Author: By Jordan Newmark

“To be the man, you gotta beat the man.” – Ric Flair

There are two great prizes in the UFC’s welterweight division and Georges St-Pierre has both of them. The first is the championship belt and the second is a win over Jon Fitch. In his 15 Octagon appearances, Fitch’s sole defeat was in his only title shot against St-Pierre in the “Fight of the Night” winning main event of UFC 87 in August 2008. Actually, the nearly unparalleled career of St-Pierre has one more loss inside the Octagon than Fitch.

In many regards, the great unanswerable riddle for the UFC’s 170 pounders isn’t about winning its title, but, more so, how do you stop Fitch? At UFC 141, Johny Hendricks will step into the cage against Fitch and he believes he has the answer to beat him. Hendricks won’t be revealing any secrets just yet. Everyone will have to wait and see on December 30th if Hendricks can catch the welterweights’ white whale.

“I think I might have solved it,” asserts Hendricks. “That’s what it really boils down to. The style that Fitch’s good at, he’s so good at. Whenever he starts to do what he’s good at, you have to be able to capitalize on it and stop him. How do you stop him? I don’t want to give it away, but I think I have what it takes to defeat him.”

There is no question that Fitch will be Hendricks’ toughest test to date in his relatively short career. With an overall record of 11-1, Hendricks began MMA just over four years ago and quickly made it to the UFC, with his lightning fast knockout of Amir Sadollah at UFC 101 in August of 2009 marking a spectacular debut. In his two years in the UFC, Hendricks has been very impressive, going 6-1 including a “Knockout of the Night” against TJ Waldburger last March. These experiences have led him to this opportunity to challenge a top tier fighter and he is not the man to squander it.

“It’s a fight where I have to do everything I can in it,” states Hendricks. “It’s not just another fight. I have to go out there and do my best performance because a title shot does not come easy in any division. Knowing that, if I have a bad performance, I might have to have another three fights before I get another shot at a number two or even a number five. It’s really important that in every fight you get better and in every fight you are constantly doing the right stuff. I want the fans to know that I went out there and competed to my fullest. I did everything I could. That’s what this fight is about. I’m going out there, I’m doing the right stuff and I’m somebody that should be considered a top welterweight and shouldn’t be overlooked.”

Although Fitch is more famous, higher ranked, and more experienced inside the Octagon, if he underestimates Hendricks in any area then that will be his first and last mistake in this fight. On the ground, Hendricks is a four-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler out of Oklahoma State University. Better yet, Hendricks won back-to-back National Titles (2005, 2006) and was the runner-up in 2007. Hendricks was almost literally ‘unstoppable’ as an amateur wrestler from high school through college, so it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to know that Fitch will have his hands full there.

As far as the standup, discovering how to strike and being comfortable with it has been what Hendricks’ whole MMA career has been about. If you have watched Hendricks fight, then you have watched him exchange standing and usually get the better of it. It has been a learning process though when it comes to doing it when the big lights are on and not just in the gym hitting pads. This was no more evident than in Hendricks’ last fight, which was a slugfest split decision win against Mike Pierce at UFC 133 in Philadelphia.

“My feelings going into that fight were to see if everything I had been training and training to do better did get better,” explains Hendricks. “That was my main focus in that fight. Before that fight, I went back and I saw some holes in my game. I wanted to make sure that I prepared myself and made myself better. I wanted to really see what I can do and what my body can allow me to do. You can train as much as you want on something like a rear naked choke and if you get there in a fight and it doesn’t feel comfortable to you then you just wasted three months on a rear naked choke. Now, I know what worked and I know what didn’t feel as good. I can see what I want to bring out and focus on. I can sit there and nitpick what I want to do and what I feel 100% confident in doing going into this fight. I focused on those attributes that I could make better and then charged on. Keep building. Now, let’s get a steamroll effect.”

At 28 years old, the native Oklahoman is looking to earn himself his second three fight win streak in the UFC and this time it will be through arguably the most revered opponent he could face, Fitch. To get ready for this high profile bout, Hendricks is hard at work with his Team Takedown counterparts (Shane Roller, Jake Rosholt and Jared Rosholt), former Ultimate Fighter alum – and former Fitch opponent – Ben Saunders, and Hendricks’ new striking coach Steven Wright. Also, Hendricks went back to his alma mater with his old coach John Smith to dust off those vaunted wrestling skills.

“I didn’t focus too much on the wrestling transition in MMA at first because I wanted to make sure I worked my butt off on the standup,” divulges Hendricks. “I knew I could come back on the wrestling and relearn it. I knew I would have to relearn it, but that was a sacrifice I was willing to make. I really needed to learn the other attributes in MMA and I could come back to wrestling. Now, I feel like my wrestling is just as sharp as four years ago.”

