Author: By Jordan Newmark

“Practice is 90% physical and 10% mental; competition is 10% physical and 90% mental.” – Olympic champion Mark Spitz

Standing 6 feet tall and as thick as a California redwood at 250+ pounds, Shawn Jordan is not in the business of making himself into a heavyweight. No, Jordan’s business is turning his already heavyweight form into a dangerous, well-rounded UFC fighter. The journey from one to the other will require dedication, resistance to pain, time in the gym, understanding of technique, lots of techniques, and a lot of guidance from those who have completed similar transformations in themselves. Luckily for “The Savage”, he has the required physical tools, the necessary mental ambition, and two teams of highly regarded coaches to set him in the right direction.

“As a heavyweight, you’re still a 255 or 265-pound man,” asserts Jordan. “You’re going to hit hard because that is a lot of power and weight you’re going to be throwing behind your punches. Then you have all these tools. It’s like having Legos on the floor. You have all these Legos and you know if you can only put them together, you can make this race car. You just have to figure out how all the pieces go together to make this race car and then you can drive.”

At 28 years old, the native of El Paso, Texas appeared to be stuck in neutral in his second Octagon performance against Cheick Kongo at UFC 149. Following the biggest win of his career, a second round keylock submission of Lavar Johnson in the Strikeforce cage, Jordan made the successful transition to the UFC with a second round TKO of British strongman Oli Thompson at UFC on FX last March. From curtain-jerker to the third spot on a pay-per-view, Jordan took the opportunity to fill-in for an injured Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to face the then 17-7-2, heavyweight stalwart Kongo in Calgary. On paper, two stoppage specialists like Jordan and Kongo fighting each other should have been fireworks, but, unfortunately, sometimes “should” doesn’t show up.

“I really thought we were going to have a fire fight and bang it out,” tells Jordan. “The fight turned out to be a dancing competition and a clinch match. I was really disappointed for me as a competitor and going into a fight with a guy like Cheick Kongo. I thought we would go in there and throw bombs at each other. I’d have to take some responsibility as well. I think the actual size of the fight, I didn’t give myself enough time to mentally process it enough and prepare for it enough. I think that it is as much my fault as it is. Usually, when I get in there, I like to throw bombs and I like to push the pace. It just wasn’t the way I usually fight. I didn’t prepare myself mentally for the size of the arena, the size of the show, and I kind of got a little starry eyed under the lights.”

If anything, it was a learning experience for Jordan. The UFC rookie learned what it feels like to lose in the Octagon, to be in a mentally grueling and taxing fight of that caliber, to be frustrated, to be under those unsympathetic lights, and to know for a certainty that he never wants to be in a situation like that ever again. With an overall record of 13-4 with 12 finishes under his belt, Jordan’s young career has been obviously an exciting one, and a boring bout like the one with Kongo can only help emphasize that high energy affairs are the strong suit for “The Savage”.

“It helped me get a better understanding of how to prepare myself for these bigger fights mentally,” explains Jordan. “Even in the back, I was stale and I couldn’t get warmed up. I think winning or losing that fight would have been a disappointment either way. I don’t like to get in there and ‘survive’. I want to get in there and compete. Losing a fight is okay; I don’t want to, but I’m okay fighting a three round war and losing a decision – I can handle that. Losing a decision like that (against Kongo), it kind of eats away at you and makes you sick to your stomach. Even if I won, it wouldn’t have been something I would’ve been proud of.”

Up next for Jordan is a UFC on FOX Chi-town showdown with heavyweight hometown hero Mike Russow. The full-time Chicago police officer tasted only his second loss in MMA and first in five years at UFC 147 against top contender Fabricio Werdum. Prior to that, the former NCAA Division I wrestler from Eastern Illinois University was on a four fight win streak inside the UFC alone (11 overall), including the one-sided decision victory over John-Olav Einemo at last year’s UFC on FOX event in the “Windy City”. Russow and Jordan are two stocky bulls who should have added motivation to clash horns at the center of the Octagon, much to the delight of fight fans.

“He’s a tough guy,” affirms Jordan. “He comes in and competes every time. He can take a lot of punishment and he can dish out some too. He’s a good competitor and finds a way to win. I think for the both of us, we’re coming off of pretty poor showings. He fought Werdum and just got clipped and went down. It was a slow start. I’m coming off a ‘Dancing with the Stars’ competition with Cheick Kongo. We’re both on the chopping block here and we both have to put on a good show one way or another. I think both of us are going to come out hungry. I’m sure he’s going to try and take me down because from all his film that’s what he does. He’s going to try and grind it out. I’m not trying to grind it out again.”

As for the previously mentioned evolution of the former Louisiana State University fullback into a fearsome fighter, Jordan is an active member of two world renowned fight camps on opposite ends of the United States: Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA in New Mexico and American Top Team in Florida. Jordan’s new presence at ATT is a mix of a previous relationship between the camps, and with Jackson’s key heavyweight Travis Browne being injured, Jordan’s friendship with ATT members like Dustin Poirier and the availability of a certain two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion as a training partner has been beneficial. In such a young career as Jordan’s is, being exposed to multiple endless pools of fighting knowledge like that of striking coaches Mike Winkeljohn and Vitelmo “Katel” Kubis has to help quicken a warrior’s aging process.

“I was not actually very comfortable standing and striking with people,” reveals Jordan. “I did it because I was pretty tough and, again, I’m coming from football, so I’m thinking if it doesn’t hurt then it’s not worth it. Stupid (laughs). I’ve grown up and matured since then. I’ve improved my skill set as far as striking goes thanks to Coach Mike Winkeljohn and now Coach ‘Katel’. Both of them have had a huge part in the development of my standup. It wasn’t really until last year working with Coach Wink that I was like, ‘I can do this. I can stand and do this.’ I finally started understanding that the point is not ‘get hit, but hit them harder;’ the point is ‘to not get hit and to hit them’ (laughs). It sounds simple. But I’ve only been fighting professionally for three years and overall for four. It’s funny how you learn that stuff. It just clicks one day. Oh, that’s what they mean! It sounds silly, but that’s how it has developed for me.”

On the feet, “The Savage” has gotten a crash course in caged combat from two unique and expertly skilled technicians: Winkeljohn and “Katel”. “Coach ‘Wink’ takes tools that each athlete has and designs specific styles for them for their own abilities, and Coach ‘Katel’ takes what your style is, cleans it up, and makes it functional in every situation,” says Jordan, who only a short time ago walked into Jackson’s as a simple, powerful, but uncomfortable tank. “Coach ‘Wink’ took me aside and said, ‘You’re fast, you can move, and you’re athletic. Use your speed and adjust.’ He started building me off of that principle. Now Coach ‘Katel’ is watching me and cleaning that up to where as I finish all my stuff that I can still stand in there and still be balanced enough to keep fighting.”

