Author: By E. Spencer Kyte

Travis Browne has a challenge for his UFC 145 opponent Chad Griggs.

“I wasn’t going to put it out there,” he says through the laughter, “but I’ll extend the challenge: I have my cute little beard-thing going, and he has his muttonchops, so I want to put out the challenge that whoever loses shaves their facial hair off for a month.

“I’ve been putting as much into my beard as he has his muttonchops. I’ve gone through stages,” continues the affable heavyweight. “If you look back at all my different fights, I did the chinstrap, and I tried to get all fancy and did like a fade. If he’s game, we can set something up. Maybe the other person will videotape the loser shaving it off our something.”

The 29-year-old Hawaiian is excited and talkative, happy to be closing in on his return to the Octagon, ready to replace the memory of his last appearance with something more representative of his robust talents.

“It was a dominant performance over Rob Broughton,” says Browne of his UFC 135 battle with the British heavyweight last September. “I mean, it was 30-27, and there was no time that I was ever in trouble — so it worked, but it wasn’t the most fun or exciting fight that anyone has ever seen.

“That being said, I’ve taken a lot from that fight, and learned what I need to do in my next fight in order to be successful. Not only successful, but try and be spectacular in winning. Sometimes you can be successful, but feel like you lost, and that’s what happened with Rob Broughton.

“I was expecting so much out of myself. I put so much pressure on myself, we were trying new things, and I was thinking a little bit too much instead of just reacting like I normally would. There was a lot that went into it, but we learned a lot, and corrected a lot of mistakes, and we’re going to keep pushing, and keep moving forward.”

Browne’s fight against Broughton was his first since relocating his training camp to Albuquerque, New Mexico to work with coaches Greg Jackson, Mike Winkeljohn, and the team of talent assembled at their gym.

After earning Knockout of the Night honors for his Superman punch finish of Stefan Struve at UFC 130, the unbeaten rising star was expected to run through Broughton in Denver. Instead, he never really found his rhythm.

The first four fights of his UFC career have produced a 3-0-1 record, but it has been an admittedly up-and-down run according to Browne. That’s why he’s had April 21 circled on his calendar for a couple of months now, when he’ll get to return to the Octagon and prove to everyone that he deserves to be considered amongst the best of the UFC’s suddenly deep heavyweight division.

“People are saying that I’ve had kind of a rollercoaster between finishing (James) McSweeney in four minutes, going to a decision and getting a draw with (Cheick) Kongo, then having that nasty knockout against Struve, and then having like a lackluster performance against Rob Broughton.

“I think this is the fight that is really going to make people either believe in me or push me aside. This is a fight where I have to come out and prove myself — that I do belong in the UFC, that this is my home, and I need to show people that.

“Circumstances are a little bit different for this camp,” adds Browne, noting that there were communication issues between he and his new coaches last time around that have since been rectified. “I’ve learned what kind of fighter I’m going to be, and I’m excited to see how I progress now that Coach Jackson has got a hold of me, and is going to start molding me into the fighter I’m going to be.”

Coming off of his highlight reel victory over Struve last spring, Browne was tabbed by many as “The Next Big Thing” in the heavyweight division. Because of the lack of depth within the weight class, his climb up the ranks appeared to be headed towards the fast track prior to his sub-par performance against Broughton in the thin air of Denver, Colorado.

Seven months later, the heavyweight ranks have been restocked with former Strikeforce competitors, and Browne couldn’t be happier.

“It feels like I retired and now I’m on my way back,” he jokes about the time it has taken for him to make his way back into the Octagon. “I’m actually glad that they’re bringing over the guys from Strikeforce — that way the heavyweights can have more fights. I think that’s one reason why it took seven months for me to get a fight: there just wasn’t the right guy to line up.

“I think it opens everything up; it gives (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva a lot more to work with. It just makes for more exciting fights for the fans as well. We have (Alistair) Overeem and (Fabricio) Werdum. There’s going to be (Daniel) Cormier and (Josh) Barnett, and there’s (Antonio) Silva, and that guy Lavar Johnson. All those guys coming over just makes for a lot more interesting matchups.”

Included in that collection of transplanted heavyweight challengers is the man he’ll face at UFC 145, Chad Griggs.

Less than two years ago, the 33-year-old IFL veteran was unknown to all but the most ardent MMA fans before he was brought in by Strikeforce to face former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley in a fight few expected him to win.

After outlasting an exhausted Lashley, Griggs scored a pair of first round wins over prospect Gian Villante and veteran Valentjin Overeem to push his record to 3-0 under the Strikeforce banner, and 11-1 overall. His straightforward, aggressive approach and outstanding muttonchops have made him a fan favorite, while his unexpected three-fight winning streak in Strikeforce (he’s won six straight overall) has made him a member of the UFC heavyweight ranks.

In addition to being able to put the aforementioned facial hair wager on the table heading into their meeting on April 21, Browne also welcomes the pairing with Griggs as an opportunity to put what he’s been practicing with Jackson and company in Albuquerque to use inside the cage.

“A fight with Chad Griggs is actually really good because it puts me on track to becoming the fighter that I’m going to be,” discloses the six-foot-seven-inch tall heavyweight, who has amassed nine of his 12 wins by way of knockout. “Our game plan for Chad is the same way that I’m going to be fighting when I’m going for the title, so it’s exciting to see and be a part of. It’s a work in progress, and I have some of the best coaches in the business working on it.

“The thing about Chad is that he’s unpredictable,” asserts Browne. “He doesn’t know what he’s going to do when he gets in the cage. All he knows is that he’s going to come forward and try to hit you, and that’s what I admire about him: he fights off of instinct, and he comes out and just tries to get it done.