This Friday, Hendricks will look to solidify his place among the MMA elite by beating the MMA elite, Fitch. “My main goal is to make my statement that this is where I belong,” affirms Hendricks, who is unquestionably one of the best wrestlers of his generation and will be on his way to becoming one of the best UFC welterweights of his generation if he gets his hand raised – it’s as simple as that. “I’m going out there and doing the best I can and making my statement and that’s it.”

On New Year’s Day of this year at UFC 125, several fighters truly captivated fight fans with their memorable Octagon performances. Dustin Poirier introduced himself to the featherweight division with authority in his lopsided victory over Josh Grispi, Clay Guida surprised all with his second round guillotine choke over former PRIDE champion Takanori Gomi, Brian Stann legitimized his presence as a dangerous 185er with his TKO of Chris Leben, and, least of all, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard battled to a draw in one of the most unforgettable title fights in UFC history. Oddly enough, what gained national attention and headlines wasn’t what transpired in the cage, but an offhand comment said backstage.

The minor celebrity who emerged from UFC 125 was its first winner of that night: Jacob “Christmas” Volkmann. After a somewhat uninspiring split decision win over Antonio McKee, Volkmann was asked in an interview by MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, “who would he like to fight next?” Volkmann’s first answer was Clay Guida and his second was President Barack Obama. The following hyperbolic controversy and 15 minutes of fame for Volkmann obviously didn’t stem from calling out “The Carpenter”. The quick political soundbite was hugely popular on the internet, was featured on the Jay Leno show, got Volkmann a visit from the Secret Service and cost him his coaching job for White Bear Lake high school wrestling for two weeks.

As impressive as all that is, Volkmann’s most remarkable feat in 2011 was simply dominating Danny Castillo at UFC Live in August.

At the end of the day, nothing holds greater sway on a fighter’s career than whether they win or lose inside the Octagon. The three-time NCAA Division I All-American from the University of Minnesota took an up-and-coming lightweight talent who was on a three fight win streak and ran the tables on him for 15 minutes. It didn’t earn Volkmann any more time on late night talk shows, but it was another victory highlighting his imposing ground game. Also, it was arguably his best win in the UFC and one that Volkmann slightly predicted.

“I was fairly confident I was going to win because his strength is my strength,” states Volkmann. “He was a Junior College wrestler, which doesn’t say much to be honest. I was confident going in there that I could take him down and ground and pound him. I tried to submit him, but that didn’t work. That was the submission I was working on the whole camp leading up to the fight. I assumed I could get that on him. Even on the pre-fight interview, I said I could get a D’arce on him.”

For the majority of the three rounds, Castillo was underneath Volkmann and caught in a prolonged D’arce choke attempt. “I have watched the fight, but I don’t know why it didn’t work,” tells Volkmann, who is as baffled as the rest of us with Castillo’s ability to struggle and not tap to being in a tight choke for minutes at a time. “I couldn’t submit him! He’s a tough kid with a lot of grit for not tapping there. I could hear his neck cracking and everything.”

At 31 years old, the Minnesotan is 4-0 at 155 pounds in the UFC since dropping down from welterweight. Volkmann was thrown to the wolves in his first two fights inside the Octagon, facing and eventually losing to Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann. Volkmann attributes part of those losses to more or less the culture shock of not realizing what a step-up in competition it was from smaller organizations, where Volkmann was 9-0, to the UFC.

“It’s just like wresting Division I wrestling,” asserts Volkmann. “You have to train twice a day at least. You have to have a coach coaching you and yelling at you every day because if you don’t then you’re not going to succeed. When you first start fighting in the UFC, it is kind of a shock because you don’t realize how much better fighters the guys in the UFC are than in these other shows. These guys who are going 0-2 in their first two fights in the UFC, it’s is not a really good judgment of how good of a fighter they are because they are in shock. I don’t think they are ready for it.”

The next challenge for “Christmas” will be on December 30th at UFC 141 against returning Ultimate Fighter season 8 winner Efrain Escudero. “I met him once down at a CFA show in Florida and I did not like him at all when I met him,” remembers Volkmann, who sprinkles very little Holiday cheer on his first impression of his 19-3 opponent. “He was just an arrogant little *$%^$. He was very cocky. Seems like the world revolves around him type.”

Like or dislike on a personal level, Volkmann is busy training per usual for this dangerous adversary with Greg Nelson’s team at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. Escudero’s record is heavy on submission victories (13 of 19), so obviously, Volkmann is preparing for the very probable ground battle with Escudero, but he has also been working extensively on improving his standup, which will help with him getting the fights to the ground.

“The thing about his strength is it is wrestling too, so I’m not as concerned about that,” says Volkmann. “My main goal is to try and stay standing because I want to open up my standup game. The key to fighting a guy like Efrain, it is going to be hard as hell to take this guy down, so I’m going to have to have a better standup game to set up for better takedowns. I want to work on opening my standup to transition to takedowns better. I spar twice a week. I work on my hands three or four times a week. I do big work with the coach doing kicks with the heavy bag and he’s got me hitting all types of pads. In high school, I did boxing for three years, Golden Gloves boxing. I didn’t do any Muay Thai or nothing. I had three fights in boxing. I fought the sheriff’s kid.”

