Author: By E. Spencer Kyte

Rather than continue to lament the cancellation of UFC 151 and the fact that I no longer have an excuse for avoiding dinner with my mother-in-law this weekend, I’ve decided to take a glass half-full approach to it all.

Yes, being without an event this weekend isn’t good, but in addition to getting an excellent meal out of the deal – instead of the usual fight night assortment of chips and dips and cheeses shoveled in without breaking eye contact with the television – the anticipation for September’s two events later in the month just got cranked up another notch.

The spotlight on UFC 152 in Toronto has gotten brighter, and while not much has changed for the UFC’s debut in Nottingham a week later, there is now extra time to realize the FUEL TV offering is made up of some intriguing fights that are deserving of greater attention.

Here’s a look at what UFC fight fans have to look forward to in the month of September.

JON JONES VS. VITOR BELFORT

Despite being a bout that was cobbled together amidst the chaos of last week, the brand new UFC 152 headliner is a compelling contest that sees the original “Phenom” of the UFC get an unexpected opportunity to once again challenge for the light heavyweight championship.

With a 3-1 record since returning to the UFC and coming off consecutive first-round finishes, it’s clear that Belfort is still an elite competitor capable of ending a fight quickly. Whether or not he’ll be able to duplicate that success against the embattled Jones is the question we’ll all be waiting to have answered.

Coming off a summer of turmoil, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the Jones we see at UFC 152 is the most focused and ferocious version of the light heavyweight champion we’ve seen to date.  Regardless of everything going on around him, there has been no one more dominant inside the cage over the last two years than “Bones,” and you can be sure the 25-year-old champion will be looking to remind people of that – and perhaps send a message to a certain talkative Oregonian – when he steps into the Octagon with Belfort on September 22 in Toronto.

JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ VS. DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON

History will be made at the Air Canada Centre when these two former bantamweight title challengers square off to determine who will become the inaugural UFC flyweight champion.

After beating everyone he’s faced in the 135-pound ranks not named Dominick Cruz, Benavidez showed how dangerous he will be in the UFC’s newest weight class with a second-round knockout win over Yasuhiro Urushitani back in March. The Team Alpha Male standout has now won four straight, and is ready to establish himself as one of the top pound-for-pound competitors in the sport with a win over “Mighty Mouse.”

Following the scoring error that resulted in his first meeting with Ian McCall being ruled a draw, Johnson went back to work with Matt Hume at AMC Pankration, and made sure to leave little doubt in the minds of the judges who was the better man when the two tangled for a second time back in June. The 26-year-old newlywed controlled “Uncle Creepy” from the outset, earning a unanimous decision win to set up what should be a Fight of the Year caliber showdown with Benavidez that crowns the first flyweight champion in UFC history.

MICHAEL BISPING VS. BRIAN STANN

Let’s be honest: the build-up to any and every Michael Bisping fight is entertaining. The former Ultimate Fighter winner always speaks his mind, always courts controversy, and always draws a crowd, and that will be no different in the weeks leading up to his UFC 152 bout with Brian Stann.

This one should help clear up the title picture in the middleweight division, where Chris Weidman patiently waits for an opportunity, while Tim Boetsch recovers from a broken foot, and these two lock horns in the Great White North.

Both men have lost to Chael Sonnen in the last year, though Stann has since rebounded with a dominant first-round victory over Alessio Sakara in Sweden. “The All-American” is 4-1 since moving to middleweight and has the knockout power to potentially reproduce the result that occurred the last time “The Count” stepped into the cage with a heavy-handed American in a potential title eliminator.

CHARLES OLIVEIRA VS. CUB SWANSON

The UFC 152 main card will kick off with a featherweight contest that is sure to be contested at 100 miles per hour.

After losing his UFC debut to Ricardo Lamas last November, Southern California’s Swanson has earned back-to-back second round stoppages over George Roop and Ross Pearson to put himself into the title conversation in the 145-pound weight class. It’s never been a question of talent with Swanson, but now the well-rounded Team Jackson-Winkeljohn trainee is starting to put it all together in the cage, and looks to continue his push towards a title shot here.

First he’ll have to get through Oliveira, who has returned to his impressive ways since dropping down to featherweight after going winless over his final three appearances at lightweight. “Do Bronx” debuted in his new weight class with a first-round reverse calf slicer submission over Eric Wisely – which still remains in the running for Submission of the Year – before following it up with a second-round victory over Jonathan Brookins back in June.

Both men are comfortable on their feet and on the ground, and they charge forward looking to finish every time out, which should produce an electric start to the UFC 152 pay-per-view.

STEFAN STRUVE VS. STIPE MIOCIC

Miocic entered the UFC as one of the most hyped heavyweight prospects in recent memory, and so far, the Strong Style Fight Team member has lived up to his advanced billing.

The unbeaten heavyweight has looked better in each of his three appearances inside the Octagon, following up his debut win over Joey Beltran with a Knockout of the Night-winning effort against Phil De Fries four months later. Back in May, the Cleveland State alum secured his third consecutive UFC win (and ninth straight overall) with a second-round TKO stoppage of previously unbeaten Shane del Rosario.

