“My boy Vinny Diaz, — he’s a pro bantamweight; I believe he’s 6-0 now, and one of the highest-level grapplers, best grapplers I have ever trained with — he moved down to The Lab,” explains Sidey, who enjoyed his initial experience in the Arizona desert so much that it has become a regular part of his preparation. “I messaged Vinny and I went down to The Lab for the first time last camp, and that’s where I met John Crouch, who is the head coach there. Me and him connected right away — he’s an amazing guy, amazing coach — and I just bonded with the team really, really well.
“Guys like Mario Bautista, Marcus McGhee, Kyler Phillips — they’re like my homies. The first week I was there, the day I got there, I felt like these guys were my brothers, and I was like, ‘This is a place I’m going to be coming back to’ because there is so much talent there.
“This time I came down, we got three weeks of work, a lot of work in with Marcus and Mario,” continues the Ukrainian-born Canadian. “The room is insane, and not just for the bantamweights, but the guys coming up too. Every round I had was a hard round. It’s a place I’m going to be spending half my time.
“I treat my life like an adventure, like a movie, and that was a new adventure for me,” he adds with a smile. “I try to keep a growth mindset and embrace all the opportunities, embrace the suffering, the uncomfortable moments because those are the places where you’re gonna grow. I remind myself of that every day with the books I read, the podcasts I listen to, all that stuff.
