That rumor is false. Fighters, while doing extraordinary things within the eight-sided cage, are ordinary people outside of competition, so everything that happens in “real” life during a training camp will carry over into the fight.
Hyder Amil knows this all too well, and he dealt with it intimately in the lead-up to his March win over William Gomis. And while some fighters may have just found a way to pull out of the fight, regroup, and move on to the next one, Amil showed up at the APEX, not just for himself, but for the students in his Hurricane Athletics and Combat gym in Marin County, California.
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“I own a gym, and I have to always lead by example,” Amil said. “My last fight, I was injured the whole time. The last six months before my last fight, my best friend, my dog and my dad died. There were so many things happening before and I had to stay strong. I didn’t tell anyone because it doesn’t matter what I’m going through. I’m the leader of El Nino in my gym. I have to show everyone that, no matter what, I can still get the job done. I did speak to a therapist after the fight and he told me I needed to take a vacation and he said, no matter whatever you want to do, you have to go full out. He said, you have to learn to de-escalate with the stress. So I think after everything, that’s when I’ll do that. Behind closed doors, I’ll have my fun and stress relief. Other than that, I keep it very professional until I get the job done.”
Amil got the job done against Gomis, winning a three-round split decision over his fellow featherweight prospect. It wasn’t as spectacular as his first two UFC wins, knockouts of Fernie Garcia and JeongYeong Lee, but it proved that “The Hurricane” was no front-runner, and that he could gut out a three-round win against an equally talented foe.