Despite being six years younger than his opponent, Struve is the more veteran fighter of the two, as this will be the 11th time the 24-year-old Dutchman has entered the Octagon. Having won his last three outings while earning a pair of Submission of the Night bonuses, Struve appears to finally be starting to fight to his full potential and take advantage of the multitude of skills he’s displayed since breaking into the UFC in February 2009.

While it may not determine the next title challenge, this one has serious career implications for both men. The winner moves up the ladder into the upper echelon of the big boy division, while the loser loses all momentum and remains in the second tier of the heavyweight ranks heading into 2013.

PAUL SASS VS. MATT WIMAN

Ronda Rousey isn’t the only undefeated, prolific submission artist on the Zuffa payroll.

Paul Sass is a perfect 13-for-13 in his career, with 12 of those victories coming by way of submission, nine by way of his signature “Sassangle” triangle choke. Thus far, the 24-year-old Team Kaobon trainee has earned a trio of first-round submission wins in the UFC, most recently halting Jacob Volkmann’s winning streak in less than two minutes at UFC 146.

Standing as the much-needed step up in competition for Sass is TUF 5 alum “Handsome” Matt Wiman. The 14-6 lightweight (8-4 in the UFC) has won four of last five fights, the only blemish coming by way of a questionable decision against Dennis Siver at UFC 132. A durable grinder with four Fight of the Night awards on his mantle, Wiman has the experience and savvy to test Sass and serve as a litmus test for the talented Liverpool native.

JOHN MAGUIRE VS. JOHN HATHAWAY

The UFC welterweight division is only big enough for one talented Brit named John – or at least that’s one way to sell this clash of talented 170-pound countrymen.

Gypsy Jiu-Jitsu practitioner Maguire has used consecutive victories in the UFC to run his winning streak to seven. After earning a hard fought victory over Justin Edwards in his debut last November, “The One” collected the Submission of the Night bonus during the UFC’s debut show in Sweden by forcing DaMarques Johnson to tap to a slick armbar in April.

With wins over Rick Story and Diego Sanchez, Hathaway has already established himself as one of the top up-and-comers in the welterweight division. He rebounded from the first loss of his career with a win over former TUF finalist Kris McCray before missing more than a year due to various nagging injuries. Upon his return, Hathaway picked up right where he left off, controlling Pascal Krauss to push his record to 16-1.

This should be an entertaining back-and-forth bout, as Hathaway has surprisingly strong wrestling and Maguire is an aggressive grappler, and both are more than capable of making the other take a funny step when they connect with their hands.

Every fighter who makes their way onto The Ultimate Fighter does so with designs of being the last man standing.

They all set out envisioning themselves in the cage with Dana White, being handed the etched glass plate that signifies winning the long-running reality competition, and knowing that their fighting future has just taken a very sizable step in the right direction.

Of the 16 fighters who successfully relocate to Las Vegas each season, only one or two get to experience the Hollywood ending they’ve been playing back in their head from the moment they were accepted on the show.

Daron Cruickshank’s dream of winning Season 15 came to a screeching halt in the first live fight in Ultimate Fighter history. One of the early favorites following the elimination round, the 27-year-old Michigan native looked for a takedown late in the first round of his matchup with James Vick, and ate a knee instead.

Being eliminated from the tournament forced Cruickshank to re-write the script for his stay in Las Vegas. No longer part of the ensemble cast of active competitors, the tae kwon do black belt interned on the Team Faber coaching staff instead, helping his teammates prepare for their bouts while soaking up as much knowledge and insight as he could.

“When I got out of the tournament, there was almost a release of pressure because I wasn’t in the competition anymore,” admits Cruickshank, who entered the house with a 10-2 record and riding a four-fight winning streak. “When you’re competing, you could possibly fight one of your teammates, so you kind of put up a wall. Being that I was knocked out at the beginning of the tournament, my wall came down, and I became really good friends with all the guys. I was just trying to train as much as I could, and I almost became a little bit of a coach. I wasn’t able to spar or anything like that, so I started holding mitts for a lot of the guys, just trying to get my teammates ready for their fights.

“The biggest part that I would take away from Urijah and (the guys at Team Alpha Male) is how mentally tough they are,” says Cruickshank. “There is no negativity; everything is positive with them. He might have a bad day at practice, but he doesn’t remember it; he remembers hitting a few shots. Everything he does he wins in. I was at his house a couple weeks ago just after he lost (to Renan Barao at UFC 149), and he came in happy like, `You win some, you lose some. What’s next?’ I’ve tried to pick some of that up from them.”

Cruickshank was clearly able to put his early setback behind him by the time the finale rolled around, as he used his superior wrestling to control the action against his Team Cruz rival Chris Tickle to secure a unanimous decision win. Though it wasn’t the victory he had initially hoped for when he started out on his TUF journey, the man known as “The Detroit Superstar” is continuing to focus on the positives of his experience as he prepares to make his pay-per-view debut against Henry Martinez on September 1 at UFC 151.

“This is a huge stage,” Cruickshank says of fighting at the Mandalay Bay on the undercard of a bout headlined by Jon Jones defending the UFC light heavyweight title against one of the best of all-time, Dan Henderson. “The finale fight was almost like fighting in my hometown – it was a small venue, and a lot of people came; it was mostly the families of the fighters who were actually at The Palms. Yes, it was UFC and televised and stuff, but now that I know the process – UFC basically takes care of everything – I just have to be on time to all the meetings and stuff, and I’m good.

