Andre Winner

Mixed Martial Arts is widely regarded as one of the toughest sports in the world, combining submissions and knock outs, it takes a dedicated individual to succeed. Sportsvibe caught up with Andre Winner - an  Ultimate Fighter series 9 finalist - to find out just how hard it is to become a professional cage fighter.

Now a fully fledged member of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Winner will be showcasing his fighting skills across the globe. But when the 28-year-old is back home in England he trains with Team Rough House, widely regarded as the best MMA camp in Britain. Training with fellow UFC Fighters, Ross Pearson and Dan Hardy, it is here that he must hone his mat wrestling skills.

Yet, unlike the world of professional wrestling nothing in MMA is faked, fighters train in multiple disciplines and face the prospect of serious injury every time they compete. “When I am training I work on quite a few different areas such as boxing and Thai boxing which helps my striking. My strength and conditioning work is done with Ollie Richardson who is the Leicester Tigers' fitness coach. He gets me doing a lot of squatting, dead-lifting and bench pressing. Then when I head back to the gym I will work on my wrestling and Jui-Jitsu, which improves my submissions.”

Each fighter has their own style, whether it is kick boxing or karate, but Winner knows his most potent weapon is his striking. “I would class myself as a good all rounder but striking is probably my best aspect. It doesn’t really matter who I am facing, my background is in boxing so that is where I feel most comfortable. My game plan is pretty simple, stay on my feet and beat the guy up.” 

This is something that Winner is extremely good at but the Leicester fighter still wants to improve his punch power. “When I am away from the camp I will concentrate a lot on my strength, so I will do weights four times a week. I do 135kg squats, that’s proper squats as well, I am talking about getting right to the floor.”

For a man that fights at welterweight and weighs around 70kg it is impressive lifting. “I also do chin ups with an extra 55kg attached to my body so my strength to weight ratio is pretty decent. On top of that I will do dynamic runs, bench presses, lead ball throws and chest presses.”

The weight limitations mean that he can never become over muscular and preparations must change as a fight approaches. Fight camps last around 12 weeks with training evolving as the day of the fight comes closer. “When I enter a training camp I like to be a bit over the weight, then from around 8 weeks out I will get down to just a few kilos over the weight limit. Then a week before the fight I will cut out the carbs and water load. I will also eat lighter meats such as chicken and fish.”

Although a non-title contest has a 15 minute time limit, fights are incredibly intense and demand high levels of physical stamina. On top of the heavy lifting there must be plenty of conditioning work. “MMA is an anaerobic sport, you are using a lot of muscles at once and it is pretty explosive,” he continues to explain. “I don’t really do lots of long jogs any more, generally I do interval training and hill sprints. You need to be able to go as hard as you can for those 15 minutes.”

The weeks leading up to a fight are the toughest, and it is during these crucial training sessions that the intensity is increased. “My routine becomes more fight specific in terms of conditioning; I do a lot more muscular endurance and cardio. I will start with a few rounds of skipping, and then move on to shadow boxing. Once I am properly warmed up, I go on to the heavy bag for five rounds with each round lasting three minutes.

“Next we work in bursts, so I will do 15 seconds on and 15 seconds off. This means that the first stage I’ll work at a fast rate and stay on my toes, and the next stage I’ll really dig in the punches. After this I will do around seven rounds of pad work and then finish up with some more shadow boxing.”

On top of all this cardio work, Winner has to prepare his body for the punishment that comes from taking kicks and punches to all areas of the body. “I do something called the Rocky ab workout, which is where you hold onto parallel bars and lower your self down, you then do a series of crunches by extending your legs at a 90-degree angle. It really tones the stomach muscles which is important for core conditioning.”

Even after months of hard training, Winner is happy in the knowledge that the fight can be over in the blink of an eye. “Once you step into that cage, you realise that all that hard work has been worth it and hopefully you can knock the guy out and be done in less than a minute.”