Cassandra Madrigal
MLC Undisputed Champion
Won at MLC 8
01/07/2017 to Present
Merging of World & International belts.
MLC World Champion
Won at MLC 7
08/27/2016 to 01/07/2017
Title merged with International Belt.
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#1 Prince Pierre Paul
#2 James Shark
#3 Navorro Williams
#4 Tom Pendergrass
#5 Jackson Magnum
Updated 05/14/2017
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MLC 10
September 3rd 2017
Las Vegas, Nevada
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TBD
TBA
TBD
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FIGHT NIGHT 5
MLC 10
Pressers
Build Up
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Molly's Camp; vs Cass
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Topic Started: Mar 20 2016, 09:46 PM (154 Views)
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Molly Reid
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Mar 20 2016, 09:46 PM
Post #1
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- Posts:
- 20
- Group:
- V.I.P
- Member
- #23
- Joined:
- Feb 23, 2015
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CAMP INFO
Camp Team Rogue
Trainers Brandon Macdonald & Sam Tetreault
Duration 14 weeks
Gameplan Keep Cass at distance with huge reach advantage, avoid the clinch and stuff takedown attempts, wear her down and beat her up on the feet.
Camp Focus Distance Fighting (jabs and kicks to keep Cass from getting close) Sprawl Defense (to prevent any bullrush takedowns when Cass can’t get in close for the clinch) Submission Defense (in case fight gets to the ground)
Daily Schedule (Repeated at least four times per week for 14 weeks) 9am-10am: Cardio Warmup 10am-12pm: Standup Offense/Defense 12pm-1pm: Lunch break 1pm-3pm: Ground Defense 3pm-5pm: Takedown/Clinch Defense 5pm-6pm: Dinner break 6pm-8pm: Strength and Conditioning
*Camp traveled city-to-city with Molly based on her schedule*
THE GAMEPLAN
The camera pans around a room filled with TV’s, centering on a big circular table in the middle of the room. Multiple men and one woman sit around the table, each staring at an individual TV and jotting things down on a notepad. Eventually, the silence of the room is broken as Molly Reid enters the room.
Molly Reid: Hey guys
Molly’s head coach, Brandon Macdonald, spins around in his chair so that he’s facing her. He quickly pauses the video he’s watching, as all the other coaches do the same. Molly sits down at the table with all the coaches.
Brandon Macdonald: Hey Molly. You all set?
Molly Reid: Yeah, sorry I’m late. Ended up adding another mile to my run.
Brandon Macdonald: No worries, the more time the better for us up here. We’ve just been analyzing Cass’ fights, think we’ve got the best gameplan for you.
Molly Reid: Yeah? What’s that gonna be?
Brandon points to the main TV in the room. It’s right in the middle and it’s gigantic, so that everyone can see it. Brandon presses a button on a remote that he’s holding. The TV starts playing clip after clip of moments in all of Cass’ previous fights. Everyone in the room watches that for a minute or so, before Brandon hits pause.
Brandon Macdonald: So what did you notice?
Molly Reid: She’s really good.
Brandon Macdonald: Yeah no shit. But what did you notice specifically about those clips?
Molly Reid: Ummm, she was the aggressor in all of them?
Brandon Macdonald: Exactly!
Brandon pressed play again and more clips of Cass began to play. Sure enough, all of them were showing her being aggressive, charging in at her opponents and doing sometimes major damage.
Brandon Macdonald: So here’s what’s up. Cass doesn’t really make any secrets about what she wants to do to people. She’s going to come at you hard and try to get close enough to take you down. Then when you’re down she’s going to try to submit you. Now I know your ground game is definitely far better than it used to be, but on your back with Cass on top is not a place that you want to be. Anyways, knowing what Cass is going to try to do is not the hard part. It’s actually stopping her from doing it.
Molly Reid: Her judo is unreal, I’ve seen it first hand. I’m confident in my clinch defense but realistically I think the best thing would be to just not let her get a hold of me.
Brandon Macdonald: Right, exactly. Glad you can see that too. So here’s what we’ve been thinking. Positive note number one. You’ve got a significant reach advantage. I mean frankly, when you’re five-foot-nine and have a 76-inch reach, you’re going to have that advantage over pretty much everyone that is around your size.
Molly Reid: I make no apologies about my freakishly long arms.
Brandon Macdonald: And you shouldn’t. But the point is, Cass is barely five-foot-five. From what I’ve seen of Cass, I don’t think her reach is anything more than her height. So you’ll have close to, if not more than a ten-inch reach advantage. That’s massive. Cass needs to get close to you to do any damage, so just keep her at bay. Any time she moves in on you, boom! Jab to the face! Kick to her front leg! Just keep her at distance at all times basically. That not only helps you offensively, but it takes away a huge part of her game. If she can’t get close enough to grab you into the clinch, then she’s going to have to pick one of two things.
