Author: By Jordan Newmark

If fight fans want to see some fireworks before January 1st, the Octagon’s got Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos. How about them fireworks?

As clocks and calendars run out of time for 2012, the UFC is serving up its biggest and baddest main event this side of the New Year. On December 29th, at UFC 155 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas, Nevada, two titans will tangle with about 10 pounds of gold on the line to determine who is the heavyweight king of the Octagon. If that wasn’t enough to whet the appetite, it’s a rematch of arguably the most talked about title fight from last year, which broke the UFC’s network barrier when their first tussle aired live and free on FOX. And, it’s basically the best “striker vs. grappler” pairing available, featuring two absolute beasts.

Everyone and their in-laws saw what happened at UFC on FOX in November of 2011. The highly anticipated showdown between then-champion Velasquez and then-challenger dos Santos was almost over before it started. Both men entered the Octagon nursing unmentioned injuries, but were ready to battle anyway with the world’s attention weighing on their shoulders. It only took 64 seconds and one powerful blow to knock the crown off Velasquez’s head and find a new home on dos Santos’. It was surprising, shocking, and exciting, but now, these two giants are set for another go around for the belt again.

In the lead-up to this championship clash at UFC 155, both Velasquez and dos Santos took time for their busy training schedules to talk to the ever-inquisitive MMA media Wednesday afternoon. Much of the conversation was centered on the assurance that both champion and challenger are not injured for this second scrap for the strap. Besides the fighters’ being healthier heading into this rematch, many, including and especially the fighters themselves, are expecting it to be a longer fight. Honestly, how could it not?

“I think every fight is different, so I’m sure this fight will be different than the other,” tells dos Santos. “I think the first fight was very fast, but I learned some things in that fight. I think this fight will be longer because that fight was too fast.”

No one is hoping for a more prolonged performance than the former UFC heavyweight champion Velasquez. Prior to UFC on FOX, the 30-year-old Mexican-American from Salinas, California was undefeated and dominant in all seven of his Octagon outings. The two-time All-American wrestler from Arizona State University had become a winning fixture in the cage with his unstoppable takedowns and his vicious ground and pound. Watching Velasquez run over his previous competition, it seemed all but written in stone that he would wear the belt and wear it for years to come.

“I got into this sport to be champion,” says Velasquez. “Now that I’m not, it’s all that’s on my mind. It’s all I think about.”

In the original meeting, fight fans didn’t get to see the Velasquez that they had heard so much about or had seen in his run to the title, but it was certainly on full display at UFC 146. In May, both Velasquez and dos Santos solidified their places for this event, winning in the fashion we’ve all come to expect. Velasquez blew the doors off of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva with a 3:36 TKO stoppage in the first, leaving Silva bloody and bewildered in Velasquez’s return to ground and pound form. Meanwhile, the champion dos Santos kept his headlining bout against former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir as a striker’s duel and scored a TKO in the second.

One wants it on the floor and the other wants it standing; it’s as simple as that. “I know how he fights,” states Velasquez. “He wants to remain on the feet; he’s good at boxing. I want to fight my fight, which is a lot of pressure and a lot of offense.”

A year removed from the thunderous overhand right that put him on top of the food chain, dos Santos is enjoying his time as champion and the perks like signing a sponsorship with Nike. The 28-year-old, heavy-handed heavyweight from Santa Catarina, Brazil has a lot to smile about these days as dos Santos cleared out a division on his way to the title and, for the most part, only has rematches with former felled foes in his future. While a couple opponents have taken dos Santos the distance, none have been able to amount any significant offense in any of his nine Octagon appearances, including the one against Velasquez. More or less, if ain’t broke, keep winning by staying upright.

“It’s the same game plan,” explains dos Santos. “My first game plan everyone already knows is to keep the fight standing. That’s what I like to do. I think he is going to come hungrier for this fight. He is going to try and take me down and use his ground and pound. My strategy is the same for this fight and I’m prepared to win. I’m a very confident guy. I think that’s part of my strength. I will give my best to follow my strategy inside the Octagon.”

Although the champion rarely visits his ground game in the cage, in the gym dos Santos is a newly minted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. And while the only real evidence UFC fans have seen of dos Santos’ non-striking abilities were in a few extremely well-executed takedowns against Shane Carwin in the later rounds of their bout, most opponents have yet to force dos Santos into a situation where he’s needed to use anything other than his elite standup. As all fights start on the feet, the onus is on Velasquez to take dos Santos out of his comfort zone and show us how the champion fares off his back.

“Cain is an excellent wrestler,” asserts dos Santos. “He puts pressure on his opponents all the time. I will have to use my takedown defense and boxing skills. I know Cain’s game. I know his strategies. If he can take me down and be able to hold me down there, then I’m definitely ready to have my first submission victory. It doesn’t matter what happens, I think I will knock him out again.”

On December 29th, the UFC counts down to the New Year with a colossal collision between champion and challenger, as dos Santos defends his title against Velasquez. Whether it goes to the unlikely last minute or barely makes it out of the first like last time, there is no better way to close out 2012 than with the guaranteed pulse raising excitement of this heavyweight headliner.

They say “behind every great man, there’s a great woman” and in Pat Barry’s case – this woman can kick your ass. Standing at 5’5” and weighing in at 115 pounds, Rose “The Riveter” Namajunas has been busy tearing up the women’s amateur ranks at strawweight. Set to make her pro debut on January 5th Invicta FC 4, it seems to make sense that the UFC heavyweight would need to have an equally formidable lady. Although the way Barry tells it, it’s not the expected tale of her keeping up with him; it’s the 10 year veteran of professional kickboxing / mixed martial arts who is in awe of his next generation of fighting significant other.

