Author: By E. Spencer Kyte

Saturday night can’t get here soon enough for Carlos Condit.

After spending the final four months of 2011 in what felt like a constant state of limbo, the 27-year-old will finally get to switch from hitting mitts with coach Mike Winkeljohn to putting his considerable talents to work in the cage. In a fitting twist of fate, Condit will get to take out the frustrations he’s endured against the man who has been at the root of many of them.

Rewind to September: Condit was slated to face UFC legend BJ. Penn in the co-main event of UFC 137, a bout that would be followed by Diaz challenging Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title.

But when Diaz missed a string of media obligations, UFC President Dana White made a change, demoting Diaz from the main event, and elevating Condit. The man known as “The Natural Born Killer” broke down in tears on the phone when White told him the news.

Just 11 days before he was set to fight for the UFC welterweight title, Condit’s dream was put on hold. St-Pierre tweaked his knee in training; their bout was rescheduled for UFC 143, the annual Super Bowl weekend show. Diaz and Penn headlined UFC 137 instead, with Condit assured the outcome of the main event would not have an impact on his upcoming title fight.

On October 29, Diaz battered Penn before throwing down the gauntlet for GSP, questioning the legitimacy of his injury, trying to talk his way back into the fight he lost a month early. By the time White took the podium for the post-fight press conference, Condit’s fight calendar needed adjusting once again.

“There’s been a lot of ups and downs; a lot of excitement and disappointment,” admitted the former WEC welterweight champion. “It’s been crazy, as anybody looking from the outside can imagine. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of focusing on what I need to do — which is train and be prepared for whoever I end up fighting — and this time it ended up being Diaz.”

After shuffling places twice in the last six months, Condit and Diaz will now pair off, a torn ACL sending St-Pierre to the sidelines and the surgical table. With the date of his return to the cage uncertain, the top two welterweight contenders will battle for an interim version of the 170-pound championship on Saturday night.

It’s a fight that has been a long time coming for the 27-5 native of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“I’m stoked to be done with camp. I’m stoked to be finally stepping out there to do what I’ve been training to do for the last six months: to go out there and fight, compete to the best of my abilities.”

While Diaz began his second stint in the UFC with much fanfare and an immediate shot at the welterweight title, Condit has quietly been working his way up the 170-pound ranks.

The last welterweight champion in WEC history, he lost a razor-thin decision to Martin Kampmann in his debut, coming out on the right side of the verdict against Jake Ellenberger in his second Octagon appearance. A come-from-behind victory over Rory MacDonald at UFC 115 caused people to start taking notice, and a first-round knockout of Dan Hardy in his own backyard announced Condit as a potential contender, though he remained behind some of the more established names in the company.

“It’s hard to get out from under the shadow of these guys like (Jon) Fitch, and (Josh) Koscheck, and maybe even Thiago Alves — guys that have been in the division for years and years and years, and all had great wins.”

But now is Condit’s turn in the spotlight.

His savage first round destruction of Dong Hyun Kim was his fourth consecutive victory, the second straight bout that he’s earned Knockout of the Night honors, and the third consecutive contest to produce a post-fight bonus. Though it looked like the gods were against him, Condit’s patience and perseverance has been rewarded, and he’s ready to make the most of it.

“This is a fight I’ve wanted for a really long time, and the fact that it’s happening now, after all this turmoil and craziness with the change of opponents and everything, it really couldn’t have worked out better.

“I think that styles make fights, and I think that this style match-up is going to be extremely exciting. It’s a very tough fight; Nick’s one of the best in the welterweight division. I think there are some guys stylistically that could probably beat him, but I think the matchup between us — we’re very evenly matched. We have similar skill sets, maybe a little bit different approach — different style — but it’s exciting.”

The 28-year-old Diaz is on an 11-fight winning streak that includes nine stoppages, with victories over the likes of Frank Shamrock, KJ Noons, Paul Daley, and Penn. An enigma outside of the cage, Diaz is all business when the lights go up and the fight begins, blending tremendous boxing with a slick submission game.

