Author: By Jordan Newmark

The anecdotal first rule in real estate is “location, location, location”. The same can be said for being a professional UFC fighter because where one lives, what gym one goes to, and who one trains with has as great an effect on what happens in the Octagon as anything else. For The Ultimate Fighter season 12 finalist Michael Johnson, a change in camp showed immediate and marked improvement in his game, which helped earn “The Menace” his first victory in the UFC. As Johnson continues with this new camp, the lightweight division should expect a fast evolution for the wrestler with the dynamite hands.

Johnson’s new home is an upstart gym with more than a couple recognizable names to the UFC faithful. “I am down at the Blackzilian camp in Florida with Rashad Evans, Anthony Johnson, Gesias ‘JZ’ Cavalcante, and the Villefort brothers,” states Johnson. The actual gym, which houses the Blackzilians is Imperial Athletics in Boca Raton, Florida. Evans began putting the team together after his storied departure from Jackson’s MMA and Grudge Training Center, and culled the rest of the talent through a familiar entity: their management.

“We all have the same managers at Authentic Sports Management,” explains Johnson. “It was just kind of one of those things that ended up happening. I came down to help JZ get ready for a fight and I just fell in love with it down here and the situation they had. I decided to stay and give it a shot.”

The 25-year old relocated from Missouri to South Florida earlier this year ahead of his bout with Edward Faaloloto at UFC Live in June. “Everything felt good for that fight and I came in a little bit more prepared and did what I had to do,” says Johnson, who was making his first appearance in the Octagon post-TUF and post his finale decision loss to Jonathan Brookins last December. “I felt really good going into that fight. With the layoff, I had plenty of time to work on the mistakes in my game that I made in the finale fight. I felt like I was in the best shape of my life after having a really long training camp and having some great coaches.”

One coach’s work with Johnson was especially apparent in the bout with Faaloloto; that of Diogenes Assahida. The fight didn’t make it past the first round, as “The Menace” finished Faaloloto by TKO, but the fans got an eyeful prior to that with Johnson’s noticeably different Muay Thai standup. Assahida’s most famous student is none other than UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. The similarities were obvious to even casual fans: continuously switching stances, fluid powerful punches right down the center, a tight clinch with knees, and a stoppage. More than anything, it showed Johnson is ready to learn and can soak up knowledge like a sponge.

“For the Eddie fight, I was working with a great striking coach, Diogenes Assahida, and he showed me some real good skills,” said Johnson. “Now, I have a new striking coach from Holland named Henri Hooht. I love his style, the Dutch style of kickboxing. I’m evolving everyday with my standup. I’m tightening up my standup and I’m punching with a lot more power and speed. It’s always good to have that wrestling background, but I want to go in there and decide fights on my feet. I love to stand and give the crowd a show to look at. That’s what everyone wants to see and that’s what I’m fitting to put on.”

On October 1st at UFC Live, Johnson’s next challenger will be the undefeated English prospect, Paul “Sassangle” Sass. At first glance, the moniker may appear odd, but one look at the 23-year old’s record explains everything. In short, Sass is good at triangle chokes – really good. Out of Sass’ 11 wins, 10 are by submission and eight of those are triangles, including UFC 120’s “Submission of the Night”, which “Sassangle” tapped Canadian Mark Holst with at the end of the first round. Johnson has lost by the dreaded triangle choke before the UFC, but he believes he’s learned from those mistakes and is a whole new breed of fighter now.

“I think it makes it easier for me because I only have one thing to worry about,” asserts Johnson. “I was beat by triangles earlier in my career when I was just getting started in pro fights a couple years ago. I made those changes where I would never get choked like that again. I would be winning the fight and then I’d end up getting triangle choked. I dedicated myself in the gym to really work on that. It’s a huge difference now. If he caught me a couple years ago, when I was easily getting caught in triangles because I wasn’t defending them the right way, then I could see this going his way. But I don’t really see that happening in this fight.”

