Author: By Jon Lane

Chris Camozzi is playing to win. And he’s playing hard.

Camozzi – denied an opportunity at a six-figure UFC contract when a broken jaw forced his removal from Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter – isn’t just determined to achieve mortal victory. By the time he steps back inside the Octagon June 22 at UFC on FX 4 in Atlantic City, N.J., against hometown middleweight Nick Catone, the object is not only doing everything to ensure victory, but to shock fans out of their seats with cries of, “Holy [smokes]!”

Maybe you forgot about Camozzi, 12-3 competing in shows near his native Lakewood, Colorado, before a national television audience saw him break Victor O’Donnell’s orbital bone to gain entry into the house — at a heavy price.  Perhaps you dismissed him after a tap out loss to Kyle Noke on February 27, 2011 led to his release. Maybe his nip-and-tuck defeat to Francis Carmont at UFC 137 in his return bout flew under your radar, but there is something deep in Camozzi’s spirit, which he let out on his fan community page a month or so before his trip to Atlantic City.

It was weeks earlier when the UFC announced its seven-year partnership with the FOX networks. And judging from what Camozzi wrote, you’d figure he was a whiz-kid marketing guru and not someone who attended Fort Lewis College for a year before dropping out. Someday, some way, Camozzi believes he can attract major companies and do commercials to certify mixed martial arts as a mainstream sport. A win over Catone is a small step for the fighter and a quantum leap for Chris Camozzi Inc., the making of a brand which leads MMA and the UFC to rarefied heights reserved for Major League Baseball or the National Football League.

“I think I am that guy,” Camozzi said with relaxed confidence. “I have to string a few wins together and make them notice me. The business side, I feel like I’m a good face for the sport. I’m honest and don’t try to make myself look better than I am. I have my faults. A lot of guys try to perceive themselves as perfect. I’m just an everyday guy I think other people can relate to. Once I put some wins together I think I would be one of those faces they would like to get behind.”

Camozzi’s management company, Ingrained Media, has developed a strategy that refuses to settle for a fight every few months before disappearing from public view. It never ends with mere victory, not for Camozzi. He’s dogged in his pursuit to become must-see TV, when fans drop everything and plan their agenda around his next night of combat.

“It’s about being remembered,” Camozzi said. “Nobody cares if you win playing it safe. I think that relates more to my personality too. I said a long time ago the person I’d love to be would be Chris Lytle. Everybody knows no matter who he’s fighting he’s going to be great. That’s somebody I’d love to be like, one of those guys who if you turn on the TV it doesn’t matter if he’s fighting Joe Schmo, people are like, ‘Oh my God. You gotta watch this.’”

Of Camozzi’s 16 MMA wins, six have gone the distance and another six have ended via submission, including his last bout in January, when his guillotine choke forced Dustin Jacoby to surrender 1:08 into round three. The next level of evolution to solve Catone, an accomplished high school wrestler competing in his first bout in 15 months after recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, was to improve the weakest part of his game, on the mats. At the Englewood, Colorado-based Factory X Muay Thai MMA facility, he trained with Olympic caliber wrestlers and accepted an invite to West Linn, Oregon, to work with a former NCAA Division I champion and Greco-Roman wrestling Olympic alternate named Chael Sonnen.

“I think I’ll walk in there as a better wrestler as far as MMA is concerned,” Camozzi said. “I’m training with guys on another level.”

Where Sonnen is blunt, brash and outspoken, Camozzi is reserved with a quiet confidence, but a bit of Sonnen swagger has rubbed off on the 25-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt. For the fourth time in five fights, Camozzi is competing in enemy territory. Catone grew up in Brick Township, N.J., not far from Atlantic City. Camozzi traveled to Sydney, Australia, for the ill-fated battle with Noke, but neutralized homefield advantages with victories over Joey Villasenor and Jacoby in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and Chicago, respectively. Not unlike many fighters, Camozzi’s adrenaline flows when he’s booed. Like a select few, he trains in Denver, where the altitude does a number on your ability to breathe.

“Everywhere I fight I have the hometown advantage,” Camozzi said. “I don’t ever think the other guy does. I fight out of Denver, Colorado. We’re higher than just about everybody. I have the hometown advantage because I’m coming down in altitude. What he feels like in the first round is what I feel like in the third round. If the crowd boos me, I don’t care. It pumps me up.