He’s also adept at shaking his opponents with a barrage of pre-fight banter, an ability and instinctual talent he’s passed on to his younger brother Nathan as well. Condit is prepared for it all — the boxing, the jiu-jitsu, and the verbal jabs.

“Nick likes to get in your head, talk a lot of trash, so I need to stay composed, and step in with the attitude that I always do; just be about my business, and not get sucked into all that other stuff. I just have to fight my fight. No matter what an opponent says or how much trash they talk, I get the opportunity to go in there and beat him down. I can just hold my tongue and let it build, and as soon as the cage door closes, it’s game time.”

Condit knows he’s in for a battle, but he’s ready, and confident that if he sticks to the game plan, he’ll emerge from Saturday’s headliner as the interim UFC welterweight champion.

“Nick is probably the toughest guy I’ve ever fought. He’s an endurance athlete — he puts tons and tons of pressure on guys — and he’s got some really good skills with his hands; his jiu-jitsu’s great.

“But I just really need to fight my fight. If I do that, I feel like I’m going to walk away with the belt.”

Some people will always stick to the safe path in life, never deviating from the course they’ve already charted, disinterested in exploring the possibilities that come with turning left when your destination is to the right.

Chris Weidman is not one of those people.

The 27-year-old UFC middleweight answered the call to fill the opening opposite Demian Maia this weekend as a part of the UFC on FOX 2 event, taking the most challenging fight of his young career on just 11 days notice.

“I know I’ve got my undefeated record and all that, but I’m looking at the positives. If I win this fight, it’s huge for me,” explained the Hofstra University graduate. “It’s huge for my life, it’s huge for my family, and I’m willing to take the risk of possibly having a loss — which I don’t think is going to happen — because of what a win would mean.
 
“I’d be in title contention at that point. I’d be exactly where I wanted to be in my career. This is exactly what I wanted, and it’s awesome. I’m going to make the best of it. I’m going to go out there and exert as much energy as I possibly can to try and win that fight.”

Weidman has been through this process before, having made his UFC debut on short notice against veteran knockout artist Alessio Sakara last March. It was a risky proposition for the All-American wrestler with just four fights under this belt, but the Baldwin, New York native never hesitated, then or now.

“I said the same thing as this time – ‘Let’s do this!’” Some people thought I was crazy then, but it’s similar. It was high reward, low risk taking a fight on short notice against a tough veteran like Sakara, but at that point, I’m in the UFC, where I want to be.”

After using his high-level wrestling to earn a unanimous decision win over Sakara in his debut, Weidman posted back-to-back first round submission wins over Jesse Bongfeldt and Tom Lawlor to close out 2011. Pushing his record to 7-0, the Matt Serra-Ray Longo trainee entered 2012 as one of the top prospects in the sport, and he wasn’t going to pass up the chance to take a giant step closer to reaching his goal of becoming a UFC champion.

“I know I can do this; I know how hard I can push, and I know about my weight cut. I know I’m going to go in there and fight as hard as I can, no matter how I was training or how my camp was. Having that experience of doing it is big. Before the Alessio Sakara fight, I took a fight on two weeks’ notice.

“My goal is to be world champion and hold that for a while, so I’m taking it one step at a time, and my next step is Demian Maia.

“But this whole thing is surreal,” Weidman admitted with a laugh. “I’m fighting on FOX. It went quick, and I’m excited about it. This is where I’ve been dreaming to be, with the guys I’ve been watching. I think I can beat them, and I want to be where they’re at, and now I’m there, so it’s time to make the best of it.”

While some people would caution Weidman about the risks of facing a former title challenger and top 5 competitor like Maia on short notice, recent events in his life help the unbeaten talent to keep things in perspective.

The day after accepting the biggest fight of his young career, Weidman attended the wake of his uncle, Freddy Weidman, a Vietnam veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star for his service.