“When she fights, I have to be the absolute worst cornerman in the world,” exclaims Barry. “I have got to be! I am going to win an award for being the worst cornerman ever because when she is fighting, as I’m calling stuff out, I’m jumping up and down, screaming, and high-fiving people! I end up watching her fights and end up watching them being a fan. It’s so uncontrollable! I get so nervous before the fight, like ‘throw-up’ nervous. Then she’s so badass, she’s so good, she’s bad as [expletive]! She’s a hybrid werewolf-vampire! She’s a combination of the two. She’s so good. She’s the new evolution of a fighter! I’ve worked my way up from nothing to nowadays, but now, they are starting off running up walls, throwing kicks, and then a fireball. That’s where the evolution of the fight game is, that that’s where they’re starting at nowadays. She’s starting as a ridiculous striker, a ridiculous wrestler, undefeated in jiu-jitsu. She’s starting out stone-faced, Ivan Drago, like ‘if you don’t win, you don’t eat’.”

At 33 years old and preparing to enter the Octagon for the 10th time, if finding love wasn’t enough, Barry has found his greatest insight into being a fighter through Namajunas. In general, it’s not easy diagnosing one’s own problems and, even more so, the solution to fix them. As “The Riveter” and “HD” train in tandem for caged combat like an intergender tag team, Barry can objectively oversee what Namajunas is going through good and bad, and, for the first time, realize that he is going through that as well. In a way, they are each other’s mirror.

“What it does, it helps me understand more of myself,” explains Barry. “Working with her, training with her. Of course, I’m not her only coach, but she helps me understand myself more, watching all the emotional ups and downs that she has. Anyone who says they don’t get nervous before a fight is a liar. You tell them I said that. Anyone who doesn’t have second thoughts or have doubts is no good and shouldn’t be doing this. The mental side is way worse that the physical side. The punching and kicking is easy, that’s the easy part. Wanting to do that is the tough part. Watching her, I’m able to figure things out about myself by being with her side-by-side as she is going through these ups and downs. That’s been great. She’s my best friend. She’s my most important training partner. She’s been able to help me learn so much about myself just being around her. I can’t say thank you enough.”

While the two are certainly smitten with one another, there is something Namajunas doesn’t care for about Barry and it’s getting worse: his hair. “She likes it every five minutes, but that’s it. Other than that, it’s horrible,” admits Barry who isn’t on-board with his steadily-growing coif either, which is getting dangerously close to the point the Louisiana native will enter the cage with a samurai top-knot someday. “I told people that I wasn’t going to cut the top of my hair until I got a submission in the UFC. I have zero intention of submitting anyone. I am going to punch and kick people to death as long as I’m standing there.”

That’s the “Hype or Die” Barry that UFC fans know and love. Thus far in 2012, the former K-1 kickboxer turned UFC knockout artist has split the difference in two Octagon appearances by stopping Christian Morecraft in January and getting stopped by Lavar Johnson in May, both in the first round. The former tangle earned Barry and Morecraft Fight of the Night bonuses and the latter earned Johnson a Knockout of the Night bonus. One cannot deny the entertainment factor Barry brings to his bouts, whether he’s helping or hurting his overall 7-5 record. Every one of his scraps possesses a raw, highly-contagious excitement like Barry’s own personality because he fights for finishes.

Up next is a probable striker’s showdown on December 15th with the former WBC Muay Thai world heavyweight champion Shane Del Rosario at The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale. The 29-year-old California native and Team Oyama product went 11-0, including six wins in Strikeforce, before suffering his first loss in his organization debut at UFC 146 to the elbows of Stipe Miocic. While primarily a standup fighter, with eight victories via KO/TKO, Del Rosario has three impressive opening round submission wins like the armbar of the previously mentioned Johnson and the unusual omoplata on Brandon Cash. It’s a surefire fan favorite fight with Barry and Del Rosario having 24 bouts between the two of them and only one decision.

“Stylistically, I think this is a great matchup,” explains Barry. “If you didn’t know anything about Shane and you just watched the way he fights, you would think he was this young cat who fights at 145 pounds. He’s very nimble, very light on his feet. He’s got not-so-traditional striking, he’s flashy. He’s the kind of a guy who can make a move, you blink, and then you get hit with something you don’t see coming. Besides that, his jiu-jitsu is really, really up-to-date. It’s not your traditional move my knee here, put my knee here, put body pressure here jiu-jitsu. He’s got the kind of jiu-jitsu that he’s going to end up submitting you with something you can’t name. He’s extremely well-rounded everywhere. He’s what MMA fighters are nowadays. He’s not coming in one-sided like myself. I’m a dominant striker and everyone in the world knows that my ground game would be my weakness. He’s coming in more complete.”

Compliments aside, Barry and Del Rosario are both well-known, well-regarded strikers, which led them both to the arctic outskirts of Minnesota for Team DeathClutch. While Barry was a member of former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar’s mysterious and almost mythical training team for much longer, Del Rosario was there for about a week at the beginning with a couple day overlap with Barry. Their shared time there is more anecdotal than anything, as originally all the talent brought in was simply to battle the man-beast Lesnar. “We were all there for Brock. So, we were in the same room and worked out a little bit once or twice, but other than that, nothing. We mostly just laughed, talked, and high fived each other.”

Sadly, Team DeathClutch is no more, but Barry stayed in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” and trains full-time at Greg Nelson’s The Academy outside of Minneapolis. Besides Barry and Namajunas, Nelson has coached UFC stars like Lesnar, former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk, former UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne, Nik Lentz, and Jacob Volkmann. As for owner/head instructor himself, who Barry refers to as “Yoda”, Nelson is a world traveled and tested, certified top-tier instructor/practitioner in about any martial art with a name, including being awarded his first Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt by the legendary Pedro Sauer.

