Charlie "the Spaniard" Brenneman

Here’s the latest video blog from my last fight. Enjoy!...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:08:19 -0400

Here’s the latest video blog from my last fight. Enjoy! @robhaydak @sheetz @intimidationmma @amafightclub @no1joes

Next Fight!

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:18:15 -0400

I will be fighting April 12 in Valley Forge, PA for Cage Fury FC against RJ Goodridge. A big thanks to Cage Fury and @amafightclub for setting it up. Can’t wait to get back in the cage!

I recently did a meet and greet at Sharky’s in Boonton, NJ...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:13:02 -0400

I recently did a meet and greet at Sharky’s in Boonton, NJ for UFC 158. Thanks for the great turnout, and a big thanks to Sharky’s for having me!

UFC 158 Predictions

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 11:14:12 -0400

Now for some @ufc predictions, and why (going w/ the three biggest fights, don’t know enough about the other guys on the main card): Marquardt over Ellenberger - I think Marquardt will be too big and strong over the course of the fight. Ellenberger has trouble w/ cardio. Slight chance Marquardt’s short tunaround will play a role, but I’m going w/ “The Great”. The next one is tough, and up until writing this, I was going w/ Condit, but I just realized Hendrick’s is too powerful for Condit. Condit could pull of a sub, but Hendrick’s has awareness (from a life of wrestling, and now fighting), and will avoid such attempts. Look for Hendrick’s to be GSP’s next challenge. And now for the finale, GSP all the way. Nick will bruise up GSP’s face w/ his pitter patter, but GSP will do what he does, take the fight to the mat, and dominate on top. I don’t necessarily see a finish on his part, but a dominating performance. Again, GSP will be too powerful.

These welterweights are frickin’ powerful, good thing I’m a lightweight now!

Come peek inside my latest S&C session at Affinity Fitness....

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 11:49:08 -0500

Come peek inside my latest S&C session at Affinity Fitness. Getting it done!

Come take a look at some recent boxing training. 90 minutes of...

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:45:01 -0500

Come take a look at some recent boxing training. 90 minutes of getting better, condensed of course for you to take a look, enjoy!

Training hard! Here’s a recent session I did at...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:03:50 -0500

Training hard! Here’s a recent session I did at @nextleveltrainr here in NJ. Check it out!

Here’s a quick vid of our recent trip to Muscle Maker...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 08:54:04 -0500

Here’s a quick vid of our recent trip to Muscle Maker Grill in Parsippany, NJ. Great food, healthy too!

Let's Get to Work!

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:17:41 -0500

Back to the grind, though a much less physical grind. These next few weeks will be a lot of technique/ drilling, along w/ a few live days per week. I’ve got to stay in good enough shape that I’m ready on short notice, but not too good that I get burnt out. I won’t let my weight get much over 172. Some guys blow up after fights, but my attitude has always been that this is my job, and I’ll treat each day as such.

Hoping to know what’s next in the near future. Till then, I’ll be getting better!

Check out our adventure at #TheFrozenSnot race. Crazy intense....

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:30:30 -0500

Check out our adventure at #TheFrozenSnot race. Crazy intense. Enjoy the video…and my frozen snot! @bosssnot

Here is a recap of fight week for my most recent fight on Jan....

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 08:47:47 -0500

Here is a recap of fight week for my most recent fight on Jan. 19. Enjoy! @sheetz @intimidationmma #Al’sTavern #TheSummit #RCPrint #Kranich’s

Victorious!

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:14:31 -0500

I wanted to follow up after my victory on Saturday. I didn’t realize it had been a whole year since my last win at UFC in Nashville, but I knew I sure missed the feeling of winning. The week after a fight is either the highest high, or the lowest low. Fortunately, this week is a high.

Everything went to plan. I felt great. I was able to implement my plan and work to finish the fight. One of my goals was to mentally slow down the action of the fight. A lot of times in a fight, things happen so fast, and you do things automatically. I wanted to reach a balance of voluntary and involuntary actions/ reactions. I was able improve on this area, which is one of the reasons I was able to go for the kill when the timing was right. When the ref stopped the fight, I literally had to ask if this was reality. It was awesome to feel the energy of my hometown crowd, nothing like it.

I have a million people to thank, so I’ll name a few of the major players. Let’s call all of them “Team Spaniard”. My brother ChAd does just about everything you can imagine. He has also assumed the role of my S&C Coach, and it’s been awesome. My trainager Mike, my boxing coach John, and all of AMA Fight Club and Renzo Gracie BJJ helped me to improve dramatically. Fighters would be very limited w/o a great team and trainers.

Another big aspect of this fight was the help I got from my family. Selling tickets and Tshirts is no easy task. The logistics of selling, collecting, meeting up, etc. is a great deal of stress. My entire family had a big role in making sure all I had to do was show up and fight.

A big thanks goes to my sponsors, most of them local businesses, who see the value in associating w/ me. I value my roots, and to have these companies support me means a great deal. I do my best to represent them and spread their brand as well as I can. So a big thanks to: Sheetz, Kranich’s Jeweler’s, Al’s Tavern, The Summit Tennis and Athletic Club, RC Print, and Intimidation MMA.

And lastly to my fans and supporters, fighting in the big show is awesome, but being able to fight in front of a hometown crowd is an unbelievable experience as well. I know the time/ money it takes to come to my fights, buy shirts, or simply show your support, so I can assure you it doesn’t go unnoticed!

This was just Step #1 in getting back on top. MMA is a rollercoaster, and I’m grateful to be going up the incline on this one :)

Here’s a recap of last weekend promoting my fight back...