At 10-5, Johnson has displayed heavy hands in his standup, but his original background is in wrestling, so if Sass gets the fight to the floor, he’s ready. “I definitely think my wrestling overpowers his jiu-jitsu,” affirms Johnson, who confidently believes he can best Sass in his area of expertise if the fight ends up there, and if it doesn’t, then Sass is in a world of trouble. “Regardless, if the fight goes to the ground and he’s on his back and he’s trying to throw submissions and he can’t submit me, then he’s losing. If he is standing on his feet with me then he’s going to be losing in that aspect as well. I see he his strengths, but I think they are easily beatable if I stick to my gameplan.”

In the nation’s capital, Washington D.C., Johnson will look to put his hands on the submission specialist, Sass, live on Versus. “Every time I step into the cage, I’m there to fight for the full 15 minutes with everything I can because I’m in this sport to be the champ and my goal is definitely trying to accomplish that in the next few years.”

He’s certainly with the right camp, the right coaches, and the right teammates, as he’s got the Blackzilians to help him one day achieve that goal. “I feel extremely blessed to learn from this group of guys and it motivates me every day to go in there and work with those guys. They show me the level that I need to be at to accomplish my goals in the UFC. And come the fight, I will go in there and put everything on the line and put on a show for the fans and they will not be disappointed.”

Some people say a plan is just a list of things that don’t happen, but those some people are not nicknamed “The Barbarian”. At UFC 130, Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch had a plan and it was to dominate The Ultimate Fighter season 3 winner Kendall Grove with his size and strength. The plan was to make a statement in Boetsch’s debut at middleweight that there’s a new powerhouse to deal with in the division. That plan worked itself out to a “T”.

“I felt like the fight was one-sided because I was able to implement my gameplan,” affirms Boetsch. “It sort of seemed like we were two different weight classes when I decided to close the distance on him and I was able to do it. I took his range away from him. He stung me with a couple jabs, but I was able to move right through them without much concern and get a hold of him and get the takedowns pretty much at will. My strength was certainly a factor in that fight and I’m looking to do the same in this upcoming fight.”

In the midst of his second stint in the UFC, Boetsch decided to drop the 20 pounds from light heavyweight to middleweight to make a serious run in this new weight class. “I was more excited than anything else to see what I was actually capable of at middleweight,” says Boetsch who had previously gone 3-3 as a 205er in the Octagon and was well known for his might. “I certainly proved to myself I made the right decision in dropping weight. I felt a lot stronger, my speed had definitely increased from when I was at 205 and I felt in a lot better condition, so I’m glad I made the decision. I think in my first fight, I made a statement to everybody that I made the right choice.”

The unanimous decision win over Grove in May was a resoundingly positive showing by Boetsch. He looked more than comfortable in all areas of the fight and kept his pressure and pace on Grove high for the three rounds. Most importantly, the former Division I wrestler from Lock Haven University’s takedowns looked as vicious as ever.

“Guys who get in the cage with me should expect that if I get my hands on them that I’m going to return them to the mat fairly violently.”

In many ways, Boetsch is new and improved at 185.

“I move better,” he explains. “My submissions on the ground go together more smoothly. My wrestling and my scrambling is better. At light heavyweight sometimes, I was feeling like I was getting into my own way. That’s not there anymore. I feel like everything is more smooth and fluid, and with that there’s the speed and power. It makes me more dangerous.”

The next fighter to challenge the svelter Boetsch will be TUF alum Nick “The Promise” Ring at UFC 135 in Denver, Colorado. It’s a classic paradoxical matchup of wrestlers where an irresistible force, the undefeated Ring, will meet the immovable object, “The Barbarian”, in the Octagon. Ring is coming off a most impressive performance against James Head at UFC 131, which he won by rear naked choke in the third. Ring was stumbled briefly in the first round, but commanded almost every other second of the fight, mostly with his superior ground game.

“I think Nick’s a very good fighter,” admits Boetsch. “He’s strung 12 wins together and is undefeated. He’s a tough guy and always comes in shape. He seems like he is mentally tough and I’ve seen him get hurt in fights and battle back and win. Whenever you see that, you know there is a lot going on inside the guy’s head that he is mentally tough and willing to battle back. I’m preparing for a very tough fight. I’m expecting Nick to bring his ‘A’ game for 15 minutes. I’m preparing for a fight that is going to go the distance and will be fought at a hard, fast pace.”