“(Getting a win on the finale) got the ball rolling. I have some momentum going; I’m starting to develop a really good fan base, and I just try to feed off that. I’m looking forward to putting on a show for the fans and keep the ball rolling.”

Martinez will be looking to keep the ball rolling as well. The Jackson-Winkeljohn product made a successful return to the lightweight division after suffering a loss in a spirited short notice affair at welterweight against Matthew Riddle in his UFC debut. Having primarily used his striking to get the nod over Bernardo “Trekko” Magalhaes in his last outing, Cruickshank expects Martinez to change his approach once they start trading shots early next month.

“If he tries to stand-and-bang with me, he’s going to get picked apart,” suggests Cruickshank with confidence. “I feel like that’s my favorite thing to do, and once a wrestler gets cracked, he’s going to try to get the takedown. Once I tag him a few times, he’s going to want to try and take me down. I’m going to have to defend the takedown, push away, and kick him in the head. That’s what I feel like is going to happen.”

Though his Hollywood ending on The Ultimate Fighter quickly found its way to the cutting room floor, Cruickshank used his time on reality TV to get his foot in the door, and he secured a role in an even bigger, more meaningful ensemble with his victory over Tickle in June.

“This is where I want to be. (Being a part of the UFC) is what’s most important,” says Cruickshank. “Everything else that I’ve done in my career matters because it got me here, but it doesn’t matter anymore. From the time I started mixed martial arts, this has always been where I wanted to fight.”

He may not have made it into the UFC lightweight division the way he’d originally envisioned, but how he got here doesn’t matter. He’s made it, and he plans on sticking around for a long time.

“My next fight is always my most important fight. I just have to keep winning and keep climbing that ladder until I become a UFC champ. That’s what really matters.”

By the time people are once again making resolutions they’re not likely to keep and faking their way through another bad rendition of Auld Lang Syne, Michael Johnson wants to be in the top 10 of the UFC’s lightweight division.

That was the goal he set out for himself at the start of 2012. No more backwards steps in his career. No more inconsistency in the cage. This was going to be his year; “The Year of The Menace.”

The former Ultimate Fighter finalist was realistic about the difficulty of the challenge he’d set out for himself. Entering the year off a first-round submission loss to British standout Paul Sass, Johnson knew he’d have to work his way up the rankings one step at a time. He likened the long, difficult road ahead of him to Mortal Kombat, the iconic video game that spawned a pair of classic, mediocre movies and countless console adaptations and sequels after introducing gamers to Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, and the rest of the cast of characters in the early ‘90s.

Just as your fighter of choice had to work their way through a gauntlet of opponents that became increasingly more difficult to defeat, so too would Johnson, starting with former WEC contender Shane Roller. Unlike Mortal Kombat, however, a loss for Johnson wouldn’t come with a 10-second countdown and the opportunity to continue from where you left off with the press of a button or by sliding another quarter into the coin slot before the clock reached zero.

Heading into his third fight of the year, Johnson is still progressing towards his goal on his very first quarter.

After hanging on to a decision win against Roller in January, the 26-year-old lightweight stepped in to face fellow TUF alum Tony Ferguson on short notice in May, and promptly delivered his most complete performance to date, pitching a shutout against “El Cucuy,” halting Ferguson’s three-fight winning streak while taking another step forward on his journey towards contention.

“It’s a good year for me so far; my confidence level is good,” laughs Johnson, happy to engaging in another interview as he prepares for his third fight of 2012. “I’m just trying to stay focused and stay on the right track – not let anything interfere with what I’ve got to do to get the job done.”

The charismatic member of “The Blackzilians” team based in Boca Raton, Florida garnered positive reviews for his strong showing against Ferguson, his performance surprising those who expected the Season 13 winner to continue rolling against Season 12’s runner-up. Despite his recent success, making headway in the lightweight division is a constant struggle, as each event seems to produce another memorable bout and potential contender to keep tabs on. As such, Johnson has learned to embrace the underdog role he’s been repeatedly cast in so far this year, using the minimized expectations to help push him further along on his journey towards the top 10.

“That underdog role is real difficult, but to me, I don’t think I’m the underdog in any fight I go into,” admits Johnson. “As far as the media and everybody else that pays attention to the sport, if they think I’m an underdog, that’s fine with me. I love that – I love people seeing me as the underdog going into my fights. I hope my opponent thinks of me as the underdog going into the fight. It takes all the pressure off of me; I don’t have to live up to everybody’s expectations of how they see me coming into the fight. I can just worry about my game plan, and focus on fighting the best fight I can. It’s good to be the underdog, and I hope it continues. I hope after this fight and going into every fight I’m the underdog.

“For me it’s easier when everybody doubts me. I want people to do that because they don’t know my true talents, and as long as my team and everybody here is on the same page, that’s great.

“For me to break from the underdog role, it’s going to take (me getting to) where I want to be – winning every fight so that people can no longer cast me as the underdog,” forecasts Johnson. “But in this division, man, everybody is so tough and fighting to make the top 10, so I might still be the underdog in every fight even when I am beating everybody I face. That drives me. That’s extra motivation for me – proving somebody wrong. The worst thing anybody can do is to doubt me.”