“For us, that’s great because it gives me a chance to really work everything that I’ve been learning. It’s not like we know he’s going to jab, overhand, and then shoot in for a double or he’s just going to try and press me into the cage or he’s just going to try and standing the middle and just bang it out with me. We don’t know what Chad’s going to do. He could try to back me into the cage. He could try to slug it out, or he could shoot in for a double; who knows? And that’s something we look forward to. It’s exciting for both Chad and I as fighters to have that, and it’s exciting for me in terms of my development as a fighter.”

More than anything else, Browne is looking forward to returning to the aggressive form he displayed throughout his career prior to the fight with Broughton last September.

“My last fight, I was trying to be a little more careful, and I fought not to lose,” he admits. “I didn’t really understand that when (UFC president) Dana White or these other people would say, `You need to fight to win; you can’t fight to not lose.’ I didn’t understand that until my last fight. Looking back at that fight, I was fighting to not lose, so if I fight that same fight against Chad Griggs, I’m losing. I can’t just sit back and let him dictate what goes out, because he’s way more dangerous than Rob Broughton will ever be.

“I keep referring to Chad Griggs as a pit bull because that’s the way that he fights, and I think I have to go out there and match that intensity. I can’t hold back. I can’t be worried about `oh, I’m going to try and do too much and get caught’ because I tell you what: everybody gets caught.

“Sooner or later, you get caught,” Browne adds with a laugh. “If it’s Chad Griggs or if it’s in the championship fight, I don’t give a crap. I’m going to go out there, fight my hardest, and bring the fight to him the same way he’s going to try and bring the fight to me.”

Though he’s 12-0-1 thus far and unbeaten in four trips to the Octagon, Browne expects this fight to be the one where he really establishes himself as a threat in the heavyweight division, and he predicts that the judges’ scorecards won’t be needed.

“This is definitely going to be one of my breakout fights. I heard him say in an interview that somebody is going to be bleeding, and I welcome that. We each have nine knockouts, and we want to put somebody to sleep.

“It’s not going to the judges.”

This year is shaping up to be the year of the grudge match in the UFC.

Some of the most anticipated bouts of 2012 are battles between bitter rivals; tense affairs that are about much more than just a test of skills inside the Octagon. From Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen 2 to the highly anticipated and long awaited light heavyweight championship battle between friends-turned-foes Jon Jones and Rashad Evans, fights that will resolve some of the biggest ongoing feuds in the organization are shaping the summer schedule.

With the current break in the action prior to Jones and Evans finally settling their differences in the Octagon at UFC 145 in Atlanta next month, I thought it would be fitting to look back on some of the best grudge matches from days gone by.

Here are my picks for the top 10 grudge matches in UFC history.

10. Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy — UFC 99

I think this rivalry often gets overlooked because it didn’t play out as a main event match up. No matter its place on the card, the heat between Hardy and Davis was legitimate, reaching a head in Cologne, Germany at UFC 99.

Hardy started his verbal assault on Davis after “The Irish Hand Grenade” had a steady run of success in England and Ireland, including collecting victories over Hardy’s fellow countrymen Jason Tan, Paul Taylor, and Paul Kelly. After calling him a “fake Irishman” and saying his website “looked like a St. Patrick’s day parade had blown up,” Hardy really struck a nerve when fans created Photoshopped images of Davis and posted them on the internet.

The two eventually stepped into the cage to settle things, with Hardy winning a controversial split decision, all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 with two favoring Hardy two rounds to one.

Davis was adamant about wanting an immediate rematch, but it never materialized, as Hardy would go on to beat Mike Swick five months later to earn a shot at Georges St-Pierre and the welterweight title.

9. Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera — UFC 127

The most recent entry to this list, Rivera set the former Ultimate Fighter winner off with a series of videos that mocked Bisping, including a parody of a song from South Park, and having his coach Matt Phinney portray “The Count” in an unflattering light in a couple of the videos.

While some people found them funny, Bisping wasn’t one of them, and the tension between the two nearly boiled over at the weigh-ins. Once they were in the Octagon together, Bisping funneled his anger and aggression into his performance, which included drilling Rivera with an illegal knee midway through the opening round.

After earning the stoppage less than two minutes into the second round, Bisping spat on the mat in the direction of Rivera’s corner, and got in his opponent’s face demanding an apology. Bisping drew the ire of several fighters for his post-fight actions, with numerous middleweights putting their names forward to face the emotional Brit in the future.

8. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans — UFC 114

This one could have landed so much higher up on the list had Jackson not abruptly retired from fighting and delayed this contest so that he could channel his inner Mr. T as part of “The A-Team.”

Before Evans had beef with Jones, he and Jackson really couldn’t stand each other, and an entire season of The Ultimate Fighter was put together with the two light heavyweights as opposing coaches. Their constant bickering and antagonizing of each other made for entertaining television, and a lot of broken doors at the UFC Training Center.
 
And while the bout certainly captivated the MMA world when it finally took place in May of 2010, had the bout not been delayed, this one could have cracked the top 5.

7. Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Serra — UFC 83

Welterweights can thank Matt Serra for creating the unbeatable machine that is the UFC 170-pound champion, Georges St-Pierre. A year after stunning St-Pierre at UFC 69, the two would meet again, this time in Montreal, Quebec in front of the largest crowd in UFC history at the time.

Serra picked and poked at St-Pierre every chance he could, taking verbal jabs at the French-Canadian challenger, hoping to throw him off his game. His plan didn’t work. St-Pierre dominated the fight from the start, earning the stoppage late in the second round after a series of vicious knees to the body.

St-Pierre has continued to dominate the welterweight division since, defending the welterweight title on six consecutive occasions, including a victory in another memorable grudge match.

6. Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber — UFC 132

These two just don’t like each other. They didn’t when they fought the first time back at WEC 26 when Faber beat Cruz, and they still didn’t as they prepared to face off for a second time last summer.

Despite rattling off eight straight wins and becoming the WEC-turned-UFC bantamweight champion since suffering the lone loss of his career, Cruz was eager to avenge his loss to Faber. Throughout the build-up to their UFC 132 headlining encounter, the two continuously went back-and-forth at each other whenever they could, however they could: interviews, press conferences, conference calls, Twitter, you name it.

