Author: As told to Jordan Newmark

Obviously, the UFC has had so many great fights it’s hard to point to one. One of my favorites was the Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva fight — that’s one that comes to my mind straight away. (Click here to watch the fight)

I watched that fight on my couch with a houseful of people in England.That would’ve been like 3 o’clock in the morning. I had to stay up late to watch it as you have to do with a lot of the fights that are in the US because of the time difference.

Liddell was the man in the UFC and Wanderlei was the man in PRIDE and everybody wanted to see that fight for a long time. It was a little overdue, but they were finally getting it on. It added to the build-up of the fight.

Chuck Liddell is a Hall of Famer and rightfully so. One of the greatest fighters in the sport, one of the greatest personalities in the sport, one of the most recognizable faces in the sport. The guy had a legendary career. He really helped put the UFC on the map. He was certainly an inspiration early on when I was growing up in the company. When I first started fighting for the UFC, he was the champ, so he was the man to beat. He was the guy I had my sights on at the time because I used to fight at the light-heavyweight division. He was always an inspiration.

It’s hard not to be a fan of Silva’s fighting style, too. He always brings it and he always has a crowd pleasing style.

I think you have to take into consideration the star power the two of them have. Chuck Liddell fought on some of the biggest events in the UFC and was a long time champion and one of the guys who helped build the sport. Wanderlei did the same for PRIDE. He was one of the most recognizable, if not the most recognizable fighters from PRIDE. The two faces of these two organizations coming to blows.

The reason I enjoyed it was because it was two guys going in there and
giving it their all. They were two big names, a lot of hype going into
the fight, and I think the pair of them delivered on the night.

My favorite fight is Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139. I had been going to UFC events for awhile. Since I started fighting, I’ve cornered guys like Cain Velasquez and Josh Koscheck. I had been there, but I *never* saw anything like that fight. click to watch the fight free

Play-by-Play
I thought it was over in the first round. The big punch, the big bomb, the knockdown. I thought it was over. I started jumping up and down and screaming, ‘It’s over! It’s over!’ My girlfriend and I usually watch the fights together. You start being the “smart boyfriend” saying, “I told you!” But it was just the beginning. It went from jump-out-of-your-seat-and-I’m-the-super-smart-psychic-boyfriend to “All right, let me sit back down because Shogun isn’t going anywhere.” It was one of those eye-opening moments where you’re so happy and so smart and so right to “Oh my goodness, this is going to be a crazy fight.”

The first round was “I told you so.” The second round was “This is just crazy!” The third round was, “He’s finally going to get him.” The fourth round was a little slower compared to what they were doing before, but, in comparison to any other fight, it was a barn-burner. The fifth round, they were so exhausted, Dan just laid under Shogun for five minutes. Shogun was in mount for the whole round just beating him down.

Then they had to carry Dan out of the cage — it was unreal. In the fifth round, if you’re Dan Henderson fan, you’re on the edge of your seat saying, “Just get through it” — and he actually did. It was an amazing fight. I always respected Shogun Rua, but, after that fight, I have a new level of respect for him. These guys put each other in trouble.

My girlfriend, Salina, she’s normally pretty reserved during
fights, but during that one, even she was animated. It was crazy to see. It was going to be the first time
she had seen Dan Henderson fight.

Hendo Power
I love Dan Henderson. I’m a big, huge Dan Henderson fan. I was
blabbering on and on and on talking about Dan Henderson. When they were
coming out, I remember thinking that the fight was going to be crazy
because both of these guys bring it. I expected it to be crazy, but it
exceeded my expectations by the way the fight played out.

Not
only do I like Dan Henderson because of the wrestling, I like him
because I’ve watched him for a long time. I like how he’s so proud of
his background in the Olympics. He fights with the USA on his shorts. He
always has some good music when he comes out. He’s proud of who he is
and he’s accomplished so much and he’s been able to still accomplish so
much even at a higher age.

It’s easy to root for somebody like
Dan Henderson. He’s always competed at the highest levels of this sport
and has had a lot of success. It’s more than just wrestling. It’s how he
carries himself in a sport that is easy to get lost in and forget who
you are and where you came from. Dan is that same person as before.

Awe-Inspiring
When you walk away from watching a fight like that as a competitor, you’re just nipping at the bud to get in there. I want a chance to get in there and do something like what those guys did. Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua left a part of themselves in the cage that night. You can’t have a fight like that and not. Also, the memories — the time that they spent in there together will live with them forever. They made magic that night.

It’s like Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar at The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale. Every now and again, you put two dudes in there and they make magic. That’s what that night was to me. I was like, “I cannot wait to get in there and who is going to be the guy who is going to do that with me? When is my time going to come when I’m in there going against someone who brings the best out of me, takes me to a different place, we both get through it, and we leave this cage with people talking about it for the rest of our lives?”