The more he continues to climb the ranks of the lightweight division, the less people are going to be able to overlook and underestimate Johnson, who is now 3-1 since losing being bested by Jonathan Brookins in December 2010. While his consecutive victories highlight the improvements “The Menace” had made since departing the Ultimate Fighter house, some of the elements that have played a key role in his development can’t be found in his highlight reel.

“It’s always about the minor adjustments – going back, watching my film from the fight, and noticing things. `How can I make myself better from this? How can I be different from this next time?’” explains Johnson, who gives a great deal of credit to the cast of veteran fighters and coaches he spends every day with in South Florida, as well as the team at Authentic Sports Management.

“My management team does a great job – and I think I’ve said this before – of taking all the stress off my back. The only thing I need to worry about is training and fighting. They do a great job of putting me in that position. It’s the same with our coaches. Everyone thinks it’s a one-on-one sport because we’re fighting one-on-one when we get in there, but my coaches are in there just as much as I am. They put in the time and the dedication, and if it wasn’t for them and my management team, I wouldn’t be at the level I’m at now. That stuff plays a huge factor in my success.”

Inside the cage, the most visible contributor to Johnson’s recent run of his success has been his ability to maximize the athleticism that made him Georges St-Pierre’s first pick on The Ultimate Fighter. Paired with improved conditioning, Johnson has used his natural athletic instincts and gifts to elevate his offense, his increased movement taking his striking to a new level, which in turn makes his wrestling a more dangerous weapon as well.

“I think my athleticism sets me apart from everybody else,” says Johnson. “Some people are great at jiu-jitsu or they’re great at standup; I just want to bring everything together, and use my athleticism to be the most well rounded fighter I can be. That’s my standout point, so as long as I stay on top of maximizing my athleticism – keep getting stronger and faster – you’re really going to see me break away from everybody in this division.”

Johnson’s next chance to showcase his athleticism and continue in his climb up the lightweight ladder comes on September 1st against Danny Castillo at UFC 151 in Las Vegas. Like Johnson, Castillo has quietly put together a nice little winning streak, stringing three victories together over the last 10 months, most recently getting the best of prospect John Cholish on the same night Johnson topped Ferguson.

“We’re both great fighters – both entertaining fighters,” said Johnson. “You won’t get a boring fight out of either one of us; I think we can both guarantee that.

“He’s on a three-fight winning streak, and that’s really tough to do in this division,” he added. “I think he’s kind of got a chip on his shoulder that he probably sets himself above where he is. We’re similar fighters coming from our wrestling backgrounds, so it’s going to be pretty interesting to see how this plays out.

“He’s a great wrestler, but I’ve faced great wrestlers before; I’m not worried about that. He has decent hands too, so I’m really looking forward to seeing if he’s going to stand with me. I personally don’t think he’s going to stand with me – I think that’s the worst thing for him to do is stand there and trade with me. I’m coming into this fight looking at him trying to take me down and do everything he can to not stand with me.”

Like every fighter, Johnson has a best-case scenario for how the fight with Castillo plays out, one that involves him duplicating the achievements of fellow lightweights Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon on the last two UFC events, allowing him to leave Las Vegas with a win and a pair of bonus checks to bring back to South Florida. More importantly than things going according to Hoyle, however, is for Johnson to defeat another opponent and move one step closer to reaching the goal he set out for himself at the start of the year.

If he keeps doing that, the man with the Mortal Kombat approach to his career knows he will eventually reach the point where he’s battling the likes of Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, and their favorite four-armed henchman.

“For me to move up this ladder, I’ve just got to stay doing what I’m doing: working hard, staying focused, not letting any outside things get in the way. I’m fine with taking whatever fights (the UFC offers me) or stepping in on short notice. We’ll see how many it takes, but I have a feeling like I’m getting pretty close. I would say a couple more fights and I can see myself starting to break into the top 10 by the end of this year – just as I set out to do.

“I’m going into my third fight (of the year) – hopefully I can seal the deal, and get another one. You never know. I might be getting close to fighting Goro early next year or something like that.”

Ed Herman shouldn’t have come out for the second round of his fight with Aaron Simpson at UFC 102.

Anyone watching the fight knew that the former Ultimate Fighter finalist had injured his leg when it was caught in an awkward position as Simpson took him down late in the round. One minute later, there was Herman, ready to keep fighting, the idea of stopping never having crossed his mind.

Just a few ticks into the second frame, Herman attempted a kick and immediately collapsed in agony. The bout was stopped, and for nearly two years, so too was Herman’s career.

What could have been the end of his time as a professional fighter became the catalyst for a fresh start and a career resurgence; the forced hiatus having proven to be a positive for the 31-year-old redhead known as “Short Fuse.”

Between his loss to Simpson and his return to the cage in June 2011 against Tim Credeur, Herman uprooted from the Pacific Northwest and broke from Team Quest, the legendary outfit where he had trained for his entire career. He relocated to Fort Collins, Colorado, and eventually opened a gym, Trials MMA, the name inspired by the trials and tribulations every fighter experiences and that Herman knows all too well.

