In Your Corner hardcover and The Father’s Plan Workbook
Real pages from the workbook: the rules, the 13-week camp, your game plan, your fight card and your corner card.
Javier Mendez with the In Your Corner hardcover
First page of the foreword by Khabib Nurmagomedov
Table of contents listing 18 rounds in three parts

Official presale · out October 22, 2026

In Your Corner – Complete Presale Bundle (Hardcover + Workbook)

$49.99$59.98 after the presale

Free tracked shipping to the US and Canada

Presale ends October 21, 11:59 PM ET

A mindset book by Javier Mendez, coach of 22 world champions – with a foreword by Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Train your mind like a fighter to face life like a champion – whatever you’re fighting.

It’s worth reading for anyone who wants to succeed in their own field, become a good leader, mentor, parent, or simply a better person.
Khabib NurmagomedovUFC World Champion
Without Javier, I would've never become champion. This book brings his mindset to anyone who wants to win in life.
Usman NurmagomedovPFL Lightweight World Champion
Behind every champion is someone who believes in them when no one else does. Javier has been that person for me and my brothers in the gym.
Islam MakhachevTwo-Division UFC World Champion
He gave me the confidence and calmness to go and become a world champion.
Daniel CormierUFC Hall of Famer
This man changed my life, I really laughed while reading this book! We trust him because he makes us better, he doesn't change us.
Khabib NurmagomedovUFC World Champion

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This is a pre-order. Your card is charged today. Publication date: October 22, 2026. Orders ship after release. Shipping to the US and Canada is free; taxes are shown in checkout before you pay.

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It’s worth reading for anyone who wants to succeed in their own field, become a good leader, mentor, parent, or simply a better person.
Khabib NurmagomedovUFC World Champion
Without Javier, I would've never become champion. This book brings his mindset to anyone who wants to win in life.
Usman NurmagomedovPFL Lightweight World Champion
Behind every champion is someone who believes in them when no one else does. Javier has been that person for me and my brothers in the gym.
Islam MakhachevTwo-Division UFC World Champion
He gave me the confidence and calmness to go and become a world champion.
Daniel CormierUFC Hall of Famer
This man changed my life, I really laughed while reading this book! We trust him because he makes us better, he doesn't change us.
Khabib NurmagomedovUFC World Champion

Foreword by Khabib Nurmagomedov. Praised by Islam Makhachev and Daniel Cormier.

Included with your presale order

  • Inside the Mind of a Champion – private live event with Javier
  • Behind-the-scenes access
  • Priority access to selected future experiences
  • The Presale Black Box – surprise extras for pre-order customers

Presale benefits are linked to a qualifying active order. See the terms for eligibility and delivery details.

Format
Hardcover · 344 pages
Workbook · 332 pages
Size
Hardcover · 6 × 9 in (15.2 × 22.9 cm)
Workbook · 6.7 × 9.4 in (17 × 24 cm)
ISBN (hardcover)
978-3-98935-318-3
Language
English
Publisher
Orbita Media
Publication date
October 22, 2026

About the book

The toughest fights aren’t televised. They’re lived.

From world champion kickboxer and coach Javier Mendez, In Your Corner: Train Your Mind Like a Fighter to Face Life Like a Champion is a mindset book for the toughest fight of all: life. It holds a lifetime of hard-won wisdom from coaching 22 world champions. Yet the most powerful lessons didn’t come under bright lights – they came in quiet moments of doubt, struggle and heartbreak.

This is a book for everyday people who want to forge their own destiny, rebound from setbacks or simply become the best version of themselves. It’s for founders and parents, leaders and athletes – for dreamers, doers and anyone ready for a comeback.

What’s inside

18 rounds in three parts – Fighter, Coach, Legacy – built like a fight camp. Javier tells his story from the schoolyards of Mexico to the corner of the world’s biggest UFC fights, with behind-the-scenes moments alongside Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez, Frank Shamrock and Luke Rockhold. Each round is packed with takeaways in discipline, purpose and community – the mindset he trains into his fighters, made for everyday life.

You’ll learn how to

  • stay calm when the pressure is highest
  • build your game plan around your own strengths instead of copying someone else’s
  • take a loss without letting it break you
  • find a why that lasts – rooted in love, not anger
  • choose the right people for your corner – and be that person for someone else

With a foreword by Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Champions aren’t born. They’re built. You’ve got someone in your corner – and it’s time to rise.

About the workbook

The Father’s Plan Workbook: A 90-Day Fight Camp is the companion to In Your Corner. The book tells Javier’s story and lessons; the workbook helps you put them to work in your own life.

Nine guided Workbook Rounds follow the book: where you come from, your why, your strengths, the habits that hold you back and the people in your corner. Each round sends you back to a chapter, asks you to write and ends with one real step.

Then you pick one goal – at work, at home, in your health – and follow it for 90 days: a plan for each of 13 weeks, one line a day, a short weekly review and a check-in with someone you trust every three weeks. After day 90, you see what changed and set your next goal.

Why “fight camp”? Before a fight, Javier’s athletes follow a fixed plan for weeks – the workbook gives your goal the same structure, no fighting involved. Paperback, 332 pages, 17 × 24 cm, to write in by hand.