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 19:50:56 -0500

Here’s a recap of last weekend promoting my fight back home in PA. Thanks Kranich’s, Sheetz, The Summit, Al’s Tavern, and RC Print for the local support!!!

Training in the Burg

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 14:32:32 -0500

I wanted to send a big thank you to a few people who enable me to make my trips home w/o missing a beat in training. Darcy and Dave Regala (Cambria Martial Arts Academy) have been w/ me since day 1 of my fighting career. They are two of the most selfless people I’ve ever met. Anything short of a family emergency, and they are basically on call to my training. All I have to do is give them a heads up, and we’re good to go. In conjunction w/ them is my sparring partner John Miller. Again, barring surgery or injury, he is ready to go. Without these guys, I wouldn’t be able to make it home as often as I do because my training would suffer. So I’m able to enjoy being around my family and getting the necessary work in simultaneously. I couldn’t ask for me.

I also want to send a thank you to Justin Filer of Genesis MMA. Justin has opened his gym doors to me, and let’s us use his cage to train in. Training in a cage is vital, and it’s something I don’t have much access to in Jersey.

So a big thank you to those guys. I couldn’t do it w/o you.

Check out this recent charity I took part in. NFL punter Steve...

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 18:32:04 -0500

Check out this recent charity I took part in. NFL punter Steve Weatherford’s “Kicks for Kids” foundation raised money for S. Jersey kids displaced by Hurricane Sandy.

Test Cut - 155.8!

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:05:57 -0500

When I made the decision to drop down to lightweight, I wanted to do it as safely and efficiently as possible. I inquired w/ a nutritionist, but after consulting w/ my team, I decided to handle it myself. I’m not an expert in nutrition, but I am an expert on my body. How exactly I do some things, I don’t really know, I just know that I do them. I take bits and pieces from what I learn (if you know me, you know I ask a TON of questions), and apply them to my situation.

I’ve been cutting weight for 20 years. Back in high school, my brother and I would get two pounds under, and that was just enough for Little Ceasar’s Pizza and a Pepsi…not the best, but it worked. In college, all I cared about the night before a match was a 20 oz. Pepsi. I could go on forever.

Now that I’m older, and the stakes are higher, I’ve gotten a lot more efficient in this process. The day after my last fight, I started my journey to lightweight. It’s been a daily process, not one meal or snack I put into my body has been uncalculated. I’m not eating 100% clean, but I am getting it done. I’ve even learned to cook through this process.

Today, I made the cut, and I weighed 155.8.

So, on the other side of lightweight, I am ready to go. Start a fresh career at a new weight. I don’t expect it to be smooth sailing. Everyone will be out to get me. A lot of people will hope for me to fail. I’ll have my ups and downs. But at the end of the day, I’m the one looking in the mirror, and I like the skinny, bushy-haired fella that I see.

@stroopsmma A big thanks to Stroops for the great training gear!...

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:29:53 -0500

@stroopsmma A big thanks to Stroops for the great training gear! Stroops.com

2 New Spaniard Shirts available!!! Get ‘em while...

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:20:11 -0500

2 New Spaniard Shirts available!!!

Get ‘em while they’re here. The designs just keep getting cooler!!!

Training/ Fight Update

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 16:39:11 -0500

So the last month or so has been great in terms of training. I’ve gotten into a nice schedule of technique training, as well as more strenuous MMA training.

I’v recently started working w/ a new boxing coach, and he’s tremendous. I’ve had the opportunity to work w/ a lot of great trainers, and John is up there at the top. I’ve taken valuable pieces from each one, and it’s awesome to see my evolution. John and I click; his methods, my ideas, they seem to be meshing very well. For the first time, I’m really concentrating on carrying what I’m learning on a daily basis into every training session. Rather than keeping them as separate entities, I look at my entire week of training as a cohesive unit (obvious, huh? I just missed the memo I guess). My team (John, Mike, and my bro Ben) are working together to keep everything in sync. I like where it’s headed.

In terms of fighting, I will have an announcement very soon. We are just waiting on a few details, but it’ll be early in the new year.

I’m in a very good place. I’ve been to the top of the mountain, I know what it feels like. I want that back. And I’m certainly not afraid of a challenge.

Life would be boring if you just won all the time :)

"Oh, he's a wrestler, bad matchup"

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 17:39:15 -0500

So I recently attended the ESU open wrestling tournament, and yet again, I was amazed at the wrestlers. Wrestling is hardcore. There is truly nothing like it. I know, I have done both (wrestling and fighting).

As I sat and watched the guys battling back and forth, random bruised faces walking around the arena, something dawned on me. When I, or anyone for that matter, goes into a fight, you always hear…”Oh, he’s a wrestler, that’s a tough matchup.” “He wrestled, you sure that’s a smart fight to take?”

Well here’s the thing, when you’ve wrestled your whole life, every single match you’ve wrestled is against a “wrestler.” Every single match in my life, close to 1000, has therefore been a tough matchup, and that’s certainly not true. What I’m saying is, just because someone wrestled, doesn’t mean they are inherently a stud wrestler. That’d be like saying, “Oh, he played linebacker in high school, Ray Lewis better watch out for his job.”

In fighting, there has been a tremendous generalization of, “he’s a wrestler.” That it carries an extreme value. And against a non-wrestler, I guess it does, but when you’re talking about one guy who wrestled in high school, and another who was a D-I all-american, there couldn’t be more of a difference bt the two. And even further, an all-american compared to an NCAA champ is a HUGE difference.

Being a wrestler is like being part of the jungle. Yeah, you’re a wild animal; you’re out on your own for survival. But in that jungle, there are wildebeests and there are lions.