“The hometown guy always has to perform in front of friends and family, and everybody he knows. I get to go to these guys’ hometown and not have all the pressure on me, not having every single person I know in the crowd and performing in front of them. Granted, I’m bringing a big group of people so (laughs) … I’m hoping one day I get to fight in Denver. Maybe I’ll eat my words and the pressure will be put back on me, but it’s a win-win situation.”

Despite Vince Lombardi’s enduring words, in Camozzi’s world there is more to fighting than winning – much more. It’s a brick used to build the Camozzi brand, to make money without fighting. “You have to build your name, build that brand,” Camozzi said. Working with Ingrained Media has prodded him to find something both marketable and different. You have your garbage talkers, good guys and bad guys. Camozzi needs to deduce what makes him stick out.

“I’m still searching for that, but I feel like I’m starting to find it,” Camozzi said. “When somebody watches me fight they know I’m not going to quit. I’m one guy who fans can rely on to put on a fight, push the pace and never quit in the corner.”

Jake Ellenberger is a top welterweight contender on the cusp of an extraordinary career. He’s evolved from good to great, and a chance at elite arrives on June 1 when he headlines his second consecutive UFC event against Martin Kampmann at The Palms in Las Vegas. A win may earn Ellenberger a shot at the title, and he knows he has it within him to be a champion. All he needed was reassurance from a champion in the game of life.

Jake and his twin brother Joe grew up like any ordinary kids in the suburbs of Omaha, Nebraska. As children they were a lot alike in addition to looking alike; Jake laughed when telling a story of how the brothers hated it when their mother dressed them exactly the same. The adolescent years brought divergent paths. Joe turned to wrestling and Jake to the park to showcase his skills on a skateboard. Watching Joe succeed – he went on to become a two-time Division II All-American wrestler at the University of Nebraska Kearney — motivated Jake to keep up with the Joneses, or in this case the other Ellenberger.

“He was competing in wrestling when I started MMA and going to school at the same time; that’s when I walked on to the University of Nebraska at Omaha to wrestle,” Jake said. “My brother saw a lot more potential in me than I did. He believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.”

Jake made the wrestling team at the college where he eventually became an assistant coach until the wrestling program was discontinued in 2011. But it was the United States Marine Corps that transformed Ellenberger from a freewheeling street kid to a man of mental toughness and discipline that, without him knowing, would lead him to his biggest of breakthroughs.

“When I first started fighting it was more of a hobby and I enjoyed it,” said Ellenberger, recalling a casual interest in a sport at the time not close to gaining traction in the mainstream.

Joe had bigger visions in mind. Seven years ago, Joe told Jake he’s the best welterweight in the world and he will be a champion. Jake considered it a pipe dream, but over time he learned it was possible, that he could actually do it. The notion was reinforced not far from where the brothers were born and raised. Ellenberger had dominated Diego Sanchez in the main event of the UFC’s debut on FUEL TV. But as Joe reminded Jake, the fight was three rounds, not two, so he pulled out a classic motivational speech, “You’ve got five minutes for the rest of your life.”

A right hand from Sanchez midway through round three that bloodied Ellenberger’s nose and a flurry of punches that came flying in his direction served as harsh reminders that success could be fleeting. What Ellenberger learned that night were certain X-factors the most brutal of training sessions cannot teach. Fighting is truly a game of mind over matter, and on June 1 in Las Vegas, Ellenberger has his showdown with Kampmann to be decided in five rounds or less. He saw “The Hitman” drop a close decision to Sanchez while sitting ringside. On the tube, he watched Kampmann do what Sanchez nearly did to him, as the Denmark native locked in a guillotine choke with 48 seconds left in the fight to shock Thiago Alves two months ago.

“He’s always dangerous,” Ellenberger said. “The guy is tough and I have a lot of respect for him, but when we fight on June 1, I’m not going to fight him with any respect. I’m looking forward to introducing myself.”

The winner may end up being introduced as the next No. 1 contender at 170 pounds. Awaiting battle is champion Georges St-Pierre, unbeaten in the last four-and-a-half years but rehabbing a torn ACL, and interim champ Carlos Condit. If St-Pierre is fit, the two are expected to meet late this year. If not, Condit will need an opponent, and Ellenberger could be in position to stake his claim. In his career, Ellenberger holds wins over Sanchez, Jake Shields, John Howard and Mike Pyle. A high caliber level of competition boosted the credentials of Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson to where it led both to a title reign. The scuttlebutt among fans and media has suggested that Ellenberger will be the rightful top contender if he gets past Kampmann. Normally loquacious and outgoing, Ellenberger is refusing to engage.