“He put himself at true risk,” Weidman said of his uncle, who passed away unexpectedly last week. “With platoon after platoon of the Vietnamese shooting at him, he had to run out to an open field, grabbing more ammo because his team was out of ammo, and bring it back. On top of that, he got blown up with a grenade, and had a bunch of difficulty throughout his life because of that.

“Imagine that — running out into a field when guns are firing at you, and you don’t know whether you’re going to die; that’s risk. Getting into a cage to fight, doing something I love to do is not a risk.”

Weidman wasn’t expecting to return to action until April, but the opportunity to return to the Octagon against an established veteran on network television was too good to pass up.

Maia is easily the toughest opponent to date for Weidman, a sharp and sudden bump up in competition. No one would have questioned him if he chose to stay on course for an April return, and few would fault him if he were to incur a loss to the Brazilian standout under these conditions.

But plans change, and Weidman intends to make the most of the latest last-minute opportunity the UFC has presented him.

“There’s always risks, especially in the UFC because you don’t want a loss on your record, but whatever — you only live once. I’m young, I don’t want to miss opportunities; I want to go out there and make the most of them.

“I think it’s a good matchup for me; I like it. I’m excited to really show my overall game in this fight, and have fun with the whole thing. I’m 100% focused on Demian Maia, and I just feel like nothing good is going to come out of me losing, so I have to win this fight.”

No one likes to lose.

The actors who walk down the red carpet at the Oscars, stopping to tell Ryan Seacrest they’re just happy to be nominated? They’re lying; they want to win. Being nominated is a tremendous accomplishment, but everyone wants to win. That way you don’t have to summon up all your acting chops to make the “I’m so happy for them” face on live television.

Like the nominees who go home without a trophy and every fighter in the world, Michael Johnson doesn’t like losing either.

Last time UFC fans saw the former Ultimate Fighter finalist, he was the latest lightweight to be caught in a submission by British standout Paul Sass. The October defeat sent the 25-year-old known as “The Menace” back to the gym in search of answers, and what he came up with is an outlook that shows that backwards step could produce forward progress, starting as early as this weekend.

“A lot went wrong,” Johnson laughed when asked to assess his last appearance. “He got me in a weird situation that I didn’t really spend a lot of time on. I got a little confused, and I had to tap before he tore my knee out of place. It was just a mistake that I had to go back and work on, and it’s definitely not happening again anytime soon.

“Sometimes losing can be good. The majority of times they’re horrible, but it’s good to have it happen early, as opposed to later on in my career. This way I actually have time to work on it, get better, and not get caught in it again.

“I went back to the drawing board, spent a lot of time with my jiu-jitsu coach and the many black belts we have in our gym down here, and we work on it every day. Next time I do see something like that, I’ll know exactly what to do, and not just sit there and think about it.”

That drawing board is located in Boca Raton, Florida, where Johnson has spent the last year as a part of the Imperial Athletics team more commonly known as “The Blackzilians.”

Training each day alongside the likes of Jorge Santiago, Gesias Cavalcante, Melvin Guillard, and Rashad Evans, Johnson has seen consistent improvement in his skills, and knows the grueling hours he spends in the gym will eventually pay dividends in the cage.

“Being down here for the last year as opposed to just getting in the game, I’ve improved dramatically. My standup has gotten way better working with Henri (Hooft) who has come over from Amsterdam. My jiu-jitsu has gotten better. Working on my wrestling with Mike Van Arsdale, it’s gone through the roof. I see myself being a better fighter every day.”

Johnson gets to put the past four-months worth of gym time to the test this weekend in Chicago when he faces Shane Roller on the preliminary portion of the UFC on FOX 2 card.

With the tremendous depth in the lightweight division, many look at this as a must-win fight for Johnson. The St. Louis native has a different way of approaching the contest, one that further shows he’s ready to take a step forward in the UFC’s most talent rich division.

