Mixed-Up Martial Artist

St. Pierre Claus also brought me an Everlast Weighted Vest (40 lb) that he got on sale from Title MMA here. 

Here's what it looks like:

 
I only have one question for St. Pierre Klaus in light of this gift.  Was I bad?  Seriously?  What did I do to deserve this.

The Everlast Weighted Vest is a total piece of crap.  First of all, it is a total pain to get the weights in and out of the pockets they fit into in the vest.  These weights are not hard little bricks you fit into nice slots in the vest.  Oh no, they are bags full of some synthetic product like sand.  Each bag weighs eight pounds.  There are five pockets on the vest.  Two on the front waist.  Two on the rear waist.  One on the upper back between the shoulder pads. 

Not only is it difficult to get the bags in and out of the pockets, but also, you basically have no choice but to use all the weights if you want to wear the vest.  First, I tried just the front pockets.  Well that just pulled the thing down and made the collar rub on the back of my neck.  Second, I tried just the pocket between the shoulder blades.  Strike two.  That pulled the thing way backwards and hurt my back.  The only permutation that worked was loading all the pockets.  So much for easing into the thing.

That's not all that's wrong with the Everlast Weighted Vest.  All you can do in this thing is walk.  You can't run in it.  You can't train it.  Just walk.  I'm resigned to just walking the dog while I wear it.  Why you ask?  Because it fits terribly.  It's loose and the adjustable straps barely adjust.  If you try to do any sort of activity beyond walking, the thing moves all over the place.

Total piece of garbage.  Don't buy it.  Buy something like this instead:

I was lucky enough to have St. Pierre Klaus bring me a pair of Hayabusa MMA Foot Grips/Ankle Supports.

Check 'em out:

I wanted the foot grips because, well, I hate to admit it, but my feet sweat...a lot.  In fact, they sweat so much that I often lose traction and have slipped during training.  Even worse, the mat funk left by the kids from the class before mine ends up glued to my feet.  So gross.  And, I'm not going to lie.  Wearing them makes you at least look like you know what you're doing.  It's kind of like the rule that the more Japanese characters you put on a Honda Civic the faster it goes.  Same thing here.  Slap the word Hayabusa and a Japanese character on my foot and I can kick a hole in you.

That said, I've been wearing the things for a couple of training sessions now and so far I like them.  The foot grips on the bottom give me decent traction and grip.  Here's what they look like:



What's been nice is that the traction and grip aren't so strong as to increase the risk of my foot sticking to the mat and causing knee injuries when I move.  It remains to be seen if the grip will wear off and, if it does, how long it takes to do so.

At first, I thought the dual billing as a grip and ankle support was b.s.  But the things actually are better than any straight ankle brace I have purchased in the past.  My ankles and feet are securely stabilized in the Hayabusa MMA Foot Grips/Ankle Supports.

The only downside so far is that if your feet sweat like mine do, these things will not absorb the sweat and keep it off the mat.  I find myself leaving Hayabusa-shaped footprints all over the place.  What this means is that eventually, you do lose a little traction when you start sweating.


Anyways, you can buy them here:














And if you sweat a ton, try this:

Here are my predictions for the main card:

1.  Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard - Edgar
2.  Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann - Leben
3.  Thiago Silva vs. Brandon Vera - Vera
4.  Takanori Gomi vs. Clay Guida - Guida
5.  Nate Diaz vs. Dong Hyun Kim - Diaz

And if you want to watch some other good fights, check these out:

UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida

Stay tuned for our new video features coming after the New Year!