After 22 months away from the Octagon, Herman scored an impressive 48-second technical knockout victory over Credeur, following it up two months later with a first-round submission win over fellow TUF alum Kyle Noke, before running his winning streak to three with a second-round submission of Clifford Starks at UFC 143 in February.

“I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or what, but after moving out here, I’ve won three fights in a row, and things have gone real well for me,” admits Herman, who faces the toughest test of his career this weekend at UFC 150 when he takes on former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

“I think sometimes you get going and you kind of feel like it’s a job or something that’s a burden; you don’t remember how great it is to have an opportunity to compete in the UFC, at this high level,” Herman offers, trying to explain the connection between his relocation and his return to contention in the deep and competitive middleweight division.

“Sometimes taking time off like that or the realization that your career is almost over because of an injury – it kind of lit a fire under my ass. (That) got me back to enjoying the sport, enjoying the training, and looking at it from that perspective like when I first started. I’m just trying to enjoy it, have a positive attitude, and things have really come together for me in that sense.”

It’s never been a question of talent with Herman.

His ability was evident prior to his appearance on season three of The Ultimate Fighter when he notched wins over the likes of Brian Ebersole, Glover Teixeira, and former UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne, and he continued to shine through his time on the UFC’s long-running reality TV competition. Despite dropping the season’s middleweight final to Kendall Grove, Herman’s gutsy performance earned him a ticket to the big leagues as well.

A few months away from celebrating his ten-year anniversary as a professional fighter, Herman knows that while he has the physical tools to be successful inside the cage, it’s the mental approach he’s taking to his craft that has helped him the most during his recent run of success.

“(I’m) just trying to enjoy myself in this sport, and not let the nerves get to me,” he says, reiterating an earlier statement. “Every fighter gets nervous before fights, and I’ve really tried to put it in perspective – enjoy what I’m doing, and realize that I’m lucky to be able to do this. That mental part has really helped me.

“A lot of guys say that it’s 80 percent mental – we’re all tough, we all have the skills, we all have the know-how. It’s putting it together at the right time and being mentally sound and prepared (that makes the difference), and I feel like that’s what I’ve been able to do more than anything.”

This weekend will be Herman’s second opportunity to fight at home on the UFC stage, the first coming that fateful night against Simpson at UFC 102. While his previous experience went as poorly as possible, Herman is happy to get the chance to fight close to home again, and believes all the time he spends training in the thin air and elevation will definitely play a part in how things play out on Saturday night.

“I think it’s great that I don’t have to travel,” said Herman. “Vegas isn’t too bad – it’s easy travel – but sometimes you go a lot farther away, and that can affect you a little bit. I’m stoked to fight here in Denver. It’s going to be great for exposure for my gym, and I think the altitude is going to be a huge factor.

“I was just in Vegas a couple weeks ago for the Fight Summit, and I did some training, and I just felt amazing. I’ve never felt in such good shape. I don’t know if I’m just in that good shape or if the altitude is helping me as well.

“I was never a huge believer in the altitude stuff when it came to training, but I think the difference is when you sleep here and you live here in the altitude, rather than guys who just go and train there for a couple of weeks or whatnot. I think being here full-time and living here is what makes the difference.”

Rattling off three wins since returning last summer has earned Herman the opportunity to welcome Shields to the middleweight division, though it’s not unfamiliar territory for the former welterweight title challenger.

Shields won the Strikeforce middleweight title in a bout against Jason “Mayhem” Miller and defended the belt against current light heavyweight title challenger Dan Henderson prior to exiting the organization. When he signed with the UFC, Shields returned to the 170-pound ranks, where wins over Martin Kampmann and Yoshihiro Akiyama bookended losses to Georges St-Pierre and Jake Ellenberger.

Despite the fact that Shields is coming off a victory at UFC 144 in February, Herman says he wasn’t surprised to hear that the Californian was returning to compete in the 185-pound weight class, and welcomes the opportunity to share the cage with a well-known, highly respected former champion.

“If you look at his past, he’s actually done a lot better at middleweight, rather than at 170. I don’t know if the cutting weight affects him more, but he’s always seemed to do better at 185. I’m prepared for a battle, and I’m super-stoked to get an opportunity to compete against one of the best guys around. I’ve been asking for a bigger name – someone that I can go in there and get a big win against. I think Jake’s a perfect matchup for me; he’s a very talented, very intelligent fighter, but I think it’s a great matchup for me stylistically.

“It’s no secret that Jake’s highest percentage of victories are when he’s taking guys down and controlling the ground game, looking for his submissions,” continues Herman, offering his assessment of Shields and a glimpse into how he’ll approach the fight when the cage door closes on Saturday night.

“I’m not afraid to go on the ground with him, but I don’t really want to be underneath Jake; he’s really good at passing the guard, and controlling dominant positions. I’m going to try and defend the takedown, and put my hands on him. I’ve seen him get dropped a few times, so I feel like I need to be patient and smart, and try to hurt him with my hands. I just need to be really smart, pick my shots, and be an intelligent fighter this time.”

After nearly 10 years as a professional fighter, and three years removed from the horrific injury that made him take stock of his career, Herman feels like he finally has all the pieces in place to make a serious push towards the top of the middleweight division.