The most likely outcome in this scrap is these two trading submission attempts, and Volkmann has Escudero’s favorite techniques well scouted. “Efrain has a good front headlock and a good guillotine, so I’ve been working with Nik Lentz and a few other guys I work with to prevent the guillotine,” reveals Volkmann of what he expects from Escudero and offers up, like with the Castillo fight, a peek into his own playbook. “I’ve been working on a lot of kimuras, not so much armbars, and on top guillotines. I might go back to the D’arce. If he gives me that arm, I’m going for the D’arce.”

After four consecutive wins at lightweight, Volkmann’s stint thus far in the UFC has been a lot about learning how to compete and not whether he could compete. “The thing that I think is the biggest difference of when I fought Paulo and where I am today is knowing when to stay standing and when to take a guy down,” claims Volkmann, and now that he has acclimated himself to the level of his opposition’s abilities, he is ready to take them on and win. “I’m not going to stay standing with a guy like Martin Kampmann again – who I hope to fight again. I’m not going to stay standing with that guy because he has a reach advantage, experience advantage and he’s a counter fighter. The biggest thing is to know when to stay standing and when to shoot to take him down.”

At UFC 141, Volkmann looks to impose his strength and will on Escudero to continue his undeterred winning ways at 155 pounds. “My old teammates from college used to call it ‘Farmer’s Strength,’” relates Volkmann, noting that back-to-back commanding performances inside the Octagon would send a sobering message to the lightweights that they have a new powerhouse amongst them. “I have two to three practices a day, so I don’t have time to lift weights and get big muscles. I didn’t lift very strong, but when I got a hold of them they felt it.”

The final total was 116.

On July 2nd at UFC 132, lightweight Anthony Njokuani became the newest member of a scarcely populated club for MMA lore enthusiasts as “The Assassin” managed to land over 100 significant strikes in a single fight. It’s a rarely obtained honor because of the much lower strike counts in MMA and if a fighter gets hurt they usually stay hurt. In the end, this feat was achieved through Njokuani’s relentless standup and Andre Winner’s hard head.

“I was actually surprised he didn’t go down,” admits Njokuani. “When I was throwing the punches I looked at the ref and was like, ‘You’re not going to do anything about this?’ Because he wasn’t fighting back and I was hitting him with clean shots. It goes to show what kind of trooper he is. He’s not one to give up and he just keeps coming.”

At some points, especially in the first round, it looked like a video game or a Rocky movie. Njokuani took the center of the Octagon with his hands high, his chin low and fired off a steady stream of precise and powerful combinations like a Muay Thai robot. On the receiving end, Winner ate a few shots early until the Brit had his back against the cage while being bombarded by Njokuani’s knees and Winner was doing everything he could just to remain upright. It was as dominant a standup performance as Njokuani could have envisioned and in large part it was a direct reaction to his previous UFC outing.

“During the fight, I was noticing that I was punching and kicking a lot crisper,” remembers Njokuani. “I was keeping my hands up, I was looking for openings for clean shots and using my head movement a lot more. It had to do with all the work I put into my training to help me improve to be the tough fighter that I was that night with Andre Winner and that I am now. From watching the [Edson] Barboza fight and everything I did in the gym after that, it helped me be a better striker.”

The striking assault continued uninterrupted for all three rounds, earning Njokuani his first victory in the UFC and elevating his overall record to 15-5. “Mentally I was really focused and I was actually fighting smart,” states Njokuani, who, after eight years of competing in MMA, agrees with UFC commentator Joe Rogan that this was his best showing in the cage. “I was able to put everything together that day. I do feel like that was my best performance and Joe Rogan was right on it. The thing that pushed me was getting my first UFC win.”

At 31 years old, the Nigerian born Njokuani made his Octagon debut earlier this year at UFC 128 against Brazilian bomber Edson Barboza. Prior to the UFC, “The Assassin” was a human highlight reel with three consecutive “Knockout of the Night” bonuses in his 4-3 WEC career. The Barboza fight was a particularly transforming experience for him because it was Njokuani’s only ever decision loss and it was against a fellow striker. For the first time, he had 15 minutes of fight footage of himself standing and trading to see what really needed to be improved.

“Ever since I watched that fight between me and Edson Barboza, I knew that there was a lot of stuff that caused me to lose that fight,” states Njokuani. “That’s why when I went back to the gym I started tweaking everything. That’s the reason I think I performed the way I performed against Andre Winner. The performance I had with Edson Barboza showed me I had a lot to work on to be a better striker. Watching myself and seeing myself was everything I needed to see to be a better striker in this game. Without that, I wouldn’t have improved at all. If I didn’t have that type of fight (with Barboza), I wouldn’t have seen those things and I would have continued to do the same things over and over. I’m glad I had that kind of striking match with Barboza.”