“I think every fight is considered a must-win. If you want to go forward in this sport and you want to make yourself known — if you lose, you take a couple steps back, and if you win, you’re in a completely different frame of the business.

“I’m looking at this fight as one where I’m definitely improving and getting better. I’ve had a great, great training camp, and I’m ready to go out here and get a win. I definitely don’t want to sit here and take two losses in a row. That’s really hard to come back from, and then you kind of want to sit around and second-guess yourself. I would say this is a `must not lose’ as opposed to a must-win.”

Some would say the two are the same, seeing only semantic differences between must-win and must-not-lose. As Johnson explains it, the difference is in how you prepare for the fight and execute your game plan when the cage door closes.

“You’ve got to believe in yourself and your coaches. I’ve had a great training camp; all the hard work is done at this point. I’m just ready to get out here and get a fight.

“I can’t get nervous and put a lot of pressure on myself and say, `I have to win this fight. I have to win this fight.’ Everybody wants to win, it’s just one of those things where I have to take all the pressure off myself, and go out there and fight my fight. If you’ve done all the things that you need to do to this point, the win should be the easy part.”

Winning in the UFC is never easy, and Roller will be determined to bring his two-fight losing streak to a halt and hand Johnson a second consecutive loss in the process.

Johnson is confident that won’t happen, and that his meeting with the WEC veteran will be the start of a breakthrough year in 2012.

“He took this fight on short notice, so I’m really not seeing him having the wind or being in the best shape to go three rounds with me. I’m going to feel him out for the first round, put the pressure on him, and then look to finish him in the early second.

“This is definitely going to be a new start for me. I’ve taken a new approach to training; completely rededicated myself to the game. I’ve done everything necessary to be a champion in the future, and this is definitely going to be my coming out party.”

Like a lot of people who watched their lightweight battle at UFC 119, Evan Dunham believes he beat Sean Sherk.

Taking home Fight of the Night honors and a win in the eyes of the public did little to numb the pain of coming away on the wrong side of the scorecards. Instead of standing with a dozen consecutive victories, Dunham was dealt the first loss of his career, and it rattled him.

The UFC continued to push the talented lightweight as one of the top emerging talents in the deep 155-pound division, booking him as one half of the headlining act for the second Fight for the Troops event. Originally scheduled to meet Kenny Florian, a knee injury put the former title contender on the sidelines, and put Dunham in the path of the surging Melvin Guillard.

In less than three minutes, Guillard blitzed Dunham, leaving him crumpled against the cage with a second consecutive loss on his record. In the span of four months, he’d gone from unbeaten up-and-comer poised to make a push for a title shot to another member of the large collection of fighters huddled just outside of contention.

“I think in the long run it will be good for me,” Dunham said of the experience. “The two losses were tough, but that’s just part of the game. I’ve just got to learn from it. Not every lesson is learned in the gym; sometimes they’re learned in the ring or after the fact, dealing with it mentally. I think in the long term it will be good for me because I was able to adjust some things mentally and physically, and I’ll be a better fighter for it.

“I had a pretty good streak there — 11 wins without a loss — and then I lost that fight to Sherk that I truly believe I didn’t lose, so it was tough to swallow. Mentally it was straining and strenuous on me. One way I was able to get over it was to focus on what I believe happened in that fight – that I won that fight. I’m over it at this point; it is what it is, and that’s what helped me prepare for that (Shamar) Bailey fight, and put on a good performance.”

After almost nine full months on the sidelines spent streamlining his training routine, dealing with lingering injuries, and starting to work with Ray Sefo, Dunham returned to the cage in September with a dominant decision victory over TUF 13 alum Shamar Bailey.

The 30-year-old Oregon native controlled the action from the outside, peppering Bailey with punches from start to finish. Earlier in his career Dunham would have come away from the fight focusing on what he wasn’t able to do in the bout, but not now. Now he’s only concerned with building on the positive elements of his performance, continuing to develop, and returning to contender status in the UFC’s deepest division.