On the ground, a literal beast of a man waits for Jordan every day to put Jordan through the toughest grappling training he’s ever faced. That “beast,” aka Steve Mocco, was born in New Jersey, won the 285-pound NCAA Division I National Championship in wrestling at University of Iowa, transferred to Oklahoma State University to win his second wrestling National Championship, competed in the 2008 Olympics, and is 1-0 by way of kimura in MMA. To prepare for a wrestler, Jordan has found arguably the most qualified and terrifying training partner he could.

“I’ve trained hard for three or four years, I don’t get taken down very often and I don’t get thrown,” states Jordan. “The first week at ATT with Steve, in our first grappling session, I got thrown four times and I got subbed twice. I got up and felt like I needed a 12 step program. He’s great! We go at it. We have similar statures. We’re both unassumingly athletic, being short and stocky guys. We’re surprisingly quick in scrambles. I know he’s been good for me; I hope I’m doing him justice helping him. He’s a great training partner. He’ll stay late drilling stuff with you. Where he helps me with my grappling, I help him with some of his standup and helping him get more comfortable with it. I’ve grappled with really tough competitors, but when I’m going against Steve I really have to use every ounce of my athletics to get away from him or get back to my feet. He’s a handful.”

Once a decorated college football player and, now, a possible rising star in the UFC’s heavyweight division, It’s been a relatively short amount of time for him to go from deciding to even try MMA to fighting his third time in the Octagon. With teammates like Mocco, coaches like “Katel” and Winkeljohn, and the personal desire to reach the top of this sport’s mountain, Jordan has a bright future ahead of him even if he’s just starting to walk the correct path today.

“I think Yves Edwards put it best,” undoubtedly utters Jordan. “We were joking around the gym and he said, ‘You know what’s funny? We’ve forgotten more about fighting than normal people will ever know.’ There’s so much truth to that. You learn the basics early on and you think, ‘That’s it! That’s how you fight.’ Then a couple camps go by and you’re like, ‘Wow! I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.’ That’s how the sport is for me right now. I played football and the basics are the basics. I love football, but if you can learn the basics then you have to know when to play and play the speed, and you can play from there on. But fighting, every opponent is an entirely different fight, an entirely different animal for you to take on.”

This Saturday, heavyweights Russow and Jordan will collide to prove their previous performance was only a minor speed bump on the road to UFC stardom. “If fans have only seen my last fight, then that was me driving a Pinto, and, hopefully, we can get in there with a V8 and put the pedal to the metal in this one,” affirms Jordan, who is ready to get back to his winning via stoppage ways and race Russow to a fan-friendly finish. “I’m hoping to have an exciting fight with big exchanges, showing a lot of movement, and I want to keep the pace up.”

Synthesis.

The long departed German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel believed when a thesis combated its antithesis, a newer and higher level of truth would emerge. For combat sports connoisseurs the world over, no greater example of this dialectical relationship can be found than inside the UFC’s Octagon.

Where once there was a division between stand-up competition like boxing and karate, and ground competition like wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, now we have mixed martial arts. If Hegel could have only lived for 170 more years, it’s my optimistic, former philosophy major opinion that he would’ve loved to see his model come to life in the form of flying triangle chokes and Knockout of the Nights as much as we all do.

On a seemingly unrelated note, the week before Thanksgiving, I took a trip with my girlfriend to the island country of Iceland. While MMA / UFC is one metaphor for synthesis, the European nation dubbed “The Land of Fire and Ice” is an equally perfect paradigm. A swath of existence on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge formed by volcanic lava and cooled by glacial rivers. An independent republic whose population speaks a nearly untouched, thousand-year-old language, and, at the same time, is one of the most developed countries in the world economically, politically, and technologically. The country’s character stems from a constant blending of opposing forces, which creates the unique experience that is Iceland.

It should come as no surprise that Iceland’s preeminent MMA athlete is an incredibly dangerous, dual threat of both striking and grappling: Gunnar Nelson.

I had the pleasure to meet and talk with Nelson, as well as his Icelandic inner-circle, at his home gym Mjolnir. Our lengthy conversation covered Nelson’s international martial arts journey to the UFC, his impressive Octagon debut win over DaMarques Johnson at UFC on FUEL TV in September, and his personal fighting philosophy. Afterward, I had the masochistic opportunity to no-gi grapple with Nelson, where he made me tap at will, which was slightly less humbling than tasting Iceland’s traditional fermented shark (it tastes about as terrible as the Wikipedia article makes it sound).

But first, Nelson’s wildly successful foray into fisticuffs began like all UFC fights do: on the feet.

The 24-year-old first son of Reykjavik is a walking, talking, spin-kicking, rear naked choking embodiment of synthesis. The black belt in karate and black belt in BJJ is currently an undefeated, welterweight terror with a professional MMA record of 10-0-1, with all wins by finish. Well before he began collecting stoppages inside the cage, starting at the age of 13 he was cleaning up trophies and championships on the Icelandic kumite circuit. For the few uninformed, non-Jean Claude Van Damme fans, “kumite” is a one-on-one karate sparring sport, which Nelson was the juvenile champion of in Iceland for three consecutive years.

“I started off with Okinawa Goju-Ryu,” remembers Nelson. “About two years in, maybe less, I started focusing on ‘kumite’, which is free-fighting. Shortly, I started training just that with a group of people who were also only training just that. Every now and then, we do some more technical training, but even with that we didn’t really do the ‘katas’ or as my coach called them ‘basics’. We kept some and I do appreciate them. When I was young I had a lot of energy and it was hard to be still and do things in this one way that they wanted you to do them. I was able to be a lot more free when I was free sparring.”

At 17, Nelson was introduced to submission grappling. Friend, coach, and member of Iceland’s national Kumite team, Jon Vidar Arnthorsson innocently enough asked Nelson if he wanted to “roll”. After several minutes of being put into many foreign locks and holds, “Gunni” only had eyes for this new martial art, BJJ. From there, the escalation of coaching was immediate, with Ireland’s first BJJ black belt John Kavanagh to New York City’s dynamic duo of Renzo Gracie and John Danaher to former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn in Hawaii, just to name a few. Nelson earned more than just frequent flyer miles as he quickly rose to the top of the BJJ ranks, winning numerous gold and silver medals in IBJJF Pan-American and World Jiu-Jitsu tournaments.

“I guess I got my black belt in four years,” tells Nelson. “One and a half years, not too stable, but from then on, very stable. I was training every day and I spent a lot of time doing it. And even though I spent a lot of time doing it, I never rushed myself. I always stayed relaxed. I know when I’m rushing. I know when I’m training every day and I’m training hard and spending a lot of time doing it. And I know when I’m rushing. It’s two different things. It’s not the years, it’s the hours you spend on the mat and thinking about it and working on it. I do believe I have a lot of hours in it.”

In 2007, Nelson didn’t decide to try MMA as much as he tackled it by taking five fights within eight months. To prepare for this new combat sport, Nelson trained with Kavanagh at his Straight Blast Gym in Dublin. The two first met a year prior to Nelson’s MMA debut when Kavanagh taught a BJJ seminar in Iceland, and the pair continue to work together to this day. It was Kavanagh’s own competition experience in MMA, BJJ, kickboxing, and submission wrestling that early on helped shape Nelson’s mindset for BJJ as well as MMA fighting.