Fight fans were glad too, considering the UFC 128 bout with Barboza won a much deserved “Fight of the Night” award. It’s no surprise Njokuani’s exciting Muay Thai style has made him a fan favorite, but one particular fanbase has been steadily growing which has a very special meaning for him.

“I have noticed a lot of Nigerians have contacted me on Facebook and on Twitter,” explains Njokuani about his popularity with his native countrymen. “Even when I see them out in public they surprise me and know who I am. Just a couple months ago, I met some Nigerian friends at a hotel and we took pictures. They were very happy that there was a person like them out there doing what I was doing and they were very proud of me. It’s an extremely warm feeling hearing that from my people. I’m very happy that I’m doing something like this for them and spreading the name out there for Nigeria.”

For the third time in 2011, “The Assassin” will take to the cage and this time it will be against a fellow WEC veteran: Danny Castillo. On December 30th at UFC 141, Njokuani faces an unyielding wrestler who has shown a growing proficiency with his standup in the 12-4 Castillo. This will be the fourth Octagon appearance this year alone for “Last Call,” including November 19th’s first round TKO drubbing of Shamar Bailey. The in-shape and motivated Castillo stepped in for Njokuani’s original opponent, Ramsey Nijem, who pulled out due to injury.

“Danny Castillo is an extremely strong and tough wrestler,” says Njokuani. “He comes from one of the best fight teams, so I know he’s going to bring it. But putting on a good show and putting on a good performance is the most important thing I look at. The person who I’m fighting is more about what I want to give to the crowd. I’m going in there to play my own game and I’ll be different than his other opponents and I’m happy to get a knockout or a decision.”

To prepare for this dust-up in the desert, Njokuani is cutting his training time between two gyms in his new hometown of Las Vegas. For his highly regarded striking, Njokuani is at One Kick’s Gym working out with the likes of UFC middleweight Steve Cantwell and Njokuani’s brother, Chidi, who has a 5-3 MMA record. For his often unused ground game, Njokuani trains with world renowned and heavily decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu red and black belt Sergio Penha. For his gameplan, he wants to stay on the course he’s currently on, keep proving he’s one of the elite strikers in the UFC, and rack up some wins.

“I’m working everything the same and I’m not changing anything,” tells Njokuani. “The way we are working this is that I’m training for any type of fighter. I’m not training for one specific type of fighter; I’m training for every type of fighter. The same game that we’ve been working with for the last two fights, we’re going to continue working on that and we’re not going to change anything from it. It’s been pretty much working out, so we’re going to stick to that.”

On December 30th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Njokuani will tangle with Castillo in what is most likely to be a crowd pleasing standup duel if the hometown favorite has his say. Njokuani is coming off back-to-back three round striking wars, but is ready for anything “Last Call” has for him. “I like to go about thinking every fight is going to be different. That’s why I try to work my movements in the beginning to figure out my opponent and then that’s when I work my ‘business.’”

Sometimes that “business” means 116 significant strikes landed. Other times it means a knockout and an early night for Njokuani. From the perspective of “The Assassin”, it all really depends on how tough Castillo’s chin is come December 30th.

On January 28th, 2012, it will be 39 months since the Octagon last setup shop in Chicago, Illinois. But the card the UFC has put together for that evening, seriously, will have been worth the wait. To officially kickoff the organization’s deal with FOX, the UFC, for the first time in company history, will take over the home of the Chicago Bulls at the United Center with a trio of scraps that all have title implications and all will be broadcast live on network TV.

Definitely, “worth the wait.”

For the UFC’s second FOX appearance, there will be one major change to this event as opposed to November’s UFC heavyweight championship bout between Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez: more fights. Instead of one major bout with a belt on the line, the second event will feature three fights over the course of two hours and all for free. And the three fights in question are big ones: Michael Bisping vs. Demian Maia, Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz, and, in the main event, Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis.

Each one of these matchups is interesting on its own and a must see for any fight fan, but UFC President Dana White has packaged them together and raised the stakes: title eliminators. The winner of Sonnen vs. Munoz will undoubtedly challenge the UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva; meanwhile the victor of Evans vs. Davis will likely face Jon Jones sometime in 2012. For Bisping and Maia, they should be in line for the first crack at the UFC middleweight strap after Sonnen/Munoz vs. Silva.

Definitely, “worth the wait”.

At a press conference held last week to announce the card, these six soon-to-be-household-names answered questions and enjoyed some good natured ribbing of each other. Maybe it was the excitement of being in The Windy City, maybe it was Christmas cheer, maybe it was Evans’ young son, Rashad Jr., in a suit sitting on his dad’s lap, but the fighters were all respectful and any trash talk was said with a wink and a smile.

The opening clash is also the most recent addition to this FOX card: Bisping vs. Maia. On December 3rd, “The Count” flawlessly bested his rival coach, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale and immediately signed up to fight Maia. The Brazilian submission magician, Maia, is on track for another title shot after going 3-1 since his first stab at Silva in April 2010. Seemingly, this is a classic “striker vs. grappler” matchup, but both fighters have grown in the opposite strength by leaps and bounds since first debuting in the Octagon.