With that being said, the 30-year old plans to enter the cage to make another statement as a middleweight and not only provide Ring with his first loss, but do so like “The Barbarian”. “I want to finish Nick Ring and do it in a fashion that people are like ‘wow, that was brutal’,” asserts Boetsch, who has finished 11 of his 13 wins and is looking to add to that. “I want to finish him early: either knock him out or submit him. I want people to think ‘this Tim Boetsch guy took an undefeated fighter, a guy no one has been able to beat, and Tim finished him.’ I think this fight will further show people that I do belong at middleweight and that I can do a lot of damage at this weight class.”

To prepare for this clash, Boetsch returned to the hallowed halls of AMC in Kirkland, Washington under the watchful eye of “The Wizard,” Matt Hume. “’I’ve had a great camp out there with a lot of really tough fighters, great sparring and Matt Hume in my corner gameplanning and pushing me harder to places I maybe didn’t think I could go,” states Boetsch, who has been training religiously at AMC with Hume for the past three years and believes we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg of his UFC potential. “I’m only getting better at middleweight. This is only my second fight at middleweight, so my body is still adapting to the change. I’m still figuring out how to use my new tools that I’ve got here.”

Generally speaking, the key to getting better at anything is about adding more resistance. The ability to overcome greater adversity. To defeat an even greater challenger than the last is the true mark of improvement. Boetsch’s debut at middleweight was against a well regarded opponent in Grove, who is 6’6” and a 13 fight Octagon veteran. Boetsch doesn’t have it an easier tangling with the unblemished record of Ring. But he is ratcheting up the competition level inside the cage, which means he is only pushing himself harder outside of it with the crew at AMC.

“You have to go to where there are tough training partners,” states Boetsch. “That goes back to my college career in wrestling. There were schools that offered me scholarships and offered me to be the number one guy in the room and have a varsity spot. But you need to be in a room with guys that can beat you up and will push you to the next level and that’s what Matt Hume and the entire AMC team provide out there. There’s no such thing as an easy day of training, especially when we go spar. I expect to get my head ripped off a few times in there and that’s what you need to get better. If you’re in a room where you’re just beating everyone up and not having to push, then you’re not going to get better as a fighter. You need to have guys who are going to test you physically and mentally.”

On September 24th, Boetsch wants to end Ring’s win streak and looks to start one of his own. “I had my debut at middleweight and I was successful and, now, I would like to string some wins together. That’s where my mindset is at. I certainly don’t think Nick Ring’s going to stop me and I don’t see anyone in the foreseeable future that is going to stop me. I’m very excited to get in there and prove to everybody I’m a contender at 185.”

If Kaleo, 4, and his younger brother Keawe, 3, were asked, what does their dad do for a living? Their dad says their response would be, “To them, daddy is a superhero and he goes and beats up the bad guys.”

While not entirely correct, one could see how they might get that impression, as their father is the 6-7, 250 pound recent “Knockout of the Night” winner Travis “Hapa” Browne. It’s a thin line these UFC heavyweights are walking between being ginormous athletic wonders battling it out in the Octagon and being comic book superheroes. Browne’s last fight certainly didn’t help with the confusion as he knocked out the 6-11 Stefan Struve with a “Superman punch” in the opening round at UFC 130.

“I hit way too hard,” states Browne. “Watching his fights, he gets touched a bit in the first round. Watching who he has fought, who he has survived against and who has stopped him, I knew that once I got a hold of him and once I hit him hard he wasn’t going to be able to survive it. I was just waiting for my time to connect and I did and I hurt him. The combination I threw before I threw the Superman punch, I dinged him up a little bit when I clipped him. I knew he was going to try to come in and he was getting desperate at that point.”

The victory over Struve was even more gratifying for the Hawaiian especially coming off Browne’s previous outing at UFC 120 against Cheick Kongo. “I had to win and I had to put on a show because my last fight with Kongo was horrible,” admits the 30-year old, whose draw with Kongo last October is the lone fight on Browne’s pro record that he hasn’t won. “Being on the bench for seven months after my Kongo fight didn’t sit well with me. I hadn’t won since my James McSweeney fight and that’s what we work for to get those W’s. Going into the fight with Struve, I knew I had to put on a performance that people would never forget about and it ended up happening for me.”