“[MMA] was different to kumite because there was no stopping,” says Nelson. “There was a lot more contact in general because there is grappling as well, and when you hit you keep hitting. It was not just one good punch, then stopping and giving points. It was more like a fight. It was more like having a fight as a kid, but technical. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to do this because I liked jiu-jitsu and I liked rolling. After my first fight, I really enjoyed that state of mind and that experience. Not beating someone, not at all. But it’s different. Time feels different, everything feels different when this is happening. I kind of liked that state. I don’t like the idea of whipping anyone, but I do believe it is healthy to experience this. I know it’s not for everybody, but there are people who want to do this and want to do it professionally. There are a good set of rules to take care of the fighters. I love the sport. I love doing it.”

Nowadays, Nelson’s massive home gym, Mjolnir, which boasts 800+ members, is a living testament to his martial arts beginnings and will be the launching pad for his future. Walking around the gym is slightly intimidating, as the walls are littered with newspaper clippings, trophies, belts, and markers of all of Nelson’s accomplishments, as well as centuries old Viking proverbs about fighting to your very last breath on the battlefield. The second floor is a former theater rehearsal room, which has been re-outfitted with jiu-jitsu mats and a cage. As Kavanagh taught gi BJJ up top, down below in the spacious ground floor is an adult gymnasium, where Arnthorsson was playing the dual role of drill instructor and DJ to his “Viking cardio” class. Of course, somewhere in between, a rhythmic thwacking echoed through Mjolnir as Nelson worked out on a heavy bag.

“At first, there were karate guys and there were jiu-jitsu guys and we kind of all came together and that became Mjolnir,” tells Nelson. “Since then, we’ve joined with a boxing gym and they’re bringing their stuff in and that’s helped everyone a lot. The wrestling, I’ve obviously been training everywhere and I’ve brought a lot of wrestling in here and the guys have been picking it up. The idea is it’s just all grappling. They’ve put it into different sports, but it’s just all grappling. Work on your grappling on the feet, on the ground, on your guard passes, your takedowns. It’s all the same. You can say that about fighting as well. It’s just fighting. It’s just martial arts.”

For Octagon enthusiasts, Nelson’s particular brand of “it’s just fighting” was on full display in Nottingham, England as he quickly swarmed and overwhelmed The Ultimate Fighter 9 finalist DaMarques Johnson at UFC on Fuel TV last September. In a short span of three minutes, “Gunni” switched between a southpaw and orthodox wide karate stance and exploded toward Johnson as soon as the referee was clear of the action. Nelson took the fight to the floor, actively passed from position to position, capitalized on scrambles, and secured a rear naked choke finish. Part improvisation and part judiciously trained, the victory over the 10 fight UFC veteran was Nelson’s fifth first round submission win in a row.

“I hadn’t seen much of DaMarques before, but I watched a few of his fights and he seemed to be pretty decent everywhere,” reveals Nelson. “I stick to my plans always. It is pretty much the same plan to whoever I’m fighting. I’m trying to react to whatever he does and take the fight wherever I think it is the best place to win. For me, that really doesn’t show until I’m in the ring. I think that could be very hard for some people, but once you get in the habit of it, to me, that is the best way to fight. I don’t decide too much before I get in there. It worked out very well for myself. I was very happy with how it worked out. I don’t think either of us took too much damage. I like that as well. I know that will not always be that way, but I like the idea of a clean fight. And that fight was very clean.”

Fight fans love finishes, and, in that, Nelson is a welcome addition to all to the UFC’s welterweight roster. Of his 10 stoppages, all but one occurred in the opening round. It’s the idea to “be first” and the idea that “an offense is the best defense” that Nelson is advantageously using on his opponents. Additionally, Nelson doesn’t allow his opponents to get comfortable in the cage, as they are constantly adjusting to him instead of the other way around. It’s not a blind bumrush, as “Gunni” crosses the cage, attacks, and pushes his opponent to an area where he can immobilize them as quickly as possible, which is the root idea of martial arts.

“I do push for finishes,” explains Nelson. “My thoughts toward this sport have always been the same – self-defense is number one. People ask me, ‘if it is about self-defense then why do you have to finish your opponents so early?’ That is self-defense. The more time I spend in there with him, the more time I’m giving him to figure me out and beat me. That’s always been my strategy. I’ve always been, I don’t want to say ‘aggressive’, but when you’re in there and it is ‘go time,’ you don’t want to give anything up. In training, you give so much up because you’re playing. But in there, you push the fight more because you don’t want to leave it to the judges and you don’t want to spend more time in there than you need.”

Personally, I experienced half a dozen of Nelson’s submission finishes. Nelson reminded me of how people describe rolling with one of Nelson’s coaches, Danaher: every decision made is the wrong decision. As for the size relationship, I’m five inches taller and 100 pounds heavier than Nelson. While I’m an almost translucent white belt and he is an obsidian black belt, one of Nelson’s most famous BJJ wins was over former UFC heavyweight, BJJ black belt, and former NCAA Division I wrestler Jeff Monson at the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.

“I’d say, I would have an idea on how to beat a guy like Jeff,” states Nelson. “It’s kind of simple if you think about it. He’s very big and he’s very strong, but he’s not going to be as fast as me and he’s not going to be able to have as many scrambles as me. He’s going to want to grab a hold of me and slow the match down and use his strength. Regardless of whatever specific technique he does, that’s the pace of things that he would like. But me, I would like to keep it more open, quick scrambles, make him move. Make him react to everything and not to let him grab a hold of me. He can grab a hold of me a little, but then I escape and that tires him out again. That’s kind of the game. I had this idea before the match and I had a feel for how to do it. I’ve had a good deal of experience of training with guys like this. Obviously, I would have liked to have finished the match, but I couldn’t do that in that time period. I was able to do most of things or a lot of things I wanted to do in that match. As I said before, this is self-defense and I was able to stay safe, but not work as much offense as I would have liked. I had the idea, I had a feel for how to do it, and that’s all you need.”

Up next for “Gunni” is a rumble in London on February 16th at UFC on FUEL TV with TUF 13 alum Justin Edwards, who is coming off a Submission of the Night win over UFC vet Josh Neer. “I know the fans like an exciting fight and I do believe I will always try to put that on naturally,” asserts Nelson, who will look to continue his undefeated/stoppage streak against the 8-2 Edwards. “I do believe the best way for me to fight is an exciting fight because I will push for the finish and I’m constantly working on the ways to finish fights – to be safe in that way. Not to be safe by pushing your opponent away from you, but safe to end the situation. They should expect me trying to end the situation.”

As the leader of Iceland’s martial arts movement, Nelson has already solidified himself as an explosive fiery striker and as a calculating cold-as-ice grappler. Now, Nelson is synthesizing skill sets to climb the MMA mountain with his sights set on UFC gold. Standing or on the ground, fighting is fighting, and Nelson is ready to finish wherever what’s been started.