Molly Reid: She doesn’t want to stand with me.
Brandon Macdonald: Right, and she has good reason for that. Not only because your reach advantage makes it so hard for her to get any offense, but she’s just not as good a standup fighter as you are. And she knows it. So basically she has only one other choice, and that’s to just charge you and try for some kind of wrestling takedown, or grab onto you. But most likely she’s going to go low and just look to get a hold of you and try to drag you down to the ground.
Molly Reid: So I just need to keep my knees active then right? If she shoots for a takedown, just knee her right in the face?
Brandon Macdonald: Actually I have a better idea. I think if she shoots for a takedown like that, you just sprawl. Just instantly. Fling your legs back and hit the mat. With the knee thing, if you mis-time it then you’re just just letting her grab you with one leg already in the air. No, I think for this fight, you need to go full Chuck Liddell sprawl and brawl. Keep the fight standing, beat her on your feet.
Molly Reid: I love it. Just based on my own research, my entire plan was to keep it standing anyways. That’s basically my plan for anyone my own size, but especially Cass with the ground game she has.
Brandon Macdonald: Another part of it is that I want you to frustrate Cass. She’s so used to everything going her way in fights, she has barely had to deal with adversity. The first time she did, against Tom, she almost lost. Sprawling is so fucking frustrating when you’re trying to take someone down because there is literally nothing you can do. The angrier she gets, the more she’s going to try to get you to the ground even when the opportunity isn’t there. The more mistakes she’ll make. And that’s when you capitalize.
Molly Reid: Got it. So stay at a distance with her, punish her standing with distance shots, keep her from grabbing onto me, using my big reach advantage. Then if she charges in, sprawl and get up and do it all again. That seems simple enough in theory.
Brandon Macdonald: It’s always easier said than done. But we’ve got a long time. Let’s get to work, shall we?
The camera slowly fades out with Molly and Brandon standing up, the rest of the coaches soon following suit. They slowly file out of the room, until the lights are flicked off.
THE STRIKING
Brandon Macdonald Molly’s striking has always been one of her biggest strengths. She’s trained in kickboxing for pretty much her whole life. Her reach is incredible for her size, her arms are as long as someone who’s six-foot-four. So this is an especially huge advantage for her in this fight against Cass, because she is much shorter than Molly. We want Molly to keep her distance and beat up Cass from afar. Our goal is for Molly to take zero damage. Of course that’s our goal. And so if Molly uses her reach well, she can keep Cass from ever getting close enough to hurt her, all while doing huge damage to her. That’s our plan here.
The camera opens to a shot of Molly standing in front of a punching bag. She’s got her hands on her knees before she takes a deep breath and stands back up again
Brandon Macdonald: And jab! And jab! And kick! And jab!And kick!
The shot shows Brandon standing behind it. He’s pushing the bag towards Molly, each time he does so he yells out at her. Clearly trying to do a somewhat simulation of a charging opponent.
Brandon Macdonald: Make sure you keep the distance, if you need to step back then step back. Jab!
Brandon throws the bag at her again, this time harder than before. Molly has to jump back slightly, but gets her hand out and lands a jab right into the body of the bag, stopping the bag in it’s tracks and causing it to just hang there.
Brandon Macdonald: Good! Cass is short and she can’t reach you if you stay far away from her! I don’t want you to run away or anything, but I want you to keep your distance! Make her pay for trying to be aggressive and get inside on you!
Brandon grabs the bag and this time begins sort of circling around Molly, making her turn and use her footwork to keep in front of it. Every so often, he throws the bag at her. Every time, she jabs at it and keeps it away from her. The two athletes repeat this process for a few minutes, before stopping to take a quick break.
Molly Reid: I know you want me to keep my distance and everything, but what if she’s hurt and I can finish it?
Brandon Macdonald: Well you better be damn sure that you can finish it because the last thing you want to do is give her any chance to get this fight to the ground. But if you see an opening, I’m not going to say ‘don’t take it’.
Molly Reid: Only if I’m certain I can end it.
Brandon Macdonald: Alright, good. We’re done here, let’s get in the ring.
The camera cuts in and out and eventually skips to a shot of Molly standing in the ring across from Brandon. He’s wearing punching target pads and a helmet, while she is wearing just regular gloves and a helmet as well. A couple of other trainers and coaches are standing around the ring, some of them holding pen and paper while two of them are videotaping it.
Brandon Macdonald: I’m going to come at you with either hand, completely randomly and unpredictably. Your job is to see which hand is coming, jab it and get out of the way. Don’t let me grab onto you. Alright?
Molly Reid: Got it.