“This dude is a high level black belt in everything,” affirms Barry. “There is nothing you can say about fighting that he hasn’t experienced 30 times over. He knows everything when it comes to the fight game. He’s very well-respected and very world-renowned. Greg’s mentality, his whole idea about fighting, is win. Win by any means necessary. He’s got tricks up his sleeves galore. He is not teaching traditional jiu-jitsu for jiu-jitsu, he’s not teaching wrestling for wrestlers – he’s teaching fighting. He’s teaching winning for fighting. He’s beaten cancer three times and in the third time he supposedly beat it with his own hands. He just pulled it out and punched it. All around, Greg Nelson is a warrior.”

If that wasn’t enough, Barry spent a month in Denver, Colorado at the Grudge Training Center with Trevor Wittman and its talented roster of large cagefighting mammals like former interim UFC heavyweight champion Shane Carwin. It should come as no shock to the weekly TUF viewer, as Barry was recruited as a striking coach for Carwin’s team, and the training relationship continued off-camera. The allure of Grudge for Barry is twofold: the big bodies to battle against and Wittman’s standup expertise. While most time in the gym is spent on fixing the holes in one’s game, there’s always the need to upgrade one’s strengths as well.

“What he’s doing is polishing me,” says Barry. “He’s able to see things. Ever since I got into MMA, I’ve focused the majority of my time on wrestling and jiu-jitsu because it was my weakness. Since doing that, I’ve kind of neglected my striking. Trevor knows that. He says he sees it in all of my fights. He says, ‘You’re doing things that you’re not training. You’re doing things that you’ve never been taught that you’ve just known on your own, but you’ve never been shown why you do things you do.’ It’s not necessarily learning anything new. It’s learning things that I’ve been doing, but I just didn’t know why. He’s fine-tuning.”

With Namajunas, Nelson, and Wittman helping in his evolution, Barry has also taken his strength and conditioning up to the nth degree at Horsepower. “Physically, I’m definitely coming in stronger,” states Barry, who was already working out there, but once he got word of the Del Rosario fight – he took it up a notch, maybe even 100 notches. “I don’t know how useful it is going to be in the fight because this is my first fight with the strength and conditioning that I’ve been doing, but I’ve been seeing the benefits of what I’ve been doing visually and I can feel the difference when it comes to training.”

This Saturday in lovely Las Vegas, Nevada, there will be a colossal collision of cagefighting heavyweights when Barry clashes with del Rosario. “It’s going to be everything they want: two guys standing there punching and kicking each other until one of them falls down,” asserts Barry, who is coming into this scrap bigger, stronger, and faster; both mentally and physically. “It’s not going to go to the distance because neither one of us are distance fighters. We’re going to stand there punching and kicking each other until one of us quits. That’s what’s going to happen.”

Win or lose, Barry’s bout will no doubt be a spectacle to remember. And when it’s done, “HD” can get back to his day job of helping his lady, Namajunas, on her title run in 2013.

It is the dawn of a new era, a Swedish era in European MMA and, possibly soon enough, the UFC light heavyweight division.

The tip of this blue and yellow spear is the fleet-footed, punishing puncher Alexander Gustafsson. The 6-foot-5, modern-day Nordic Viking has torn through an international onslaught of opposition in his three years inside the Octagon, and following Sweden’s successful indoctrination into the UFC rotation and Gustafsson’s emergence as a main event star, the rising star is standing on the precipice of war with a former champion, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, where a win could mean a title shot with the current one, Jon Jones. As deftly as he handled Thiago Silva, his foe in Stockholm, Gustafsson looks confidently forward to one day bringing the Octagon’s gold back to “The Old World”.

“For me to fight [Jon Jones], it’s a big challenge for me, but I know that I am up there,” asserts Gustafsson. “He’s the best in our division right now, but I know I can challenge him, and know that I can really fight him and win against him. I never look past an opponent, so I’m focused on ‘Shogun’, but when I beat ‘Shogun’ I will be more than ready to fight a guy like Jones or whoever has the belt. That’s why I’m doing this. That’s what wakes me up in the morning to train super hard. That’s what motivates me – to one day fight for the belt. When I get the chance, I will make the best of it and be more than ready for it.”

The 25-year-old who grew up less than two hours from Stockholm in Arboga, played the role of host, headliner, and hometown hero in April at the UFC’s first ever event in Sweden. Just three years prior in Stockholm, Gustafsson improved his pro MMA unbeaten streak to eight by winning via first round TKO for the fifth time. Aptly dubbed “The Mauler”, Gustafsson was headed to the major leagues of MMA, the UFC, to realize his competitive dream, but couldn’t have guessed he would be back in his home country so soon as a burgeoning star in the main event of the UFC on FUEL TV card. The pressure of the situation was certainly not lost on Gustafsson prior to the fight, but once the cage door shut, “The Mauler” took over.

“It was nerve wracking,” admits Gustafsson. “I was scared as Hell before this fight about that. Then I went in there and everything went well. It was a really good event. And it was the best thing I’ve done in my life so far. It was by far the best experience ever and the best feeling ever. Now, I know I can take pressure because I had to and everything went good. It was very good for my career.”

Besides the obvious added media attention and responsibilities that come from being in a headlining bout, multiply that by this marking an entirely new territory for the UFC in which Gustafsson is born, raised, and still trains in. Raise it up a notch further, as this would be the first time he would be in the starring role of an event and it just so happens to be the one in his hometown. With 15,000 countrymen filling the multicolored Ericsson Globe and cheering his name, Gustafsson still had to take to the cage and square off with the Brazilian bomber Silva.

“I knew he was super tough, he had good jiu-jitsu, and was a really heavy-handed striker,” tells Gustafsson. “That was really it. That was what I knew about him. I went in there and it went good. I came in with a bulletproof gameplan and everything went good. My plan was to stay away from his heavy hands and not be in his strength, his gameplan, which was a brawl. Maybe he gets a takedown and gets on top. I didn’t want to be in his game, so to speak. I tried to avoid that power. I wanted to move around and pick him apart.”

