Lessons from legends

By Andy Samuelson

Friday, Feb. 20, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Normally fight victors don’t end up riding in the back of an ambulance.

But last Saturday night Jorge Lopez found himself in that exact predicament trying to pass his 45-minute trip from Buffalo Bill’s casino in Primm to Las Vegas’ University Medical Center in peace, rather than rehashing the punishing blows he received from Brent Cooper during the main event of the “Worlds Collide” show that made this precautionary trip to the doc possible.

“It’s kind of funny because I remember thinking the winner should not be going to the hospital,” said a laughing Lopez, who said he dozed off during most of the journey and everything checked out fine in his CAT Scan. “I guess I should have just kept my mouth shut.”

It probably wouldn’t have mattered, because the California-based Cooper also was rewarded with an assisted ride to a Las Vegas medical center after the two mixed martial artists spent the final round slugging it out before Lopez escaped with a close victory via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

“The fight was a battle. I think we definitely gave the crowd a good show,” said Lopez, who won the first two rounds with takedowns and his ground game, but found himself in danger of being knocked out by Cooper’s high-power punches in the waning moments.

“He definitely clipped me with a big blow that left me dazed. I was just trying to hold on in there at the end.”

Indeed, it was a tough couple of minutes of action, but nothing compared to what the 20-year-old was enduring just a year ago in Los Angeles in his continued pursuit of the sport he fell in love with as a 14-year-old.

“Basically he was living at this gym in L.A. when I met him,” said Juan Rodriguez, who represents Lopez. “He could have had a comfortable life back in Utah, but there he was sleeping in this gym every night trying to become the best fighter he could be. Immediately I knew I liked him, he was very, very humble.”

But Lopez’s story is not a rags to riches tale. The San Diego-born Lopez grew up in Utah and very well could have had a comfortable life working for his father, Daniel, at his car lot.

Instead he headed to Los Angeles to try and find better training and a little more publicity.

“But as soon as I got out there I realized how expensive it was to live in L.A., and being a fighter I wasn’t making hardly any money,” Lopez said.

“I wasn’t able to afford a place so I made a deal with the owner of Piccinini’s gym where he let me live there rent-free, but to pay him back I worked and helped clean up the place.”

Lopez doesn’t think much of the sacrifice, saying it is a lesson he learned early on his training thanks to some of the best fighters in the world.

During his ninth-grade summer vacation, his father Daniel took him to Curitiba, Brazil, where he met the likes of current UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva and former PRIDE champ Wanderlei Silva.

“It was a dream come true, it would be any kid's dream come true to be working in and around those guys on a daily basis,” Lopez said of his special training sessions.

At the time Wanderlei was the bigger name, so Lopez was actually closer with Anderson.

He said the two would joke around and Anderson helped him perfect his Portuguese.

“One of the lessons I’ll never forget and that I’m grateful I was able to learn at such a young age, is that it wasn’t impossible to reach the level that these guys had attained,” Lopez said. “They instilled in me that mental approach you have to have to succeed in this sport.”

Fast forward six years later and Anderson has become the king of the cage, arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, yet the same approachable, fun-loving guy who Lopez remembers from his adolescence.

“Me and Anderson have reconnected again,” said Lopez, who said the “Spider” delivered an even more inspiring lesson this time around.

“He came over and gave me a big hug and told me, ‘One day you’re gonna be champ.’ I kind of shrugged it off, but he insisted, ‘Why not, we are both human, it just depends how bad you want it and hard you are willing to work for it.’”

The 4-1 Lopez, whose only setback was a controversial decision in his second career bout, has made Silva’s words his life’s mission.

Lopez moved out to Las Vegas four months ago and teamed up with Wanderlei and has been training in the Brazilian’s newly built gym.

“He’s a really good kid with a ton of talent,” Wanderlei Silva said. “He’s got a ways to go, but I think his future is unlimited.”

Lopez enjoys the compliments, but admits a great deal of his game can still be sharpened.

“I’m confident in my Jiu-Jitsu defense against anyone,” said Lopez, who said following the advice of the pros in his corner he hopes to be in the UFC in two to three years.

“What I really need to improve upon is my offensive Jiu-Jitsu. And of course I can always get better in my strikes, wrestling, etc.”

Lopez still insists his most valuable weapon is his mind and credits both Silva, as well as UFC legend Randy Couture, for helping him learn the right way to train mentally.

“I’m really thankful for all these wonderful opportunities I’ve had,” said Lopez, who said he is close to scoring a fight in Florida in April before going back to Primm for his semifinal match in the “Worlds Collide” tourney which takes place in late August.

“But now I have to go out there and take advantage of them. I can’t think I’m just going to go out there and become one of these fighters just because they are in my corner. I have to go out there and bust my butt to try to reach the level they are at now and the place I’ve always dreamed of being.”

Andy Samuelson can be reached at [email protected] or 702-948-7837.