“I don’t really care, to be honest,” Ellenberger said. “Right now it doesn’t matter. I haven’t been thinking about anything other than Martin Kampmann. The only thing that matters is this fight. I have to prove again that I’m a contender for this title. I can only control what I can control, but I haven’t looked past Kampmann at all. I can’t get complacent. He’s always dangerous and a skilled fighter. I can’t take him lightly.”

The last time Ellenberger lost a fight was three years ago, when an injury to Chris Lytle created his debut UFC bout against Condit, a former WEC champion brought into the parent promotion once Zuffa dissolved the WEC welterweight division. The fight went the distance and Condit was awarded the second and third rounds to escape with a split decision win. Six consecutive victories later, Ellenberger has dramatically improved, and that’s a scary thought. He’s more mature mentally, refined technically and smarter in training, all of which is derived from working with top middleweight contender Mark Munoz, a former NCAA champion, Reign Training Center teammate and one of the top wrestlers on the planet.

Most of all, Ellenberger is hungry for another chance at Condit, who ironically five months before squeaking by Ellenberger lost a razor-thin split decision to Kampmann. But Ellenberger’s recent run has validated his nickname “The Juggernaut.” His brother Joe has forged a heart and mind fit for a fighter, leaving no doubt about what he can accomplish, whether it’s Condit or anyone standing opposite him inside the Octagon.

It’s just that loss, that one damning, gut-wrenching loss to Condit, which still cuts deep.

“I can beat that guy. I can beat him. I know I can beat him,” Ellenberger said. “It’s very motivating. It makes me more hungry. [Winning the Kampmann] fight gets me one step closer to that title shot and becoming a world champion, which is really the only reason why I’m in this sport.”

It wasn’t only genetics that got Ellenberger to this point. Joe Ellenberger’s influence and inspiration has made Jake believe in himself and his potential. Joe’s battle with Paroxysmol Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH) is well documented. Joe receives blood transfusions every two weeks to manage his condition. He not only copes, he lives. Joe won his last MMA fight with a rear-naked choke in the third round to move to 13-1. He will again corner his twin for the Kampmann fight. He’s feeling good, just bought a house and expecting his first child in September.

“It’s hard to put into words,” Jake said. “How he’s dealing with it, it’s changed my life. Fighting has become more than a passion, kind of a fuel to the fire of becoming a world champ. He’s always believed in me, telling me ‘I told you so.’ When you have a twin brother you always have a friend around.

“It’s not so much what happens to you, but how you deal with it. When he first got diagnosed it was obviously hard for us, but just to see the way he deals with that … he loves his life and wouldn’t change a thing for anything. He’s always like, ‘I can beat this.’ He’s probably, mentally, the toughest guy I’ve ever met and ever seen. To see how he deals with a lot of things has put a stamp on that claim.”

Jake was quick to add that if given the choice to trade places he’d do it in “a blink.” Joe, though, insists that Jake be comfortable in his own skin. His flesh is one win from a possible chance at gold. His spirit is centered to where confidence is unshakeable and resolve is unbreakable.

“Fighting is a small part of your life,” Jake said. “Right now it’s obviously consumed a lot of my life, but in the big scheme of things it’s really not. Everybody is going to have fights in their life. When character comes out in adversity, you can handle anything in life.”

It was that right hand again. Somewhere, a witch doctor was having fun with a voodoo doll at Brian Bowles’ expense. A hand fracture prematurely ended Bowles’ run as WEC bantamweight champion and kept him out of action for almost a year. Then between rounds two and three against Takeya Mizugaki, one of Bowles’ primary weapons was again writhing in agony. The last thing Bowles will every cry over or admit to is pain, but his corner knew better. His second-round stoppage loss to Dominick Cruz that cost him the title 16 months earlier remained undigested.

A win over the game Mizugaki would get Bowles a step closer to regaining a prize swiped not by an advisory but a broken bone and a tough break. Bowles’ spirit has always been able, but on this night he needed an extra boost of will power to see him through. UFC brass told Bowles going in that he could be in line for a title shot at the Cruz-Urijah Faber winner later that night, and why not? He’s won two straight as a former champion, the first a dismantling of Damacio Page with the same guillotine choke submission at the exact time and place (3:30 of Round 1) of their first meeting.