Molly pushed her mouthguard into her mouth and slapped her hands together. Brandon slowly started circling her, feinting with shots before occasionally throwing his right or left hand out towards Molly. Each time she connects with a jab, and then shuffles back a bit to prevent Brandon from grabbing onto her. She’s doing well at first, as Brandon occasionally swings towards her with a shortened arm’s length, missing each time. Molly lands a few counter shots off of those as well. But Brandon is slowly backing her into the corner of the ring. Molly notices this, but Brandon prevents her from getting out and away. Eventually, he gets her right into the corner. He lunges his left hand out, which Molly jabs away. But she can’t get back enough, and he grabs her with his right arm before wrapping her up in the corner. After making sure he’s got a good grip, he releases her. Molly slams her fists onto the ring turnbuckle before turning back around to face Brandon, clearly angry with herself.
Molly Reid: Fuck!
Brandon Macdonald: So what went wrong there?
Molly Reid: You got me backed into the corner and I couldn’t get out. I shouldn’t have let you get me there.
Brandon Macdonald: No, no. It’s fine if you get backed into a corner, or the cage in this case. But don’t be afraid to run ok? I know we said no running but I just meant that as an overall strategy. If she backs you into the cage, just run, get out of it, and set back up in the center of the cage. Nothing wrong with that. Let’s try it again, and if you need to, just go for a run. At the very least, it’ll be another thing that’ll annoy Cass.
Molly shook her head in understanding and moved back to the center of the ring. Brandon did the same, and they resumed the drill. This time it took Brandon a little longer to get her into the corner of the ring, but he managed to. As soon as Molly realized where she was though, she ducked under Brandon’s outstretched hand and ran back to the middle of the ring, turning around and setting up again. Brandon smiled and nodded his head as Molly smiled back, before the two of them once again continued the drill, while the camera faded out.
Molly Reid I feel like I can beat anyone on my feet. I have that much confidence in my stand up game. My kicks are deadly, and after all the work I’ve done on my jab, I think Cass needs to be careful. I don’t want to break her face, but the way this training camp has been going, I might. I just feel like any time she tries to get close to me, I’m going to stop her in her tracks. My reach advantage is going to be the difference in this fight. And I’m going to keep everything on the feet and in my favor.
TAKEDOWN DEFENSE
Sam Tetreault The sprawl and brawl is a strategy that goes back a long time, but you really have to look no further than Chuck Liddell. He was the one who made it popular, and he’s the one you think of when you hear it. But we want to change that to Chuck and Molly Reid. Molly’s wrestling base is so good after all these years of training and professional wrestling. Sure it’s different than the usual greco-roman style, but we’ve been training Molly in that for years to give her a strong foundation. After this camp, her sprawl became unbeatable. We had three people successively trying to take her down, and she’d go thirty, forty times in a row without allowing any of them to even get a chance of a takedown. She’s just too quick, and I don’t think Cass is going to be able to get past it. If she charges and tries to get around Molly’s waist, she’s going to be severely disappointed.
The camera cuts to Molly standing in the ring, this time with Brandon and two other trainers. She’s wearing a helmet and fight gloves, while Brandon is holding a kick target pad. The other two coaches are just wearing regular gloves.
Brandon Macdonald: Alright Molly, this is a little unorthodox but I think I’ve got a fun way for you to practice your sprawl better than just one guy in front of you.
Molly Reid: Oh yeah? And what did you have in mind?
Brandon Macdonald: I’m going to stay here and call out combos, but every so often, one of us is going to try to shoot for a takedown. It might be during a combo, it might be before, might be after. You’re going to have to keep your eyes on everyone. I just really want to make sure your reflexes are there. It’s not hard to sprawl, as long as you do it on time. So we’re going to engrave it in your mind. I want you to be so quick that you’re preparing to sprawl as soon as Cass even thinks of doing it. Got it?
Molly Reid: So just sprawl, get back up, and keep doing the combos?
Brandon Macdonald: Exactly
The four of them get in the right spots before Brandon yells out a combination, which Molly lands successfully, albeit seemingly a little slower than usual. Brandon notices this as he yells at her.
Brandon Macdonald: If you slow down during your fight because you’re afraid of the takedown, you’re going to lose. Full speed, let’s go!
Brandon yells out another one, and this time Molly goes full speed and lands it. Brandon nods his head as he calls out another, which Molly lands as well. A few seconds after she lands it, one of the trainers shoots for a takedown. Molly throws her legs backwards and lands on the back of the trainer, before quickly getting back to her feet. Brandon smiles as he yells out another combination. This time the other trainer shoots before Molly can begin the combination. She scoots her legs back, but her knee lands on the mat and her trainer grabs around her waist and the two begin struggling for position until Brandon yells to get up.
Brandon Macdonald: Make sure you keep your knees off the ground Molly! Arch your back, keep the pressure on his back and don’t let him get any leverage on you!