For “The Count”, it was a quick and easy decision to say yes to his second fight in two months. “I’m proud to be part of this event,” says Bisping, who beat Jorge Rivera in February and delegated the rest of this year filming TUF, so getting back to fighting was a no-brainer. Plus, the opportunity to fight on network television doesn’t hurt. “Why wouldn’t I take this fight? I’m in shape, I’m on weight, I’m in my prime, I’m 32 years old, I’m not getting any younger and Demian Maia is a great opponent.”

It has been almost two years since Maia submitted an opponent in the cage, which has not been lost on the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. His last four wins are by decision and in each one of them Maia has shown improved standup and better wrestling. Maia is a greater overall fighter nowadays and is not nervous about mixing it up on the feet like he did in his win over Jorge Santiago at UFC 136. Nevertheless, Maia has been sharpening his ground skills to get back to winning “Submission of the Night” awards (4x).

“When I started in the UFC I submitted five in a row,” remembers Maia. “When I go into fights and there is no submission, people don’t like it. I have been fighting tougher opponents. I have been learning more Thai boxing and more wrestling. I cannot just train jiu-jitsu anymore. I have to be an MMA fighter. I think on FOX, me and Mike are going to put on a war. I’m trying to come back to my roots, come back to my jiu-jitsu. The fans expect that from me when I go to the floor, and I finish the fights by submission.”

The second match, sincerely, bet on this being a dogfight: Sonnen vs. Munoz. They wrestled each other in college and, now, they’re going to earn themselves a shot at gold through each other. Sonnen, famously, ground and pounded the champ Silva for four rounds before being submitted in the fifth at UFC 117. The “gangster” from West Linn, Oregon bounced back with a renewed vigor with his second round arm-triangle choke on Brian Stann in October. Munoz is on a four fight win streak, which was capped off with a second round drubbing of Chris Leben at UFC 138 in Birmingham, England.

One thing is for certain, the Sonnen quote-machine is ready for primetime network television. “Come January 28th, I assure you it will be one more in the win column, one more above the mantel, and one more for the bad guy,” delivers Sonnen with that crisp, controlled confidence UFC fans have come to know and love. Also, Sonnen took the time to expel some high praise for Munoz too. “Everyone has a list of guys they don’t want to fight and Mark is on the top of that list. I’ve competed against him before and I’ve never beat him. We will fight, we will shake hands and we will live with the result.”

A win over Sonnen on FOX and a title shot would definitely help “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” establish himself as the Manny Pacquaio of MMA. “He’s fought for a long time and he’s a great fighter and it will be an honor to fight him,” asserts Munoz, who considers Sonnen a friend, and if Munoz beats him then he will get the opportunity to fight another friend and former training partner, Silva. “I have trained with Anderson and he has the belt. In order to get to the belt I have to fight Chael. It’s a competition, it’s not personal, it’s business and I want to become a world champ.”

Not to be outdone, the press conference ended with some lively verbal sparring between the light heavyweight main event of Evans and Davis. Originally, this pair of NCAA Division I wrestlers turned cagefighters were supposed to square off at UFC 133 in Philadelphia before Davis had to pull out due to injury. The former champ, “Suga”, is riding a three fight win streak with the most recent being the second round TKO “Fight of the Night” over Tito Ortiz in August. As for “Mr. Wonderful”, Davis is still undefeated after his unanimous decision over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira back in March.

This main event for “Suga” means his first time fighting in his current hometown and a win would mean the long awaited grudge showdown with Jones. “To fight Jon Jones, I want to put my hands on him bad,” salivated Evans, who marked 2011 with a change in camp, from Jackson’s to the Blackzilians, and, arguably, his most impressive performance to date inside the Octagon. “It was hard to switch camps and re-establish relationships with people. After making the switch, I could see what I was missing from my old situation. It was about being a team, pushing each other to the limit, getting the most work in and it is good to be with a team with those foundations again.”

On the other hand, “Mr. Wonderful” will look to play spoiler and add a sixth UFC win to his young, but already distinguished, career. “Where I lack experience, I make up for being a champion at heart,” states Davis, who has spent the majority of this year on the shelf and stuck at the gym, Alliance MMA, training for his comeback with Dominick Cruz, Brandon Vera and Joey Beltran. “I’m not concerned about ring rust. Not at all. I was off and I was training as much as I can on a bum knee.”

It may have taken over three years, but the Octagon is coming back to Chicago with a vengeance. All the lights, media attention, and the whole circus that comes with the already fantastic pairing of the UFC and FOX Sports will hit the Second City’s streets the week of January 28th. A stacked fight card featuring a bevy of title holder hopefuls – Bisping, Maia, Sonnen, Munoz, Evans and Davis – will be prepped and ready to attack each other on broadcast television. Three fights, two hours, one network and it all means another excellent Saturday night of action inside the Octagon.