“I was happy with it. My first thoughts were that I was disappointed that I couldn’t put him away, but that goes back to critiquing myself when maybe I don’t need to be so hard on myself. I was really happy with it. He’s a tough kid that can take a shot, and I was able to put my hands together nicely. I think it was a good step to work my way back up there. I was happy with the performance and we’ll build off that.

“After watching the film and going over the fight with Ray, I think there were reasons why I wasn’t able to put him away — little things with my technique, how I was throwing some of my punches, and that sort of stuff. There’s reasoning behind it; we’ve made those adjustments, and I plan on being able to correct that here in the future.”

Dunham gets the opportunity to put the adjustments he’s made to the test this weekend in Chicago, returning to the cage in a bout that many critics see as a high risk, low reward encounter.

Originally scheduled to face unbeaten British submission specialist Paul Sass, the 23-year-old Scouser was forced out of the intriguing matchup with an injury, with Nik Lentz stepping up to fill the void. Despite his recent two-fight winless streak, Dunham sees his new opponent as a tougher test, but one he’s well prepared for heading into Saturday night.

“I honestly believe from watching both Sass and Lentz fight, I think Lentz is a tougher fight; he’s more experienced. It’s two different styles of fights — you went from Sass who would do anything in a fight to end up on his back to a guy who will do anything to put me on my back and keep me there. Sass is a tough guy, but I think Lentz is more experienced, and he’s a grinder, and you’ve always got to be careful with guys like that.

“With Lentz, there isn’t really any mystery behind him; you know what he’s going to do. He’s going to come in, he’ll probably stand with me for a little bit, but as soon as he gets caught with any kind of punch, he’s going to be coming in hard for that takedown.”

Regardless of who he’s facing and the opinions of the experts, Dunham intends to make a statement about where he stands in the division with this fight, and he knows just how he’ll do it, right down to how he’ll get his hand raised.

“I plan on going out there and putting a great performance on, making people realize that I’m here, I’m not going anywhere, and I deserve to be considered at that level. I think this a great opportunity (to do that).

“I think we’ll come out in the first round, exchange some punches, and he’ll eventually shoot. I’ll stuff his shot, put him on his back, beat him up a bit, and then I’m going to come out in the second round and knock him out.”

Donald Cerrone doesn’t care where he sits in the rankings.

He doesn’t worry about where critics or fans place him amongst the elite lightweights in the UFC.

Even though he steps into the Octagon on Friday night riding a six-fight winning streak that includes four wins in 2011, three Fight Night bonuses, and back-to-back first-round finishes, “Cowboy” is only concerned with getting another opportunity to step into the cage and collect some more money.

“I could give a s**t who’s over me,” answered Cerrone, the words snapping out with the speed and ferocity of the leg kicks he used to pummel Vagner Rocha at UFC 131 back in June. “It’s pretty much keep going, man. Just keep ‘em coming.”

While 2011 has been a breakout year for Cerrone, he had showed flashes of his potential during his days in the WEC.

A perennial title contender, the 28-year-old battled for the organization’s lightweight belt on three occasions over a six-fight stretch, beginning with his controversial first encounter with Jamie Varner. Never able to emerge with the gold wrapped around his waist, Cerrone slipped into the background slightly as the WEC’s lightweight ranks merged into the UFC’s deepest division.

Reigning champion Anthony Pettis and former titleholder Benson Henderson garnered the majority of the attention in the wake of their classic battle at WEC 53, though Cerrone had earned a victory on the company’s final card as well, submitting Chris Horodecki in the second round. It was his second victory in three months, a follow-up to the dominant win he collected in his long-awaited rematch with Varner a few months earlier.

Like many of his fellow WEC graduates, Cerrone entered the UFC with a chip on his shoulder, ready to show that he was every bit as good as the competitors in the UFC’s 155-pound division.