Dan and Shogun fought before Josh Barnett and I fought. After that fight, I thought, “Josh and I did something pretty good, we fought our asses off for five rounds at heavyweight, but it was not like that.” Josh and I were good partners and we did do something special on May 19th, but I don’t think it went to that level of those two in November 2011.

I love this sport. I love this sport as a competitor and as an athlete. I love this sport as a fan. I don’t know what could have made me like it any more, but I think watching that fight that night and watching Cain win back his belt made me like this sport more and more and more. It keeps going back to the old days of you put two guys in there and let the best man win — there’s nothing more pure than that.

My favorite fight is Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 139. I had been going to UFC events for awhile. Since I started fighting, I’ve cornered guys like Cain Velasquez and Josh Koscheck. I had been there, but I *never* saw anything like that fight. click to watch the fight free

Play-by-Play
I thought it was over in the first round. The big punch, the big bomb, the knockdown. I thought it was over. I started jumping up and down and screaming, ‘It’s over! It’s over!’ My girlfriend and I usually watch the fights together. You start being the “smart boyfriend” saying, “I told you!” But it was just the beginning. It went from jump-out-of-your-seat-and-I’m-the-super-smart-psychic-boyfriend to “All right, let me sit back down because Shogun isn’t going anywhere.” It was one of those eye-opening moments where you’re so happy and so smart and so right to “Oh my goodness, this is going to be a crazy fight.”

The first round was “I told you so.” The second round was “This is just crazy!” The third round was, “He’s finally going to get him.” The fourth round was a little slower compared to what they were doing before, but, in comparison to any other fight, it was a barn-burner. The fifth round, they were so exhausted, Dan just laid under Shogun for five minutes. Shogun was in mount for the whole round just beating him down.

Then they had to carry Dan out of the cage — it was unreal. In the fifth round, if you’re Dan Henderson fan, you’re on the edge of your seat saying, “Just get through it” — and he actually did. It was an amazing fight. I always respected Shogun Rua, but, after that fight, I have a new level of respect for him. These guys put each other in trouble.

My girlfriend, Salina, she’s normally pretty reserved during
fights, but during that one, even she was animated. It was crazy to see. It was going to be the first time
she had seen Dan Henderson fight.

Hendo Power
I love Dan Henderson. I’m a big, huge Dan Henderson fan. I was
blabbering on and on and on talking about Dan Henderson. When they were
coming out, I remember thinking that the fight was going to be crazy
because both of these guys bring it. I expected it to be crazy, but it
exceeded my expectations by the way the fight played out.

Not
only do I like Dan Henderson because of the wrestling, I like him
because I’ve watched him for a long time. I like how he’s so proud of
his background in the Olympics. He fights with the USA on his shorts. He
always has some good music when he comes out. He’s proud of who he is
and he’s accomplished so much and he’s been able to still accomplish so
much even at a higher age.

It’s easy to root for somebody like
Dan Henderson. He’s always competed at the highest levels of this sport
and has had a lot of success. It’s more than just wrestling. It’s how he
carries himself in a sport that is easy to get lost in and forget who
you are and where you came from. Dan is that same person as before.

Awe-Inspiring
When you walk away from watching a fight like that as a competitor, you’re just nipping at the bud to get in there. I want a chance to get in there and do something like what those guys did. Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua left a part of themselves in the cage that night. You can’t have a fight like that and not. Also, the memories — the time that they spent in there together will live with them forever. They made magic that night.

It’s like Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar at The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale. Every now and again, you put two dudes in there and they make magic. That’s what that night was to me. I was like, “I cannot wait to get in there and who is going to be the guy who is going to do that with me? When is my time going to come when I’m in there going against someone who brings the best out of me, takes me to a different place, we both get through it, and we leave this cage with people talking about it for the rest of our lives?”

Dan and Shogun fought before Josh Barnett and I fought. After that fight, I thought, “Josh and I did something pretty good, we fought our asses off for five rounds at heavyweight, but it was not like that.” Josh and I were good partners and we did do something special on May 19th, but I don’t think it went to that level of those two in November 2011.

I love this sport. I love this sport as a competitor and as an athlete. I love this sport as a fan. I don’t know what could have made me like it any more, but I think watching that fight that night and watching Cain win back his belt made me like this sport more and more and more. It keeps going back to the old days of you put two guys in there and let the best man win — there’s nothing more pure than that.

One of my favorite fights I’ve ever seen is the Chris Lytle/Dan Hardy fight. It was Chris’ last fight and they pretty much had an agreement that they weren’t going to go to the ground. They were just going to stand up and let them fly. Click here to watch the fight

It was really emotional and nerve-wracking. They were both trading off really well. It was an exciting fight in the stand-up. I was in the crowd and after every round, I would go and talk to Chris’ wife and kids like, “Chris won that round. That was a good round,” just letting them know that everything is good.