Plus, give or take, a thousand priceless quips from Sonnen like this one, “FOX, you’re welcome. You’ve been telling people for years you have the ‘American Idol’ and now you do.”

Definitely, “worth the wait”.

If you’re not a fan of Costa Philippou’s two fights in the UFC, then join the club because he’s isn’t either.

In his first six months in the organization, he has fought to two decisions and split the results: losing the first to Nick Catone at UFC 128 and winning the second against Jorge Rivera at UFC 133. Both efforts were arguably Philippou’s worst in his overall 8-2, 1 NC career and neither showcased his much talked about former professional boxing experience (3-0). If anything, he is as mystified by his seeming devolution as a mixed martial artist than anyone, but Philippou is hoping to change all that in his next outing at UFC 140 against Jared “The Messenger” Hamman.

“In my days in Ring of Combat I was fighting, I was striking, I was punching and, now, I don’t know what happened,” tells Philippou. “I got into the UFC and instead of getting better, I got worse. I guess all the lights and the publicity and the crowd got me all stressed out and I lost it. Yes, I’m saying I’m a striker, but I haven’t shown any of my skills. In the gym, I’m a different fighter and in the cage when fight time comes I’m worse. I’m not even 50% of what I do in the gym. If I could do even 50% in the cage what I do in the gym then I wouldn’t have to worry about any opponent. I’m trying to establish that this time. I want to show everyone that I am a striker. Everyone hears that I’m a striker and they have had to wait to see me show my skills. It looks like I don’t even know how to do anything, so everybody’s wondering.”

In all fairness, Philippou’s had some extenuating circumstances that have affected his performances. “I had five days notice, to be honest, and I took the fight and I was so excited that I was going to fight in the UFC that I didn’t think about anything else,” remembers Philippou of his extremely short notice debut fight in March, where he subbed in for Dan Miller against Catone as Miller was bumped up to fight Nate Marquardt. “Everyone’s goal is to win the fight, but I knew my chances to win were next to nothing. I was out of shape and overweight and I just didn’t want Nick to finish me by either submitting me or knocking me out. I took my beating, I stood up, said ‘thank you’ and that’s about it. And two or three days after the fight, I was back in the gym getting into shape for the next one.”

At 32 years old, the native of Cyprus is an open book and candid about his less than stellar bout against the New Jersey wrestler Catone. Philippou estimates he gave what he had in the first few minutes and spent the rest of the 15 minutes in survival mode, which is understandable for a guy who was 20 pounds heavier just five days earlier with zero prep time. What is truly maddening to him is what happened in the fight he actually won against the heavily favored and respected UFC veteran Rivera in August.

“I was stressing out,” admits Philippou. “I had to fight a great fighter on the main card and I only had a couple weeks notice on that. To be honest, the whole idea about fighting in the UFC and on the main card stressed me out and it showed in my fight. I didn’t follow my gameplan at all. The gameplan was to keep the fight standing and to exchange punches and strikes. I do have striking skills. I don’t know what was going through my head at the time. I ended up clinching and taking Jorge down and I didn’t know why and I kept doing it. I can’t explain what I was doing and what was going through my head at that time. Luckily, I ended up winning the fight. I feel better now and hopefully I can show off my skills in this fight and do a better job.”

Originally, he was scheduled to meet Rafael Natal on the UFC 133 undercard, but Rivera’s opponent, Alessio Sakara, dropped out due to an injury and the UFC came calling. Philippou took the fight with Rivera immediately without even consulting his coaches because Rivera was an obvious step-up in notoriety and someone he could theoretically trade with on the feet. Also, there was a hesitancy to fight Natal because he trains under Renzo Gracie, who is the mentor of Philippou’s coach, Matt Serra. Nevertheless, it was more or less a case of UFC “jitters” that transformed what everyone expected to be a standup duel into Philippou shooting for takedowns and turning it into a grappling match.

With all that being said, he is coming off a tough victory over a high profile opponent and has truly yet to show what he is capable of inside the Octagon. “First of all, the next time I fight, I’m not going to let every little thing get to me and let myself get stressed out about fighting,” affirms Philippou, who has not only come to grips with fighting in the UFC, but now knows what it is like to face a big name opponent on a big PPV card and can simply focus on training and fighting. “This time, I went back to doing what I was comfortable doing two or three or even 10 years ago. I didn’t stop practicing my wrestling and jiu-jitsu, but in the past I kind of took my striking for granted and I focused on everything else. I went back to boxing and Thai boxing and I think this time will be way better.”

Up next for “Costa” is the personification of an antidote to a boring fight, “The Messenger” Hamman. The two-time Fight of the Night winner is coming off a wildly impressive middleweight debut in the form of a second round finish of CB Dollaway at UFC Live in August. Hamman entered the UFC as a light heavyweight and went 1-2 before making the plunge to 185 pounds, which worked out amazingly. Hamman is quickly becoming a fan favorite with his fast paced fights, iron chin and relentless pressure on his opponents.

