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AJ Barner and the Seattle Seahawks enter a showdown against the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field in the NFC Divisional Round on Saturday.
But things weren’t easy for the teams’ Tight End, who has been plagued by injuries including calf, knee, shoulder, ankle, elbow and hip issues.
Last offseason, Barner began training with Fox Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer, who also actively trains in mixed martial arts. Glazer often enlists the help of former professional MMA fighters such as Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Rashad Evans, etc. to teach wrestling, body leverage and hand-fighting drills that translate to pass rushes, pancake blocks and Tush Pushes alike.
In a recent interview with the Seattle Times, Barner and Liddell weighed in on the training.
“We were doing a lot of leverage stuff, under hooks, being square and having a good base, hand fighting and stuff like that,” Barner said. “Also, too, it’s the toughness piece — late in rounds, late in games, being unbreakable.”
Added Liddell, the former UFC light heavyweight champ: “Instead of being out there playing a sport, we’re out there making them fight. It’s that mentality: I’m trying to beat you down. I’m going to win.”
After the interview, Liddell sent a voice memo with a more detailed definition.
“I want to make sure you know what I mean by turning it into a fight,” Liddell added. “Because I think some people think that’s anger, the berserker, crazy. For me, turning it into a fight is treating it like a fight. You’re locked in. You’re trying to beat the guy in front of you. You’re setting him up. You’re calculated. When I used to fight, I’m trying to kill you, but as soon as it’s over I hope you’re OK. So it’s not that crazy anger. It’s a controlled, calculated fight to win every play, every minute of the game.”
In five of 17 games this year, AJ Barner has a touchdown catch (including one occasion with more than one TD).
Liddell competed from 1998 to 2018 and is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion (from 2005 to 2007). He is widely credited, along with Couture, with helping bring MMA into the mainstream of American sports and entertainment.
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