Well, Redimaniacs… I just got back from a little birthday/victory vacation, so I thought I would do a blog. I have been slacking all summer on that front, but I have been busy training for my fight. Summer was very boring for me. No booze, no beer, no bad food, no fun. Training twice a day is not fun, especially when there is so much partying going on in Milwaukee in the summertime. That said the training camp was great! The Roufusport gym really made a big breakthrough this summer reaching the next level. I was relatively healthy with no major injuries (though a few Pat Barry leg kicks had me hobbling around for a few weeks).

I did round after round of people trying to tear my head off while I tried to get them down. I knew I had to get Houston down after seeing him brutally KO Jardine and Sakara. I did not want to be the next guy to get animated into a human rocketship. My conditioning was great after hours and hours of wrestling, striking, BJJ, crossfit, hill running, and other forms of self torture. Once it was in my world, I believed that I would be able to dominate, but it was not going to be fun getting it there.

We arrived in Omaha on Saturday, and all I can say is that Omaha is weird. We were right downtown, but there was no one around. We walked to eat, and only saw a few people for blocks until we got to the restaurant area. It was like being on a movie set. The people we met were very nice, but they were few and far between. Weigh-ins were on Tuesday, and I had a pretty easy cut. I normally am over 220 lbs on the week of the fight, but I had cut to 218. Using my weigh cutting tricks, I woke up at 211 on Tuesday morning. A bit of jogging and sauna and I was 205 in no time. I met Houston before the weigh-in and let me say this-He is one of the nicest fighters I have ever met. He is polite, well-spoken, and very funny. We talked a while which is weird before the fight. I weighed in at 205, started my rehydration, and went to eat with my family and teammates. I hit the sack at 2 am…

I woke up on fight day at 10 and did some yoga. Yoga really helps me relax physically (especially after the cut) and minimize the pre-fight anxiety. I then napped until 4. We headed over to the arena at 5 and started the pre-fight rituals. I felt a bit sluggish warming up, but otherwise was not too nervous. I came out to very load BOOs, but I saw some familiar faces (Reese and Mary Shaner) that were cheering for me. When Houston walked out the ring was shaking, it was crazy loud. I could not hear anything. It was cool to hear all that support for an MMA fighter (even if it wasn't me). Only thing that was like that was when GSP came out in Montreal.

The fight went as expected. I ate an early knee, which didn't hurt, but pissed me off. I thought, "Damn, this will be making a highlight film", and I am sick of seeing the Bisping headkick highlight that shoots lightning through my body on UFC Unleashed, haha. I kept pressing, feeling very comfortable in the clinch. I knew if I kept the pressure on him he would not be able to unleash any bombs. When I finally got him down I was happy, because I was still very fresh and uninjured.

I immediately got him in the "beatdown" position which has been one of my favorites lately. Few people can get out, and if they do they will have expended a lot of energy. Houston was so strong that he exploded out and to his knee (though it took a lot of energy) I flowed into a tight arm-in guillotine (one of my other favs). I think I could have forced it, but Houston was using a lot of gas getting out of it, so I decided to switch it to a sweep to keep cooking him. I mounted him and began to unload with ground and pound. I heard his corner, Master Bob, yell 1 minute left, so I turned up the heat hoping for a TKO. When I heard 30 seconds left I knew he would survive the round, so I decided to look for a submission. I used an old school sidechoke set up and got the tap with 7 seconds left.

I was so pumped that I made some funny faces after the fight and even gave a Houston salute, but I swear it was not to be cocky. I was looking for something to do with my hands and the first thing that came to mind was his move (that he did before the fight), so I did it instinctively. I am dumb, but I am not an asshole. I don't remember what I said in the post fight interview, but I forgot to dedicate the fight to Evan tanner. Evan is truly a hero of mine. In fact he is one of the most influential people in my life. We have followed similar paths (pre-med, fighting, alcoholism, gambling, similar philosophies on society, and a quest for meaning). I tried to yell it after the mic was gone…

We went back to the hotel, showered up, and hit the hotel bar. I got to talk to some very cool MMA people including referee Josh Rosenthal, photographer Tracy Lee (http://www.combatlifestyle.com/), and UFC voice Mike Goldberg among others. We took off to the Nomad club for the post party. I was already getting tipsy from the few drinks at the hotel (haven't had a drink in 9 weeks), and the people there were buying me shots. At Nomad were the Guida brothers, Ed Herman, Jake Ellenberger, and even Houston Alexander.

At 1 the bar closed so everyone went across the border to an Iowa strip club. It got a bit rowdy as everyone was having fun. The club closed at 3, and everyone went out side and ate hotdogs. Got to talk to Rogan a bit, but I was pretty trashed, so I probably was incoherent. We took a limo back to the hotel. In the lobby everyone was getting rowdy, so my team carried me away and then roughed me up a bit. We hit the room, ate some pizza, and then I stayed up all morning posting stupid stuff on the internet. We flew home at noon, and then I slept for a whole day straight.

Thanks to my sponsors…

Sprawl (best shorts out there) http://www.sprawl.tv/

Jesus Didn't Tap (no he didn't) http://www.nosubmit.com/

Tapout (great support of fighters) http://www.nosubmit.com/

Legit Fightwear (great new fight company) http://www.legitfightwear.com

Combat Corner (best fight shop around) http://www.combatcorner.com/

Special thanks to…

All my teammates that push me everyday. Keep an eye out for Roufusport! http://www.dukeroufusgym.com/

All my coaches. Duke Roufus (Head MMA coach), Scott Cushman and Stan (striking), Rob Smith (wrestling), Scott Huston (BJJ), Ryan Atkins (Crossfit), and Al Bundy (life coach)…

My Corner. Duke Roufus, Jason Kaz, and Pat Barry.

My manager Jeff Curran http://www.teamcurran.com

My sponsor guy, Brian, at Sucker Punch Entertainment http://www.suckerpunchent.com/

Thanks everyone,

REDFORD

http://www.redschafer.com/

P.S. Team Red shirts are available in 2 designs: Old-school Stache and New-school Thinker. Only $20. I saving up for a tanning membership for my next fight.