Molly nods as she responds to another combination call out. She lands it and Brandon calls out another. This process repeats a few more times, until one of the trainers charges at Molly. This time she executes quickly, stuffing the takedown and getting right back up to her feet. But as soon as she does that, Brandon shoots on her. She’s not ready for this and Brandon is able to take her down to the mat. Brandon gets up off of Molly as she slaps the mat with her fist.
Brandon Macdonald: Come on Molly! Don’t let your guard down ever. By the time this fight comes, none of us should be able to take you down! One-two-three-two!
Molly quickly executes the combination as Brandon shoots in the middle of it. This time she’s able to stuff it. He gets back up and yells at her again while her other trainer shoots in on her. The camera stays on this for a while, showing Molly stuffing probably six out of every ten takedowns. Eventually the camera fades out.
Molly Reid I don’t know if Cass is going to try to shoot for any wrestling style takedowns. I mean, she’s a judo fighter. But with my reach frustrating her and keeping her at distance, I think she’s going to have no choice. In her mind, she’s going to need to shoot on me to get me to the ground, but she’s mistaken. This camp really solidified my strength in takedown defense, and I just don’t see Cass being able to get me to the ground.
THE GROUND DEFENSE
Brandon Macdonald We have to plan for the worst case scenarios too. I don’t expect Molly to end up on the ground in this fight, but we need to prepare for it just in case. It’s a fight, you never know what’s going to happen. So we really drilled her on submission defense. That’s what Cass does, she’s not really a ground and pound kind of fighter. Once she’s got you down, she just works for submissions. And we’re ready for that. We’ve drilled Molly in just about every single submisson hold possible, and how to escape it. So if Cass can somehow get Molly to the ground, she’ll be a lot more prepared than Cass will expect.
The camera now shows Molly Reid on the mat, with Brandon in front of her. The two are talking but the cameras can’t pick up anything that’s being said. Eventually they’re able to pick it all up.
Brandon Macdonald: We’re just gonna roll for five minute rounds, one minute of rest between each. I’m going to solely try to land submissions and tap you out. Your job is to just survive each round. We all know that this is all Cass does on the ground so defend it. If you have a chance to get to your feet, take it, and then we’ll restart.
Molly nods her head as her and Brandon grab each other and then begin rolling. Molly immediately pulls Brandon into half guard, working to get full guard. Brandon is pretending to land punches to her face to simulate it, forcing Molly to try and tie up his hands. When she does, Brandon is able to press his elbow into her knee and open up her guard. He quickly is able to pass into side control, and immediately starts looking for a kimura lock. Molly manages to block it, after which Brandon immediately releases it uses this lapse in her focus to mount her. As soon as he does, he wastes no time in spinning his legs around and grabbing onto her arm. As he falls back while holding her arm he arches his back and forces Molly to quickly tap out to the armbar. She frowns as Brandon releases the hold and gets back to his knees, preparing to go again.
Brandon Macdonald: I know I’m bigger and stronger than Cass but don’t let that get in your way. You can stop me from tapping you, you just need to always be aware. Just because I’m doing one thing, don’t forget about the other things I’m planning on doing. Always make sure you know how to defend my second, third, fourth, fifth options, and so on.
The two immediately start to roll again, with Brandon holding her down in side control. He looks for a choke hold, but Molly prevents him from locking anything in. He switches to her arm, but Molly starts to roll him over and he’s forced to focus his efforts on keeping her on her back. Molly uses this to tie up his leg and pull him into half guard. The two work from this position for a little bit, neither gaining much ground. Eventually Molly reaches up and locks his neck in, trying to lock him in a choke from the bottom. As Brandon defends, Molly is able to swing her other leg around his body and catch him in full guard. Almost as soon as she does this, she starts kicking at his stomach trying to push him away so she can stand up. As Brandon works to defend this, Molly suddenly switches legs and catches Brandon off guard. She’s able to push him away and quickly roll back up to her feet. Brandon laughs as he gets to his feet too and high fives Molly.
Brandon Macdonald: Now that's what I like to see
The two continue to roll, seemingly alternating successes. Brandon continues to look for unique and different submission holds, while Molly continues to try to escape. This continues for a few moments until the camera slowly fades out.
Molly Reid My submission defense isn’t something I want to show off in this fight, but should I need to then I’ll be ready. Cass is great on the ground, she has so much experience. But after this camp I feel like I’m ready for anything that Cass is going to throw at me. This camp was amazing. I learned so much and I think I finally found an identity for myself in the cage. Cass is great and I can’t thank her enough for taking this match. She didn’t have to but she wanted to fight and that’s what I love about Cass. But I think she’s making a huge mistake. I don’t know that she fully understands how dangerous I can be in that cage. But she’s going to find out at MLC 6.
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