“This sport takes a while to mature into, and I really feel that I’ve done that. That two-year layoff kind of gave me a realization of what I have and how soon it can be over, and (made me recognize that) I’ve really got one more good run in this thing.”

Don’t be surprised if Herman takes another step forward on Saturday night.

Act like you’ve been there before.

It’s a saying you hear a lot in sports. On the football field, it’s often attributed to the way legendary running back Barry Sanders, like the late Walter Payton before him, would simply hand the ball to the official whenever he scored a touchdown. With Sanders – as with Payton – there were no elaborate celebrations; no Sharpies removed from socks, no cell phones hidden under goal posts, and no “Future Hall of Famer” blazers created to wear after putting six points on the board.

It was simply score, hand the ball to the official, and get back to going about your business. It’s an approach Dennis Bermudez is employing when it comes to his career in the UFC.

Preparing to compete on the first pay-per-view event of his career, the finalist from Season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter isn’t allowing the larger scale production and heightened expectations that come from excelling on the show and earning a dominant win in his post-TUF debut change the way he prepares or carries himself.

“I treat everyday like the day before or the next one, and just try and get better in every aspect,” says the humble Long Island-based wrestler, who takes on Tommy Hayden in preliminary action this weekend as the UFC returns to Denver, Colorado for UFC 150. “I don’t try to hype myself up about it being a big pay-per-view or anything like that. I act like I’ve been there before; I act professional and just do what I’m trained to do.”

“Barry Sanders is my man!” interjects the 25-year-old Long Island native when I mention the former Detroit Lions running back as someone who exemplified the “Act like you’ve been there before” mantra on the field. “He was one of my idols growing up. I remember four years after he retired, I still felt like he was coming back.”

Though Sanders never made a triumphant return to the gridiron, Bermudez did return to the cage in impressive fashion after coming up short against Diego Brandao in the finals of the featherweight competition on The Ultimate Fighter two seasons ago. “The Menace” collected his first UFC win back in May, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Pablo Garza on the undercard of the third UFC on FOX event.

It was a solid overall performance – one that showcased the wrestling skills Bermudez honed at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, and the conditioning that helped him get into the Ultimate Fighter house in the first place. While fans and critics came away impressed, Bermudez exited the cage feeling a little unsatisfied.

The resilient wrestler doesn’t want to be just another fighter who spends his UFC career earning opportunities based on the time he spent on The Ultimate Fighter. He aspires to be much more than that, and uses everything he encounters as a chance to continue developing as a fighter, identifying the positives from his loss to Brandao and working to improve upon the things he wasn’t initially pleased with from the bout with Garza.

“A loss is a loss, and it’s not part of what I’m about, you know?” Bermudez asks rhetorically, referencing his loss to Brandao on the Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale. “I wasn’t going to try and be very negative about it. I looked back at the fight, and I did a lot better than I remember doing in the fight, watching it from the outside, and I just improved on it. I just used it as fuel.

“It took a lot of pressure off,” he says of getting a victory in the Octagon under his belt.  “I like to entertain – have a fast-paced fight with a lot of action – and a part of me felt like I kind of laid on him. I was looking for the opportunity to really punish him, but there were very few, so in my head, actually fighting, it wasn’t as exciting as it was from the outside.

“During the fight, it seemed a lot more boring, but if you watch the fight, there were a lot of big slams,” laughs Bermudez. “I didn’t realize I had him that high. I just like to put on fast-paced performances, and I didn’t feel like I delivered the best fight I could have overall. I reached one of my goals – to get a UFC win. I’ve got bigger and better goals, but I knocked off one of the small, short-term goals.”

With his first official UFC victory out of the way, the first pick of Team Mayhem looks to make it two-in-a-row when he returns to action against Tommy Hayden at UFC 150 this weekend in Denver, Colorado. While the thin air and altitude of “The Mile High City” got the better of a number of competitors the last time the Octagon was built inside the Pepsi Center for UFC 135, Bermudez doesn’t foresee having any problems with his conditioning come Saturday night.

“I’m not very worried about it; I actually think it plays to my advantage,” he admits. “I’ve got a great gas tank, and I like to try and get to the bottom of it, but it never happens.”

Hayden dropped his short-notice debut to Fabricio Camoes back in January, the first career loss for the Jorge Gurgel student who has only been beyond the first round three times in his nine career fights. And while the pairing might confuse fans and media, Bermudez isn’t bothering to get caught up in questioning the matchup.

“The UFC knows what they’re doing. They’ve got a plan for everybody they match up, and that’s why they’re the best organization out there. I have faith in them and what they’re trying to do, so I’m just going to go out there and do my job.”

The fact that fighting is now his sole occupation pushes Bermudez, who scraped by like many fighters stuck on the regional circuit prior to earning his opportunity to compete on The Ultimate Fighter. Now that he no longer has to schedule training around trying to make ends meet, Bermudez is ready to take his career to the next level, and start crossing off some of those bigger goals on his “To Do” list, as well as whatever other random tasks he needs to accomplish from day-to-day.