Browne’s bout with Kongo was definitely his least entertaining, but it served as arguably the best learning experience for “Hapa” and his burgeoning UFC career. Browne is big, even for a heavyweight, and moves like a man half his size, dipping, darting, and throwing all that body weight into his punishing standup. At the same time, Browne is new to this sport, with only two and a half years of professional MMA experience under his belt and is currently competing with elite fighters in the Octagon. In the end, that matchup with Kongo might serve as the watershed moment for him as the fight which pushed him the most to become one of the elite.

“In my previous fights, I could go in there and just bully somebody with my size, strength and speed, so I didn’t necessarily have to be that fighter I want to be and want to evolve into,” explains Browne. “When I fought Cheick, he’s a big guy too and he’s a veteran and the longer you spend in this sport you’re not intimidated by people. He wasn’t intimidated by my size and strength and it showed. He took a few of my shots and he didn’t crumble under the pressure. It showed me that I need to be more prepared. A lot of it was my conditioning and my technical skills and a little bit of everything.”

Fast forward to UFC 130 and Browne is in mid-air decking the Dutchman Struve in the face for the knockout blow. “In my last fight, when I hit Stefan with that Superman punch I was as fresh as can be,” asserts Browne, who has finished 8 of his 11 opponents in the first round, so he knows how to start fights like a house on fire and, now, Browne diligently works on keeping that burn going longer. “I need to be able to hold that pace for all three rounds. I need to know when to take a moment to rest and when to explode and just to be smarter about my overall gameplan. It’s definitely been something I have been working on a lot.”

The next challenger awaiting him is England’s own Rob “The Bear” Broughton at UFC 135 in Denver, Colorado. “He’s a tough guy, he pushes forward the entire fight, he’s got good boxing and from what I’ve seen he actually has a really good ground game,” tells Browne of the 15-5-1 Broughton, who is primarily seen as a boxer, but who won his debut against Vinicius Queiroz at UFC 120 by rear naked choke. “I think it’s going to be a great fight for the fans. They’re going to see me moving around trying to pick my shots and they’re going to see him trying to knock me out or take me down. He’s a highly underrated fighter and I’m not overlooking him by any means.”

Entering the cage for his fourth time, the fans should expect Browne to show off his increasingly dangerous striking, but he has kept his abilities on the ground thus far a mystery. “If it goes to the ground then I’ll show off what I have, but I’m not trying to show to everybody in the division exactly what I got,” says Browne who has nine wins by KO/TKO, but actually got his start in MMA through Brazilian jiu-jitsu, an art in which he holds a purple belt. “Everybody has put me in the category of a striker or a knockout sort of guy, but they don’t know anything about my ground game and I like it that way. I wouldn’t mind surprising a couple people. If this is the fight that I have to show it, then great; if not, then I’ll save it for another day.”

Browne has spiced up his training for Broughton by moving his camp from Alliance MMA in his adopted home state of California to Jackson’s MMA in New Mexico.

“For this fight with Broughton, I moved my camp to Albuquerque so that I could get the high altitude training that I needed to get in,” reveals Browne, who is training with the top tier fighters of Jackson’s like UFC 135’s main eventer and light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones, as well as renowned coaches like Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn. “I respect coach Jackson a lot and he is seriously like a psychologist, not a coach. He gets in your head and he makes you believe you can do anything you want to do. The good thing with Jackson’s camp and with other good camps out there is that we’re all really here to help each other as well. We’re all super intense right now and we’re all getting our game faces on.”

At UFC 135 in the “Mile High City”, Browne will enter the Octagon against Broughton looking to keep that undefeated record alive and, also, to give the fans a fight to remember.

“I would love to have a three round war,” affirms Browne, who wants to give the fans their money’s worth and show what the heavyweight division is truly capable of. “I want to prove that I can go all three rounds and stick in there and move with the best of them and take punishment and dish it out. I like ‘Knockout of the Night’ and I like ‘Submission of the Night’, but I want to take that ‘Fight of the Night’. I want us to put on a fight for the fans where they walk away from it and say that watching that fight made this card worth it.”