Against Mizugaki, there was too much at stake, so Bowles’ was given no choice.

“I still felt it was a fight he could win,” said Rory Singer, Bowles’ trainer. “Having come off that loss to Cruz, I wanted him to know to stop thinking about it and leave it all out there. If it’s broken it’s broken, but at least he would have persevered and worked though the pain. He would have been a better person and a better fighter, and a future and better champion having gotten through.”

Bowles wasn’t happy, neither was the crowd, but he took the decision victory and presented his case for a rematch. A couple hours after Bowles’ victory, Cruz and Faber put on a five round classic that saw the Dominator walk away with a narrow decision victory.

Cruz-Faber earned Fight of the Night honors. Bowles-Mizugaki wasn’t exciting and Bowles knew it. Three months later, Cruz made another successful title defense by besting Demetrious Johnson, so the match was made once the bantamweight division received a bit more clarity, except it wasn’t the news Bowles expected.

“The next thing I hear I’m fighting Faber [Saturday at UFC 139] for the next title shot,” Bowles said. “I took it as that and started training for him.”

It was time for Bowles to take and grind through the pain again. Faber was the WEC’s golden child and a pioneer of the rise of the featherweights during his 32-month title reign at 145 pounds, but he faces Bowles with a 4-4 record in his last eight – all four of those losses coming in title matches. Listed on Bowles’ resume are credentials that laud the virtues of a 10-1 contender who is the only fighter to knock out Miguel Angel Torres. All that stood in Bowles’ way was a bad break, that troublesome right hand, Faber’s reputation and the power of peak performance.

“A lot of times I think winning and losing isn’t always part of it,” Bowles said. “There’s some politics involved. Faber is a big name. He sells tickets and it’s a business, so I understand that part of it. All I can do is work on my end, go out there and win, and kind of force a title shot on them just by winning.”

He’ll have to do it in San Jose, California, 90 miles from Faber’s hometown of Sacramento. Faber is Sac-Town’s beloved son who sold out the Power Balance Pavilion (then known as ARCO Arena) each time he led the WEC into town. Despite his recent .500 run, Faber has earned respect on guts and guile. He lost his rematch to Mike Brown fighting four of five rounds with his own broken right hand and dislocated left thumb. Jose Aldo tenderized his leg to where a lesser man would have disintegrated. His second meeting with Cruz was five furious rounds that left fans clamoring for an immediate rematch.

“He doesn’t give up easy,” Bowles said. “He’ll fight you until the last second. It’s going to be a tough fight for me, one of the toughest of my career.”

Singer’s advice was to embrace the chance to shine on a prominent spot of a popular card in the shadow of a hot audience and grab the opportunity to regain his title by defeating Faber, one of the best ever at 145 before he dropped to bantamweight. Bowles’ reserved personality is ideal to cope with the expected pro-Faber crowd and keep his emotions in check. After all, he’s been dismissed and overlooked before. Few gave him a chance against Torres and he stopped the champion’s 17-fight winning streak cold to become WEC bantamweight king. In a published interview, Cruz gave the edge to Faber because he believes he can beat Bowles on the ground.

“I really don’t get too nervous coming into a higher profile fight,” Bowles said. “I realize the situation I’m in. There’s more on the line here. There’s a lot more people watching and there’s a bigger spotlight on me.

“I realize it’s a bigger fight. Do I feel like I’m going to lose by getting more nervous or over-thinking it? No. I’ve been in this situation before. I enjoy coming in as the underdog. Ever since I started fighting in the WEC everybody’s always counting me out as a loss. Every time they do that I come through and win. I kind of gotten used to that.”

Bowles does carry a big advantage that could make an immediate impact, his power. Faber’s title reign came to a sudden end when Brown caught him out of position and tagged him with a right to the jaw. Only three of Bowles’ wins have come via knockout or TKO, the last against Torres as a result of strategic calculation that baited Torres into his demise at 3:57 of the first round.

“It’s not that you go into it thinking I’m going to hit him with one punch and it’s going to be over, but the fact is if Brian puts his hands on anybody and he connects he’s going to knock him out. Singer said. “His footwork has gotten better with his head movement, and he still hits like a truck.