Ronin. The Japanese term came to define a samurai with no lord or master. The word literally means “wave man” or a wanderer; someone who is adrift, socially speaking. For the past 16 years, perennial top 10 heavyweight Josh Barnett has been a fighter for hire with no specific ties to any one organization or even a particular region of the world. With no anchor in place and Strikeforce setting sail to the great beyond, MMA’s global fanbase is huddled together eager to see where “The Warmaster” will battle next.

In particular, will the well-traveled submission specialist return to the UFC’s Octagon?

“I think it would be fantastic,” affirms Barnett. “It would be a great place to fight and put myself up against these heavyweights, some of which are considered to be the best in the world. I would like to test that theory out because I don’t think some of the praise that is put on these guys is not just inherited by the organization that they fight in. For me to go over there and wreck shop and rampage all over these guys would be a lot of fun for me personally and professionally. But that’s not something that’s entirely in my ability to make happen, so we’ll see how things turn out. We’ll see if the UFC wants the services of a mercenary like myself.”

To think, it is coming up on the 11th anniversary since Barnett last fought inside the eight-sided cage and won the heavyweight championship off of eventual UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture at UFC 36. As any minor MMA historian knows, Barnett was stripped of the title for testing positive for a banned substance. From there, the then dubbed “Baby-Faced Assassin” took his walking papers to the “Land of the Rising Sun” and became a featured star of PRIDE during their golden era of heavyweights. Specifically, in 2006, Barnett tangled twice with former UFC interim and PRIDE heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

The initial bout took place in the semi-finals of the PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix in September and the rematch was set a few months later for the New Year’s Eve show. They were titanic collisions both physically and symbolically. Physically, both heavyweights stand 6’3” or so, weigh-in at over 240 pounds, pose threats standing, but prefer cranking a limb or a tender neck to victory. Symbolically, it was a match-up of preeminent athletes of contrasting grappling ethos: Brazilian jiu-jitsu vs. catch wrestling. Above all else, Barnett’s loyalty lies with the martial arts path he chose many, many Moons ago.

“I started with [catch wrestling] when I got to Matt Hume’s AMC Pankration,” remembers Barnett. “That was the style of submission fighting that was passed onto him from when he was training with all of the guys over at Pancrase. That Japanese heritage that was brought to them by Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson. That was their way to control and manipulate and destroy the human body. I always saw it as an aggressive, wrestling-based, submission style and as a wrestler it fit well with me. I also really liked that it didn’t have a lot of restrictions in terms of what was considered kosher and what wasn’t. Leg locks, neck locks, finger locks, all kinds of stuff. Being able to submit pretty much any part of the human body.”

Both bouts went to close decisions, with the pair splitting the victories. Each fighter represented their particular style accordingly with some dramatic sweeps and sub attempts when the action hit the floor. This heated schism between submission styles added fuel to the fire for these high profile showdowns.

“I always had a bit of a chip against jiu-jitsu in the beginning,” says Barnett. “So many of the jiu-jitsu guys would scoff or turn their noses up at us. They would be like, ‘what’s your belt?’ And I would be like, ‘I don’t have a belt in jiu-jitsu.’ And they would be like, ‘Hah-hah, how could you be any good? If you don’t do jiu-jitsu then you must suck.’ If there was one thing I’ve always enjoyed, it’s having someone underestimate me or disrespect me to give me that much more of a reason or incentive to not just prove them wrong, but to enjoy the look on their face when you get done smashing them.”

At 35 years old, the Washington native’s chip is still firmly in place for motivational purposes. The most recent battlefield for “The Warmaster” has been Strikeforce’s cage, where Barnett has added two wins and a loss to his wildly impressive overall 31-6 pro MMA career. With gravitas to spare, he made his Strikeforce debut as part of their heavyweight Grand Prix, featuring such notables as former PRIDE heavyweight champ Fedor Emelianenko, former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, to name a few. As if he was on cruise-control, Barnett coasted to the finals, taking out both Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov with arm-triangle chokes before either had a chance to mount nearly any offense.

In the Grand Prix finals, the Erik Paulson protégé met the undefeated in MMA, former 2x US Olympic team freestyle wrestler Daniel Cormier. It was a full 25 minutes of punches, kicks, knees, elbows, takedowns, and some bruising clinch work. In the end, it was Cormier who won the unanimous decision. The five round war was a coming out party for Cormier, who solidified his place among the elite heavyweights by earning that hard fought victory. For Barnett’s part, he didn’t give Cormier an inch for nearly a half hour of fighting, even when he sustained an injury just seconds after starting.

“I thought that Daniel had a lot more to offer than people were giving him credit for,” reveals Barnett. “I trained very hard to nullify his offense. I really expected to go out there and finish him in three rounds, but after breaking my hand within 23 seconds – I lost sight of the game plan. Basically, I threw a left hook and he yanked his head in a way that just by circumstances and chance it just worked out and I hit it in a bad spot and it broke. I was completely aware I broke my hand. I basically told my corner under my breath that I broke my hand, so that the doctors didn’t hear it. I just went on from there. I had a fight to win. We ended up brawling and battling it out. I couldn’t quite get the killshot on him to seal the deal.”

Mild irony, Barnett sat out the first half of 2012 waiting on Cormier’s broken hand to heal to only sit out much of the second half of 2012 waiting on his own hand to heal, which he broke on Cormier’s head. “I had my hand ‘surgerized’,” jokes Barnett, who had to have a plate and six screws put into his left hand. “I had a particularly bad one because I had a bad fracture where the bone laid on top of the other. I had also continued to punch with the hand throughout the entire fight. I continued to hit Daniel with it and that caused a lot of tissue damage in the hand. The doctor did a fantastic job and you can barely see the scar.”

Prior to the losing scrap with Cormier, the product of Fullerton, California’s Combat Submission Wrestling Training Center had not tasted defeat since that 2006 decision loss to Nogueira and was riding an eight fight win streak, including seven finishes. “I think every fight presents plenty of data that if you look at yourself and you’re able to remove any emotion from that then you can learn quite a bit; I would have to be a fool to not take something from that fight and not make me a better fighter in the future.” While on the cusp of entering his 16th year as a professional, he still believes he’s capable of competing at his best ability. “I don’t think people should give up their athletic pursuits until they must. I know that there are a lot of things about me as a fighter now that I think are improvements. I know that is still ultimately possible for me to be in maybe the best shape I’ve ever been in or feel better.”

Up next for “The Warmaster” is a Saturday tussle with Nandor Guelmino. The burly Austrian with an 11-3-1 record may not be a well-known commodity like Barnett, but “The Hun” will have the chance to pull off the upset in his Strikeforce debut, which is also the organization’s final event. It’s an opportunity for Guelmino to mark his United States debut as well as taking on easily the most dangerous and famous opponent of his five year career. Having faced and beaten 6’11” kickboxers to 5’9” grapplers and everything in between, Barnett doesn’t expect any surprises from his foe.

