It was a normal Wednesday night in Leuven, around 9 p.m. My three friends and I headed to the Oude Markt. One of them knew the owner of a small café there, so we grabbed a quiet table in the corner. It was the kind of spot that was hard to get out of quickly if things went south. We were just chilling. Drinking beer, talking about life, swapping old stories and laughing. Everything felt calm and good. Then a guy we call Jan showed up with his girlfriend. They seemed fine. But his friend Rick was a different story drunk and wired on coke. He’d just gotten out of jail, and everyone in Leuven knew his reputation: robbing people, threatening them, attacking them. Some said it was even worse. We tried to ignore him. That didn’t sit well with Rick. He stormed over to our table, slammed both hands down, and started acting tough, getting right in our faces. We stayed calm and kept ignoring him. That only made him angrier. He turned on one of my drunk friends and started threatening him. My other friend froze. Couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. I stood up and said calmly, “Yo, chill out.” Rick lost it. He grabbed me hard by the back of the neck. Without thinking, I shoved him off with my left arm while covering my head with my right. He flew backwards. He jumped up fast and reached into his pocket. Two of my friends were useless one too drunk, the other still frozen. Rick came at me again. That’s when a huge rush of adrenaline hit me. I planted my foot, twisted my hip, and landed a perfect front kick. He crashed hard onto the stone pavement. His head smacked the cobblestones with a loud crack. The second I saw the knife in his right hand, I flew straight at him. I slammed my body into his with a full body slam, landing in full mount on his chest. I immediately grabbed his right wrist with my right hand, slid my left hand under his elbow, and locked my left hand on top of my own right wrist. I started cranking hard ready to snap his arm if he didn’t drop the knife. Jan jumped in fast. He snatched the knife away from Rick and pulled us apart. My friend Jef wanted to call the police, but Jan begged us not to. “I’ll handle it,” he said. “He’ll leave.” Jan dragged everyone away and broke up the fight.

After an entire day of waiting.. And waiting.. And getting nervous... And then some warning up... And then some more waiting... And then some more nerves.. They announced a ten minute break 😫 And then the fight began. Professional card. Tatsujin Rules. Clinch, throw, ground and pound. Clinch, throw, ground and pound. Clinch, throw, ground and pound. T-K-O! Brent Dupuis won his pro debut match against an experienced Taiga Striker! And can now call himself a professional fighter. Flawless fight camp. Flawless weight cut. Flawless victory. Now, we feast! And Brent didn't event use the calf kicks we trained on the calf pad. Two weeks after our last pad session my leg still hurts...

So today Brent decided to not risk the temptation and ruin his last day of the weight cut, so he skipped the Japanese breakfast entirely. Too many risks of getting sugar, salt and unwanted calories in. We decided to go to Osaka as tourists and visit the Isami pro shop because there's a picture of Pereira on their Instagram and to have something to do. Then we will go to the Namba Yasaka Jinja famous for being a dragon head shrine. In the evening we will do a final weighing, then some sweating until the weight is ok. And then... The suffering begins because Brent will have to maintain that weight until tomorrow at the weigh in. We already packed some delicious Yakiniku Onigiri 🍙 and Pocari Sweat (local sports drink) to make him regain weight as soon as he steps off the scale. After the rules we will go eat shoyu udon with Shuta at Gotemyama. On a sidenote, anyone have some ideas for a good staredown? 👀

Why do you train? For me self-defense (and to protect others) and self-confidence are at the core. Sparring, competition, strength training aren’t the goal. They are just tools. And you? Why do you train?

Woke up to these stories on Instagram. More info soon! Stay tuned!