If Browne walks out of UFC 135 with a win and a “Fight of the Night” bonus, there will be no argument from fight fans that for Browne’s sons, their dad is a superhero.

If the raucous crowd at the UFC on Fox presser Tuesday was any indication of the energy level of the fans come fight night, then the metaphorical and physical roof of the Honda Center is going to be blown off. And, yes, it will all happen live and for free on what UFC President Dana White says is the “biggest and baddest” channel on network television: Fox. On November 12th in Anaheim, California, the UFC makes company history with its first event on network television, which is a precursor to the momentous seven year deal signed with Fox that officially starts next year.

This extraordinary occasion where the Octagon will be available to be seen in action on nearly every functioning television in the world is entirely focused on one fight, one division, and one belt: the UFC heavyweight championship. As far as main events go, it does not get any better than a title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos. The undefeated champion, Velasquez, will be defending the belt for the first time since defeating Brock Lesnar for it last October at UFC 121. The challenger, dos Santos, has won seven straight inside the Octagon and earned the number one contender status with a unanimous decision victory over Shane Carwin in June at UFC 131.

Before these two titans can clash with that coveted 10 pounds of gold on the line, these two enormous cage-fighting gentlemen had to meet the press. The evenly split fans’ chanting and cheering for the fighters was so loud it drowned out some of the media’s questions and were jokingly admonished by White to quiet down. The excitement for the fight and this Fox event was definitely noted and much appreciated by all as dos Santos pointed out, “It’s good to receive this good energy from the fans. It doesn’t matter if they are cheering for me or not. It is good that they are here cheering for MMA.”

At 27 years old, dos Santos is preparing for his first title shot in his native Brazil with the renowned fighters of Team Nogueira: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. “Everyday I’m feeling like I’m learning more and learning the skills to be a better fighter,” says dos Santos, who is best known for his fast and powerful punching, but who showed off some picture perfect takedowns in the third round of the Carwin fight. “I love to fight standing and I’m sure to be prepared to fight on the ground. I’m learning wrestling very fast. I know Cain is a very good wrestler and he will probably try to take me down, but I will be ready for this and use my BJJ.”

As for the champion, the seemingly unstoppable Velasquez has spent much of the year rehabbing from shoulder surgery following the winning of the belt. “The recovery has been good,” explains Velasquez, 29, about tearing his rotator cuff, which delayed his first title defense. “I’m doing three practices a day now. It sucked to be off that long, but all I could do was listen to the doctors. That’s all I want to do is fight in the Octagon.”

In his previous nine fights, Velasquez has only been taken the distance once and past the first round twice, but the champion is training for dos Santos to push him into those later rounds. “It’s going to be a war out there for five rounds; that’s how I prepare myself and that’s how I go into each training camp thinking,” states Velasquez, who has finished eight of his nine fights by KO/TKO including Lesnar. “I do think this is my toughest test. He’s got great hands, great power, great boxing. This is definitely going to be a good fight.”

The two heavyweights were asked if they felt any additional pressure to perform because the fight is on Fox? Both fighters agreed that it isn’t “pressure” because this is what they love to do. “No pressure to go in there and perform because that is what we do,” asserts Velasquez, noting that they’re professional fighters and going out there and giving the fans a memorable fight is what they train for and are paid to do. “I expect to go everywhere in this fight: wrestle, go to the ground, jiu-jitsu – I don’t see this being fought in just one style. My wrestling, boxing, and jiu-jitsu needs to be sharp and intact for this fight. I need to be a well-rounded fighter that night to win the fight.”

The Honda Center in Anaheim, California will play host to a historic matchup and event as Cain Velasquez defends the UFC heavyweight championship against Junior dos Santos live on Fox. For the expected millions of first time UFC viewers, there may be no greater introduction to the sport than seeing two talented and athletic monsters like Velasquez and dos Santos scrap in the Octagon. As UFC President White expressed, with these two in the cage, whether the fight goes 30 seconds or 30 minutes, it will be very exciting, especially with a belt hanging in the balance.

Tony Ferguson is a successful athlete.