“It’s not like that’s the game plan, because I don’t think it should ever be I’m going to land this one punch and if that one punch doesn’t land then you’re left without a Plan B. The plan is just go out there and be Brian Bowles. He is a well-rounded fighter. He has beaten guys supposedly better than him in their particular forte.”

In the heat of the battle facing Mizugaki, Singer demanded five more minutes of resilience. Pain had never stopped Bowles before. His hand’s been shattered three times over his five-year MMA career. Mentally there’s no pain involved, he says. Physically, Bowles was being asked to take Mizugaki down and grapple, to slow down a fight that was his to secure.

“People don’t believe me when I say it, but it doesn’t hurt at all,” Bowles said. “I’m not trying to be a tough guy, but it really doesn’t hurt. It’s not as big of a deal for me anymore. I just try and shift gears and do something else so I don’t have to use it as much.”

It was later revealed that Bowles’ hand wasn’t broken, but swollen.  That said, with his right hand left unsheathed, it was fight or flight. Bowles tapped into the deepest of reserves to cope with what was still dangerous and unexpected.

“Your adrenaline is maxed out,” Bowles said. “As soon as you start walking out, your song comes on and it’s time to roll. When it starts kicking in I don’t think you’re going to have much feeling on a broken hand from that point on.”

Despite the rash of injuries, Bowles is wrapping up a productive and healthy training camp, which he didn’t have going into the Cruz fight. Nearly a month prior, he hurt his ribs and in retrospect regretted taking the fight. “There were a lot of things that led up to having to drop out of the fight,” Bowles said. “It wasn’t just the broken hand. It was much more than that. You have a bunch of things bunched together and it’s hard to go through that.”

There were no such excuses against Mizugaki, one reason is why Singer implored him to finish the job and go the distance for the first time in his career. He had to fight through more pain and another stroke of bad luck to do it, but in the evaluation of Bowles’ case study, perseverance is his credo. At UFC 139, for the umpteenth time in Bowles’ career, it’s one more round, one more fight. Patience, yet again, must be a virtue.

The day Matt Brown nearly died was the beginning of an awakening.

Well before he competed in the UFC, Brown had nothing to his name except a backpack full of clothes. He was living with friends on a salary no higher than $20,000 a year. And there were the drugs and the drinking. One of those drugs was heroin, an overdose of which nearly sent Brown spiraling down to the point of no return.

Once Brown survived, his friends called him “Immortal.” That’s when Brown, a former bodybuilder and boxer, started his revival. He began his MMA education, and as money began falling short, Brown auditioned for and made the cut for Season 7 of The Ultimate Fighter to train under Forrest Griffin. He knocked out a fighter named Jeremy May after he was mocked for his 6-foot-0 stature and made it to the quarterfinals, where he was stopped by eventual winner Amir Sadollah.

Brown’s MMA career isn’t how he scripted it. He’s 14-10 (5-4 UFC) entering his UFC 139 showdown against another TUF alum, Seth Baczynski. Entering his last fight against John Howard, Brown was a loser of three straight and one more would have slammed his UFC career shut.

In the big picture, it doesn’t matter. Ask Brown about his state of mind and he’ll tell you with passion that life is good, that he can lose 10 in a row and life is still out there for the taking. Don’t be fooled. Brown plays to win – and plays hard. He just does it embracing the oldest of clichés, the one that suggests you can do anything if you put your mind to it. The world “Immortal” is inked on his stomach as a daily reminder to be determined while living a life of peace, which in his case was nearly snuffed out before it blossomed.

“All those old clichés, they’re [bleeping] true,” Brown said. “All that stuff really strikes me now. It makes me content with life no matter what happens. When you have peace in your life it shows in your performances. It showed in my life performance, but now I can fight not so much with emotion.

“A lot of times your emotions make you do stupid things, so rather than feeding off those emotions, now I can focus on performing, sticking to my game plan, doing what I do, playing to my strong points, playing to my opponent’s weakness, being intelligent instead of going crazy like I’m just going to [bleeping] kill you. It’s all negative pressure.”

Negative pressure and baggage is what Brown dropped like a backpack full of rocks with his three round unanimous decision win over Howard at UFC Live in June. Even the road to Baczynski and San Jose was paved with gravel. His original opponent in June was Rich Attonito before an injury to Martin Kampmann forced Brown to switch and prepare for Howard. Originally, Brown was slated to compete against John Hathaway November 5 at UFC 138 as an injury replacement for Pascal Krauss. Then Hathaway pulled out with an injury.