Like a Swedish Muhammad Ali, Gustafsson floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee early in the first round. “I just threw an uppercut and he went down,” says Gustafsson who dropped Silva, followed him for a frenzied finish, but didn’t get it in the opening stanza. “I should have stayed a little cooler and hit him with my precision instead, and maybe I would have had the finish in the first round. I didn’t really think about anything and I just went down and threw a lot of punches (laughs). But everything went well in the end.”

The eventual unanimous decision over Silva takes Gustafsson’s record to an overall 14-1, with a 6-1 record inside the Octagon, which has earned him the co-main event slot against “Shogun”. This Saturday on FOX, the former PRIDE Grand Prix champion and former UFC light heavyweight champion will duel with fists and feet in the cage against Gustafsson. While Gustafsson is riding a five fight winning streak, Rua got back on the victory track with a fourth round TKO of Gustafsson’s teammate Brandon Vera at the previous UFC on FOX event in August. That win improves Rua’s career to 21-6 with an even more impressive and eye-opening 18 stoppages by KO/TKO.

“He’s a really tough fighter,” explains Gustafsson. “He’s been around, he’s with a very good team, and he’s been the champion. He’s a tough guy. He’s by far the toughest opponent I’ve fought so far in my career. I better be ready and I better be sharp when I get in there. I’m getting ready for the best ‘Shogun’. I can’t wait to fight him. It’s an honor to be in the same cage as him. I think it is going to be a striking fight more or less. I would say he’s more of a heavy hitter. He has heavy hands and has more of a brawl style. I think I’m more of a distance fighter. I pick my shots a little bit more and better. We’re different types of strikers. We’re going to put on a good show.”

While not much can top his last experience inside the Octagon, this will be a surreal scrap for Gustafsson, as he is taking on an opponent he’s been a big fan of since the beginning.

“Just the fact that I am fighting him is unbelievable because I’ve been watching him since I started doing MMA when he fought in PRIDE and I watched him when he came to the UFC,” says Gustafsson, who is not the first to have delivered such praise of “Shogun,” whose 2003 – 2007 stretch in PRIDE was unquestionably one of the most thrilling this sport has ever seen. “I never believed that I would actually fight him. He’s a guy I’ve been looking up to and looking up to his fighting style because he’s aggressive and he likes to give the fans a show and that’s what I like to do. Now, I’m fighting him and it’s quite unbelievable – actually incredible.”

To prepare for this tumultuous tangle, Gustafsson splits his camp between continents: first in his native Sweden and second in his adopted American address at Alliance MMA in San Diego, California. Either in the Northern lands or on Sunny West coast, his head coach is former boxing coach Andreas Michael, who is in the process of opening his own gym in Stockholm called Allstars. For this particular camp, not only did Gustafsson and Michael travel to Eric Del Fierro’s Alliance, but so did many of Gustafsson’s fellow Swedish fighters.

“Andreas has a great relationship with Eric,” tells Gustafsson. “I always do my final preparations at Alliance. Those two together are a masterpiece. It’s such high level coaching it’s unbelievable. They help me a lot. All the guys here do. Phil Davis, Brandon Vera, Joey Beltran, Dominick Cruz, Mike Chandler – it’s a lot of really top level guys. I have my team from Stockholm out here too. It has been a really great camp and I can’t ask for anything more.”

With the combined effort of gyms, coaches, and fighters in “The Old World” and “The New World”, Gustafsson is evolving into one of the top threats in the light heavyweight division. While “The Mauler” works well to put a label on a physically menacing fighter who can quickly overpower and finish a fight, it doesn’t do much to illustrate how thoughtful of Gustafsson is at choosing his means to his opponent’s destruction. Training in boxing since he was 10, Gustafsson doesn’t swing wildly; he strategically lances with jabs, hooks, and uppercuts. For a young fighter, he has shown almost an immediate maturity in and out of the cage, which should mean a long tenure in the UFC and as the leading envoy from Sweden’s growing MMA scene.

“You have to make the right decision and be quick: fast and precise,” affirms Gustafsson. “That’s what I’m trying to do all the time. I want to do as much damage as I can without spending too much energy. I always want to be a better fighter for every fight. I look back at my old fights and I shake my head like I can’t believe I can’t did that. I always try to fix my mistakes and my holes in my game. That is what is preparing me for this fight. My overall game will be better. I will be a better striker, a better grappler, a better wrestler, a better kickboxer. I will be a better fighter in every situation.”

This Saturday, a fan-friendly, stand-up showdown will take center stage between “The Mauler” and “Shogun”. “It’s going to be a striker vs. a striker – a war in the cage,” states Gustafsson, who knows he can handle the pressure when the brightest of lights are on him, and with a win he will welcome much more of it. “We’re going to throw at each other and it will be a hell of a fight. That’s what people come to watch: two strikers going at it. It’s going to be something to watch.”

After 15 years and 60 fights as a professional mixed martial artist, one would think that there are no more surprises in store for Yves Edwards.

One could think that, rightly, until the morning of October 5th when the “Thugjitsu” veteran’s UFC on FX opponent Jeremy Stephens was arrested, held by Minnesota police, and not allowed to participate in the fisticuff festivities that evening. It was a strange situation for all parties involved as the UFC’s top brass tried everything they could to get Stephens out so he could fight; meanwhile, Edwards continued to warm up and keep focused for a lightweight tangle that never got the chance to materialize.

It was shocking how everything unfortunately unfolded, but, truth be told, there was foreshadowing only hours earlier that something was destined to go wrong. At weigh-ins the day prior, Edwards broke two of his long standing and almost holy traditions: eating on the scale and wearing superhero underwear. Both fight fans and Edwards himself were aghast at this weigh-in blasphemy, and the fighter takes full blame for what followed.

