At the upcoming Glory Last Man Standing PPV, Saturday June 21, the top ranked Joseph Valtellini will challenge Marc De Bonte for the Glory Welterweight title. In this exclusive Bloody Elbow series, Valtellini will walk us through his training camp, giving updates as he makes his way to Los Angeles, and the world title clash with De Bonte.
With two weeks before the fight, we haven’t really changed too much. I’m tapering my strength work a little bit and turning the focus onto my conditioning since this is a 5 x 3 match. Training schedule is still pretty much the same with 1 session a day, 2 on Saturday and 2 days rest a week. Usually around 5 weeks into an 8 week camp I’m ready to go and the rest of the time is just fine tuning on technical work with my kickboxing coach Paul Minhas.
The last few weeks should just be fine tuning and ramping up. We’ve had a great camp, my nutrition, training and rest have been on point. With a properly planned camp you shouldn’t need to push yourself or be reckless in the last few weeks because your body will protest if you give it more than it can handle and that’s where a lot of athletes get themselves into trouble.
I don’t think about De Bonte too much. A trap that athletes get into is training for a certain opponent’s style, and then he totally switches it up and you’re left having to switch up your plan midstream. My goal has always been to work on certain aspects of my game that I felt could use some work and just sharpen my strong aspects so I’m ready for whatever happens in that ring.
I will be in LA on Monday. I like getting in early and figuring out where everything is (Gym, Groceries, etc.) and settling into my room so I can start focusing on the task ahead. Doesn’t hurt that the event is in the beautiful city of LA where I can hit the beach on my rest time!
When I am in LA for fight week, training comes first. My PR manager Costa Kladianos manages my media and publicity to let me focus on my training. He is a former athlete himself so he understands the demands of training and is great with helping me stay on schedule while also understanding that we are in the entertainment business and need to promote the fight as much as possible so everyone is aware and excited about what I think will be the biggest kickboxing event in history!
Join us later this week for final updates as Valtellini prepares for Glory.
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