Former Bellator light heavyweight champion Emanuel Newton says that having sex before his most recent fight is partially to blame for his loss.
Newton (25-9-1) lost to Phil Davis in the semifinals of Bellator’s light heavyweight tournament in September. He is getting ready for a fight on Feb. 19 and spoke with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn ahead of that contest. In his interview, he shared his belief that engaging in pre-fight sex hurt him.
“I had sex like three or four hours before the fight, which was stupid,” Newton told MMAjunkie. “Once again, I was getting caught up in that (mentality that) certain things couldn’t touch me when I have to understand that I am human and I do have to train hard and I can’t be going out and making stupid mistakes. Then the first takedown of the fight that Phil got on me, I popped my rib. It just wasn’t meant for me to win that fight because I learned so much.
“(Having sex) definitely took away my hips. My trainer Antonio (McKee), even the day before when we were doing the open workouts I was kicking him off his feet with spinning back kicks. The first takedown Phil got on me was when I threw a spinning back kick and he powered through it and he got that body lock and that’s when I popped my rib. But right when we were warming up my trainer looked at me and said, ‘What happened to that power?’ Lesson learned. It happened for a bigger reason and I did learn a lesson and get a deeper understanding of myself.”
Even though he lost, at least Newton says he learned from the experience and will not repeat the mistake. He has already beaten Linton Vassell once before, so his chances of winning in two weeks should be strong.
Newton really should have known better. After all, this legendary fighter says he cuts sex off three weeks before fights.