“I think that’s the reason the whole thing got screwed up,” admits Edwards. “I screwed up some of the vibes in the universe by not being prepared. That was completely my fault. I don’t know if you can see it, but at the weigh-ins when I get on stage and I’m getting down to my skivvies, I look down at my underwear and I realize I’m not even wearing my superhero underwear. I was already distracted. I had them in my backpack and I forgot to change. I screwed up. If the universe is all vibes and everything is connected then it is probably my fault that Jeremy got arrested.”

All joking aside, the 36-year-old Bahamian brawler wasn’t angry, just disappointed that he didn’t get to fight. Athletes come and go like the tide, but Edwards has been an MMA fixture dating back to his initial bouts in Texas starting in 1997. It’s been a competitive career spread across companies, countries, and continents, and doesn’t appear to be losing any speed. Maybe a younger fighter or at least a more emotional fighter would’ve been thrown by the oddness of the occasion, but Edwards stayed in his locker room and got ready to fight like it was any other fight because, in the end, it would be just another scrap once the cage door closed.

“Once I set my mind to something, I’m good at staying in that frame of mind,” explains Edwards. “My frame of mind was if they get him out then we’re going to fight. I don’t want to look bad in a fight against a guy who has been in jail all day. His mind might have been screwed up from it, but I wanted to keep every advantage of mine. This is a fight in the UFC and in the UFC every fight is tough. If there is a mental advantage in this then I don’t want it to be in his favor. I just wanted to be ready to fight and as far as I was concerned that was going to happen. I stayed in the state of mind that this is going to go down and it’s going to be a battle.”

At the post-fight press conference and in his video blog, UFC president Dana White paid numerous compliments to Edwards’ composure and professionalism not only that night, but for all the years they’ve worked together. If the Stephens scrap had taken place, it would’ve been Edwards’ sixth Octagon appearance in the last two years, but before that Edwards fought periodically in the UFC (10 times) throughout the past decade. Many struggle to stay in this business for 10 or 20 fights, while Edwards is looking to surpass 60 fights with an exemplary record of 41-18-1. On the surface, the key to this longevity is a mix of mental flexibility, physical readiness, and not being on the wrong end of many Knockout of the Night or Fight of the Night bonuses.

“It’s not one of those things that you could just make a pie chart for,” tells Edwards. “The mental part of it is definitely a big part, but there are so many big parts. Mentally, being happy with yourself and loving what you do. On top of that, constantly trying to improve. Being able to step back and look at it from a different angle and not being caught up in the emotions of the way things work. Not trying to decide things out of emotion, but instead trying to decide things on what is the best thing for you. The physical part of it? I’ve been lucky that I haven’t been in a lot of wars. I haven’t taken very many beatings. I was unconscious once, and lost by TKO three times. The fight with [Sam] Stout was the only time I’ve ever been unconscious in 60 fights, so if I could go another 60 fights and it doesn’t happen for that long then I would be happy. I’ve dished out some beatings, but haven’t taken many. Fighting is still fun to me. I’m around a good team. I have my home base at American Top Team and then there are all the other guys I work with on my own. They have helped me improve, and improving is how you stick around in this sport. I still feel young physically. All those things coming together have kept me around for 15 years, and have me in the frame of mind that I want to keep going.”

Honestly, what keeps Edwards fighting is his happiness. He has been and will continue to be surrounded by the people that he loves, from his wife and family to his friends and teammates. “Ultimately, if I win by a spectacular knockout or lose by a boring decision, I’m going to go back to the locker room with my teammates, who are my best friends, and then I’m going to meet up with my wife and my family – I’m going to be with the best people in the world for me,” says Edwards. Whether it is inside or outside of the cage, Edwards has his unflinching support system in place, and still has fun fighting all these years later.

“I’m a pretty simple guy,” admits Edwards. “My wife loves to eat healthy and she loves to cook healthy. I don’t eat out much. I take protein and I take fish oil. I just go to the gym and I feel like I work hard. Yeah, I get tired and some days I don’t feel like it, but a lot of times those days once I get in and get it started I have so much fun and feel good. I think it has a lot to do with me still being a kid. Not a ‘child at heart’, but me being stupid like a kid and always wanting to have fun.”

Up next for Edwards is the December 8th rescheduled rumble in “The Emerald City” with “Lil’ Heathen” Stephens at UFC on FOX. As luck would have it, the 26-year-old knockout artist from Des Moines, Iowa is still itching to tangle with Edwards two months later. At 20-8, the heavy-handed Stephens is on a two fight losing skid against Donald Cerrone and former WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. The owner of three Knockout of the Night and one Fight of the Night bonuses, Stephens is a bullying brawler with an often underrated ground game whose fights always have highlight reel potential.

“Jeremy is a tough guy with big power,” reveals Edwards. “He just carries that power throughout the whole fight. You have to keep your eyes open, be smart, and not make any mistakes. I think that his strong suit is carrying that power throughout the whole fight. He’s always dangerous because he always needs just one chance. I think this fight, I’m a little more pumped for it. It’s a guy I know personally as a guy outside of this sport and as a participant in this sport. It’s somebody I respect, I respect his skill, and I like the guy. We’ve hung out on a few occasions and he’s a cool dude. I’m excited. My mouth waters over this fight.”

In preparation for this Seattle struggle, the nomadic Edwards has been refining his patented “Thugjitsu” with the usual cast of characters at the renowned American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida. From his home in Austin, Texas, Edwards also makes western trips to Antonio McKee’s Bodyshop Fitness in Lakewood, California. If one can’t find him in either place, Edwards has been known to share a wrestling mat or two with former All-Americans Steve Brown from Central Michigan and Dan Vallimont from Penn State. In general, Edwards is focused on Stephens, but, in the gym, he is preparing for Godzilla.