Cruz came away with the victory last July, earning a unanimous decision to even the series at one win each. Not surprisingly, the rivalry hasn’t subsided, and the two are now coaching opposite each other on Season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter, preparing to resolve things once and for all (maybe) with their trilogy bout this summer.

5. Georges St-Pierre vs. BJ Penn — UFC 94

This was Champion vs. Champion, and they had a history too: St-Pierre edged Penn in an incredibly close contest at UFC 58 nearly three years earlier, and the controversial split decision loss still ate at “The Prodigy.”

In an effort to further promote the fight pitting two of the sport’s most popular fighters against one another, a three-part UFC Primetime series chronicled the preparations of both fighters.

St-Pierre won a one-sided affair when Penn’s corner called it quits for their fighter following the fourth round, but that wasn’t the end of things. The “Greasegate” controversy kept the contest in the news for another two months, as Penn sought to have the result overturned, and St-Pierre and his team fined after second Phil Nurse rubbed petroleum jelly on the back and shoulders of the welterweight champion between rounds. Penn’s complaint was heard, but no disciplinary action followed.

4. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen — UFC 117

Leave it to Chael P. Sonnen to take a seemingly average middleweight title fight and turn it into one of the most anticipated bouts in UFC history by talking a blue streak about his opponent, his opponent’s team, his opponent’s friends, and pretty much the entire population of his opponent’s home country, Brazil.

By the time Sonnen’s verbal assault on Anderson Silva, the Nogueira Brothers, and everyone else who became a target of “The Gangster from West Linn” came to a close, UFC 117 was a must-see event. Unlike some other grudge matches, this one delivered in the cage as well.

Sonnen backed up the majority of his tough talk, taking the opening four rounds from Silva, and he looked to be on his way to becoming the new UFC middleweight champion. But then his allergy to submissions flared up, and Silva used the Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills Sonnen had mocked in advance of the fight, forcing Sonnen to tap out to a triangle choke with just under two minutes remaining in the fight.

After defeating Brian Stann at UFC 136, Sonnen started on the verbal offensive after Silva again. His victory over Michael Bisping in January put him in a position to face Silva for a second time later this summer.

3. Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie — UFC 5

This one dates back to the inaugural UFC event in Denver, Colorado on November 12, 1993.

That night, the two UFC legends met in the semifinals. Early in the bout, Shamrock dropped back from inside Gracie’s guard to attempt a heel hook, but ended up pulling Gracie into top position. As Shamrock tried to work out from bottom, he left his neck exposed, Gracie sank in the rear naked choke, and earned the submission win, propelling him into the finals, which he would go on to win.

The loss ate at Shamrock, and after Gracie won his third UFC tournament at UFC 4, the two would meet in the first ever UFC Superfight at UFC 5. The anticipation for the fight was far greater than the contest itself, as the two battled to a draw after more than 35 minutes of limited action.

It would be another 11 years before we saw Gracie in the Octagon again. Shamrock, on the other hand, remained for a few more years before departing for stint in the WWE. When he came back, he embarked on another legendary series of grudge matches.

2. Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir — UFC 100

The biggest fight of the biggest event in UFC history (at the time) saw the two men who each laid claim to the heavyweight title meet for the second time.

Lesnar, who lost to Mir in his UFC debut 17 months early at UFC 81, had won his portion of the heavyweight title from the returning Randy Couture at UFC 91, while Mir topped fellow TUF 8 coach Antonio Rodrigio Nogueira to claim the interim heavyweight title at UFC 92.

Mir was out to prove that he remained superior to the former professional wrestler, while Lesnar sought to prove his initial loss to Mir was predicated on inexperience and Steve Mazzagatti’s controversial decision to stand the fighters up after deducting a point from the former WWE superstar.

In the end, Lesnar proved to be too much for Mir, the freakish athletic specimen avenging his previous loss with a second round stoppage win. A third bout to settle the tie was often speculated about by both the fighters and fans, but failed to materialize before Lesnar called an end to his career following UFC 141.

1. Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz — UFC 40, UFC 61, Ortiz vs. Shamrock: The Final Chapter

When your rivalry predated your first fight by more than three years, is comprised of three bouts, and the final confrontation is considered one of the pivotal fights in the development of the UFC, you earn top billing from me.

The feud between Ortiz and Shamrock started following Ortiz’s victory over Lion’s Den fighter Jerry Bohlander at UFC 18. Things continued to escalate after UFC 19, when Ortiz defeated another of Shamrock’s teammates, Guy Metzger, and then proceeded to flip off Shamrock.

Ortiz and Shamrock would finally meet in the Octagon at UFC 40, with Shamrock’s corner throwing in the towel prior to the start of the fourth round. After coaching opposite one another on Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter, Ortiz and Shamrock met for a second time in the main event of UFC 61: Bitter Rivals, with “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” earning a TKO victory just 1:18 into the opening round.

Shamrock was adamant that the fight was stopped early, so the pair met for a third time three months later. Ortiz vs. Shamrock: The Final Chapter was a ratings smash on television, but produced a similar result as the second fight, with Ortiz again winning by technical knockout in the first round.

Along with the success of Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, and The Ultimate Fighter, the Ortiz-Shamrock trilogy stands as one of the chief catalysts to the UFC’s explosion in the mainstream.
 

Even though March is only 11 days old, Martin Kampmann’s come-from-behind, last minute submission win over Thiago Alves in the main event of the UFC on FX 2 event in Sydney, Australia marked the end of the first quarter of the event calendar in the UFC.

With the Octagon not scheduled to make another appearance until it lands in Stockholm, Sweden for the first time in mid-April, I thought this would be a great time to look back at the highlights from the first three months.

From the explosive knockouts and stunning submissions to the great fights and genuinely entertaining moments, here’s a look back at the best of best so far in 2012.

