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One
Two
Three
Four
Five, blocking
Six, the chin.
Seven
Eight
Nine
Last one, ten.
Time, relax your arms.
Fighting is very strong in Cuba
Cubans have fighting in their blood.
It's not too easy here,
but we're practicing and training
so that we can be champions in the future.
Evelio is more than a professor, he's like my father.
He's the one who started me on this path of MMA.
In truth, everything I know I owe to him.
Okay, here's the place where I'm living now.
And yeah, let's go.
My neighbors, friends of the family.
I've been doing Mixed Martial Arts for more than half my life.
Since I was a kid I've practiced judo, boxing, taekwondo.
I have this in my blood.
Nobody here has united all these martial arts
so I'm the first one to combine them into one form
to create MMA in Cuba.
Here's an important painting for me
It signifies a part of my life.
It was made by a Cuban painter.
Actually it won an award in the United States.
He's an important person in Cuban culture.
With respect to the formation of MMA in Cuba,
it's very difficult. There are a lot of sacrifices.
It hasn't really grown that much because
we can't leave the country without permission,
or get the money we need to create a bigger MMA team
which many Cubans want to participate in.
We're waiting for someone who can help us improve
with things like equipment, the gym.
Those are still in really bad shape.
We have to improve that.
But even though conditions are not ideal,
the athletes will still be here fighting.
In our country, the government does not approve
the Commission of Martial Arts does not approve
of what we're practicing here in Cuba because it's very strong.
We have to show the world
that we have a history of fighting.
Since the original Independence fighters,
we have a strong influence from their lives of struggle,
of showing the most concrete ways Cubans can represent themselves
while going beyond the limits, in every aspect.
These people exist, and I have them in my gym.
Box
Very good. That's it!
Here's my gym.
It's a simple place, but it's full of big dreams.
It's a tiny gym, but it's where we practice
It's a tiny gym, but it's where we practice
mixed martial arts, taekwondo, boxing, jiu jitsu.
mixed martial arts, taekwondo, boxing, jiu jitsu.
From this humble ground here, someday our athletes will rise
to represent Cuba internationally.
Good.
Hit him with your feet as well.
That's it.
Get him with your arms. Let's go, move.
Get him on the outside.
Good!
Alright, are you ready?
Remember, it's intelligence, organization.
Ready?
Box.
These students come from mostly poor families.
They're not from the high society.
because the high society doesn't think of MMA.
They're thinking about business, big business.
They're not thinking about throwing punches.
In this case, MMA trains you to get bigger
with punches. That's how we'll improve our lives.
With our punches, we'll get to be bigger as well.
MMA to me represents power, glory.
More than anything, I fight to win a title.
so I can give thanks for everything that I've learned
so I can give thanks for everything that I've learned
from my master, Professor Evelio.
from my master, Professor Evelio.
Time, time. Good.
That's really good work.
Box.
Good.
That's it. Good.
That's smart. Good.
That's it, that's it.
Good thinking. Careful of your body.
My brother is two-time national champion in jiu-jitsu
He's a national champion in judo too, just like me.
In the future, we hope to represent Cuba in this sport.
In the UFC.
We think that with Professor Evelio,
We're going to do a lot with this sport.
The twins, they call us "The Twins"
That's it!
Let's go. Turn your body.
That's it, watch your back. Good!
We know a great fighter now fighting MMA.
Hector Lombard. He's very successful.
He's won a belt.
We trained together on the national Judo team.
He was a Judo fighter, just like us.
We lost contact with him when he left.
He got married, left.
And now he's living his life, following his path with MMA.
We don't have contact with him anymore.
I hope in the future that we can be with him
and train with him, because we were good friends on the national team.
He represents a great example for us.
Because we trained together and we know that
we could be equal to him.
With the same force and sacrifice,
we could be champions.
It all depends on the future that we wait for.
Let's go, let's go. Move your body.
That's it.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
The last one, ten. Time.
Remember tomorrow to arrive early
because the class is going to be running,
and then we'll go in the ocean.
Bring shorts because we're going in the water.
Sound good?
If you don't know how to swim, bring arm floaties
This is the UFC 149
Here there is a Cuban, Hector Lombard
that fights with Tim Boetsch
The Cuban Hector Lombard with Tim Boetsch, 149
Here, the Cuban lost because he's not very good at kicking.
The Cuban can't kick very well.
There's a satellite connection
It goes into a computer, and then they sell the DVDs.
There's a lot of people that watch and buy these.
I didn't even know MMA existed.
I saw it at a friend's house, who had disks like these.
and I loved it when I first saw one of these fights.
I asked my friend where he got these disks.
He brought me to the place where they sell them and I loved it.
After that I had to find a way to practice this MMA. And that's where I am now.
I like the fighter Jon Jones. He's the best.
He's super technical with muay thai.
When I saw him fighting for the first time in the muay thai style
I thought "damn, that's the best I've ever seen."
He fights really well.
UFC for me is a love. I have it in my heart.
Someday, what I'd like is to be able to compete.
But here, there's no future.
For me, the future is outside this country. Here, no.
I'll go and fight in the United States, because here they haven't supported this sport yet.
They'll never support it.
I'm very Cuban and I like to represent my country.
I don't have anything against my country,
I like very much how we're living our society,
but we need to reach beyond our limits
which many Cubans have already done
and overcome new barriers in our country with MMA.
People have their dreams,
and in this country one of the dreams of many young people
and in this country one of the dreams of many young people
and their trainers is to fight MMA
I hope one day my dream will be a reality.
That I can be a professional trainer of MMA and do it
in Cuba, in the US, in Canada, in any country.
To one day be able to watch my athletes
competing in the biggest MMA competitions,
then my dreams will have come true.
Next up, let's go.
Let's go. If you want to be in the MMA you have to fight hard.
Don't think of the danger!
The final ten. Time.
The final ten. Time.
Let's go.
Let's go.