“When it comes to an opponent, I just train for the best guy in the world every time,” states Edwards. “When I train my wrestling, I’m getting ready for a guy like GSP or someone of that level. When I work my boxing, I’m training for the Manny Pacquiaos or Floyd Mayweathers. I know that I’m not going to fight someone of that level. For me, you train for the best guy. Yeah, you work some specific things for each guy and what their game plan might be depending on what his strengths are, but I just train for the best guy. I hope when this life is over and this afterlife thing is real, if it is up to me, I would spar everyday with Batman.”

In conclusion, what can other fighters – young and old – learn from a 15-year man with five dozen fights under his belt? Enjoy your time in this sport and keep moving forward. Have friends, have a family, and have fun. A loss isn’t the end of the world and a win shouldn’t be one’s only gratification. After spending hours in the cage and countless amounts of time in the gym, Edwards is as excited as ever to step into the Octagon, to stand toe-to-toe with an opponent under the bright lights, to be watched by the thousands in attendance and the millions at home, and get another chance to unleash some “Thugjitsu”.

“I try not to live in the past,” affirms Edwards. “I take it for what it is and then move on to the next one. Every experience has been awesome. I’ve learned something from every loss, and I try to learn something from every fight I win. It’s not necessarily the fight itself that stands out. It’s more the surrounding events and the people around me. It’s hard to say that any of the fights were a low because I’m always around people that I love. It’s also kind of hard to pick a high for that same reason. As far as time in the cage, every time I step into the Octagon I feel at home. When a fight starts, I feel like I’m in my own universe. I hear the voices, I hear his corner, I hear my corner, and the ref is just like a floating head. I almost never even see the ref. Every fight means something to me because I get to go into this world that most people in this world don’t even know exists. I’m excited about the fight just for the fact that I get to fight. There are a very select people in the world that get to go out there and punch someone in the face for money and that excites me. I’m going to go in there and bring my A game.”

This Saturday in Seattle, Washington, lightweights collide when Stephens, finally, takes on Edwards. “For me and Jeremy, all you have to have is your eyes to see an entertaining slugfest,” asserts Edwards, who hopes the only surprise stemming from this high-paced, striking showcase would be a Fight Night bonus. “Fans should expect a very entertaining and a very fun fight because that is best suited for my style. I’ve learned things from things that I’ve done wrong in the past of how to make certain things happen in a fight, when to make them happen, and at the pace I want them to happen. It is very hard for me to win a boring fight, and I plan on going out there and winning.”

As long as he’s clad in superhero underwear and has a snack for the scale, Edwards will be ready for this fight and, hopefully, a few dozen more.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller

In the span of a year, a self-professed gym rat making ends meet as a carpenter in Pembroke, Massachusetts went from being a weekend warrior to a UFC fighter. One can add a reality star to boot. Following a 5-1 amateur record and a 7-1 pro record heavily featured on the New England circuit, lightweight Joe Proctor successfully tried out for The Ultimate Fighter Live after solidifying himself as a burgeoning prospect on UFC fan favorite Joe Lauzon’s Team Aggression. Time sped up from there as Proctor traveled from near obscurity to a highlight reel Octagon debut and, now, to the cusp of an anticipated second UFC fight.

“2012 has been fast paced,” discloses Proctor. “Honestly, the last thing I expected was to be in the UFC and be in the position that I am now. I had some good local fights and I always dreamed of being in the UFC, but I never thought it was this close to being in my grasp. It was so quick. I fought Matt Bessette for the Reality Fighting title at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and the next thing I know I’m trying out for The Ultimate Fighter and the next thing I know is I’m fighting to get in the house. It was crazy. It was a whirlwind and it happened so fast.”

At 27 years old, Proctor was 1 of 32 fighters used to try out a new live format for TUF as the competition based-show moved to the FX network. Originally, a six week pre-taped and edited process would be changed to 13 weeks of live fights as well as an innovative one round only scrap to get into the house. It took Proctor only moments to latch-on a guillotine choke to secure his spot on the show. Inside the house, Proctor went 1-1 by tapping Chris Tickle with a rear naked choke and dropping a unanimous decision to James Vick. With his time left on the show, Proctor trained and looked forward to an eventual showdown at the finale.

“Being on the show, it was actually really easy to be focused,” says Proctor. “All there was was to focus on training and to be ready for that finale fight. Soon as I got out of the house, it was crazy being in reality again. I stayed focused and I got to see my coaches again for the first time in three months. Soon as I got with them, we started clicking again. I felt good. I felt like I had my team around me again. I just went out to that fight to have fun. I think it showed in the fight that I had fun and the outcome was great.”

After three months in isolation and a quick phone call to his girlfriend and little brother, Proctor was back in the good graces of his coaches – current lightweight contender Lauzon and boxing coach Steve Maze – and training for his UFC debut. At the TUF Live Finale on June 1st, Proctor was scheduled to take on heavy-handed housemate Jeremy Larsen. A quick trip and even quicker fight to get onto the show, a disorienting 13 weeks in the house, and only a week of actual preparation for one’s first UFC appearance could easily throw anyone off their game, but a few words of advice from Proctor’s trusted support staff kept him living in the moment before that triumphant victory.

“Even as it started, right before I walked out, I remember Joe Lauzon and Steve Maze saying this could be one of many walkouts out there or it could be your last, so have fun out there,” reveals Proctor. “And I immediately switched it. I was like let’s go have fun out there like I always do. I went in there and Larsen came in strong like he wanted it. He was leaving his head wide open while going low to the body. After a couple of shots he was taking, I saw that opening and I threw that Thai clinch knee and caught him good.”