KNOCKOUTS

Edson Barboza KO, R3 (Spinning Wheel Kick) vs. Terry Etim — UFC 142

Not only was this easily the best knockout of the year thus far, Barboza’s finish in Rio de Janeiro stands as one of the best knockouts in UFC history. The unbeaten Brazilian connected on a beautiful spinning wheel kick, stiffening Etim on impact, sending the Liverpudlian crashing to the canvas as everyone watching picked his or her jaw up off the floor.

Barboza earned Knockout of the Night honors for the performance, and took home his third straight Fight of the Night award as well, making his next bout likely to be one of the most anticipated lightweight contests on the calendar.

Stephen Thompson KO, R1 (Front Leg Round Kick) vs. Dan Stittgen — UFC 143

If not for Barboza’s ridiculous finish a month earlier, “Wonderboy” would be leading the Knockout of the Year race for his first round finish of Dan Stittgen in his UFC debut back in February.

The decorated kickboxer and undefeated welterweight connected with a combination he and his coaches call “The Moneymaker,” a right cross followed by a lead-leg round kick that — if delivered properly — the opposition doesn’t even see coming. Such was the case with Stittgen, who leaned out of the way of the right hand only to be laid out by the right leg of Thompson that landed flush on the side of his head.

Next up for the 28-year-old South Carolina native is a meeting with TUF 7 alum Matt Brown at UFC 145 in April.

Nick Denis KO, R1 (Standing Elbows) vs. Joseph Sandoval — UFC on FX 1

“The Ninja of Love” didn’t waste much time making an impact in the UFC’s bantamweight division.

Denis needed just 22 seconds to put away Sandoval in the opening bout of the UFC’s inaugural event on FX, grabbing a half collar tie with his left hand while unleashing a barrage of elbow strikes to the side of the Texas native’s head with his right.

The Ottawa, Ontario native who holds a Masters degree in biochemistry will return to action against TUF 14 semifinalist Johnny Bedford in May on the UFC on FOX 3 undercard.

Honorable Mentions: Issei Tamura KO, R1 (Punch) vs. Tiequan Zhang — UFC 144; Anthony Pettis KO, R1 (Head Kick) vs. Joe Lauzon — UFC 144.

SUBMISSIONS

Dustin Poirier SUB, R1 (Mounted Triangle Armbar) vs. Max Holloway — UFC 143

After going the distance in his first two UFC appearances, the 23-year-old featherweight contender has shown off his submission skills in each of his last two outings.

In February, Poirier followed up his second-round submission win over Pablo Garza with a beautiful mounted triangle armbar finish of young Hawaiian Max Holloway on the Condit vs. Diaz undercard.

A purple belt under TUF 7 alum and UFC middleweight “Crazy” Tim Credeur, Poirier returns to the cage in May to face “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung in the main event of UFC on FUEL TV 3 in Fairfax, Virginia.

Charles Oliveira SUB, R1 (Calf Crusher) vs. Eric Wisely — UFC on FOX: Evans vs. Davis

The energetic 22-year-old Brazilian made his featherweight debut a memorable one by earning Submission of the Night honors for this first round finish.

Wisely defended a series of submission attempts from Oliveira, avoiding both a heel hook and a kneebar before getting caught in the unexpected hold, which saw Oliveira triangle his legs around Wisely’s calf and pull him to the ground, putting immense pressure on the calf, as well as torquing his knee simultaneously.

Oliveira looked comfortable making the cut to 145-pounds for the first time, rebounding from a three-fight winless skid after winning 14 straight as a lightweight.

Vaughan Lee SUB, R1 (Armbar) vs. Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto — UFC 144

The diminutive Birmingham native dealt the Japanese crowd a blow with his slick finish of hometown favorite “Kid” Yamamoto at UFC 144.

While the former K-1 Hero’s standout was getting the best of things in the stand-up department, he made a mistake on the ground late in the opening frame, and Lee capitalized. The 29-year-old British bantamweight grabbed Yamamoto’s arm, and transitioned from a triangle choke into an armbar, becoming the first person to submit Yamamoto.

The win leveled Lee’s record at 1-1 in the UFC, and sets the British submission specialist up as someone to watch in the coming months.

Honorable Mentions: UFC on FX 2 Submission Trio — Daniel Pineda SUB, R1 (Triangle Choke Armbar) vs. Mackens Semerzier; TJ Waldburger SUB, R1 (Armbar) vs. Jake Hecht; Martin Kampmann SUB, R3 (Guillotine Choke) vs. Thiago Alves

FIGHTS

Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson — UFC 144

Regardless of whom you had winning this fight, there is no denying that it was one of the most exciting of the year thus far.

Once again, Edgar showed the heart of the champion and the incredible resiliency that carried him through the dire opening rounds of his two engagements with Gray Maynard last year, continually pressing forward, never slowing down. Across from him, Henderson stood his ground, a calm look on his face, casually clearing the hair from his eyes between throwing heavy punches and kicks.

The judges saw the fight in favor of Henderson, making him the second former WEC champion to claim UFC gold already this year, but each round was closer than the final scores show. For a third straight year, Edgar will fight in a rematch, as the two will meet again later this year in a bout that will most likely join this one on a list of the best fights of 2012.

Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall — UFC on FX 2

The flyweights finally made their UFC debut at the start of the month in Sydney, Australia, and the first fight in the history of the 125-pound division was one of the best of the year.

As expected, former bantamweight title challenger Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall, the top-ranked flyweight in the world, paired off in a spirited affair that revved up to 100mph right out of the gate and never backed off the gas pedal.

Like Edgar and Henderson, McCall and Johnson will also meet for a second time later this year. The fight, which is officially ruled a draw, should have advanced to a “sudden victory” round, but a transcription error led to the contest being declared a majority decision for Johnson.

Three more rounds of “Mighty Mouse” vs. “Uncle Creepy” later this year? Sounds good to me.

