In a recent interview, Emanuel Newton revealed that he had sex hours before the fight against Phil Davis last September probably contributed to his unfortunate loss, The former Bellator light heavyweight MMA champ, however, also said that a rib injury he suffered during the fight was also to blame.
Newton, who is holding a record of 25-9-1 MMA and 8-3 BMMA, admitted that his sexual activity might have had an effect on his tenacity and “edge” prior to stepping into the cage. Newton said that he definitely learned a lesson from this event, and he is hoping that he would be able to keep that in mind coming into the fight against Linton Vassell this coming February 19th. Vassell, on the other hand, is holding a record of 15-5 MMA and 4-2 BMMA.
“I had sex like three or four hours before the fight, which was stupid. 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,” Newton said during a recent interview with MMAjunkie.
Losing to Davis didn’t happen in the best timing as well. He lost the title belt to Liam McGeary during the fight before the one with Davis, and he was hoping to jump back in and get back his belt as soon as he wins over Davis. Unfortunately, none of those happened. In fact, the loss to Davis opened a series of unfortunate events for the former MMA champ.
Newton, however, was quick to clarify that he is not the type of fighter who loses his cool after a losing streak. He revealed that he actually started out with a series of losses on his back, but he was able to get back on his feet and even became an MMA champion in a huge company like Bellator. He also admitted that he takes each loss as an opportunity for learning something so he can prepare better for his next bout.
“My whole career has been like this: lose two or three, then win eight, lose two and win seven. It’s just been my whole fighting career. I’m closer to God, getting more into my scriptures and getting a deeper understanding of who we truly are and what I truly am. If I had to fight the fight again and could have had victory, I wouldn’t do it because I learnt so much more. Everything happens for a reason so I’m just going to stand with that. I’m going to go in there knowing I put the time in the gym with the strength and the conditioning and know that I’m with the Bible. I’ve given my life back to Jesus Christ in a deeper and more spiritual way,” Newton added.