“One of the biggest benefits that came from being on The Ultimate Fighter was not having to work a job while training,” he admits. “That’s a big struggle and problem for up-and-coming pro fighters – they don’t make enough money fighting to be able to just fight, so they have to get a side job or a full-time job. They have to find other revenue outside of what they’re getting from fighting because it’s just not enough. I’ve been there, done that, and got the t-shirt, and now I don’t. We’re not shipping packages at UPS anymore.

“I train people on the side because I enjoy doing that, but that’s a huge positive. My day is based around training, and then doing anything else that has to get done – whether that’s grocery shopping, washing the car, getting an oil change, whatever. Training comes first, and then I do the other little things.”

Next up on his list of things to do is collecting a second consecutive win Saturday night against Hayden. Just as he keeps his approach bare bones and blue collar, Bermudez keeps his thoughts on how he achieves that goal simplistic and straightforward too.

“It’s a fight, so I’m going to go out there and fight. We’re going to throw leather at each other. If he tries to take me down, that’ll be a mistake, but right now I’m just trying to get better everywhere, and I plan on being dominant in every position.”

Once he’s victorious, He won’t call anybody out, talk trash about others in the featherweight division, or break out a celebratory post-fight dance routine. Instead, Bermudez will put on his sponsor’s shirt, have his hand raised by the referee, politely answer Joe Rogan’s questions, and start thinking about when he can get back in the gym to continue improving.

After all, he’s already been here once before, and he plans on being here many more times in the future too.

People scoffed when the UFC announced that Jamie Varner would be the man to replace Evan Dunham against Edson Barboza at UFC 146. They envisioned a one-sided sparring session for the fast-rising Brazilian Muay Thai specialist; another dominant performance, another victory, and another step closer to title contention. In the eyes of many, Varner was being led to the slaughter.

His experience didn’t matter. The fact that Varner first stepped into the Octagon as a 21-year-old meant nothing. Neither did his reign as the WEC lightweight champion. That was a long time ago as far as the fight game is concerned, and a lot had happened to Varner in the interim.

A four fight winless streak culminating in a first round submission loss to Shane Roller on the final WEC card left him without an invite to join the others who called the little blue cage their home in moving to the UFC when the companies merged in January 2010. He was controlled and beaten by Dakota Cochrane at a regional event nine months later, abruptly announcing his retirement after the bout, only to retract his statement a few days later.

Though he earned a pair of first round finishes in a small show heading into the contest, beating regional journeymen and stepping under the brightest lights in the business against a fighter everyone had tabbed for stardom were like comparing apples and cinder blocks. No one gave Varner a chance, but that’s because no one knew the journey the former WEC standout had been on in his time away from the spotlight.

“I would have to say that a lot of it was just growing up, to be honest with you,” explains Varner, speaking candidly about the course his career has taken thus far. “I was 21 when I had my very first fight in the UFC. I was a world champion for the WEC at 23 years old. I had a lot of growing up to do, man. I was young, and I didn’t quite know how to handle all the pressure, I didn’t know how to handle the business side of things, or even all the attention. It honestly took me going through those ups and downs – getting fired, losing my job with Zuffa, hitting rock bottom – to really appreciate what I had and what I have, and it definitely puts things into perspective.

“Everything has just fallen into place,” he says of the voyage that has him ready to face Joe Lauzon on the main card of the UFC’s fourth event televised on FOX this Saturday.

While his record shows a victory over Nate Jolly as the starting point for his recent resurgence, the truth is that the beginning of Varner’s turnaround came prior to his loss to Cochrane.

Before he was a hopeful on Season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter, Cochrane was just another up-and-comer looking to make a name for himself on the regional circuit, called upon as a late replacement when Varner’s original opponent fell out at the 11th hour. Cochrane couldn’t make the contracted weight, but Varner opted to fight instead of walking away. Though the fight would turn out to be the lowest point of a very bad stretch for the Arizona Combat Sports product, it was also the catalyst for the career renaissance Varner is now enjoying.

“I took that fight, and I fought for all the wrong reasons,” Varner recalls of the bout with Cochrane. “(I was fighting for) the reasons that I told myself years ago that I wouldn’t be fighting for, and that I would (make me) stop fighting. I fought for the money, and because it’s what people wanted me to do, and not because it’s what I had in my heart. I felt like I had to fight, as opposed to wanting to fight. That fight was horrible, and I felt bad being in that situation, so I came home and regrouped.

“I had a point in my career where I had lost four out of six fights, and I suck at losing,” he says, a chuckle chasing the frequent fighter admission. “I’ve never been a good loser. It doesn’t matter if it was chess, checkers, video games – I don’t like to lose. I suck at losing. Going through all those losses, I forgot how to win, and every time I lost, it was kind of like a downward spiral – I’d put even more pressure on myself to win because I didn’t want to lose my job or I wanted to make more money or win the fans back or earn their respect. I kept putting pressure on myself, and I didn’t enjoy the training.”

Varner says he’d fixate on the one or two mistakes that he made in practice, and get down, unwilling to allow himself an off day in the gym.  Though he could spin similar missteps into a “Don’t be so hard on yourself; you’re doing great” moment for a teammate, training partner, or student, it took his mom telling him to do the same for himself for the once-again relevant lightweight to ease up on himself.