Mike Easton vs. Jared Papazian — UFC on FX 1

These two bantamweights went toe-to-toe, meeting head on in the center of the Octagon in the middle of January before spending the next 15 minutes trading punches and kicks all over the cage.

Easton emerged victorious, earning the majority decision with scores of 29-28, 30-27, and 29-29 to push his record to 2-0 in the UFC and 12-1 overall. “The Hulk” returns to the Octagon on May 15 to face Yves Jabouin on UFC on FUEL TV 3.

Papazian, who took the fight on short notice after Ken Stone was forced from the bout due to an injury, put up a valiant effort, and established himself someone to keep an eye in the bantamweight ranks.

Honorable Mentions: Matthew Riddle vs. Henry Martinez — UFC 143; Jake Ellenberger vs. Diego Sanchez — UFC on FUEL TV 1.

10 ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2012 THUS FAR

Jose Aldo celebrates with the crowd

After defeating Chad Mendes and defending his UFC featherweight title in the main event of UFC 142, the dynamic Brazilian champion ran from the Octagon and celebrated his victory amongst the crowd assembled at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. This was one of the most genuinely entertaining post-fight celebrations ever.

Jorge Rivera goes out with a win

Heading into his fight with Eric “Red” Schafer at UFC on FX 1, TUF 4 alum and UFC veteran Jorge Rivera announced he’d be calling it quits after the bout.

Through the first round, it looked like the Milford, Massachusetts native would end his career on a three-fight losing streak, but in the second, Rivera took charge, earning the stoppage win just 91 seconds into the round. The 40-year-old finished his career with a 20-9 record overall, and an 8-7 mark in the UFC.

WEC Champions Become UFC Champions

Both Carlos Condit and Benson Henderson wore gold during their days in the WEC. This year, the two World Extreme Cagefighting alums became UFC champions, Condit claiming the interim welterweight title at UFC 143, while Henderson earned lightweight gold at UFC 144.

Counting featherweight champion Jose Aldo and bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz, four of the organization’s current champions are former WEC title holders. Flyweight tournament finalist Joseph Benavidez could become the fifth later this year.

The WEC may be gone, but these boys are helping make sure it’s never forgotten.

Round of the Year: Ivan Menjivar vs. John Albert — UFC on FUEL TV 1

It may have only lasted three minutes and 45 seconds, but Ivan Menjivar and John Albert crammed an entire fight’s worth of back-and-forth action into that time in Omaha, Nebraska.

Menjivar came out strong early, only to have Albert turn up the intensity and look like he was close to finishing midway through the fight. “The Pride of El Salvador” weathered the storm, and emerged on the other side to submit the Ultimate Fighter Season 14 alum shortly thereafter, earning Submission of the Night honors in the process.

The Imperial March vs. The PRIDE Theme

Though the fight between Ryan “Darth” Bader and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 144 didn’t quite deliver as much excitement as expected, their choice in walkout songs produced the best pairing of the night.

Bader strode to the cage to the sounds of Rage Against the Machine’s rocked-up version of the Imperial March — the music that announces Darth Vader’s presence in the original Star Wars trilogy — while Jackson came out to the theme from PRIDE.

As a big Star Wars nerd, I’ve always loved the Imperial March. As an even bigger MMA nerd, the PRIDE theme still gives me chills, with Jackson’s entrance in Japan making it even more awesome than normal. Too bad the fight wasn’t as good as the entrances.

The Comeback

Tim Boetsch made a lot of writers delete nearly completed fight recaps in his bout with Yushin Okami at UFC 144.

After being dominated throughout the first two rounds, most believed the former title challenger would complete the clean sweep against Boestch as the third round began. “The Barbarian” had other ideas, coming out of the break looking to finish, and doing just that thanks to a series of uppercuts along the cage that flattened Okami.

UFC President Dana White praised Boetsch’s performance after the event, holding it out there as an example of how he would like everyone who is down on the scorecards to approach the final round.

Pat Barry defends submissions, knocks out Christian Morecraft

The charismatic heavyweight showed that all the time he’s been putting in with the heavyweight wrestling monsters who make up the DeathClutch team in Minnestoa has been paying off.

In his UFC on FX 1 encounter with Morecraft, Barry escaped a pair of submission attempts on the ground before knocking out the 25-year-old New York native. Now that he’s shown everyone he can defend on the ground, Barry has vowed not to cut his hair until he gets a submission win over his own inside the Octagon.

His next chance comes in May on the UFC on FOX 3 card against Lavar “Big” Johnson.

Shawn Jordan’s Backflip

After earning a second-round TKO victory over Oli Thompson in his UFC debut in Australia, Jordan, a former fullback at LSU, landed a perfect backflip in the center of the Octagon.

Maybe he can give welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre some pointers next time he’s down in Albuquerque working with Team Jackson.

Brazilian Dominance in Brazil

Brazilian fighters went 10-4 when the UFC returned to Rio for the first time last August, with three of those losses coming in fights featuring two Brazilian fighters.

In January, the local fighters continued their dominance, posting a 9-3 mark at UFC 142, with a pair of those losses stemming from fights pitting Brazilians against one another.

Overall between the two events, Brazilians are 19-7 inside the Octagon, with five unavoidable losses. We’ll see if the trend continues when the UFC heads back to Brazil for the third time.

All Kinds of Awesomeness Ahead

Jones vs. Evans. “Cigano” vs. “The Reem” for the heavyweight title. Cruz vs. Faber 3. The list goes on and on, making the upcoming schedule filled with outstanding fights one of the biggest highlights of the year so far.

With all the turbulence at the top of the welterweight division, it’s easy for a contender or two to get lost in the shuffle, overlooked in the discussions of who will emerge from the 170-pound ranks by the end of the year.

Between the Condit-Diaz-St-Pierre situation and the rise of Johny Hendricks and Jake Ellenberger, one fighter who has slipped into the shadows is Martin Kampmann, the 29-year-old Dane known as “The Hitman.”