Brown was not only out of a fight, he was yanked from the event, bumped forward two weeks and a date with Baczynski (14-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at UFC 139. That gave Brown a shade over a month to prepare for a tough Hawaiian owning a four-inch height advantage and one motivated to never receive a pink slip signed by Zuffa again.

“I’m focusing on improving myself in all aspects of the game and my life all around, really, and being 100 percent prepared,” Brown said. “I want to be ready for everything that comes my way. I expect Seth, especially coming off a win and with this opportunity with the UFC, he really wants to prove a point that he belongs here.”

Both fighters face a proving ground. Baczynski was terminated by the UFC after his Ultimate Finale 11 loss to Brad Tavares, but returned 15 months later to submit Clay Harvison and improve to 4-1 over his past five fights. Brown too needs this fight, badly, but he’s in a place he’s often refers to as a “sense of calmness.” He relocated back to his native Ohio, after spending time at Matt Hume’s Seattle-based AMC Kickboxing and Pankration, for grueling camps at three gyms in Columbus. Even under the pressure of win or go home, Brown enjoyed feelings of tranquility throughout a journey that culminated by grinding his way through his last fight. Even when Howard mounted an offensive with leg kicks, the last sense Brown felt was one iota of danger.

“I didn’t feel those leg kicks,” Brown said. “I’ve trained with the top Muay Thai fighters in the country. With their shin pads on it hurts way worse than any one of his ever hurt.”

A loss to Baczynski may hurt enough to where Brown is looking for work, but unlike the days where he barely made ends meet, his endgame will justify the means. His dream to fight in the UFC has been supplanted by visions of being crowned a champion. Getting released will hurt, but Brown could also look back to say he’s lived the dream, doing something.

“That’s something personally I can be very happy living with for the rest of my life,” Brown said. “I’m doing something 99.9 percent of the people in the world never get to do.”

Not that Brown is satisfied, mind you. Not even close

“You’re never going to have a fight that’s, ‘Well I can lose this one and I’ll be fine,’” Brown said. “If I was ever to get to that point, then I think that’s when you need to start looking at retirement or looking at other careers. It’s that whole competitive edge within yourself. You stop dreaming, then you stop having hope. You stop having goals, you might as well be dead at that point. Every fight you’re going to have a million reasons why this is the biggest fight ever. Me personally, I don’t even think about that. If you’re not playing to win, why are you playing?”

Brown’s fighting career could be done in an instant, or he can score big over Baczynski and make his move at welterweight two months before his 31st birthday. His eyes are fixated squarely on that prize, but whatever happens, he’s realized a sense of self worth that’s not based on winning or losing. Deep inside, at home or in combat, exists tranquility though tension. Brown cheated death and remains in the UFC. Fleeting as a fighter’s career can be, Brown has made his mark as a survivor by knocking the demons out of his life.

There’s something about Donald Cerrone that suggests he’s filled with attitude. He walks to the cage to Kid Rock’s “Cowboy,” wearing a confident expression that gives off a direct vibe: He doesn’t think, he KNOWS he’s going to win.

New York Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire once shared his definition of swagger, or “swag,” in a published interview. He called it the confidence knowing you work hard for success, a natural feeling and charisma that comes out when you know you’re at the top of your game. Cerrone has his own point of view: It’s a part of his persona and it is what it is. Those who like it, admire it. Those who don’t, just have to deal with it. To any opponent rubbed the wrong way, more power to the Cowboy.

“I’m not sure I call it swagger,” Cerrone said. “That’s just how I am. Some people like my boy Leonard (Garcia) love the interviews and the press. That’s not me, man, so people think it’s being cocky or arrogant, but I don’t think it’s like that.”
 
Call it brash, call it confident, or apply your own interpretation of swag, but understand that Cerrone has earned the right to walk tall. He’s a winner of five straight fights since a first round submission loss to Ben Henderson last year, and he has quickly moved into lightweight title contention with a series of impressive victories, including respective Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night honors against Paul Kelly and Charles Oliveira. He also rebounded from that April 2010 loss to Henderson with WEC wins over former champion Jamie Varner and Chris Horodecki to start a run that takes him into his UFC 137 bout against Dennis Siver with a record of 16-3 (1 NC) as a replacement for Sam Stout.
 
