In 2011, heavyweight Mark Hunt told UFC.com if he didn’t win his next fight he’d be looking for a new organization or a new line of work. If he beats Junior dos Santos in their fight this Saturday at UFC 160, he could be in line for a title shot. And while he doesn’t gush about his own achievements, he admits he’s proud of how far he’s come.“I am pretty proud of it, going from where I was to where I am today, so it’s great.”Heavy hitter Junior Dos Santos believes he can knock Mark Hunt out. Hunt, a former K-1 kickboxing World Grand Prix champion, knows it’s a possibility. But he doesn’t … Read the Full Article Here
In 2011, heavyweight Mark Hunt told UFC.com if he didn’t win his next fight he’d be looking for a new organization or a new line of work. If he beats Junior dos Santos in their fight this Saturday at UFC 160, he could be in line for a title shot. And while he doesn’t gush about his own achievements, he admits he’s proud of how far he’s come.“I am pretty proud of it, going from where I was to where I am today, so it’s great.”Heavy hitter Junior Dos Santos believes he can knock Mark Hunt out. Hunt, a former K-1 kickboxing World Grand Prix champion, knows it’s a possibility. But he doesn’t … Read the Full Article Here
When James Te Huna and his entourage donned suits and performed a dance to the theme from Men in Black as an entrance for his last fight, it seemed to signal his growing confidence.But in truth, the performance (which went viral with MMA fans) gave Te …
When James Te Huna and his entourage donned suits and performed a dance to the theme from Men in Black as an entrance for his last fight, it seemed to signal his growing confidence.But in truth, the performance (which went viral with MMA fans) gave Te Huna a much needed distraction as he battled doubts heading into his bout with Ryan Jimmo. Te Huna, who will fight Glover Teixeira on Saturday at UFC 160, was expecting to get knocked out. And it nearly happened after Jimmo dropped him with a head kick in the first round. “In those last two weeks I knew what was going to happen (I wou … Read the Full Article Here
Ben Alloway, who fights Ryan LaFlare April 6 on UFC on FUEL TV 9, has had an unusually quick journey to the Octagon. Not so long ago, he was working in hospitality and playing soccer locally without any serious aspirations of becoming a full-time athlete. The Gold Coast, Australia local simply began jiu-jitsu as a way to get fit after an injury.
“Not really (did I aspire to be an athlete),” he said. “I did play pro soccer (locally), I got injured, and that’s how I got into MMA. I was actually going to try and get back into the Australian circuit, but fell into MMA and two and a bit years later here we are.”
Alloway, a contestant on 2012’s The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes, credits intensive training for his rapid rise.
“Which Aussie boy doesn’t like to fight? I guess I was just in a position to train full-time doing two sessions a day, so I fast-tracked it a bit that way. Then I had the opportunity to go overseas and train at the H.I.T. squad, and that’s where I decided I wanted to have a crack at making the UFC.”
Alloway has said goodbye to his job as a nightclub manager, and he’s glad to be leaving the life of excess behind.
“The party scene wasn’t too good for my health. I had a lot of fun while I was in it, but MMA sort of brought me out of that industry, which is a good thing in the long run.”
On The Ultimate Fighter, Alloway impressed in his first fight with a second round knockout over Valentino Petrescu. But his next bout was a grueling decision loss to eventual finalist Bradley Scott. Alloway appeared distraught post-fight, and admits he thought his UFC run was over.
But he was given another chance with a fight on the season finale card last December against fellow Australian Manuel Rodriguez. “Benny Blanco” scored a first round KO victory, landing an Anderson Silva-esque front kick to the jaw.
“After I lost to Brad I thought that the ride was over. I didn’t think I’d get that fight on the finale, but getting that chance against Manny, you know they say the sport has ultimate highs and ultimate lows, so I was low for a few weeks on the show when I lost, then when I got the contract to fight in December last year it was another high. So I just had to try and take my chances and secure that contract.”
The 31-year-old Alloway believes he’s ready for LaFlare, a Long Island native with a 7-0 record in MMA.
“I see him as a well-rounded fighter with wrestling probably being his strength. But I don’t see him having anything that I haven’t seen or been up against before.”
