brock Lesnar is a great wrestler and is a big, strong guy, but Overeem is just as big and strong. He doesn’t have the same wresting background but he has a good submission game and is striking is at another level.

I really like the Donald Cerrone vs. Nate Diaz fight. They’re both tough as nails and have no quit in them. It should be a great fight. I don’t know who is going to win. It’s too close to call because they’re so evenly matched. It’s going to be a great fight though. I don’t think their paths have ever crossed but they’re both there to prove something and they’ve built up a genuine dislike. It’s going to be a crazy fight.

The plan for New Year’s Eve is up in the air but I will most likely end up at Randy Couture’s house to ring in 2012 with friends and family. We’ve also talked about getting a table at a club. A couple of my friends want to go to the strip, but I’ve done that plenty of times and it gets a little too crazy, even for me.

I have a New Year’s resolution to stick to training more jiu-jitsu. I’ve done a few classes with Vinny Magalhaes. He’s an amazing instructor. My schedule has been crazy but in 2012 I plan on working my schedule around his so I can be in his class at least once a day. I also want to improve my knowledge of the game and be one of the best coaches in MMA. Those are my goals for next year.

After the tiny bit of time off for NYE it will be back to the grind preparing fighters. I’ve been working with Vitor Belfort and he’s been looking sharp. The training camp started a little slow but things have picked up. I like the momentum we’ve got right now and where things are at. I know Anthony Johnson is a tough opponent and I think he’s going to be even stronger at 185 because he doesn’t have to cut weight, but the stuff we’ve been working on is a good game plan. We’ve been studying Anthony and we have some things we’re going to do to avoid his takedowns. I like where Vitor’s head is right now and he’s really excited. We know Anthony is a dangerous opponent and we’re not taking him lightly. We know to get another title shot we can’t have any backwards steps. The team is working well together and his jiu-jitsu coach, Gilbert Durinho, is one of the best out there. We plan on leaving for Brazil on January 3. It’s summer time over there and our hotel is on the beach, so I’ll definitely have to resist the urge to get into some trouble.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading my blogs this year. I look forward to bringing you more insight in 2012. Have a great NYE! Until next week make sure to keep up with me on Twitter (@mastermitter) and make sure to have the happiest of holidays!

PHOTO CREDIT – GILMARTINEZBOXING.COM