There’s plenty of local talent that will be showcased at Superior Combative Championships 12 in Bryan, TX this Saturday, and Timothy Messer is no exception. At 2-1 with two submission wins, he’s looking to come back from his first loss in a big way. I talk to the BVMMA fighter before he steps into the cage.
MC: Tell us a little about yourself.
TM: I’m a 24-year-old amateur 22-year-old, fighting out of BVMMA in College Station. I’m originally from Stephenville, Texas but moved to College Station to go to Texas A&M. College didn’t work out so well for me and I moved back to Stephenville, but there were no good MMA gyms there so I moved back to College Station to train. I never had the opportunity to get into martial arts growing up but always wanted to. When I got to college I learned what MMA was and did the normal youtube white belt thing for a while until I found a club on campus that taught BJJ. The club gave me a good start, but after a few months I felt like I needed to transition to something bigger, so I joined BVMMA. After about two years of thinking about trying MMA but staying in my comfort zone with BJJ, I finally decided to fully commit to MMA and have been working to succeed in the cage ever since.
MC: Who are you fighting on at SCC 12, and what do you know about him?
TM: I’m fighting a guy named Enrique Cardona. He stepped in when my original opponent dropped out. He’s a wrestler and a BJJ blue belt with good MMA grappling. His striking could use a little work, but then again so could mine. Even though we are both grapplers I feel like our styles on the ground are very different and will make an interesting technical matchup, with him being very wrestling based and me being completely BJJ based. One thing that caught my eye is that he beat a guy who beat my original opponent, so Im looking forward to the challenge.
MC: All of your fights, win or lose, have come via submisison. Were you able to learn anything from your lose?
TM: My overall record is 2-1 with both wins and my loss coming by submission. In the case of my loss I started getting arrogant and thought I didn’t have to fear subs anymore, that opinion lasted for about five seconds before I went unconscious. That loss taught me not to take an opponent’s grappling lightly, a lesson I’ve tried to keep in mind during this camp.
MC: You just received your BJJ purple belt and you come from a gym that has produced some good grapplers. Is it safe to say you would prefer this fight to take place on the ground?
TM: I always prefer the fight to take place on the ground. That being said, I’ve been working a lot on my striking and I am a lot more comfortable striking than I was in previous fights. I am prepared to fight him either way, but we are both grapplers so I have no doubt we will spend plenty of time testing each other’s submission defense.
MC: How has your training and weight cut been for this fight? How much weight do you usually have to cut?
TM: Every training camp has its problems and this one has been no exception, but overall it was pretty successful. The weight cut on the other hand has been more difficult than normal. I walk around at 162 and drop to 145 in about two weeks. I work at subway and every time I start cutting weight the cookies start looking better and better. On top of that, my brother got married this weekend and at the reception they had a whole table devoted to sweets that I had to help put away after the wedding. I also stayed at my mom’s house when I went home for the wedding which is always filled with snack food. I stayed away from most of it but every now and then I slipped. Thankfully, I’ve been able to make up all the lost ground and am back on track to make weight.
MC: What do you do outside of MMA?
TM: Over the past two years, MMA has been taking up more and more of my life. Between that, work, and trying to maintain a healthy long distance relationship with my girlfriend, I don’t have a whole lot of time left over. I do have a few hobbies though. I like pretty much anything outdoors, and have an unhealthy obsession with clash of clans. I’ve also started acroyoga, which has helped me with my flexibility as well as stress relief and working out soreness from training. Every time I hear people joke about Mcgregor and “touch butt in the park” I wonder what they would have to say about acroyoga.
MC: How do you mentally prepare for a fight?
TM: During the fight camp I always try to build my opponent up in my head. One of my biggest problems is arrogance, so I always put in effort to not underestimate my opponent. Then I always take a week off. My coaches always have fighters do this to physically rest up for a match, but I feel like it’s one of the most important parts for me mentally. After a week of not training, I’m always eager to get back on the mat which gives me just a little more drive during the fight. Then on the day of, I always try not to think about the match the whole day. Once it gets closer to time, then I start focusing on the game plan.
MC: How do you predict the fight going?
TM: I feel like anyone who enjoys a technical grappling matchup in MMA won’t want to miss it. I know everyone has a game plan, and most of them fall apart the first time they get hit, but I expect to win by submission. While Im sure my opponent has plans for a different outcome, I think he will only be able to hold me off for so long, and once he fails, it will only be a matter of time before I finish him.
MC: Anything you would like to say to your opponent?
TM: I’ve never really thought about what I would say to someone who has devoted the past few weeks to trying to take my head off, but I guess I should thank him for accepting the match. I was really looking forward to fighting locally, and if it weren’t for him it might not have happened. Aside from that, I don’t really have much to say. He’s a good fighter, but on Saturday he won’t be good enough.
MC: Who all would you like to thank for helping you prepare for this fight?
TM: There are so many people who have contributed, but I’ll narrow it down to a few. I guess it makes sense to thank my first coach first, I don’t think I’ve ever thanked Daniel Anderson for getting me started in martial arts. The coaching staff at BVMMA for always being there for guidance, as well as my training partners for their willingness to push me to be better every day. I would like to thank Cellucore for providing me with awesome supplements to get me through this camp. A huge thanks Jason Allen at Proactive Chiropractic and Wellness for patching me back up every time I get banged up at training. And lastly, I would like to thank Bubba Bush for repeatedly beating lessons into my head, even after I stubbornly refuse to learn them the first ten times.
SCC 12 is this Saturday at The Brazos Expo Center.
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