As expected, a scintillating, lightning quick finish at 1:49 of the first round resulted from the protégé of the king of Fight Night bonuses, Lauzon. No one needs to tell Proctor because he’ll be the first to tell someone how helpful “J-Lau” has been as a coach, a friend, a cornerman, and as a veteran of the TUF house on season 5. While the formats were different and the time in the house was more than double, Proctor had a good understanding of what he was getting into with the show, as well as outside of it, trying to maintain a roster spot in the UFC because of Lauzon. Comparing and contrasting their different experiences in the house, Proctor believes the 13 week endurance of TUF was more beneficial for the fighters than the wham, bam, thank you ma’am approach of the original.

“I think with the 13 weeks it was a lot easier to form a unit because we were going to be there for so long,” states Proctor. “We had to build a close-knit family. From Joe’s experience, they were always just trying to not get hurt in the camp because they always had a fight coming up on a few days notice. We knew a week ahead of time, which was good because we could plan our camps accordingly and our weight cuts accordingly. I actually liked that format. I’m quite glad we got the 13 weeks that we did.”

On the heels of his first TKO win improving his record to 8-1, Proctor is ready to take to the cage on December 8th at UFC on FOX against another TUF alum, Ramsey Nijem. At 24 years old, the Californian who trains at the PIT Elevated in Orem, Utah is 2-1 inside the Octagon following his TUF finalist berth in June 2011. Nijem’s back-to-back wins over Danny Downes and, most recently, C.J. Keith have been a return to form for the decorated wrestler who finished all three of his opponents inside the house on TUF 13. It’s an East Coast vs. West Coast matchup of young, well-rounded TUFers looking to steal a piece of the 155-pound division for their own.

“The opponents get tougher as you win and I expect a great fight out of Ramsey,” asserts Proctor. “When I first got the call, I was excited. Ramsey has a good name for himself. He was an Ultimate Fighter finalist on season 13 and he’s got a couple good wins so far. He has a great following, so a good win over him would skyrocket me in the lightweight division, I think. I would describe him as aggressive. He’s not overly technical in any aspect, but he’s a grinder. He never quits. He’s hard to finish. He keeps coming. I like those types of fights. He’s going to push me. I like when I know it’s going to be a war. It could be either Fight of the Night or Submission or Knockout of the Night. I know my hand is going to get raised in the end.”

In the lead-up to this bout, Proctor has been breaking in some new digs in Easton, Mass as Lauzon MMA opened their new gym, which was previously in neighboring Bridgewater. Team Aggression had been working overtime getting middleweight Tom Lawlor ready for his UFC 154 fight, getting Proctor ready for Nijem, and, at the end of the month, team leader Lauzon will be taking on another top talent in Jim Miller at UFC 155. Obviously, the intensity is high in the gym with all these fights one right after another to add to Proctor’s training, as well as additional high level coaches who are brought in like grappling guru to the UFC stars, Ricky Lundell.

“A good thing about having Joe’s fight only a few weeks after mine is that I kind of get to ride the tail end and get to have the great coaches that he has, like Steve Maze as his boxing coach and Ricky Lundell,” explains Proctor. “Ricky has some good stuff. I’ve been picking his brain about a lot of things and he’s been helping out a lot for this fight. Between him and Joe this camp has been awesome. I’ve been training with Joe a lot for this fight. Just having Joe in my corner is a huge advantage. This camp has been phenomenal and my strength & conditioning has been skyrocketing. I’ve been sparring a lot and doing great.”

Each gym has a particular culture and style, and one could easily assume that a camp led by six-time Submission of the Night winner Lauzon would be ground oriented. One would not be wrong, but Lauzon carries a Knockout of the Night and four Fight of the Night honors as well, which means he pushes the fight everywhere, and with that, so do the fighters of Team Aggression. For Proctor, the TKO of Larsen was only a foreshadowing of what’s to come from the young lightweight in the striking department.

“I think I’m a very well rounded fighter,” affirms Proctor. “I train a lot of every aspect. A lot of boxing, a lot of kickboxing, a lot of jiu-jitsu, but for the most part I think on the show people didn’t really get to see my hands. It’s a shame too because my hands have gotten very good working with Steve Maze. He’s an unbelievable boxing coach and I couldn’t ask for anyone better to be in my corner. I’m hoping in this Ramsey fight I can definitely showcase my hands. That’s how I plan on winning. But if it goes to the ground and I end up submitting him, then that’s another thing. I showed my jiu-jitsu and I showed a little bit of Thai with that nice knee and I showed some nice takedowns and stuff, but for the most part my hands haven’t been showcased yet, and I can’t wait to show them.”

On December 8th, two young gun, TUF alums will collide when Proctor squares off against Nijem. “I’m going in there for the finish,” says Proctor, who has learned from one of the best fight finishers the UFC has ever seen and proved it by making short work of his opponent in his debut. “I’m not going in there to fight for all three rounds. Like the motto says, you don’t get paid by the round. I’m going in there to take his head off and I know he’s going in there to do the same.”

While these past months have rushed by in a blur, Proctor is making the hours count in the gym, so it only takes him minutes and seconds to win in the cage.

Traditionally, a one year anniversary present is paper, but UFC and FOX are giving us gold.

The mega-relationship that began on November 12th, 2011 with a one fight, main event heavyweight title bout between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez will mark its first year with another belt on the line and much, much more. On December 8th, live on FOX from the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, the ultimate proving grounds will feature a pair of fight finishing welterweights, the return of an MMA icon vs. a top tier talent in the making, a terrific tangle between light heavyweight titans, and the UFC lightweight championship up for grabs. As another year of fighting festivities winds down, the Octagon takes center-stage on FOX with easily its most high profile and stacked card.

“The idea is to put the best fights we could possibly put on on FOX,” states UFC President Dana White, aware that even a casual MMA fan knows that this card is simply just that: the best fights possible.