“That just clicked in my head,” he admits. “I was always so hard on myself; I’m such a perfectionist, and I always put so much pressure on myself to win that I lost track of why I did this and why I’m a fighter, which is to one day be the best. I have this dream to fight and compete, and it’s fun, and it’s a great job.

“I get to do what I love to do. Not many people get to say that, and I completely lost track of that in the past, and it took me a while to understand that. It also took having all the right people in the right places to remind me of that too. I’m living my dream, and I need to honor that, respect that, and cherish that because it’s not going to last forever.”
 
Refreshed, refocused, and having worked his way back from the brink of wanting to walk away from the sport, Varner pulled off arguably one of the biggest upsets of 2012 back in May. He shocked those who gave him little chance of surviving Barboza by dominating the previously unbeaten prospect, sending him crashing to the canvas under a barrage of punches in just over three minutes.

The win put Varner back on the map, but there is still work to be done; one victory does not a contender make. Fully aware of this and ready to prove those who are still unconvinced of his return to elite form, Varner agreed to step in against Lauzon when Terry Etim was forced to the sidelines due to injury. Like the Barboza fight, it’s an opportunity the 27-year-old couldn’t pass up, one he frequently describes as win-win, and one that comes with the added bonus of being on FOX.

“I go out there, fight a guy like Joe Lauzon, and I lose, I’m supposed to lose to a guy like Joe Lauzon. He’s a top 10, top 15 guy in the world, and Joe Lauzon has the ability to beat anybody,” speculates Varner. “Yes, he has lost – he’s lost four fights in the UFC – but he has that ability. You’ll never count him out no matter who he fights because he has that ability; he’s so dynamic and well rounded.

“To beat a guy like Joe Lauzon, it catapults my career, and legitimizes my first win. I do see some stuff online where people think what I did with Barboza was a fluke, even though I dominated the fight. It wasn’t like I was getting my butt kicked and landed that one lucky punch. I think it will help legitimize me and it’s a step in the right direction.

“Also, being on FOX,” he continues. “Hopefully we’ll have a rating with eight million viewers watching the fights, and I’ll be able to show the world all the sacrifices that I’ve made, and all the struggles and adversity I had to overcome just to make it to this one moment to entertain them. It’s just such a great opportunity.”

Paired with one of the most decorated bonus winners in UFC history, there’s a very good chance that Varner and Lauzon will send the fans home happy on Saturday night. If he emerges victorious, Varner knows he’ll have worked his way into the small group of contenders vying for a chance to fight for the title. Before he can start to think about the future, he’ll have to worry about deal with the task at hand, one he believes will be the toughest of his nine-year, 29-fight career.

“The right thing to say is that I can’t overlook Joe and blah, blah, blah, but it’s human nature; you can’t help it. I can’t help but wonder what would happen if I win, and I would have to think that the guys that have beaten Joe are in the top 10 or are thought to be contenders, so I’m just going to go with that. If I beat Joe Lauzon, I’m a top contender. I’m not going to say I’m going to be fighting Gray Maynard or Anthony Pettis right away for a #1 contender spot, but I’ll probably be in the conversation, I would say.

“But my main focus is on Joe Lauzon, and he’s quite the obstacle,” adds Varner. “He poses quite a lot of threats in different areas because he’s so well rounded. He’s tough. He is very smart, calculated, and methodical, and it’s going to probably be my toughest fight to date.”

Six months ago, no one would have believed that Varner would be fighting on the main card of a UFC event on FOX with a place in the upper echelon of the lightweight division at stake. A few days from now, that’s exactly what will happen. It’s the next step in a journey of rediscovery and redemption for the former WEC champion, a trying journey that has rekindled Varner’s passion for fighting, and reshaped the expectations he puts on himself as he prepares to step into the cage.

“I think it’s a more interesting story (this way), and it shows my character. My character was in question for many years in the WEC, and I think to have to overcome some of the things I’ve overcome and fight my way back into the organization, I think it says a lot about me and who I am. I also feel that everything happened for a reason, and honestly, I wouldn’t change anything.

“I’m still young,” states Varner, who started his career in March 2003 and will be stepping into the cage for the 30th time in his career when he meets Lauzon Saturday night at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. “If you had a guy coming into the sport at 27 years old, you’d still think, `this guy’s pretty young for the sport.’ Well, I’ve already been in this sport for so long and I’m still only 27. There’s a lot of years left, there’s a lot of fight left in this dog. I’m really excited to be here, and I’m really excited for this opportunity.

“I’m not putting all this pressure on myself to win; I’m just enjoying it. The only thing I can control is how hard I fight and how hard I train, so I’m just going to go out there and fight with every bit of my being, and whatever happens happens. I’ve (always) been (in exciting fights), so I know that if I lay it all on the line people are going to enjoy seeing me fight.”

Win or lose on Saturday night, Varner has once again found his passion for fighting, and getting the opportunity to do it on the biggest stage in the sport, a privilege he can truly appreciate after taking the long way back to the UFC.

“It took me getting into the right place mentally, physically, and spiritually. I was put on this planet to do something; I was put on this planet to fight. It really took going through all those struggles and overcoming that adversity to really see that picture more clearly.

“There’s nothing like hitting rock bottom to show you the things you took for granted.”