“I have seen his fights or what’s available,” states Barnett. “I know what to expect. I don’t worry about what he brings to the ring. I’ve seen so much out there in the world, in the cage, and in training that it doesn’t really affect me at all. I’m not really worried about it all. I only worry about how to inflict what I do upon him.”

This Saturday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, “The Warmaster” is ready and waiting to draw swords with “The Hun”. “If you don’t know anything about me, I’m going for the finish,” asserts Barnett, whose 26 stoppages (19 sub, 7 TKO/KO) over his remarkable career are one of the best examples that catch-as-catch-can is a winning art, no matter where or whose cage it’s in. “I’m going to take this guy out. When I smell my blood, I tear open the wounds and dive right in to make my kill.”

A lightweight by any other name would be just as promising.

In the Summer of 2010, the story was that UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture’s son was making his pro debut in Strikeforce. After six fights in the cage, the story is rising 155-pound talent Ryan Couture, who is riding a three fight win streak, preparing for his final performance in Strikeforce. While separating himself completely from the indelible mark his father left on this sport is wholly unrealistic, the Couture progeny is certainly well on his way to forging his own MMA identity, having had his hand raised five times inside Strikeforce while getting a high profile bout against a perennial top contender in the company’s last event.

“It’s something that is in the back of my head and is added to my list of motivations to go up to training everyday and be the best fighter I can be,” asserts Couture. “It was sort of the challenge that was laid out to me when I signed with Strikeforce: to prove that I’m more than just a last name. I think I’ve done that, but there is still more to do. I don’t, in any way, measure my success to what he accomplished. I think that would be crazy. It’s just one more reason to strive to be the very best that I can be and to make sure that anyone out there that says I only get what I get because I’m Randy’s kid is wrong or really can’t say it with a straight face. The harder I work and the more I accomplish, the harder it is going to be for someone to try and say that about me.”

In just over two years time, the 30-year-old Washington native has ascended the divisional ranks by compiling submissions, decisions, and even a third round TKO. Getting a win in a regional promotion’s cage can be tough enough for an up-and-comer, but Couture made the jump from the amateur ranks right into televised combat and did so victoriously. As mentioned, there was the additional pressure he felt because of his surname, but, way beyond that, Couture only began his venture into amateur MMA a year prior to trading fists and feet on Showtime. Instead of focusing on a 5-1 lightweight as a son succeeding in his father’s sport, we should view this as a former bank worker with a mathematics degree who in his late-20s became a professional athlete in the ultra-competitive sport of mixed martial arts.

“It feels like a lifetime ago in a lot of ways,” tells Couture. “It is hard to even put myself into that mindset I had going into that first pro fight in 2010. I feel like I’ve grown and changed and matured so much as a pro fighter. I’ve learned so much and learned how to prepare and added so many tools to my toolbox. I think I am night and day different now than I was then. It’s been a great ride and I’m really thankful to have had the opportunity to come up through Strikeforce the way I did. It laid down that foundation for what I hope is a long and successful career. I don’t think there could have been a better way for me to get my start as a professional fighter than doing it with Strikeforce, on Showtime, under those bright lights, and having to learn on the fly. I feel like the level of competition has come up at just the right pace and I think I’m ready to do some big things this year.”

In 2012, Couture’s emergence as a possible lightweight force was on full display with back-to-back wins over game opponents Conor Heun and Joe Duarte. The former, a then 9-4 black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu who had taken on several name foes, was stopped by Couture in the final round due to strikes. As for the latter, Duarte was riding a five fight win streak, including a headlining unanimous decision win over UFC veteran Jorge Gurgel the year prior. The Guamanian adversary with twice the amount of experience was a tough test, but Couture walked out with a well-earned split decision.

“We knew Joe hit hard and had a pretty solid ground game and wrestling,” reveals Couture. “We thought I had the advantage if I could get to the clinch, put him on the fence, take him down, work top position, and either do damage there or work submissions. That was the game plan. He proved to be a lot tougher to take down and hold down and a lot more aggressive against the fence. I spent more time out at striking range than I would have liked, but I did what I needed to do and got the takedowns needed to eke out that decision. I’m happy with the win, but would’ve liked it to be more clear cut.”

Clinch, fence, takedown, top-position? Sounds like a chip off the old three-time US Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team alternate block, but the bout with Duarte was for the most part a striker’s duel. While he didn’t get to truly execute the designed game plan, Couture showed comfort standing by throwing a bevy of varying kicks, improved movement and defense, and an overall maturity in the stand-up department. Couture’s evolution and confidence as a striker is thanks to his diligent work with Xtreme Couture’s head boxing and Muay Thai coach: Tim Lane.

“I’ve gained a lot of confidence, especially in these last two fights,” explains Couture. “I’ve fought stiffer challenges and more established guys who bring more skills to the table and more impressive resumes. Knowing that I can get in there and not only compete with those guys, but beat them has really upped my confidence. It motivates me in training and gives me confidence in what I have been doing and making me continue to get better, so I can beat better guys. I feel like these last two training camps have built on each other and will carry momentum into this one. I’m going straight ahead into this one and really looking forward to testing myself with someone on the level of KJ Noons.”

Up next for Couture is a January 12th showdown with Strikeforce stalwart KJ Noons. Inside Strikeforce’s cage, there is no greater litmus test to see if you’re the real deal or not than taking on Noons, with his 11-5 in MMA, 11-2 in pro boxing, and something remarkably similar in pro kickboxing records. The Hawaiian native has become synonymous with frenzied, Fight of the Night-esque performances against the best of the brand’s roster. When Couture was making his Strikeforce debut, Noons was battling toe-to-toe with Nick Diaz to a five round decision for the Strikeforce welterweight championship. Simply stepping into the cage with Noons means Couture is a 155-pounder worth knowing, but a win would solidify Couture as lightweight worth fearing.

“I have watched KJ for a long time, before I fought professional and even before that was a realistic thing for me,” admits Couture. “It’s going to be weird and kinda cool to be standing across the cage from someone I’ve followed for a long time, that I’ve always enjoyed watching fight, and kind of looked up to in a way. It is a sense of accomplishment to even have that opportunity, but I have to shift gears and look across the cage at him as someone I’m going to beat. Over the course of training camp, that’s really started to click. I’m feeling confident going into this fight. As far as name guys and top level guys that Strikeforce has to offer, he’s style-wise one of the best matchups for me. I think it’s pretty clear-cut that he’s going to want to box and brawl with me and I’m going to want to make him wrestle. Whoever can impose their plan is going to win this fight. I like that it’s a challenge, but I also know it’s doable. I know it’s a fight I can win and I just have to execute and be sharp on fight night.”