Part of what has pushed the long-time Xtreme Couture team member into the background is just how well he embodies his nickname inside the cage.

Kampmann is one of the most technical strikers in the sport, and he’s sneaky good on the ground as well. He’s quick, precise, and accurate, with very few wasted movements. Everything is crisp, clean, and on the mark, and at times, that ability to pick opponents apart gets overlooked by the judges in favor of the more demonstrative efforts of his opponents.

You could make a case that Kampmann should be entering Saturday’s UFC on FX 2 main event against Thiago Alves in the midst of a five-fight winning streak. Prior to beating Rick Story at UFC 139 last November, Kampmann dropped a pair of close, debatable decisions to Diego Sanchez and Jake Shields.

The former still eats at him nearly a year later, while he uses the latter as a learning experience.

“I definitely feel that I got screwed when I fought Diego,” Kampmann says curtly, clear evidence that the unanimous decision victory handed to Sanchez still stings a year later. “I should have won that, and everybody knew that I won that fight. He was hurt and beaten up after that fight, and I won it, but I got screwed by the judges.

“When I was fighting Jake Shields, I kept going for submissions, and I ended up losing the fight. If I had played that fight safe and just stayed on top like he was doing, I would have won the decision. I was trying too hard to finish and get a submission, which was a mistake on my part. I should have just stayed on top and pounded him out. I gave that fight away by fighting stupid.”

Eight months after the controversial loss to Sanchez, Kampmann systematically picked apart Story in San Jose, peppering the aggressive and powerful wrestler with his precise boxing.

By all accounts it was a clear victory for Kampmann, which is why a look of panic and confusion swept across his face as UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer read off a split decision (a unanimous decision was later revealed to be the correct verdict).

“You can see the look on my face when that decision was being announced. I thought `What the F?’ I couldn’t believe what I was listening to when they announced that. I was disappointed I didn’t get the finish, but I was relieved that I got the win; I needed that.”

Though he was happy to get back into the win column for the first time since systematically picking apart Paulo Thiago at UFC 115 in June 2010, Kampmann wasn’t satisfied with going to the judges.

“I really wanted to get that finish. I’m tired of going to judges’ decision, especially because they don’t seem to see things my way at all. It doesn’t matter what I do; they have something against me, I guess. I’m going in there to finish Thiago Alves, and the judges won’t have a say.

“I used to always get finishes, but sometimes when you fight the best guys — when you’re fighting top guys — sometimes it can be hard to get the finish within those three rounds. When you’re fighting the best, it can be tough to finish, but I’m definitely going in for the kill. I used to have a bunch of first round finishes, and I used to get finishes all the time. I want to go back to that; I want to finish people.”

After earning three first round finishes in his initial four UFC victories, Kampmann has only earned two finishes since, stopping Alexandre Barros in the second round of his welterweight debut at UFC 93, and submitting Jacob Volkmann just over four minutes into the opening round of their encounter at UFC 108.

His 13 fights in the UFC have produced a 9-4 record and carried him into the top 10 in the welterweight division. More importantly, perhaps, they’ve helped the analytical Kampmann fine-tune his approach in the cage, identifying what works best, and what pitfalls to avoid in his upcoming bout with Alves in Australia.

Kampmann sees what he calls “Intelligent Aggression” as the key, not only in Friday’s UFC on FX 2 main event, but long term. He credits Paul Daley with teaching him the importance of this particular approach.

“If I get hit with a good, solid punch, my first instinct is to step in the pocket, and start firing back because I want to hit that sucker back, but sometimes that’s not the smartest decision. Sometimes you’ve got to take a step back, circle a little bit, take a couple seconds to get your composure back, and then you can go in and try to get him back. It doesn’t have to be right away; that will put you at risk. I definitely learned that from fighting Paul Daley.

“In regards to submissions, the judges don’t really look at submission attempts — they only really look if you do get the submission — so I think I’m maybe going to tone down the submissions, and maybe go for more ground-and-pound should the fight hit the ground.”

Like Kampmann, Alves has drifted into the background of the UFC’s deep and talented welterweight division.

After piling up seven consecutive victories en route to facing Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title at UFC 100, “The Pitbull” hit a rough patch, losing two of his next three fights after dropping a one-sided decision to St-Pierre.

Two weeks before Kampmann rebounded with his win over Story at UFC 139, Alves earned his first submission victory in the UFC, forcing newcomer Papy Abedi to tap to a rear naked choke in the opening round of their encounter at UFC 138.

It was the best Alves has looked in two years, but Kampmann is confident that he has the approach and arsenal needed to beat the long-time American Top Team trainee, and anyone else in the welterweight division.

“I think this fight is going to be a lot of standup; he’s tough to take down. I’m not saying I can’t take him down — I think I can take him down — but I’m going to mix it up. He’s really good at getting back to his feet, so I think the majority of this fight is going to take place on the feet.

“Thiago’s a tough opponent; he’s fought some tough guys. He’s beaten some really tough guys like (Josh) Koscheck, and (Matt) Hughes. He’s not an opponent to take lightly, but I’m going to go in there and beat him, and we’ll take it from there after that.

“First I have to beat Thiago Alves — and I will beat him — but I think I can beat the best guys there are.  I think I can beat anyone in the division. I’m confident in my skills, and I’m confident in myself, so I’d love to get the opportunity to fight the best, and that’s what I’m doing right now.”

While some see this contest as a chance for Kampmann to emerge from the shadows and establish himself as a contender, the talented Dane completely disagrees with that assessment, and where most people put him in the pecking order.

“I am a contender, man!” Kampmann barks, frustrated by the insinuation that he’s one the outside looking in when it comes to the welterweight title chase. “I’m a contender already. I got screwed against Diego. Jake Shields — you could make an argument for that fight even though I gave that fight away by fighting stupid. I can beat the best there is, and I’ve proven that. I am a contender, and I want to fight for the title.