A closer study of Cerrone’s resume reveals that he’s lost just twice in two years — both to Henderson — and 75 percent of his victories have come via submission. In Siver, he faces a lightweight on a 7-1 surge since his 2009 return to the UFC. Built like a tank and armed with a lethal spinning back kick, Siver’s dangerous standup proved superior in an upset victory over George Sotiropoulos that cost the Australian lightweight a title shot. Against Matt Wiman, Siver also proved he can grind it out en route to a decision win. In what can be viewed as a statement bout that will have future implications on the lightweight title picture, Cerrone has spent the last two months preparing for a bit of everything with the added pressure of being a replacement fighter.

“Jackson’s (MMA) has a bunch of good guys always getting ready, so it’s always game time over there,” Cerrone said. “The coaches are always good about game plans and analyzing the opponent. It’s up to me to apply it in the cage.”

Never shy about promoting his willingness to fill in on short notice, Cerrone steps in for Stout, who, still grieving over the untimely death of his trainer and brother-in-law Shawn Tompkins in August, withdrew from the match.

“I’m ready to go whenever I get the call,” Cerrone said. “I want to make some good money and put on good fights. If that means being ready at a drop of a hat, then that’s what must be done.”
 
In June, Cerrone was on the other end of making a sudden adjustment when Vagner Rocha was tapped to replace the injured Mac Danzig at UFC 131. Cerrone had only a month to prepare for the UFC newcomer, but all he did was open the pay-per-view broadcast by completely dominating Rocha — tenderizing his lead leg like prime grade beef — to earn a unanimous decision. While the win bumped his UFC record to 2-0, Cerrone left the Octagon unhappy over a habit that’s dogged him over his career. He’s often a notoriously slow starter before picking up steam in the later rounds, which hurt against Henderson and nearly cost him against a game Ed Ratcliff in December 2009.
 
“I warm up a little slow sometimes and it pisses me off,” Cerrone said. “My boy (Jackson’s teammate Clay) Guida goes out there and from second number one he is on fire. I admire that and want to be like that.”
 
Two months after Rocha, Cerrone destroyed Oliveria in just 3:01. His fight with Siver will be his fourth of 2011 and his development is accelerating at a rapid rate. While he’s been quiet preparing for the German lightweight, Cerrone is no stranger to trash talk. He’s verbally sparred with Varner and Danzig, and has made no secret about his disdain for Cole Miller, which was born four years ago following Miller’s win over his best friend, Garcia. Bottom line, he’s earned the right to be a bit cocky because he’s backed it up. Question it and he’ll throw it back in your face.

“That’s my philosophy 24/7,” Cerrone said. “Whether I’m wakeboarding, riding my Yamahas or kicking someone’s ass in the gym, I don’t really think that much about it. If the other guy gets messed up by my style, he’s in the wrong game.”

Call it swagger or arrogance, Cerrone prefers quiet confidence. For the Cowboy, who enjoys adventures in the Octagon, the ocean and on the bike, it’s a way of life.
 

Tyson Griffin isn’t a fully-trained chef, but judging by his culinary portfolio, do not be surprised if one day he’s the first active fighter to compete on MasterChef. Griffin takes to Twitter to present his delicacies. Two weeks before his showdown with Bart Palaszewski at UFC 137 he picked up a steak at Whole Foods. “I earned it tonight,” he wrote. “The question is, how do I cook it and what should the sides be?”

Griffin’s post-MMA goal is to become a restaurateur. He’s been cooking for some time and among his other delights are tomato and basil soup with fried eggs, and a fruit and oat shake.

“Food is definitely one of the bigger passions in my life,” Griffin said. “I’ve been trying to create healthy stuff that tastes good in camp and keeping the good, fattening stuff out of camp.”

Griffin has literally trimmed fat, hoping to take what’s been the elusive next step in his MMA career. His recent run at lightweight was rougher than an amateur chef’s dinner service supervised by Gordon Ramsay. Three consecutive losses to Evan Dunham, Takanori Gomi and Nik Lentz left his UFC status on the brink before Dana White blasted the judges of the Lentz fight and handed Griffin a mulligan.

In just his third MMA fight, Griffin debuted as a featherweight for Gladiator Challenge in 2004 and earned a TKO victory over an upstart named Urijah Faber. Two fights into his second UFC featherweight run the stakes are much higher. It’s Griffin (15-5, 8-5 UFC) against Palaszewski (34-14, UFC debut), a 28-year old Polish competitor off a successful WEC stint at lightweight who recently had a four-fight winning streak snapped by a split-decision loss to Kamal Shalorus at WEC 53, on the Spike-televised portion of UFC 137.