Actually, make that a “very” successful athlete. UFC fans know Ferguson best for being the most recent winner of The Ultimate Fighter at welterweight in June. And this wasn’t the first time Ferguson has been rewarded in a particular sport with accolades and a championship. He has enjoyed a long standing tradition with winning throughout high school, college, and, now, in the UFC. Ferguson’s dedication to winning in other sports is now entirely focused on his career in the Octagon and the competition better watch out because “El Cucuy”, aka the Spanish boogieman, is coming for them.

“I’m an athlete,” states Ferguson. “I’m an all around athlete. I played football, baseball and I wrestled and I varsity lettered in all of them year after year. MMA is a sport and I’m glad to be an athlete in it. It’s my passion. Wrestling was my passion and I’ve been wrestling since I was six. This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m able to compete at a professional level, make some money, create my own niche, be able to express myself and be able to fall back on it when I want to teach it. MMA is the best thing that ever happened to me and then being employed by the UFC is the next. It’s not going to stop here. I want to earn my right to fight for that belt. Winning that tournament took a lot of work, but it is just one of the steps and I’m willing to work harder to keep going in this. Rome wasn’t built in a night.”

The first stone laid in Ferguson’s UFC empire was winning the 13th season of TUF with a first round knockout victory over Ramsey Nijem. As if winning TUF wasn’t enough, Ferguson was also awarded “Knockout of the Night” honors. This capped off Ferguson’s clean sweep of finishing all of his opponents – Justin Edwards, Ryan McGillivray, and Chuck O’Neil – by KO/TKO in his stint on TUF. He was also Team Lesnar’s third pick, and following the show, Ferguson continued to train with Lesnar and his team, DeathClutch, to prepare for the finale.

“That was probably the craziest six weeks of my life living in that house,” admits Ferguson. “Anything that could have happened happened and it was a life learning experience. I learned a lot about myself and I bettered myself. I got stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally. When I was over at DeathClutch preparing for Ramsey, it just prepared me mentally to kick some butt. I’m here to win. I wasn’t there to lose. When I was on the show I made friends, but I was there to win. It was a tournament and I’m used to tournaments because I’m a wrestler. The one thing about wrestling tournaments, you can look up your opponents, but it doesn’t matter once you’re out there and on the mat. Names don’t matter. It’s all about skills and talent and that’s what I brought to the table.”

Now, the 27-year old’s skills and talents are locked onto a new target and with that a new division. On September 24th at UFC 135 in Denver, Ferguson will drop to 155 and take on veteran Aaron Riley. The move to lightweight was made per the suggestion of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, which Ferguson took, and he is ready for the challenges that await him, namely Riley. The Jackson’s MMA product has a 29-12-1 record and is coming off a decision win over Joe Brammer at UFC 114.

“He’s got a lot of good people he’s working with, he’s going to bring his A game, he’s a well rounded fighter and I see him coming out striking and then trying to take me down kind of like how Ramsey did,” estimates Ferguson, who at 12-2 has a fraction of the fights Riley has, but has more than enough confidence in himself to make up for any lack of experience. “I know he’s going to be game, but so am I. I’m bringing it 150% all the time every day, so he’s going to have to worry about me. The UFC is the premier place for me to work and I’m going to be fighting here for years, so he’s going to have to get through me if he wants to stick around.”

The Grand Valley State University alum has competed at lightweight once before, which was in March 2010 against David Gardner. “I was more aggressive in that fight,” laughs Ferguson, who is already an offensive minded fighter with 11 of his 12 wins coming by stoppage (8 KO/TKO, 3 sub). “When I don’t want to cut weight and I have to cut weight it makes me a little bit more aggressive. I was mentally more focused and zeroed in because I had to cut weight.”

To prepare for his second fight in the Octagon, “El Cucuy” has been cutting his time between team DeathClutch in Alexandria, Minnesota and, his previous gym, Knuckleheadz Boxing in Ventura, California. In his four fights involving TUF, Ferguson showed off the hard work he had put in transforming himself from an NCAA division II national championship winner to a fearsome knockout puncher. Ferguson’s two gyms appear to be a perfect fit to continue that evolution as a wrestler with Marty Morgan (DeathClutch) and Joe “Hoss” Janik (Knuckleheadz). For good measure, Ferguson also does some training with Greg Nelson and the plethora of UFC stars at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy.