LaFlare has not fought much in recent years, so there has been scant footage to study. But Alloway, 13-4 in MMA, is confident in his preparation.
“I’ve got a hold of what I could; he’s only had seven odd fights in four or five years. I got his latest fight from January, but again, he hasn’t fought for two years so there’s not a lot to go on or a lot of recent stuff. But I think we’ve prepared pretty well for him.”
Late last year a new motivation entered Alloway’s life with the birth of his son Chael. And yes, he is named after outspoken UFC contender Chael Sonnen.
“Yeah, he is actually (named after Chael Sonnen), the wife and I were watching Sonnen vs Silva 2, Sonnen got announced and walked out and I said what about Chael? That’s a cool name and she didn’t realize what I was talking about. Then she went with it asked me a couple of weeks later where I got it from.”
Not surprisingly, Alloway counts himself as a fan of the controversial fighter.
“I like who he is, and what he does; I enjoy it. He walks the walk and talks the talk.”
For Alloway, the birth of Chael provides twofold motivation.
“I wanna do well in the sport so when he grows up he’s got something to be proud of, something to show off to his friends about. That’d be a nice feeling for me. Having said that, providing for him is motivation, and having another mouth in the house, if he eats as much as me when he gets older we’re gonna be in trouble.”
Ben Alloway, who fights Ryan LaFlare April 6 on UFC on FUEL TV 9, has had an unusually quick journey to the Octagon. Not so long ago, he was working in hospitality and playing soccer locally without any serious aspirations of becoming a full-time athlete. The Gold Coast, Australia local simply began jiu-jitsu as a way to get fit after an injury.
“Not really (did I aspire to be an athlete),” he said. “I did play pro soccer (locally), I got injured, and that’s how I got into MMA. I was actually going to try and get back into the Australian circuit, but fell into MMA and two and a bit years later here we are.”
Alloway, a contestant on 2012’s The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes, credits intensive training for his rapid rise.
“Which Aussie boy doesn’t like to fight? I guess I was just in a position to train full-time doing two sessions a day, so I fast-tracked it a bit that way. Then I had the opportunity to go overseas and train at the H.I.T. squad, and that’s where I decided I wanted to have a crack at making the UFC.”
Alloway has said goodbye to his job as a nightclub manager, and he’s glad to be leaving the life of excess behind.
“The party scene wasn’t too good for my health. I had a lot of fun while I was in it, but MMA sort of brought me out of that industry, which is a good thing in the long run.”
On The Ultimate Fighter, Alloway impressed in his first fight with a second round knockout over Valentino Petrescu. But his next bout was a grueling decision loss to eventual finalist Bradley Scott. Alloway appeared distraught post-fight, and admits he thought his UFC run was over.
But he was given another chance with a fight on the season finale card last December against fellow Australian Manuel Rodriguez. “Benny Blanco” scored a first round KO victory, landing an Anderson Silva-esque front kick to the jaw.
“After I lost to Brad I thought that the ride was over. I didn’t think I’d get that fight on the finale, but getting that chance against Manny, you know they say the sport has ultimate highs and ultimate lows, so I was low for a few weeks on the show when I lost, then when I got the contract to fight in December last year it was another high. So I just had to try and take my chances and secure that contract.”
The 31-year-old Alloway believes he’s ready for LaFlare, a Long Island native with a 7-0 record in MMA.
“I see him as a well-rounded fighter with wrestling probably being his strength. But I don’t see him having anything that I haven’t seen or been up against before.”
LaFlare has not fought much in recent years, so there has been scant footage to study. But Alloway, 13-4 in MMA, is confident in his preparation.
“I’ve got a hold of what I could; he’s only had seven odd fights in four or five years. I got his latest fight from January, but again, he hasn’t fought for two years so there’s not a lot to go on or a lot of recent stuff. But I think we’ve prepared pretty well for him.”
Late last year a new motivation entered Alloway’s life with the birth of his son Chael. And yes, he is named after outspoken UFC contender Chael Sonnen.
“Yeah, he is actually (named after Chael Sonnen), the wife and I were watching Sonnen vs Silva 2, Sonnen got announced and walked out and I said what about Chael? That’s a cool name and she didn’t realize what I was talking about. Then she went with it asked me a couple of weeks later where I got it from.”
