Straight From the Source

The Super Squad Blog.
MMA, mindset, and everything
in between.

Sodiq "Super" Yusuff has been writing the Super Squad Letter on Substack for over 100 issues. MMA analysis. Training philosophy. Anime. Pop culture. Life perspective. Tap any post below to read the full archive on Substack.

Training & Mindset 6 min read

I was never the best guy in the gym. Here is why that never stopped me.

People assume that UFC fighters are just naturally gifted. That they walked into their first gym and were immediately better than everyone around them. That is not my story. From the beginning I was never the most technically skilled guy in the room. Never the strongest. Never the best cardio. What I had was something different. Something most people overlook because it is not flashy and it does not photograph well. I could endure. And over time, I learned that endurance is the only thing that actually matters.

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MMA Analysis5 min

What most people miss when they watch a UFC fight

Everyone is watching the punches. The real story is happening in the footwork, the distance management, and the three seconds before contact.

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MMA Analysis4 min

Why the jab is still the most underrated weapon in MMA

Every coach at every level will tell you the jab wins fights. Almost nobody uses it correctly. Here is why.

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MMA Analysis7 min

UFC 300 — What it felt like to compete on the biggest card in UFC history

There is fight week. And then there is UFC 300 fight week. Here is what that week actually felt like from inside it.

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MMA Analysis6 min

The Edson Barboza fight — What I learned going to war with a legend

When you share an Octagon with someone like Edson Barboza, you learn things about yourself that training camp cannot teach you.

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Mindset5 min

Discipline is not motivation. Stop confusing them.

Motivation shows up when you feel like it. Discipline shows up regardless. Here is the difference — and why it matters.

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Mindset4 min

The poker face — why I never let anyone know when my plan is not working

One of the most underrated skills in competition — and in life — is the ability to look composed when you are not.

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Training5 min

Seven hours a day. Every day. What real training consistency actually looks like.

Three hours in the morning. Four hours in the evening. What that kind of consistency builds over months and years.

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Mindset4 min

The farmer parable — why you have to plant the seeds even when you cannot control the harvest

There is a story I keep coming back to. A farmer who does everything right — and then a storm comes and destroys the crop.

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Academy4 min

The kid who walked in barely making eye contact — and what happened after

We have a student who came in during his first week barely able to look an instructor in the face. Eight weeks later his mother sent us a message.

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Academy5 min

What the opening of this academy actually meant to me

I have competed at UFC 300. None of those moments hit quite like the day we opened these doors in Waldorf.

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Academy4 min

Why Coach Jazmine is one of the most underrated instructors in Southern Maryland

Twenty-two years of working with young children. That is not a number you throw around. That is a career.

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Academy5 min

What a seminar with UFC-level fighters looks like — and why we bring them here

When UFC-level fighters come through these doors and share what they know with our students — something shifts in the room.

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Parents5 min

Does martial arts make kids violent? The research says the opposite.

This is the number one concern I hear from parents. The answer might surprise you.

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Parents4 min

The moment I knew this was about more than fighting

I have been coaching kids for over eight years. There was one moment that made me understand why this work matters so much.

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Parents6 min

What to look for in a martial arts instructor for your child — and what to walk away from

Not all martial arts schools are the same. After 8+ years coaching children, I have a clear sense of what the right environment looks like.

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Parents5 min

My mother did not know I was fighting. What that taught me about raising confident kids.

I competed in eleven amateur fights before my mother ever watched one. What that experience taught me.

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Life5 min

What voicing a Disney character in Lagos actually felt like for a kid who grew up there

When I got the call about Iwaju — the Disney+ animated series set in Lagos, Nigeria — I did not immediately think about the career opportunity. I thought about being nine years old.

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Life5 min

Why I think anime gets human nature right in a way most content does not

I am an anime nerd. Jujutsu Kaisen, My Hero Academia, Naruto — there is a reason these stories connect with so many people.

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Life6 min

What it means to send money home when home is Nigeria

I have fourteen siblings still in Nigeria. I send money home from my fight purses. This shapes everything about how I approach opportunity.

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Life4 min

I became a US citizen in 2020. Here is what that day actually meant.

My mother became a citizen. My brother became a citizen. And so did I — during UFC 246 fight camp. There are moments that stop you.

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