Besides Noons’ prolific striking acumen, Couture needs to be ready to push the pace from bell to bell because top tier fighters like Diaz, Jorge Masvidal, and Josh Thomson had to against Noons. “I think if you’re not training for a fight to go 15 hard minutes then you’re crazy; you can’t plan for a fight to end early,” says Couture who has heard the scorecards read in three of his last four outings, so he knows his gas tank will be there. “If it comes down to that takedown in the last 30 seconds, like the last fight, then I’m confident I’m going to get it. I don’t care if it’s a gut check fight where I’m puking in a bucket backstage afterward from being so exhausted or if I can get it over quick that’s fine too. I’m ready and mentally prepared either way to do whatever I have to do to get the win.”

To prepare for this scintillating Strikeforce scrap, Couture has been training, like always, with the highly regarded crew at his dad’s gym Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Besides the previously mentioned striking coach Lane, Couture has been learning the keys to the clinch from his former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion father, sharpening his grappling skills with Neil Melanson and Kyle Griffin, and getting solid work in with a steady stream of quality fighters like UFC veteran Frank Trigg. For Couture, finding his identity as a fighter in the gym will turn into wins in the cage, which will strengthen his unique identity with the fans.

“I think for me the most important part of MMA is wrestling and especially for me with that being my go to, being on the ground and in the clinch,” tells Couture. “The big things I’ve been focusing on are finding ways to avoid getting hit with the big shot; I’ve been fighting guys with heavy hands in these last two fights and closing the distance and being more effective in those positions: closing the gap, getting into the clinch, and finding ways to do damage or getting the takedown from there. I feel like those are in my best interest and I feel like I’m going to find very few guys out there that will not be in my best interest to do that to. I’ve just really been dialing in what my style is going to be and what will work best for me to win fights and sharpening up those tools.”

This Saturday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Couture will jump into Strikeforce’s deep end to tangle with Noons. “He’s going to be standing on one side of the cage looking to take my head off my shoulders and I’m going to be standing on the other side of the cage looking to get into his face, put him on his back, and to either pound him out or choke him out,” affirms Couture, who believes he’ll triumphantly wave goodbye to Strikeforce with the biggest win of his young career. “I think I’m more focused and I’m fighting smarter than I ever fought before. I’m coming in with a purpose to apply my game plan and to do exactly what I’ve trained to do. And I think the fight will go my way.”

A win over Noons is about the sweetest smelling victory a lightweight can have in Strikeforce, no matter what your name is.

Ever since the UFC instituted the Fight Night award system, the powers that be have gotten into a rhythm of signing those bonus checks to top lightweight Joe Lauzon and middleweight champion Anderson Silva. As if Fortuna herself had a part to play in this, both organization fixtures started their Octagon careers that same year. It’s said the “bold” are favored, and in-cage boldness is about taking risks to end the fight then and not waiting for a scorecard to be read later. For submission magician Lauzon, his almost over-willingness to try for finishes is equal parts fearlessness and calculated confidence.

“I think the big thing is that I’m not afraid to lose,” reveals Lauzon. “I think some other guys are so concerned with not losing the fight that they don’t go for things and they play it safe. That’s just not me. No matter how big or important the fight was, it is really tough for me to lay off something that I thought was there. Since I started doing jiu-jitsu, I’ve always went for things. I attack. In the beginning, I think I was attacking blindly a little bit, but over time I’ve done a really good job. Some people think I take crazy risks and things like that, but they’re very calculated risks. I make a split-second decision, but I’ve put myself in those kinds of situations all the time in training, so I have a pretty good idea if it is going to work out or not. Other people, they would play it a lot safer, but I don’t want to go out there and win by decision. I really don’t. I want to go out there and submit guys.”

And submit guys, he has.

At 28 years old, the born and bred Massachusetts native tapped or napped his opponent in 18 of his 22 wins. A professional career that began only two years prior to his UFC debut in 2006, “J-Lau” is an overall 22-7, with all wins and losses by stoppage except for one outlier decision defeat to Sam Stout, which, naturally, won Fight of the Night at UFC 108. All told, Lauzon has 13 Octagon appearances and 11 bonuses – four Fight of the Night, six Submission of the Night, and one Knockout of the Night – including two from his most recent tangle, which ended with a third round triangle choke of Jamie Varner at UFC on FOX in August. While the money is certainly great, Lauzon’s impetus for clear-cut winners and losers in his scraps stems a peace of mind.

“People talk all the time about how there are such discrepancies with judges, but there are no discrepancies with a knockout or a submission,” states Lauzon. “When you go out there and finish somebody, you’re making a statement: ‘I’m the better fighter. That other guy gave up or I put his lights out.’ In a judges’ decision, you have to pick a winner because you’ve run out of time – it’s a logistics thing. There’s nothing clearer to me than tapping someone out or knocking someone out. If I’m going to train for months on end, I’m going to do my best so there is no question at the end. Sometimes that might end with me losing the fight, but I can say that I’m happy because I went for it. It would drive me crazy to play it safe and have all these wins go to decision. That wouldn’t be satisfying for me.”

As far as the “risks” that he takes in the Octagon, the biggest gamble Lauzon ever made was on himself to be a full-time fighter. After going 13-3 on the Massachusetts local scene, Lauzon got that fateful call from the UFC and was scheduled to take on former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver at UFC 63 in Anaheim, California. At the time, Lauzon was balancing 25-30 hours a week as a network administrator while finishing up his computer science degree at Wentworth Institute of Technology, and as almost a glorified hobby was cagefighting people in his off-time. In 48 seconds, Lauzon shocked the MMA world by knocking out the veteran Pulver and earning his first of many Fight Night bonuses.

“I really didn’t sleep a whole lot,” admits Lauzon. “At the beginning it was super scary because I was doing so much. I like the fact that I was still working because I wasn’t putting all my eggs into one basket, but as time went on I realized that if I don’t put all my eggs into this one basket then it was not going to work. Work would always be there, but if I didn’t dedicate myself 100% to training, then fighting was going to pass me by. I didn’t want to kick myself forever knowing that I could have been fighting in the UFC. All those what could have beens. So I said, ‘screw it’. I quit my job. I went to Hawaii and did some training and gave it a full-time go. I can say 100% it was the best decision I have ever made. I can say I’m super happy and super thankful that I went that direction.”

If it sounds like Lauzon is used to carrying a lot of weight squarely on his own shoulders, good, because he does. While the TUF 5 alum did have instructors throughout the early goings of his career, Lauzon has relied on his own abilities as a fighter and as his own coach to see him through. It wasn’t until the Pulver bout that Lauzon brought on a boxing coach, Steve Maze, whom he has been with ever since. Nowadays, “J-Lau” runs his own team named Team Aggression, owns his own gym named Lauzon MMA in Easton, and is surrounded by coaches and fighters the way he should.

The first and longest tenured coach in Lauzon’s circle is the one in charge of the standup: Maze. “From the ground up, Steve has helped me with everything,” asserts Lauzon, who can easily point out the memorable Pulver knockout or that on the button counter left that dropped Melvin Guillard at UFC 136. “I work with Steve six days a week boxing, hitting mitts, sparring or whatever we have to do, whether we have a fight or not. Steve and I are so connected it’s like we’re sharing a brain half the time – we really click. For the past six or seven years, we’re together pretty much every day boxing; he’s been there for all my UFC fights, and he’s an amazing boxing coach.”

