Diego Sanchez, Rashad Evans, Nathan Marquardt, Keith Jardine, Joey Villasenor, Dan Christison. Many notable names in MMA have arisen from Greg Jackson's academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Jackson has been running his school for more than 14 years and has produced solid UFC and Pride competitors, as well as athletes successful in the Grapplers Quest and Pan American Games. Jackson's ability to help his fighters reach their potential has made him one of the most respected trainers in the sport. He takes time to talk with Ultimate Grappling to give insight into some of his methods.

What are the main conditioning exercises you have your fighters do?

We do a lot of Olympic lifting stuff. We work kettlebells, we're big fans of running on our mountain (Sandia Crest) here, which is about 11,100 feet. And then just a lot of push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups. These are old-fashioned butt-whooping exercises.

A little bit of it is getting in shape and a lot of it is conditioning your mind to push yourself to those limits, and I'm really about pushing limits. Anybody can run 5 miles and get in shape. What makes us different, however, is that I push the mental limits, so the guys get comfortable in those places where most people aren't comfortable.

What about fighters who want to enter MMA? Do you have any tips?

Yes. Don't rush it and get the right information. You also have to ask yourself, "Am I fighting because I love to fight, and I love my art?" or "Am I fighting because I want tons of attention?" Most fighters have a little bit of both. But if you're thinking, "Oh, I'm just going to fight right away," that means you really just want to be known as a cage fighter. You don't really want to fight. If you want to fight, take your time, get all your grappling moves, learn how to kickbox, take your time. Unless you're 53 years old and the world's passing you by, you've got time. You've got time for a year to get the hang of it. I see too many people say, "Oh, I'm going to fight! I used to wrestle." Well, the game's evolved, and you probably could have gotten away with that back in the day. To make it to a high level now, you need a real good foundation.

What should people keep in mind when they fight for the first time?

Remember, you have to stay calm and breathe (laughs), and just be aggressive, be yourself. It's like training except you get to throw really hard. You should be looking forward to it, and it should be something that's fun. It's real nerve-wracking. Once the lights get on you, so to speak, you just need to go out and have a great time, try to dominate your opponent as much as you can and stay one step ahead of him. Relaxing, breathing, looking forward to it and having fun would be the things I would tell a first-timer.

What are some recommendations to avoid injuries?

If you're training smart and the people around you are trying to help-not hurt you-that's important. I think most people get injured when their teammates are trying to take their head off. You can be competitive without trying to blow each other out of the water. So you need a cooperative competitive dichotomy and you've got to skirt that line. Most injuries I know come through people getting a little overzealous, rather than just the freak injuries.

How would you help a fighter avoid getting too down if he loses a fight?

It's important to understand that everybody loses, it's a learning process and you have to understand that you're in it for the long haul. What I do is take a larger perspective and remind them of other great fighters who have lost and come back stronger. I basically just tell the truth. This is a process, and sometimes you're going to win and sometimes you're going to lose. But your goal is to fulfill your potential, to be the best fighter that you can be and you're not going to do that if you don't take some of the lesson that that loss is going to give you.

Do you have any quotes to which you adhere?

My training quote is, "No one is going to out suffer us." In other words, we'll suffer longer and harder to win than our opponent will.

• Warm up with 5 or 10 minutes of jump rope.

• Run 3 1/2 miles at elevation, preferably at Sandia Crest, which is 11,100 feet.

• Next, do seven sets of seven 30-yard sprints in the mountains. Rest about two to three minutes before you do the next set.

• Then jog back to home base.

• This high-point cardio is done once a week

One guy is on top, and the other guy is on the bottom. The guy on top should punch and pass while the guy underneath should try to sweep or get up and strike, too.

Don't hit real hard but grapple at 100 percent.

If it's game plan specific, certain traits of the opponent should be mimicked.