FIGHT CAMP REPORT: Kyle Watson - Watson Martial Arts

Juggling multiple passions can be a chore for anyone and Kyle Watson knows all about that.

Watson is a professional fighter, coach, and gym owner and finding the proper balance between them has been the secret to his success so far.

“It’s very hard,” Watson said. “I always notice that if something has to give, either my training or my teaching, my stuff always takes a back seat because I feel very strongly how my students view me and I want their respect and I never want to fail them. I do what’s best for them and sometimes that does hurt my performance and my training but at the end of the day I’d rather see them succeed than myself. It’s a hard balance but I feel I’ve been able to do it well so far.”

A born teacher, Watson (who holds a B.A. in education) finds plenty of benefits from coaching:
“It’s very satisfying to me,” he said. “I love to offer something to people. I love to help them improve. If I’m teaching a jiu-jitsu class and if I show someone a move and then a couple weeks later, they pull it off, that is super exciting for me because they didn’t have that before and I was able to add to their game.”

Watson made a name for himself when he was picked to appear on The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck. Watson fought two times for the UFC before being released and joining the UK-based Cage Warriors. A black belt, in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Watson was Matt Hughes’ BJJ instructor at the H.I.T. Squad before opening his own gym in St. Louis, Watson Martial Arts.

“I have a lot of new, up-and-coming guys you have never heard of but I still have bigger name guys here training,” Watson said. “Jake Hecht is here training and he has a UFC fight in Australia on March 3 and I’ll be cornering him in that fight. I appreciate that people still look to me for coaching and not just as a fighter. I take pride in that I’m very knowledgeable about the sport and I take my cornering very seriously.”

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Kyle Watson VS Juha-Pekka Vainikainen

Cage Warriors: Fight Night 3
Saturday, February 11th - Habtoor Grand Hotel
Location: Beirut, Lebanon

For more information visit: http://www.cagewarriors.com