“That guy is obviously a great fighter,” states Philippou. “He has two Fight of the Night awards. He beat up CB Dollaway and stopped him in the second round and CB Dollaway is a great fighter with a lot of experience. He’s a bigger guy with a longer reach, so it won’t be an easy fight, but I’m positive that I’m in shape and I will be ready to go three rounds 100%. I was happy he is a guy who chooses to strike, so I don’t have to worry as much about him chasing me for the takedown to submit me or wrestle with me. It will be easier to keep it standing and strike with him and put on the fight where I can show I can actually kick and punch and put up a good fight – not like last time. Last time, it was a boring fight. I wouldn’t want to watch a fight like that. I’m hoping to put on a show this time.”

Philippou is busy training for this fight out on his adopted homeland of Long Island with the New York’s dynamic duo: Serra and Ray Longo. Costa began his foray in combat sports in 1994 as a boxer. Fourteen years later, Philippou made the switch to MMA and has been playing catch-up ever since as far as learning wrestling, jiu-jitsu and, basically, everything else. As he continues to evolve in those martial arts, he decided to go back to basics and sharpen up the tools that got him into the UFC: his striking. To do so, the 5’11” Philippou has put himself through the ringer, sparring with bigger opponents in preparation for the taller Hamman.

“I’ve been training with Chris Weidman,” says Philippou. “We spar all the time. He has been helping me with my wrestling, jiu-jitsu and even with my striking. He is 6’2″ and has a very long reach. Gian Villante is a Strikeforce fighter at 205 and Dave Branch out of Renzo’s is also 6’2”. They’re mostly wrestlers and jiu-jitsu fighters, but they have long reaches. I have been going to different boxing gyms this time and sparring with taller opponents, so I get used to moving and punching the way I used to. My whole life I was fighting taller and bigger opponents than me. I’m obviously a smaller guy and I used to be a heavyweight boxer – picture that. I think I got most of my boxing skills back and I think my reaction time will be way better this time.”

At UFC 140, Philippou is looking to show in his clash with Hamman something fight fans have yet to see from him inside the Octagon: a performance he is truly proud of. “I would like to finally show them I belong in the UFC and I didn’t just get lucky and I got a call and I ended up in the UFC,” asserts Philippou, who is almost too self-deprecating for a game cagefighter coming off a win over a well-known opponent. “I hope to show them I have the skills and I am a real UFC fighter. Some people think I got lucky with my last fight. I got tired, so I don’t blame them, but I would like to show them I have the skills, I’m in good shape and I can put on a good show.”

With a victory over Hamman, Philippou will have plenty of fans, including himself again, because everyone loves a winner.

Fighting is and forever will be the purest form of self-discovery.

From a local amateur promotion all the way to the top tier, international competition of the UFC, all MMA fighters are universally preparing themselves to be better in all aspects of hand-to-hand combat. To be successful, one has to go through both physical transformations to be a better athletic fighter and mental transformations to be a better technically skilled fighter. In the end, the two challengers enter a ring or cage not to prove who is the fastest in 100 meters, who can lift the heaviest object or has the most accurate jump shot; MMA fighters enter a ring or cage to see who is the best.

For UFC welterweight Rich Attonito, answering the most basic, but alluring of questions, “can I beat this guy?” was what initially whet his curiosity for the sport.

“I had a lot of experience previously competing one-on-one in wrestling,” tells Attonito. “I had plenty experience, I guess you could say, fighting with people, which wasn’t always one-on-one and wasn’t always in my favor. It wasn’t by far the first time I had been in a fight before. But it was the first time fighting someone who had some training. You get into a fight in college at a bar, they don’t have wrestling and you do have wrestling – it is easy to take them down and beat them up. Now, what will it be like to fight someone who knows how to wrestle or has some jiu-jitsu or is a good striker? That’s what really drew me into fighting to begin with. What would happen against a trained person? It is easy to beat up some jabronis at a bar, but it’s not going to be so easy to fight some guy at a venue, which has been set-up beforehand, and he is preparing to fight you and he has skills.”

After seven years with an overall record of 10-4, the former NCAA Division I wrestler from Hofstra University is still training to enter the Octagon to extinguish those “what ifs” in his own mind. At the same time, it is also Attonito’s job to do so as he prepares for his fifth fight in the UFC on December 10th against the debuting Jake Hecht at UFC 140. What once was a competitor’s flight of fancy has become Attonito’s path in life to not only prove he can defeat these opponents, but that he can do so professionally with money on the line and the future of a career in the balance. Actually, the added pressure has only made “The Raging Bull” enjoy MMA even more.