To sharpen the already vaunted ground game, Lauzon has grappling guru to the stars Ricky Lundell. Besides “J-Lau”, Lundell has been found imparting his wisdom on the likes of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, welterweight fan favorite Dan Hardy, and, most recently, current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, to name a few. Strangely enough, Lundell and Lauzon began working together about two years ago because of the friendship between Lauzon’s boxing coach Maze and Mir’s boxing coach Jimmy Gifford. While Lauzon hit mitts with Gifford in Las Vegas during some off hours from the UFC Summit, Gifford implored Lauzon to work with Lundell as Mir had been doing, and it has been a perfect match ever since.

“Ricky is phenomenal at breaking things down,” explains Lauzon. “He’s got great wrestling and he’s a Pedro Sauer black belt. He’s been doing jiu-jitsu since he was like 14. He’s way ahead of Americans as far as jiu-jitsu and grappling. Ricky is like THE MAN. He makes you feel like a little kid. He’s not only a great competitor, but he’s an amazing instructor. He’s amazing at breaking things down. Pretty complex movements he can simplify them down to where you can understand them, use them, adjust them, and adapt them. Ricky has been my ace in a hole for a while. My style works out perfectly with his style. I’m very much attack-attack-attack and he’s very much position oriented and really locking things down while still being aggressive. We kind of meet in the middle and it has really worked out well for me.”

The final piece of the puzzle is Kyle Holland at Mike Boyle’s Strength & Conditioning. Apparently, Holland is also “the man” and was the one to change Lauzon’s previous uninterest in weights around. Holland’s job isn’t to turn the lanky Lauzon into a 155-pound ball of muscle like former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk; it’s more about functional strength, overall fitness, and durability without impeding Lauzon’s other training.

“He’s not about more weight, more reps, or personal records,” says Lauzon. “What he cares about is making me stronger to keep me healthier in the gym, so I can take more damage and more abuse. Being able to do more weight in the gym is secondary. They’re all about stability and balance and rounding you out to keep you healthy. It’s good to get strong, but not if you’re sacrificing flexibility and so on. It’s definitely worked with helping with injuries; I’ve been able to bounce back a lot faster.”

Now, all of these coaches, training, and the fighter himself are focused on December 29th and UFC 155, when Lauzon collides with the top prospect of AMA Fight Club in Whippany, New Jersey: Jim Miller. At 21-4, the ultra-aggressive BJJ black belt is stepping up to replace an injured Gray Maynard. It’s not often someone as high profile as Maynard can exit a bout and be replaced with an equally exciting opponent like Miller. The 29-year-old Miller poses problems in all facets of a fight, having shown many times over his submission skills, ability to grind out victories, and a vicious striking attack like in the TKO win over Kamal Shalorus at UFC 128.

“I think that Gray was a little bit more high-profile fight because I think Gray is ranked a little higher, but I think that Jim is more dangerous,” affirms Lauzon. “I think that Jim is a constant submission threat. Looking at the fight with Gray, he has the wrestling advantage and I have the jiu-jitsu advantage. He probably had the boxing advantage. But it was clear that I had the jiu-jitsu advantage and he had the strength, size, and wrestling advantage, so it was a little clearer how to approach that fight. With Jim, you’re dealing with murky water. I think our wrestling is pretty comparable, I think our jiu-jitsu is pretty comparable, and I think our standup is pretty comparable. We both go for submissions, we both push a high pace. There are a lot of similarities between us. I don’t have to worry about wrestling as much as I did with Gray, but my jiu-jitsu advantage is much much smaller, if at all. It’s a really interesting fight.”

Whoever walks out on top of this Lauzon/Miller fight will be undeniably a big step closer to a possible title shot against current lightweight champion Benson Henderson. Both Miller and Lauzon have been within an arm’s reach of a title fight before. For Lauzon, looking past Miller or looking past the opponent in front of him is simply not an option because “J-Lau” has earned every ounce of his credibility through the entertainment he has provided fight fans from inside the Octagon.

“My place is producing exciting fights,” maintains Lauzon. “More often than not it ends in me winning, but sometimes I’m losing. I’m going out there to put on exciting fights. I’m going out there to put on the types of fights that I want to watch. There are far too many variables to figure out what is going to happen after. I try to keep my nose down, stay as healthy as I can, prepare as best as I can, train as hard as I can, and take the fights one at a time and let them happen. I feel like a lot of times these guys are getting title shots and put into big fights because of injuries, so it’s a case of staying healthy, staying in-shape, and sooner than later the stars will align for everyone and they’ll get their big opportunity. And you need to take advantage of that big opportunity. You can’t be out of shape, you can’t be banged up. When the UFC calls, you have to be ready to go.”

This Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, two lightweights are on a collision course without a second thought to what the judges think, as Lauzon takes on Miller. “Whoever makes the mistake first is going to pay for it and is probably going to lose the fight,” says Lauzon, who knows the equally advantageous Miller will be a fireworks-ready foil for his risk and reward style. “We’re both looking to push the pace. Neither one of us is looking to play it safe and looking to win by decision.”

If this scrap goes as everyone expects, fortune will favor the fight fans.

While a golden lager birthed on the streets of Mexico has given us “The Most Interesting Man in the World”, among the UFC’s shark infested lightweight ranks there is a red-bearded ruffian born and bred in the super suburbs of New Jersey who very well could be “The Most Well-Rounded Man in the World”: Jim Miller.

If you find yourself at the 21-4 fighter’s home, it’s a safe bet that whatever you see, eat, or touch has been a personal project of Miller’s. The food? He cooked it. The vegetables? From his garden. The bread? From his oven. The meat? Hunted it. The fish? Caught it. The beer? Home brewed. The wine? Home vinted. The chair you’re sitting on, he made it last year, but he put a fresh coat of stain on it yesterday because he had some free time. Everything from carpentry to automotive repair to anything else one can think up, Miller is ready and able to do it now or willing to learn and do it the first chance he gets.

Basically, Miller doesn’t always _____, but when he does, he prefers to do it himself.

“I try to do anything,” says Miller. “Whether it is working on my truck or cooking dinner. I’m trying to cook the best thing I can make. I’m trying to be better than average at everything. I don’t think average is a good adjective to describe anything. I try to be good at everything I do and try to do everything as well.”

It is more than being a hobbyist for Miller because he is never satisfied with just doing it; he wants to be good at it. What originally drove Miller to take on new pursuits like welding were a natural curiosity and a desire for self-sufficiency. Now, the 29-year-old is a father of two and would like to pass down this legacy of practical knowledge and handiness, as well as inspire the same passion for learning that Miller clearly has.

