IMMAF - WMMA Asian Open 2019 - Day 3

Today, was the of my 1st fight of this entire tournament. I woke up at 6am to sweat out the 1kg I needed to drop to make 115 pounds. BUT what I didn't know was that it was the first day of my period... and it was the hardest 1kg I needed to cut. It took me a total of 90 mins to shed that 1 kg of water.

By the time I was done, I was the second last to weigh-in just 5 mins before the cut off time. I immediately sipped some electrolytes before grabbing some food at the hotel. I decided not a simple meal with carbs, fruits, some fibre & protein. I had a hot drink of soy milk, potatoes and veggies. (As they were the only vegan friendly options there)

After a quick and simple breakfast, I went up to my room to take a 30 min nap. I woke up at 9am just enough time to get ready and head over to the fight area to get my hands wrapped at 9:30am.

Once my hands were wrapped by Rich, I went to sit in the bleachers alongside Professor and Nick, since the other Malaysian fighters only fought after me. At about 10:20am, Professor instructed me to go into the warm up area to start my warm ups (well.. duh).

We started with rounds of shadow boxing, followed by pad work & finishing off with some pummelling & grappling. By the time I was warmed up, I was ready to step into the cage as the first bout of the day.

I was in the red corner, which meant I came out after my opponent. As they announced my name, I shouted out into the sky; finished my prayer and walked out towards the cage. Today is the day I show them, I am not one to be undermined.

As the referee gave the "Go" sign and our gloves touched, I flipped the switch in my mind. I can barely remember my fights if I were to be honest. I remember checking the distance with my jab hand but because I left out there too long, I opened myself up for an overhand and BOY did she love throwing her overhands. I made a mistake, and she took advantage of it. She landed a clean shot on my nose, and it started bleeding like a faucet.

I have never bled like that before, it was exciting. But after that, Nick started shouting for me to put my hands up. I remember clinching and grappling with her and putting her on the ground while doing my ground and pound. In the break, I remember telling the cutman and referee that I was okay to fight, and that I was fine.

In the second round, I learnt my lesson and put my hands up. I went straight for the grappling, put her down from the cage and sat on her chest and started raining down punches on her.

The referee called a TKO at 2:00 in Round 2. The win that would get me one step closer to the gold. I stood up with a bloody nose that wouldn't stop dripping and my hand was raised.

After my fight, I was sent straight to the medic before I could hug my parents. They checked my nose that was still bleeding profusely and put an ice pack on it. The medic then told me to keep icing it for the rest of the day.

I kept icing it as I watched my teammate, Brandon fight against the IMMAF - WMMA 2018 World Champion. As the rest of them wanted to stay and watch the other fights, I decided to ask my parents to have lunch with me after I got cleaned up. They happily agreed to follow me to a vegan cafe called "Broccoli Revolution". It was the first vegan cafe I was shown when I was in Bangkok <3 .

In total it took nearly an hour plus before my nose stopped bleeding as it kept bleeding occasionally while we were in the Grab. Once we got there, I had the most decent meal I've had since I had arrived in Bangkok. I got one of their rice bowls & a beetroot salad and tossed them together "Shem style". I had the most amazing and filling meal. My mom decided to go for a Cambodian inspired salad, and quesadillas, as appetisers to share. My dad asked me to pick for him, and he got one of the best sellers which was a broccoli burger.

After the meal which we all enjoyed, my parents wanted to try some of their desserts. My dad got a slice of their banana bread and my mom got the strawberry sorbet. As I had to fight the next day, I drank a juice (which they use to raise funds for a charity) and chatted with them while they had their dessert.

Later on, I went back to the hotel to take a nap. BUT, for some reason I just couldn't fall asleep. I had so much on my mind about the final fight the next day that I couldn't stay calm enough to fall asleep.

When it was later in the evening, I decided to go to the lobby to wait for Professor to work drills with AND also greet my aunty and cousin who flew down to Penang for work but also to see me fight the next day. I am truly blessed.

Once my family went out, I met with Professor to work some drills at Professor Adam's gym, who was kind enough to let us use part of his gym despite him having class. While I was working wall wrestling I bumped into Prof's shoulder and it started bleeding again. Thankfully, it was the end of the drill session so we stopped after.

Professor and I were worried that it would bleed again tomorrow and the referee would stop the fight because of the bleeding. So, he told me that we needed to finish the fight fast and strong. (He had a lot of confidence in me)

I went to my room, got ready for bed, drank lots of water, and iced my nose again. As it was time for bed, I set the ice aside and went to bed.

Night Night... Zzzz

XO Colleen