Manufacturer (EU product safety): Orbita Media GmbH, Ericusspitze 4, 20457 Hamburg, Germany, contact@orbitamediapublishing.com

Who it is for

Not everyone is a fighter. Everyone is fighting something.

You do not need an opponent to know what pressure feels like. Sometimes the fight is a difficult decision, a setback you cannot stop replaying or the responsibility of staying steady when other people depend on you.

  • Founders deciding with everything on the line
  • Leaders who stay calm when the team can’t
  • Parents raising someone who’ll meet setbacks
  • Career changers starting from zero
  • Athletes in any sport, at any level
  • Anyone fighting a battle nobody sees

The stories come from a life in combat sports. The lessons are for everyday life: discipline, willpower and a clear head when it counts.

What you take from it

A coach in your corner, on every page.

  1. 01

    Calm when it counts

    Javier’s way of keeping a clear head when the pressure is highest – before the big meeting, the hard conversation or the next attempt.

  2. 02

    A plan built on your strengths

    Stop copying someone else’s game plan. Build yours around what you already do best.

  3. 03

    The right people in your corner

    Why nobody wins alone – and how to choose, and be, the person in someone’s corner.

  4. 04

    What lasts beyond a win

    Family, loyalty, staying calm amid the noise – and what lasts beyond a win.

In their words

Why champions trust Javier in their corner.

“If I had to name one reason to read this book, I’d put it this way: it shows what a true mentor should be. In today’s world, many people want to lead others. Few are willing to serve others. Javier has always been exactly that kind of man.”

Khabib NurmagomedovUFC World ChampionFrom the foreword

Inside the book

18 rounds in three parts.

  1. Part 1 · Rounds 1–7

    Fighter

    Where it began: the glass shop, the losses and learning what is worth fighting for.

  2. Part 2 · Rounds 8–13

    Coach

    Game plans built around each fighter’s strengths – and the team behind performance.

  3. Part 3 · Rounds 14–18

    Legacy

    Family, loyalty, staying calm amid the noise – and what lasts beyond a win.

“As hard as it hits, life is not your enemy. It’s a special, sacred opportunity to be brave enough to face what’s in front of you.”

Javier Mendez, Round 1

Look inside

Read the first pages.

The cover and real pages from the hardcover: Khabib’s foreword, the contents and the openings of three rounds. Tap a page to read it.

Look inside the workbook

The Father’s Plan Workbook

The book shows you how. The workbook makes you do it.

The Father’s Plan Workbook is the book’s companion: nine guided rounds to apply its lessons, then 90 days on one goal of your own.

  1. Read the roundJavier’s story, lesson by lesson.
  2. Work the roundNine workbook rounds, in your own handwriting.
  3. Build your planYour game plan and fight card, on one page.
  4. Run the camp13 weeks. Tick it off only when it happened.

Included in the Complete Presale Bundle

Javier Mendez with the In Your Corner hardcover

About the author

From champion, founder, and coach Javier Mendez

World-champion kickboxer and founder of the American Kickboxing Academy in San José, the gym behind UFC champions Khabib, Islam, Daniel Cormier and Cain. This book shares the mindset he coached them with.

  • 40+years in professional combat sports
  • 22world champions coached
  • 1985founded the American Kickboxing Academy

FAQ

Questions before you order.

No. The stories come from a life in combat sports, but the book is about discipline, willpower and mental strength in everyday life.

In Your Corner is scheduled for release on October 22, 2026. Pre-orders ship within a few days of release and no later than October 31, 2026. You’ll receive a shipping confirmation with tracking as soon as your parcel is dispatched; delivery time then depends on your destination and carrier. The eBook arrives by email on release day.

When you place your order: a pre-order is paid in full at checkout. If you change your mind, you can cancel any time before your order ships (the eBook: before it is delivered) and get a full refund.

You can cancel any time before your order is dispatched and get a full refund. Use the contact page or your order confirmation. The details are in our refund policy.

We ship to the United States, Canada, Germany and Austria. Shipping is free to the US, Canada and Germany; to Austria it costs €9.00. Orders to Germany and Austria are sent from Germany, so there are no customs charges, and prices there are in euros and include VAT. More countries are coming soon.

Yes. Tick “Add the official eBook” above – $14.99 during the presale. It arrives by email on October 22, 2026, so you can start reading before your hardcover arrives, on your phone, tablet or e-reader.

The official hardcover plus The Father’s Plan Workbook: A 90-Day Fight Camp from In Your Corner (332 pages) – the companion that helps you apply the book’s lessons to your own life over 90 days. During the presale the workbook comes only with the book; afterwards it is sold on its own for $24.99.

No. The presale edition offered here is the official hardcover; it is not a signed edition.

Yes. From ten bundles upwards there is a better price, one delivery to one address and a few things your team cannot buy in the shop. See Team packs.

Put Javier in your corner.

Pre-order the official hardcover, or get the Complete Presale Bundle with the workbook to put the lessons to work.

Pre-order now$49.99

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