“The proof is in the pudding there, man,” said the callous “Cowboy,” the chip still maintaining its former address. “There’s not much left to say. We all need someone to doubt on us. Just tell them to keep on doubting on me.”

There are few doubting Cerrone at this point. He’s won four more times over the last ten months, extending the winning streak he began in the WEC to six, propelling himself further up the lightweight rankings with each subsequent victory.

Cerrone stepped in for an injured Sam Stout at UFC 126 in February and submitted Paul Kelly in the second round, earning Submission of the Night honors in the process. Four months later, he thrashed Rocha in Vancouver, but it wasn’t until his last two fights that people really started to sit up and take notice.

“I just feel like I’m hot,” admitted Cerone. “I don’t know, that’s just how life goes, in waves like that. You’ll be on top and then you’re at your lowest time. Right now, I feel good; everything seems to be going right.”

In August, he blitzed youngster Charles Oliveira, crumpling the talented Brazilian under a torrent of strikes. Two months later, he filled in for Stout again and earned a similar result as he had in February, halting Dennis Siver’s climb up the rankings with a first round submission win at UFC 137.

Like many observers, Cerrone believes he’s always had the potential for this kind of success.

“I think I’ve always had it there — it’s just been getting my mind to tell my body what to do, getting my mind right. I’ve been figuring out what it takes for me to fight in the cage the way that I do in practice, you know?”

Heading into the fight with Siver in October, Cerrone made it known that if everything went as planned, he wanted to fight for a fifth time in 2011. UFC matchmaker Joe Silva granted him his wish.

“I’m super-excited. That’s what I asked for so bring it on. Close out the year with another fight — more money, more exposure, more everything.”

Just a few days after UFC 137 was officially in the books, Cerrone was paired with Nate Diaz.

After a four-fight stint as a welterweight, Diaz returned to the lightweight division at UFC 135 in September and picked apart Takanori Gomi, submitting the Japanese veteran in the first round. It was the best performance of his career, and immediately put the former Ultimate Fighter winner in the mix in the 155-pound ranks.

Now the two are matched up in the co-main event slot of the UFC’s year-end event, with the victor likely to earn a place on the short list of title contenders heading into 2012. It’s a pairing that should produce fireworks when the cage door closes on Friday night.

Both Cerrone and Diaz are extremely well rounded, capable of dominating an opponent with their striking or submission games, and transitioning between the two seamlessly.

That’s one way of putting it. Cerrone sums up his opponent’s approach in a much less analytical way.

“He’s game man, for sure. He talks a lot, and he gets in there and fights. I’m excited,” said Cerrone of his opponent, echoing feelings he shared earlier in the month when he praised Diaz and his brother for their approach in the cage.

“If I bumped into him in the parking lot and said, `What’s up?’ we’re throwing down, and I like that mentality. You can’t teach that. They come to fight, and me too.”

Like his older brother, Nate Diaz also knows how to fire up his opponent before they even step into the cage, and he’s done just that with Cerrone. Not that the fiery “Cowboy” really needed any extra motivation.

“Unfortunately, he ran his mouth too much this time, and now he’s going to be in trouble. I’m excited to fight him. Ring the bell. Let’s go!”

Add Ross Pearson‘s name to the growing list of competitors to change divisions after winning The Ultimate Fighter.

Two years and five fights after defeating countryman Andre Winner to claim the lightweight competition on Season nine of the UFC’s long-running reality series, the 27-year-old Briton is poised to make his featherweight debut at UFC 141.

With the list of contenders in the lightweight division constantly expanding, Pearson made the decision to bring his talents to the shallower depths of the featherweight ranks. He approached the UFC with the news, eying this event for his 145-pound debut.

“I first started coming to Alliance (MMA) out here in San Diego at the beginning of the year, and I just see myself improving all the time, getting better and better, and I wanted to keep that going,” explained Pearson of the request he made of UFC matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby. “I didn’t want to stop it and have to start a whole program of getting better again, you know? I wanted to keep the momentum going. I didn’t have any injuries from the fight (against Edson Barboza at UFC 134); yes, I had a few cuts and bruises and marks and stuff, but nothing really bad. I kept my fitness, I kept my strength, and I wanted to keep the momentum going.”

