FRIDAY, APRIL 16

Logan's ninth blog entry —

Many of the most frustrating injuries are self inflicted. And the most frustrating injuries of all are self inflicted outside of training.

A week before my last bout, I bashed my right index finger moving a stove with my brother. It was cut rather deep and probably needed stitches, but one can't fight with stitches, so I opted for immobilization and hope. The cut eventually closed well enough to pass, but my finger still hasn't recovered. I hope to close my hand properly someday soon.

This last weekend I managed to injure myself while moving horses. Inclines and quick movements combined to result in my first sprained ankle in a while. I tried to box with it to start the week and ended up getting kicked in the ankle by someone else at practice who must have had a very dynamic sprawl to wind up way over in my corner.

These things tend to be frustrating since the resulting injuries make me regret my non-fighting activities and lead me toward a boring life. What's the point of having the free time to hang out on the farm if I can't climb and perhaps fall from a tree occasionally?

I don't want to start thinking about how I should limit my daily activities to protect myself from myself, but perhaps I should consider it. The odds aren't good that I will actually limit myself, but you can bet that I will be back at practice through the weekend, working as hard as I can with the body I've got left.

In team related news, I have two students competing this weekend. They are both fighting Friday night in Onalaska, Wis., at an event called "Judgement Day." The event is being promoted by the trainers at Team Howell's MMA in Winona, and it should be epic, biblical even.

Heath Rud will be looking to make a clean return to the cage following an elbow injury. It is always interesting to see how fighters recover from setbacks. The amount of hesitancy upon returning from injuries or a loss varies greatly based on a person's history and character. Heath has a long enough competitive history and has experienced enough injuries to make me believe that he will be able to return and compete with confidence.

Nick Gutierrez will look to make his second bout as successful as his first. He was pushed to the third round in his first fight, and we will see if he is able to show the same resiliency and conditioning in this bout. He is an odd fighter in that you don't know exactly what he will do, but you know he will be working to finish the fight.

I've got a number of guys in competition the following weekend as well, so I guess my busy spring schedule will continue. The schedule will only be more filled when summer comes as I have a number of young students who are planning to begin competing in the next few months.

— Logan Clark