To whet fight fans’ appetite, the card kicks off with the ultra entertaining Ultimate Fighter alums “The Immortal” Matt Brown vs. Mike “Quick” Swick. The second scrap is about legacies, with former two-division UFC champion “The Prodigy” BJ Penn taking on Canadian sensation Rory MacDonald at 170 pounds. In the third bout, a scintillating strikers’ showdown between former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Swedish superstar Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson. Last but not least, the headlining battle is for the belt between UFC 155-pound champion Benson “Smooth” Henderson and TUF season 5 winner Nate Diaz.

With only a little over a week away, most of the moving pieces of this historic, end-of-the-year FOX card took time out their busy training schedules on Tuesday to chat on a conference call with the ever-inquisitive MMA media. The cast of cagefighting characters included current lightweight king Henderson, Diaz, “Shogun”, Penn, MacDonald, UFC President White, and the President of FOX Sports Media Group Eric Shanks.

Surprisingly, much of the MMA media’s curiosity was not transfixed on the shimmering gold belt, but on the matchup between the old lion Penn and the young dragon MacDonald. One could see it as mild irony or self-fulfilling prophecy, as part of Penn’s reasoning for taking the fight with MacDonald was him not hearing his name mentioned enough by the media. The former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion has always been at the forefront of discussions concerning “pound for pound” or “best ever”, but the conversation has changed with the emergence of current champions who have also been more active like Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, and Jon Jones. “The Prodigy” wants to again solidify his place on those lists with a return to form against MacDonald.

“No one says my name when they talk about the greatest fighters anymore,” tells Penn. “I told Dana I have a real problem with that. I want to come back strong. I’m a glass half empty kind of guy and I’m not happy with ‘he was good back in the day.’ I still think I have something left to accomplish.”

Just shy of 34 years old, Penn is coming off a near 14 month absence from the sport stemming from his Fight of the Night war with Nick Diaz at UFC 137, which ended with Penn declaring his retirement. “I got the itch that I wanted to fight again and I realized I can’t do this forever, so I might as well make the most of it,” reveals Penn, whose brash and confident opponent lit a fire under the Hawaiian to take his belly off and drop from an admitted 40% body fat to under 10%. “As things started going on, he said he saw me, that I looked fat, and he would kill me in the ring. I love it when my opponent says that I’m fat or I’m nothing – it’s wonderful; I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

On the other side of this caged equation is the 23-year-old phenom MacDonald. With a professional record at 13-1, with his only loss coming via TKO in the waning seconds of a fight he was winning against former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit, the Tristar Gym prospect has tore through a laundry list of more than worthy opponents with only the headlining Diaz able to force MacDonald to a decision. The heir apparent to St-Pierre, MacDonald has shown an unflinching tenacity in the Octagon, overwhelming opponents with speed, strength, and a proficiency in all areas of the fight. MacDonald is focused on adding Penn to his win column and staying healthy so he can add many, many more names.

“I’m being a little bit more smart with my training with taking days off,” says MacDonald. “I used to never take days off, even if I was hurt. It’s been keeping me healthy. For me, health is the most important thing. I know how to fight. I’m in shape all year round because I train all year round. If I’m healthy, I can fight on a minute’s notice.”

There is little to question in the international altercation between 205-pound knockout artists Rua and Gustafsson. It’s simply going to be fantastic. The 6’5” Stockholm slugger by way of Alliance MMA is riding a path of destruction through the UFC’s light heavyweight division, going 6-1 with five finishes. Multiply that guaranteed fireworks resume by the Brazilian bomber Rua’s 21 wins with 18 via KO/TKO. Possibly more than any other fight on this card, “Shogun” vs. “The Mauler” is simply close the cage door, ring the bell, and shut up and watch the amazingness unfold.

“I think it’s a fight every fan wants to see because we both look for the knockout,” affirms Rua, who, in the understatement of the century, estimates this will be a good fight. “We’re both strikers. I think the fans will get a wonderful show.”

Finally, in the main event, arguably the most talent-rich division in the UFC will put its title on the line between champion Henderson and challenger Diaz. The 27 year-old Diaz earned the title shot with three dominant performances, including a win over Donald Cerrone and two finishes over former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi and Jim Miller. Not surprisingly, Diaz had little to say about the importance of this title fight to himself minus that it was important and that it was good for the Cesar Gracie gym, “I think it’s good because it represents my team.” It’s not surprising to hear Diaz talk of others instead of himself, as in all of his victories Diaz rattles off dozens of names to thank who helped him win. If the younger Diaz is victorious on December 8th, expect to hear a shout out to everyone in the Stockton, California phonebook.

As for the lightweight belt’s current owner, the 17-2 Henderson realized an oft prophesied possibility in 2012 by winning the UFC lightweight title from Frankie Edgar after formerly holding the WEC lightweight title. Six months later, “Smooth” tangled with Edgar for a second time to another tough decision to keep the belt. The 29-year-old who fights out of the MMA Lab in Glendale, Arizona is looking to move past the Edgar clashes and stamp out a streak defending the title like some of the other UFC champions. For Henderson, fighting the best a division has to offer will always be difficult, and any type of win will be a hard fought and deserved one.

“As far as me beating Nate, I’m just trying to get the W and get my hand raised,” says Henderson. “If he slips on a banana peel, I’ll take it. If it’s an even closer razor-thin decision than with Frankie, I’ll take it. We all fight to end fights, but sometimes when you are fighting the best guys on the planet it isn’t easy to make it decisive. I’m going to try to do my best to get my hand raised.”

On December 8th, live on FOX from “The Emerald City”, the UFC has a Saturday night blockbuster to remember with three hotly anticipated Fight of the Night candidate bouts and a main event lightweight title fight. The holiday presents come early as fight fans are treated to a free stacked card fit to honor the UFC’s first successful year of caged combat on FOX. Can’t even imagine how they’ll top this next year.