“I’ve got a win over (Carlos) Condit,” Kampmann adds, citing his April 2009 split decision victory over the current interim champion as further proof that he deserves to be considered amongst the top contenders in the welterweight division. “I’m the only guy in the UFC with a win over him, and I’d love to fight him again.”

In fact, Kampmann is the only man to defeat Condit in the last five-and-a-half years. Given the opportunity, he can hang with the interim champion or anyone else in the 170-pound ranks for that matter, because as good as he’s been so far, “The Hitman” promises that the best is yet to come.

“I want to fight the best guys in the division. I’ve fought some of the best guys, and I’ve shown I can beat the best, and I still have a lot more to show. The UFC hasn’t seen the best of Martin Kampmann yet.”

Charles Barkley.

That’s the first name that popped into my head as I sat on the phone with Ian McCall, the top-ranked flyweight in the sport, discussing the improbable journey that has brought him to the UFC, and his desire to be a role model.

Nearly 20 years ago, Barkley famously argued against athletes being role models. His thoughts on the matter were turned into a Nike commercial, and became one of the top anecdotes from his illustrious NBA career.

Unlike Barkley, McCall wants to be someone people look up to, someone who inspires them to chase their passion in life, and someone whose mistakes they can learn from and avoid.

The 27-year-old known as “Uncle Creepy” is candid about his previous struggles with addiction, including the fact that he was clinically dead at one point not all that long ago as a result of an accidental overdose.

“I’m prone to screw ups, just like everybody else,” he says with a laugh. “I’m sure I’ll screw up more in my future, but it’s not going to be like things I’ve done in my past. I have to — just like any other person — you have to live day-by-day. You constantly remind yourself not to do the things that you used to, especially me; I had a passion for doing naughty, naughty things.

“I don’t mind having people see my life and know my life and be able to connect with me on a different level because that’s what it is — you have to show people, `I’m not perfect. This is my life; this is who I am.’ If you want a part of it — party on. Let’s have some fun, have a good time, come hang out. I want to be a fighter that the majority of the world loves. I would like to be a role model.”

While he’ll always battle the demons, McCall’s focus has shifted from the self-destructive behaviors of his past to establishing a better life for his wife and daughter, and making the most of his abilities as a fighter.

“As far as training, I just took it serious,” he says, explaining the changes he’s made in the gym that have helped transform him from a solid-but-unspectacular bantamweight in the WEC to one of the top flyweights in the world.

“I just take it a lot more serious because this is what I want to do with my life. I see my friends who have great things out of other jobs — whatever jobs they may do — and I want to provide a good life for my family and everyone else.”

The results of his newfound focus and determination in the gym started to show just over a year ago.

On February 18, 2010, McCall made his debut with Tachi Palace Fights, the Lemoore, California-based outfit that had become the home of the best 125-pound talent in North America. That night, he squared off with Jussier da Silva, the Shooto South American champion in the 123-pound weight division, universally regarded as the top flyweight competitor on the planet. “Formiga” was undefeated at the time, and McCall was viewed as another opponent the talented Brazilian would beat up inside the cage.

That’s not how things played out. McCall pulled off the upset, earning a unanimous decision victory over the previously unbeaten Brazilian.

He collected another unanimous victory when he handed Dustin Ortiz the first loss of his career three months later. In August, McCall submitted Darrell Montague via rear naked choke in the third round to become Tachi Palace Fights flyweight champion, cementing his standing as the top 125-pound talent in the sport.

Now McCall is set to make his UFC debut, squaring off with former bantamweight title challenger Demetrious Johnson in one of the two bouts that will determine who will fight to become the UFC’s inaugural flyweight champion. It’s a moment the charismatic and talkative McCall has trouble putting into words.

“After everything that I’ve been through — that I put myself through — and as long as this career has lasted, now it’s serious, and it’s become a lot more serious with the UFC. It’s a dream come true, and something that I’m really looking forward to.”

Joining McCall and Johnson in the four-man tournament to crown the inaugural 125-pound champion are Japanese standout Yasuhiro Urushitani and Joseph Benavidez, another former bantamweight title challenger making the drop down to flyweight for the first time.

Like Johnson and Benavidez, McCall also has a loss to current UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz on his record. He dropped a unanimous decision to “The Dominator” at WEC 38, seven months before he would beat Benavidez for the first time, and 13 months before Cruz defeated Brian Bowles for the title at WEC 47; he hasn’t lost since.

Despite having collected four consecutive victories and establishing himself as the top flyweight in the sport, McCall enters his meeting with Johnson as a significant underdog. It’s a role he accepts without hesitation, happy to have the opportunity to step into the Octagon, and ready to prove the pundits wrong.

“They have more buzz than me,” says McCall of Johnson and Benavidez, the latter of the two standing as the favorite to be crowned the first flyweight champion. “But I have that recognition of being #1 where I was. It’s an honor to be able to face someone like (Demetrious); he’s a great fighter.

“It’s a good way… I wanted to jump right into it; I wanted to jump right into fighting the best, and I get the chance to.”

Someone else might take offense to being the underdog, but not McCall; not after everything he’s been through. This is just another challenge, another obstacle standing in his way, and while it may take some time, McCall is intent on showing that he is the top flyweight in the sport and becoming the first UFC flyweight champion.

“I’m ready to show the world. It’s my time, and I’m super-stoked about it. It’s something that I have to prove, and it’s going to take time for people to know who I am, but I’m not going anywhere.”

Court McGee is not the best athlete in the UFC middleweight division.

He’s not the best striker either. There are others in the 185-pound weight class who are better grapplers than he is as well. The same goes for wrestling. The 27-year-old Ultimate Fighter winner is brutally honest when assessing how he matches up with his fellow middleweight competitors, and the fact that he’s not at the top of the list in any of the aforementioned fundamentals is fine with him.