All this coaching, all this time training, and all this effort, it’s exactly what he wants to get stronger and better himself in the UFC. And, it’s always been this way for Ferguson – numerous sports and numerous coaches with an endless amount of practice. His success in sports is only matched by his drive to continue it. Ferguson is a determined machine, churning up time in dark gyms to put on stellar performances when the lights are on and it matters most.

“I remember every single drill that every coach that I’ve ever had made us do, whether its footwork drills or pushups – it doesn’t matter,” he explains. “I remember it in my head and I still utilize all of it. When I played football, I was a cornerback and we won state in 2000 and we played where the Detroit Lions play. I still wear my championship ring on my right hand. I wear my team national championship ring from Grande Valley State on my left. I succeeded in three sports: football, baseball and wrestling. That’s what kept me out of trouble and kept me in school. I had to keep my GPA up to play and I had to practice if I was going to play. In mixed martial arts, I feel like if I’m not going to give 150% in there then I’m not going to invite my family to watch me fight because I’m going to go in there and get knocked out. That’s why I put in my time to practice and I give my effort.”

This Saturday, the up and comer is looking to begin his stay in the lightweight division with a win over Riley. “My opponents should fear me,” affirms Ferguson, who wants his winning of TUF to be a starting point for only greater victories to come in the Octagon. “I’m a shape-shifter in there and I adapt and evolve to exactly what is at hand. Once that cage door closes, my opponent has to deal with me. There’s only one person in that cage that’s going to save them and that’s the ref.”

And once that ref steps in, it’s another win for “El Cucuy”.

“I’m your neighbor.”

To most, that benign and simple statement’s meaning has been lost on them. To the winner of the 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter, being a normal Joe in the suburbs of anywhere, USA is the living testament that Court McGee wants to pass on to others who look up to him as an example. Namely, those who struggle with addiction. McGee’s success in MMA may only be overshadowed by his parallel success in sobriety. These two distinctly different journeys are the same one for McGee, and combined they make him successful in life.

“Making sure to show up every day is important, but making sure I show up for the right reasons every day is even more important,” says McGee. “1961 days ago (at the time of this interview), I sobered up and was the last drink or drug I had. 1961 days ago. I did that one day at a time. If you would have seen me five and a half years ago, if I was your neighbor, which I wouldn’t have been your neighbor, I was pitiful. I can honestly say now that I’m a productive member of society. I pay taxes, both of my cars are registered, I have a home, I have a mortgage I’m paying every month, I have two sons, I have a wife, I have health insurance and I’m happy. I have a lawn, I have my own lawn mower, I’m weeding my own lawn and that’s what is important. That’s what is important to people who look up to me and watch me as a fan and as a neighbor that I’m a normal guy. I’m your neighbor.”

At 26 years old, McGee has overcome a lifetime’s worth of adversity. The elite fighters who make it the UFC have had to claw their way to get here, but they usually don’t start their odyssey into MMA immediately following several years where McGee describes himself as a “hailstorm of destruction”. That’s generally not the jumping off point to become a professional athlete, but that is the purpose of McGee’s story, and he’s here to prove it can be done. And with a 13-1 record plus the TUF trophy, it signifies that McGee is right.

“This is a really hard sport,” states McGee. “It wears you out mentally and physically and not very many people make a lot of money in it. I do this to carry the message to other people who struggle that there is a way out. That’s why I get up every day and fight. The number two reason is the payout to better take care of my family. At any point in time before I made it on the show, I said I would do anything I can to pursue this as a career as long as my family doesn’t go without. That meant I had to manage myself, learn about sponsorships and contracts. I lost money on contracts, I got screwed on contracts. I’ve signed contracts for $300 a month for six months and then had my coach steal that money from me when I was gone. I’ve been through the ringer. I had to find a new coach. I’ve had to compete sick and injured. But it doesn’t matter because dedication, determination and perseverance supersede anything in this sport.”

On September 17th at UFC Fight Night in New Orleans, “The Crusher” will enter the Octagon for the third time to take on South Korea’s Dongi Yang. At 10-1, Yang tasted his lone defeat at the hands of McGee’s TUF housemate Chris Camozzi in a close split decision at UFC 121. In March, “The Ox” got back to his winning ways with a second round TKO of Rob Kimmons. The Korean Top Team product has won all of his fights by stoppage, with nine of them by knockout.