“In all the things I do, the first and foremost is always a father,” tells Miller. “That’s my main role on this Earth. I’m a father first, husband second, and everything else is coming after that. A lot of the things I do, I just like to learn. I like to try new things and like to figure things out. A lot of these things are things that I can teach my children. I can prepare them for anything. To have them not only go through life, but to thrive. My biggest goal is to make sure they’re capable people.”

The goal to be versatile everywhere is no better illustrated than watching Miller fight. Inside the Octagon, Miller is an incredibly impressive 10-3 and, at one time, was riding a seven fight win streak in what many believe is the most talent rich division in the UFC. From Submission of the Night wins over Melvin Guillard and Charles Oliveira to vicious striking displays like the TKO of Kamal Shalorus to gritty grinding decisions against Mac Danzig and Matt Wiman, there isn’t a scrapping style or a facet of the fight where Miller isn’t dangerous. He’s the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt people don’t want to stand with, an aggressive Muay Thai striker people don’t want to take to the ground, and Miller grew up wrestling.

In essence, Miller is the epitome of a well-rounded cagefighter.

“I sure as hell try to be,” asserts Miller. “I like to learn new things outside and inside the gym. I’m just trying to build on the things that I have and be more dangerous. That’s what is so great about this sport and what drew me to this sport, you’re never done. You’re never done learning. It’s not just run, catch, throw. There is always more technique to learn. To get enough reps in to perfect even a dozen techniques is difficult to do in a career, so it’s a matter of trying to get it all in. That’s really what I enjoy. I love learning new techniques and I love playing around with them. I really want to be well-rounded and I’m never going to be satisfied. As much as I try and as much as I train in my life, the way I look at it, I’ll never be as technical and as well-rounded as I would like to be.”

At the end of the day, a fight is a fight, and sometimes no matter how well prepared or ready to battle one is, the unpredictable can derail all that hard work. In his most recent Octagon outing, Miller took on The Ultimate Fighter season 5 winner Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC on FOX in Newark, New Jersey. In his first and only stoppage loss, Miller was tattooed by a two-pronged attack of a freak leg injury and a helluva good wallop from the top lightweight contender.

“Nate, you have to fight him solidly basically,” explains Miller. “You can’t give him any opportunities to gain momentum. I thought I was doing a good job of that in the first part of the first round, but then a couple things went wrong for me. I tore a muscle in my lower calf and then as I came in on one of the exchanges he met me with a beautiful straight left hand that rang my bell. It had me seeing stars for quite a while after the fight as well. I tried to suck it up and tried to keep going in there and going after him. I felt like I didn’t really recover between rounds and I think he noticed that and really put pressure on me in the second and got me in trouble.”

Certainly a disappointing outcome, but there is always something to gleam from each Octagon appearance. “I had a lot of time leading up to the fight and used my time better in the gym and broke it down a lot better than just going in there and getting the crap beat out of me for 12 weeks,” says Miller, who believes he was in his best shape cardio and fitness wise for the bout with Diaz. “That first round with Nate, I think that was the most energy I’ve used in a round of any fight and I felt fine between rounds and was barely breathing heavy, even though my nose was pushed around a little bit. We definitely prepared for that one pretty much perfectly if you asked me. I’m going to carry that over into my other fights and prepare more like a professional athlete and less like a tough guy going in there to fight.”

Up next for Miller, a tangle at UFC 155 with another lightweight sniffing around a title shot: Joe Lauzon. Originally, Lauzon was scheduled to fight Gray Maynard before a knee injury forced the former TUF housemate to withdraw. The 28-year-old with a professional record of 22-7, including a mind-boggling 11 UFC Fight Night bonuses, Lauzon is an equally distressing multi-dimensional threat of an opponent, with all of his wins coming by some form of finish. Lauzon likes to strike with crisp, clean boxing and follow his foe to the floor with slick submission wizardry, which should mean this bout will be an endless frenzied attack no matter where it goes.

“Coming off a loss, I wanted a big name and I wanted a tough fight,” reveals Miller. “I wanted a fight that would get me back at the top of the card in a tough fight to fight even better contenders. Joe has definitely solidified himself as one of the top lightweights, so it is an exciting fight for me. Joe is one hell of a fighter and I’m a big fan of watching his fights. I really like the way he approaches fighting, so it is really cool because I like to fight guys who I have this level of respect for. It’s going to be a fun night.”

There are a lot of parallels between these fighters: dynamic striking and grappling, the majority of wins by submission, neither talks trash, a lot of mutual respect for each other, both entering the UFC cage for the 14th time, and so on. Even their own ground game (offensive, attacking) and those of their respective coaches (methodical, position oriented) are comparable. For Lauzon, the immovable object to his unstoppable force is Pedro Sauer black belt Ricky Lundell. For Miller and the rest of the AMA Fight Club in Whippany, New Jersey, the head BJJ instructor is Renzo Gracie black belt Jamie Cruz.

“I think Joe and I have a very similar style that works well for us,” affirms Miller. “It’s a basic aggressiveness. My instructor Jamie, his style is more of a pressure and methodical type game, so I have that in there. It is something that I do revert back to and go to, but a lot of my style has been combating that, someone who is looking to pass and slowly hook your arm and then eventually take something. I have found the best way to go after that is to attack, attack, attack. It’s cool to have both of those in my repertoire. To be able to do a tighter game and more technical game and then also have that scrambling ability. It is something that I try to use and bounce in between in a fight to catch people off guard.”

As far as standup, Miller works with two striking coaches in Nick Avalos and Muay Thai living legend Kaensak Sor Ploenjit. “My striking has evolved a lot, it’s been evolving a lot,” says Miller, who has had notable striking performances like the one against Shalorus, but to Miller that was only the tip of the iceberg. “I’m actually pretty frustrated that I haven’t been able to really show it off in the last couple fights. It’s kind of like you’re working on a technique and it’s just not quite ready to throw out against one of the best in the world, so you kind of hold back on it. I love Muay Thai and the whole sport of it and it is actually something that I would love to do after my UFC career is over.”

Lastly, Miller can be found honing that never-ending gas tank for his trademark come forward and often fighting style with Martin Rooney at Training for Warriors. “In my opinion, he is one of the best if not the best strength and conditioning coaches in the business,” asserts Miller, who gives credit to where credit is due for the previously mentioned best shape he’s been in for the Diaz fight to Rooney. “He’s coached world champions in just about every sport. He’s trained guys for the NFL combine. He’s a phenomenal coach and definitely knows what it takes to train at a world class level.”

On December 29th, lightweights will collide in a war on the feet and on the floor when Miller battles Lauzon. “I like butting heads with somebody,” affirms Miller, who is excited to throw every technique he’s learned at Lauzon, who will be looking to do the same in return. “I’m going in there to fight as hard as I can and leave it all in there. I expect if the fight goes the full 15 minutes then I’ll be dead tired and I won’t be able to stand up. If that’s not the case then I’m not going to be happy about it.”

The only thing that would be more satisfying than defeating Lauzon inside the Octagon is if the UFC let Miller build it first before fighting in it. Maybe that’s a project for next year.