“That initial curiosity is still there and now it’s like how far can I take it,” explains Attonito. “I’m in an organization where I’m competing against the elite level of the sport. I keep answering that question and I’m training harder and harder. I’m going to continue to answer that question of how will I do against someone who has been training as much as someone like Jake Hecht now? It is much different than the first guy I fought. I think it is the same scenario in a lot of ways, but the stakes have been raised. I have more chips in the pile and whoever I’m fighting has more chips in the pile because they have a lot more talent, skills and experience than the first guys I was fighting. It’s part of what makes it so much fun for me.”

The New Jersey native is having a lot of fun in the UFC nowadays, going 3-1 since his stint on the 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter. He gave arguably his best performance inside the Octagon in his last bout against Daniel Roberts at UFC Live in June. The dominant unanimous decision over Roberts also marked Attonito’s debut at welterweight after winning 2 of 3 fights at middleweight. He controlled the action of the entire fight, from the standup to the ground, which specifically displayed how well-rounded of a threat he is for his new opposition at 170 pounds.

“I think I was able to display a range of my abilities,” Attonito states. “Everything went well that night. I felt good. I was ready to go in there and compete and win. I was firing on all cylinders and I was able to have a good performance. Every time I get in there, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to continue showing people more. I still feel like I have a lot of skills that I haven’t had the opportunity to put on display. I’m feeling more comfortable every time getting in there and fighting at this level and in this arena. The more I go in there, the more I’m relaxed and the more I can let my training go and really showcase my abilities.”

The drop in weight had been a lingering possibility for the 5-10 former middleweight and even former light heavyweight. But he is no stranger to messing with his weight for competition’s sake, as Attonito began his wrestling days at Hofstra University at 167 pounds and ended them at 197 pounds. Facing bigger and, seemingly, stronger opponents was old hat to “The Raging Bull” when he began his career in MMA at 205 pounds. Attonito’s journey to fighting at his proper weight will only help him against opponents of his own size considering what he has been used to, which is bad news for the current roster of UFC welterweights.

“I felt much better,” emphasizes Attonito about life at his new weight. “As far as my own performance, I felt much faster, more athletic, much more agile and have better endurance. All around the board I feel better at this lighter weight. Fighting against Roberts, he was probably the first guy in years, I can’t remember the last guy, I fought who was my height. Height wise, size wise, I felt like I was fighting someone my size. Usually at middleweight, I’m fighting guys who are taller, longer, and a little bit bigger than me. It felt great fighting at that weight. I definitely felt like I was physically stronger. I fought at 205 and 185 and being used to those heavier and stronger guys, I feel like it is hard not to feel a strength difference in my favor at 170. But there are a lot of strong guys at 170. When I fought Dave Branch he was a big dude and could have been 25 pounds heavier than me the night of fight for all I know. Now, fighting guys that are my height, size, and weight is a real major difference in the way the fights are going to go. I’m not going to get muscled around.”

His next Octagon opponent, Hecht, will be a new name and face to UFC fans, but not to Attonito. The “Hitman” has an overall record of 10-2 with his most notable victory coming last year over TUF 13 vet Charlie Rader. The current product of Fiore MMA in Illinois previously spent time training at American Top Team in Missouri, which led to Hecht making the pilgrimage to the original ATT facility in Florida where Attonito is based out of. Hecht isn’t name recognizable to the UFC faithful, but he is bringing a wealth of international fighting experience into his Octagon debut, which Attonito is familiar with and ready for.

“I think he’s a very tough opponent,” admits Attonito. “He’s got a lot of fight in him. He’s like a zombie. If you don’t shoot him through the head he’s going to keep coming for you. He’s ready to go wherever the fight takes place, whether it is standing or the ground. I know he’s worked a lot on his wrestling and utilized that in his fights. I know he’s got a ground game. He’s going to be a well-rounded opponent who is highly motivated to come in here and get his opportunity to fight in the UFC.”

As mentioned, Attonito is preparing for Hecht at the veritable MMA factory of American Top Team in Coconut Creek. “There are great guys down here all training for big fights like Thiago Alves who had his fight a couple weeks ago and is back training, and Jorge Masvidal training for Gilbert Melendez,” says Attonito, who not only has the daily opportunity to train with some of the best fighters in the world, but to pick their brain to help out his own rise to top. “The great thing about these guys at American Top Team, they’re here to push you to get better and they also provide insight, little bits of wisdom from their experiences they can lend to get you ready to climb up the ladder to the top level of the UFC. You can see how they go about carrying themselves. Through the years they have helped me hone my own style of how I like to get prepared for my fights and I see what they do and I like to add that to my training to make me that much better.”

This Saturday, the next question on Attonito’s path of answering how good of a fighter he can be is through the “Hitman” Hecht. “Each fight, I’m trying to show people more and more of what I’m capable of and give people more of a glimpse,” asserts Attonito, who is looking to establish himself as an ever evolving presence in the welterweight division to the fans and his competitors. “I’m always trying to come out with a newer, improved and better version of myself. Let people see that I should be taken serious. I’m not a flash in the pan and I’m someone people need to look out for.”