Pearson wasn’t the only one making requests of Silva and Shelby.

When the former bricklayer from Sunderland announced his intentions to change addresses, Junior Assuncao took to Twitter, asking for the opportunity to serve as the featherweight division’s version of “The Welcome Wagon.”

“If that’s what he wanted, he’s got his wish come true, you know?” laughed Pearson. “Not many people have asked for me as a fight. I always come to fight; I’m a hard fight for anyone. I’m never an easy fight, and he’s got a fight on his hands. If he wants to welcome me to the division, let him welcome us. I’ll be coming in to do my job.

“The things he’s been saying on Twitter, I think he’s the type of guy who needs to feel some animosity, some anger towards his opponent to get himself excited for his fights. If that’s his area, that’s what he likes to do, each to their own, you know what I mean?

“I’m totally different. It doesn’t matter — I don’t take anything personal. At the end of the day, we’re going to fight each other, and it is what it is to me. I’m just excited to go in there, perform, show my skills in this division.”

The excitement is evident in Pearson’s speech, and it’s easy to understand why.

He’s not shifting weight classes because he can’t compete at lightweight; Pearson went 4-2 in the division, with wins over veterans Aaron Riley and Spencer Fisher, and dangerous kickboxer Dennis Siver.

Though he lost his last bout at UFC 134, it was by the narrowest of margins, as Pearson and unbeaten prospect Edson Barboza paired up to capture Fight of the Night honors in Brazil.
 
For Pearson, this is the shortest road to the same destination every other fighter in the UFC is trying to reach — being crowned a champion. After a year of working with the outstanding team of coaches and athletes at Alliance, Pearson is confident he can make an instant impact in the featherweight division.

“Eric del Fierro is creating a monster. I’m the same fighter — I’ve got the same heart, the passion, desire — but he’s fueling me with all these weapons, and he’s making me faster and stronger. He’s making a dangerous Ross Pearson, and it’s going to be an exciting time in these next few years.

“My confidence is riding high right now. I feel like I’ve never been as well prepared for a fight. Normally, when I was back home in England and I was getting ready for fights, I was beating guys up in the gym — I was on fire; I was the best in the gym. Now that I’m out here, two weeks before the fight, I’m getting beat up. I’m getting beat down. I’m getting put in the worst positions. I’m getting submitted. I’m getting taken down and controlled. I have to work and fight in every position just to hold my own and do okay. It’s been amazing.

“I’ve loved every minute of getting the chance to train with world champions in every aspect of fighting. When you’re training with the level of guys that are out here, you’ve got to get good quick or you get beat up every day. It’s exactly what I needed.

“I’m not the best jiu-jitsu player, I’m not the best wrestler, I’m not the best striker, but I put it all together well, and I love testing myself against the best of the best in every area. That’s why I love it out here. The guys at this gym have got the dedication, the motivation to just push, and I thrive off that.”

Not that he needs it, but Pearson draws extra motivation from this fight being the final live UFC bout on Spike TV. As fighter who broke into the organization on the network, he feels a certain responsibility to end the relationship in style next Friday night, and that’s exactly what he plans on doing.

“I started my career on Spike with The Ultimate Fighter, and now I get to close the show so to speak, you know. It’s my job to put on an entertaining show for everyone who has fought on the show — everyone who has fought on a Spike card, every fight that has been on there.

“What can you expect? I always say fireworks because that’s the way I fight, but expect the unexpected — something you’ve never seen from me before.

“I’m looking to bring my whole MMA game to a whole new level. You’re going to see a new me. It’s a new division, it’s a new me, and I’m pushing for big things in this division, so it’s exciting times. I’ve got a point to prove, and I’m ready to showcase my new skills.”