After all, those things are out of his control.

“I can’t control being the best striker or the best grappler,” said the man whose menacing stare and angry beard stand in stark contrast to the soft-spoken, intellectual man behind them. “I can improve on (those things) and just constantly get better at jiu-jitsu and wrestling and my striking.

“One thing I can control though is my conditioning — getting stronger, and faster, and better, and always changing it. I’ve got a good group of guys — I’ve got Jason Mertlich, I’ve got John Hackleman, I’ve got The Pit behind me — and I’m always able to push the limit on conditioning. It’s a comfortable feeling going into a fight knowing that I can really put it on somebody and recover in a minute, and I can do that for 15 minutes.”

McGee doesn’t tailor each training camp to prepare for the opponent he’s set to face. He hasn’t spent the last two months working on a game plan specific to Costa Philippou, the man he faces Friday night (technically Saturday morning) at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia in the first fight of the UFC on FX 2 broadcast.

He’s studied his opponent enough to know what he brings to the table, but for McGee, the fight is about finding a way to win once the cage door closes, and training camp is about giving yourself the best opportunity to do that come fight night.

“He may be a better striker than me, but I’ll put together my tools, see what I have, and do the best that I can do to figure out how to beat him. I kind of know what he likes to do. He got a pretty good KO in his last fight, and I saw that, so I know he likes to strike, but you never know — he could come out and try to shoot. When the cage door closes and it’s just him and me in there, then it’s up to me to figure out how to beat him.”

Instead of preparing for the opponent he’s about to face, McGee spends his time in the gym training to compete against the toughest opponent he could envision; the person whose abilities and attributes would cause him the most trouble inside the cage. In the process of working to defeat his fictitious foe inside the gym, McGee is also pushing himself to become that man for each of his real life opponents.

“I think about what would be the hardest and toughest opponent for me to fight, and what comes to mind is he’s going to be difficult to submit, he’s difficult to knock out, and he’s got conditioning for days, and he pushes the pace. For me, that would be the hardest opponent, so that’s who I try to be — I try to be that person.”

So far, it seems to be working.

In each of his two post-TUF appearances to date, McGee turned the fights into a test of wills and a battle of attrition, and was the one who had his hand raised in the end. He submitted veteran Ryan Jensen in the third round of their UFC 121 encounter after looking lethargic in the first, and followed it up 11-months later with another performance that highlighted his unmatched ability to continue pushing forward against Dongi Yang.

For McGee, it comes down to two things: what you’ve done in the gym leading up to the fight, and why you’re stepping into the cage in the first place.

“I know what it takes to compete against that high level; now it’s just whether or not you’re willing to get in shape, and that to me is the hardest thing to do. Besides cutting weight, the conditioning is the hardest thing, man.

“It’s hard to show up and condition three, four, five times a week, and throw a 130-pound ball around, and run sprints on an incline on a treadmill, and do this, do that, and Tabata this, and throw weight around, and kettlebell this, and sprint this, and push a thousand-pound wheelbarrow up a hill. That’s the hard stuff.

“If it was up to me, going in and sparring five times a week? Shoot, man — that’d be awesome. I love the sparring. I love the fighting part of it. It’s the hard conditioning where you just borderline want to give up on life and you’ve still got another 20 or 30 second sprint to go — that’s the hard stuff.

“Were you willing to take the steps necessary to get the best results? Showing up every day through the little injuries, big injuries, or the time off, having a lot of fights or not having a lot of fights, or the press or the lack thereof, or the money or not much money.

“That’s another thing too as to why I think I’ve been successful,” continued the Ogden, Utah native. “The money is the payoff that I can better take care of my family with, and that’s important, but it’s not the most important. (First and foremost), I can carry the message to other people who struggle with drug addiction and things like that; to know that if I can make it out, they can make it out.”

McGee, like fellow UFC on FX 2 competitor Ian McCall, battled addictions earlier in his life, and was once clinically dead as a result of a heroin overdose. He’s been clean since April 2006.

“Secondly, if you get rid of all the crowd — you get rid of all the friends that are watching you— and it’s just me and Costa Philippou in there, I still have the same desire to win whether or not there is money on the line. If we’re fighting, do I have that desire to win? Do I still want to fight and will I go after it? And I do, and that’s what I love. Two, three minutes into that fight and we’re trading punches — we’re tired, you’ve been hit, and you’re hurt — that’s what I like: I like that spot. I like to be in there, and that’s a big difference.”

Having come through his battles with drug addiction and endured the early lean years as a professional to be where he is today has had a significant impact on McGee, as you would expect. It’s shaped his approach to both his life and his craft, giving him a clearer picture of what’s important, and it goes way beyond wins and losses.

“Growing up, I thought money was a big priority in life, and now that I’ve made a little bit, I’ve come to realize that it’s not all that important. Just as long as you can get by, pay the bills, be happy, and support (yourself and your family), you’ve got to find what you love to do.

“Money comes and goes, friends come and go, but the connection with a higher power is something that I have, and the ability to do something that I love — martial arts — for a living, and the pay out that I can take better care of my family has given me the ability to appreciate the little things in my life.

“I bought a home, so I’m a home owner now, and that’s really a cool thing, but I still drive the same car that I got my wife in high school — ’99 Saturn; just the base model Saturn. I’m a real simple guy. Being able to talk to other martial artists, and being able to carry a message to other people who are struggling through my martial arts, and through my fighting, I feel privileged. I really feel privileged.

“I just celebrated five years of doing MMA,” continued McGee. “October 26, 2007 I quit my job as a plumber to pursue a career as a professional MMA fighter, and I struggled for a long time. It’s still a struggle, but I do it because I love it; I love to be in the fight. God’s given me the ability to compete, and train, and fight, and I’m going to keep doing it until I lose that desire – that desire to win while I’m in there.”

Don’t expect that desire or McGee go away any time soon.