“[Yang] fought the same night I fought at UFC 121 and he fought a buddy of mine, Chris Camozzi, one of the guys from the show,” says McGee. “Chris said he was strong and that he comes out hard in the first round. He’s a southpaw, so he’s probably going to throw a lot of straight lefts. For me, I’m probably going to want to stay outside of his right foot because that was one of the first things I ever learned in boxing. I know he’s dropped guys with right hooks and he’s TKOed guys from their back.”

Besides that, the Utah native isn’t interested in finding out more about Yang until the two tangle in the cage. Whereas some fighters may agonize over video tape on their opponent, McGee is focused on making sure he’s the best he can be day in and day out. It is an inch by inch pragmatist mindset that got McGee into MMA, into the TUF house, winning TUF, and, most of all, sobriety. McGee isn’t worrying about the future; he’s zeroed-in on the practice today, so come fight time he will be ready for Yang.

“You can over-complicate things and waste so much time thinking about things that haven’t even happened yet,” asserts McGee. “The main thing is showing up in great shape and showing up uninjured. The only fight I cared about really watching footage was for that Jeremy Horn fight and that was the one I lost. All I watched was him head kick Forrest Griffin and knock him out. I watched that 50 times. I had my dad cornering me for that fight. I was training at this little gym with guys who had never fought before. Show up in shape and show up prepared to fight. It’s a fight. That happens to be on my list of three favorite things to do. #1 is to carry the message to people who struggle. #2 is the payout to better take care of my family and #3 is I enjoy the competition. I enjoy being in the fight. I enjoy trying to figure how to beat you, the other guy in the cage.”

Staying uninjured has been the almost impossible task for McGee this past year, as he suffered back-to-back injuries since winning TUF. “I’ve made it to the UFC and I get injured in my first fight out of the house and I’ve got to sit out,” said McGee, who initially shattered the second metacarpal on his right hand on Ryan Jensen’s head in the second round of their UFC 121 fight. After surgery and time off, McGee injured his left knee during a wrestling practice with Jake Shields, Ramsey Nijem and Gilbert Melendez in preparation for a fight in June. “It’s been the most frustrating thing ever.”

After a rollercoaster year following McGee’s first two fights and first two wins in the UFC, “The Crusher” is healthy and has been training non-stop for this fight. “Our gym in Orem is The Pit Elevated, and it’s basically the Pit Utah,” says McGee whose connection with the renown fight gym The Pit started on TUF when McGee was picked to be on the team of Chuck Liddell, easily the most acclaimed product of The Pit. “I made it into the house and I was picked by Chuck and I just fell in love with every one of them dudes: Jake Shields, Scott Epstein, Howard Davis Jr., John Hackleman and Chuck. After the show, I called Chuck and asked him if he thought John would like to coach me. Chuck got me a plane ticket and flew me out there and I stayed at his house and trained side-by-side with him as he was training for Rich Franklin and I was training for the finale.”

Now, McGee is set on a collision course with “The Ox” this weekend. Soon, all the time and energy he has put in with The Pit Elevated fight team, with his jiu-jitsu coach Jason Mertlich and with his head coach Hackleman, will be put on display for UFC fight fans to see. It’s what McGee is here to do, to show that it’s all possible if you work at it and you fight for it. For him, it’s more than a fight, it’s celebration of life.

“I’m really excited,” exclaims McGee. “Now’s the time. It’s not like I made it into the UFC and I’m done. Now it’s my chance to give it all I got. Regardless of what happens, I put forth 100% of my effort every day and in every practice and do the best that I can do to make sure I show up and do the best that I can do in front of the world. I’m excited. I’ve got a great opponent. I’ll be out there fighting there alongside my buddy Jake (Shields). My wife and my mom and dad will be out there. Clay Harvison, who trains with us, and another guy named Jorge Lopez, who I’ve been training with for years, will be fighting too. I’m excited to show up there and give it all I got. This is what I do and this is how I carry the message. And I’m uninjured, which makes it even better.”

In the end, “The Crusher” sounds like he would be a great neighbor.