Griffin’s recipe is straightforward: Be aggressive and push the pace. The prize is a significant bump up the ladder at the Grade-A prime age of 27.

“I’m after a dominating win over him and hoping to make a case for fighting for the title,” Griffin said.

Not surprisingly, Palaszewski has gone on record predicting a knockout if Griffin dares to live up to his billing as one of the lighter weights’ more exciting fighters. It’s a reputation that took a hit during his return bout at 145 against Manny Gamburyan at UFC on Versus 4. Going in, Griffin owed to himself, his fans and the UFC to push the pace. His previous contest was a controversial split decision loss to Lentz on the untelevised preliminary card of UFC 123 that extended his losing streak to three. A trio of defeats in the nefariously stacked 155-pound weight class normally translates into walking papers. White, however, announced that Griffin wouldn’t be cut and was a victim of yet another raw deal from the ringside decision makers.

“Tyson Griffin got [expletive] big time tonight,” White said.

Handed a reprieve, Griffin made a lifestyle change and tried his luck at 145. His first test was Gamburyan, a former No. 1 contender eventually smashed by champion Jose Aldo. In the third round, Griffin avoided Gamburyan’s advances, answering with counter punches and takedowns to sneak away with a majority decision victory.

The fight was a polar opposite to Griffin’s breathtaking pace. To earn brownie points with the UFC championship committee is to not only win, but to do it with a little sizzle. A win over Palaszewski won’t assure Griffin a shot at Aldo, but it will represent a second coming.

“Beating Manny I thought I acquitted myself pretty well,” Griffin said. “I guess it didn’t turn out that way because it wasn’t a very exciting fight, but Manny fought for the title and he was world-ranked. I feel like I’ve already beaten one of the top guys and I have to keep winning to keep myself out there.”

As a lightweight, Griffin was on the fast track, posting a 7-2 record in his first nine UFC fights while earning five “Fight of the Night” bonuses and a “Submission of the Night” award. A dynamic second round knockout of Hermes Franca at UFC 103 had Griffin in position to make his move. Then came a split decision loss to Dunham followed by a stunning first round knockout loss to Gomi. On the surface, the Gomi pasting at 1:04 of the first round was rock bottom, the ultimate scenario where a fighter’s mind, heart and desire are put to the greatest of tests. Film is reviewed and the healing process towards becoming a better fighter begins.

Not for Griffin, who dismissed it faster than a fed-up Chef Ramsay tosses a poor soul out of his kitchen.

“I just got caught with a punch and the fight got stopped quickly,” Griffin said. “I don’t think there was anything to learn from that, to be honest. I just got caught. I’ve had other losses I could learn from; Nik Lentz is a loss I can learn from. Even though I won, I thought it could be a little more convincing. I was getting my game plan going against Gomi. He’s a dangerous striker on the feet and I just ended up getting caught.”

The bounce-back win over Gamburyan wasn’t Griffin’s signature recipe, but it was a first step up a new mountain. Aldo has been tested in his last two title defenses, the second against Kenny Florian, who was competing in only his second fight as a featherweight. While the Brazilian Cobra remains indomitable at 145, there have been signs of fissures during a time when Griffin, George Roop and Hatsu Hioki are determined to add more depth to the division and delay any ideas of an Aldo-Frankie Edgar showdown.

Roop and Hioki will compete on the main card of UFC 137. The winner could conceivably be matched against the victor from Griffin- Palaszewski. It’s wholly appropriate that Griffin’s road to redemption is ongoing. Growing up with both his parents incarcerated, Griffin went through foster care before living with his grandmother. The ordeal is the impetus behind a charity raffle Griffin is promoting for Boys Town Nevada, a foundation that reaches out to families in need physically, spiritually and emotionally. The goal is to encourage better and closer families working together to put them on the path to brighter futures.

“I can imagine how tough it can be for someone that’s, I guess, not as mentally strong in those areas,” said Griffin, who, unlike many kids, used sports as an outlet growing up. “I like these kids and want to do a little more to explain the situation I’ve been blessed to be in. I want to help give back.”

Also blessed with a rare second chance, Griffin is determined to cook a masterpiece at UFC 137 and earn himself a thick steak, along with a thicker cut of the featherweight pie.