http://mmajunkie.com/2014/03/wsof-ch...the-cage-with/
To address Palhares’ submission threat, Carl traveled to Texas, where he linked up with UFC vets T.J. Waldburger and Kevin Burns.
“My legs would hurt after five or six rounds of pulling out of leglocks,” he said. “But at the same time, it made me feel a lot more comfortable, because I saw the setups, and that’s what you’re mostly aware of. I don’t want to find myself deep in a heelhook with Palhares. I want to stop it before it gets there.”
UFC vet Alan Belcher was among the first fighters to engage the Brazilian where he is strongest and said he was able to overcome the danger by constantly drilling submission defense with world-class jiu-jitsu players.
Carl said that is a nice idea, but not a realistic one.
“I didn’t have the resources Alan Belcher had,” he said. “I didn’t have world-class guys attacking my legs, so if I had a bunch of fighters who aren’t proficient in attacking my legs, then really, I’m just giving myself a false hope that I know what I’m doing when I get in that position with somebody who’s as skilled as Palhares.
“That’s why I chose who I worked my leglocks with, and I didn’t work them entirely through my camp; I worked them periodically through my camp.”
Targeted to fight Fitch in June, Carl asked the promotion to fill his schedule this year and heard he would be facing Palhares several months ago. Still healing from a back injury he suffered in training for Burkman, he said he was forced to modify his training to deal with other nagging injuries and stopped training when his back hurt.
The changes Carl has made in his fight preparation are not only for Palhares, but himself.
“I didn’t sit there and pretend like in seven or eight weeks, I’m going to become this world-class leglocker and I’m going to have this defense to stop a guy that’s been doing it his entire life,” Carl said. “I don’t want to go into this fight only worried about a heel hook. I want to go into this fight trying to knock him out or choke him out. So I worked on me, just like always.”