That fight was damn near perfect. They’re throwing leather, they’re throwing shins, whatever else. That really could be a trademark fight for the UFC. Everyone is an expert in their craft. You have to be well-rounded in
everything. Dan’s a great striker, his wrestling is getting better, and
his submission defense is getting better, but it’s not up to snuff with
Chris.

Dan shoots for a takedown, it gets stuffed, he goes for another takedown, and he gets submitted out of it. There’s a good transition where I believe Chris had a bottom guillotine and swept and went on top with a guillotine, where Chris is belly-down, and that’s his signature. It was exciting. Dan left himself open in this one situation and Chris capitalized on it. A submission finish to end Chris’ historic career  — it was incredible to watch him go out like that.

Chris has an exceptional ground game. For them to have that gentleman’s
agreement – not to go to the ground and to stand up and bang – and then for Dan to shoot on him because he
didn’t want to stand with him anymore? And for Chris to submit him with
his signature submission? It couldn’t be any better. He was so happy
with it.

Chris is my mentor, so it was really cool to watch that. When Chris won it was awesome. The crowd was ecstatic. It’s like hitting a grand slam in a world series and retiring after it. A home run would be only be the one bonus — like how John Elway retired in his last game. It was one of the best retirements of all time in sports, a storybook ending.

Chris is really humble, so he never really talks about it, But we
have a gym back home in Indianapolis and we have that image of Herb Dean
raising Chris’ hand after that fight in a mural up on a wall. So it’s
in that mural that he sees every time he goes to the gym and we all see
it. It’s something that we pay tribute to Chris with. Chris has
really big shoes to fill. He’s had 80 some odd fights in MMA and
boxing, never been knocked out or submitted.

I met Chris the first day I started training in December 2008. As a human being he’s so forthcoming with information and time, whether it is time with his kids or time checking up on me when I’m training away from home now, He’s not just a fight mentor, he’s just a great friend. My personal life, my kids, my relationship with my parents – we talk about everything. We talk about things like my post-fight career and what my transition is going to be like. We talk about everything. Chris has been a major part of my life.

The Benson Henderson and Anthony “Showtime” Pettis fight was a great fight. It wasn’t like “This guy won this round,” or “This guy won this round.”
It was more, “I’m in awe of what these two are doing right now and I’m
going to try and be like them.” click here to watch the fight

I was just watching it on TV and I remember thinking what an amazing pace both of them are putting on. Anthony does the most incredible unorthodox things, and Benson is such a trooper and he never gets tired.

I always find myself rooting for Benson because he’s actually from my hometown. He’s not a cocky guy. He’s very grounded everywhere – mentally, physically, and spiritually. In that essence, I really look up to him.

Every fight that Benson puts on is always a jaw-dropping performance. I never really get used to it: I know what to expect, but he’s always one step further or more advanced than he was last time. He seems to never get tired and seems impossible to finish. He’s also an incredible scrambler.

One of the things I enjoy about Ben is that whether he is winning or losing, you can never tell. He never looks beaten, he never concedes to anything, he’s just go-go-go. He can be in the worst position, but somehow he can manage to turn it
around. He’s an
amazing athlete.

No matter what you do, he’s still going to be coming for the win and he’s still having fun while doing it. That’s what it is supposed to be about.

[Pettis] is the unpredictable one. You never know what angle he is going to come at, so you have to be prepared for everything. He finishes a lot of people by catching them off guard. There’s nothing cookie cutter about him. I admire that as well.

Being able to improvise in a fight when the pressure is on is not easy. A lot of people revert to what they’re comfortable with — you see someone get hit and then they go for a takedown because they’re getting beat, but Anthony is not like that. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, he’s still thinking of some way to trick you or con you into thinking he’s doing one thing and then head kick you and you’re knocked out.

When I watch a fight that inspires me, it makes me become better. I don’t think either one of them could have done more than what they
did. I thought it was just an awesome performance and I think that’s
how everyone should strive to fight at this level.

I came down to the MMA Lab [Henderson’s team] and I’m in Phoenix
now. We do hard MMA sparring on Saturday,
which is really cool because it mimics the fight. Two people spar at a
time and everyone else sits around the cage and watches. Certain people
will try to coach and give advice. My boyfriend [UFC fighter] Bryan
Caraway is here, [BJJ/MMA coach] John Crouch is here and Benson is also
yelling things to do while I’m in there.

I think every fighter wants to finish a fight as fast as they can, but with a top level competitor, it’s really tough to do. It’s hard to impose your will for 25 minutes and keep your physical in check and keep your emotions in check. As a fighter I really respect the people who can put on really amazing fights the fans appreciate, the fighters appreciate, the media appreciates, everyone appreciates. To me, that’s the real accomplishment.