Not surprisingly, Alloway counts himself as a fan of the controversial fighter.
“I like who he is, and what he does; I enjoy it. He walks the walk and talks the talk.”
For Alloway, the birth of Chael provides twofold motivation.
“I wanna do well in the sport so when he grows up he’s got something to be proud of, something to show off to his friends about. That’d be a nice feeling for me. Having said that, providing for him is motivation, and having another mouth in the house, if he eats as much as me when he gets older we’re gonna be in trouble.”
Martial arts has been a life saver for Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt. Raised in South Auckland, New Zealand, Hunt says he was once a young man with a chip on his shoulder.
“When you grow up with poor surroundings, poor people get angry. They get pissed off that they haven’t got anything that everyone else has got. That’s why I’ve got that chip I was talking about, people who don’t have much get real upset. And martial arts saved me; actually God helped me through martial arts, saved me from being an angry person. There are a lot of kids out there like that.”
Fighting has instilled discipline in Hunt, who takes on Stefan Struve this Saturday on UFC on FUEL TV 8 at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
“It takes a lot of hard work to be a martial artist and train all the time, takes a lot of dedication. There are a lot of easier things I could’ve done in my life, but this is what I was supposed to be. It’s God’s plan.”
A father of five, the 38-year-old Australia-based Hunt says one of his children may yet follow him into fighting.
“My youngest son loves fighting. I’ll support him in whatever he wants to do. He loves fighting because I’m doing it. He’s only five years old.”
Formerly a kickboxer and the 2001 K-1 Kickboxing World Grand Prix champion, then an MMA fighter in Japan’s PRIDE FC, Hunt has seen spectacular highs and lows in the fight game, but he believes his long martial arts journey gives him a key advantage over Stefan Struve, who is aged just 25.
“I’ve been fighting longer than he’s been born, 26 years of martial arts and he’s only 24 or 25 so I’ve got a lot more experience than he does. He’s just got his youth, that’s all.”
Standing at 7 feet tall, Struve is the tallest fighter on the UFC roster. Struve is 9-3 in the UFC and on a four fight win streak. But the 5-10 Hunt doesn’t see many threats from the Dutch fighter aside from his formidable height and reach.
“He’s a tall kid who’s been blessed with being a big person. He’s good at jiu-jitsu but that’s all it is. I’ve got a lot more experience than he does.”
In 2011, Hunt staged an impressive career turnaround. After a six fight losing streak, he scored a second round knockout over Chris Tuchscherer and a grueling decision victory over the favored Ben Rothwell. In 2012, Hunt earned another upset victory with a first round TKO over veteran Cheick Kongo. His comeback even inspired a spirited Twitter campaign from fans rallying to get him a championship fight. He didn’t get a title shot, but with momentum on his side, he was scheduled to fight Struve in May of 2012. Misfortune struck as Hunt suffered a knee injury and was forced to withdraw from the bout. In his understated style, he admits being sidelined for so long has been difficult.
“I’m looking forward to it (fighting again). It didn’t really help with this injury, it just happened and it was just a setback for a while and it’s hard to train with a leg injured like that. We’ll see how it goes in a couple of weeks. Gonna party (laughs).”
While he has previously trained with American Top Team in Florida, this time he’s prepared more locally.
“I started off in New Zealand doing modified strongman work; now I’m back here (in Australia) training with the local guys, so it’s pretty good.”
Hunt has worked with a 6-7 jiu-jitsu player to prepare for Struve. It’s a wise move given that the rangy Dutch fighter holds four UFC wins by submission. Hunt, best known as a granite chinned knockout artist, has fallen prey to submissions in the past.
“I’ve trained with a tall guy for my jiu-jitsu, his name’s Marco (Carlos Gracie black belt Marco Villela).”
But when asked if he’s found any tall sparring partners for the standup, Hunt replies with more of the candid humility he’s become known for.
“I had a little bit of training with a couple of boxers, a couple of kick fighters. It hasn’t been too great at all, but I get what I can get.”
This fight marks another return to Japan for Hunt, the country where he has fought for much of his career. And he recently enjoyed a stint on one of Japan’s famously bizarre game shows, participating in a tug of war alongside Alistair Overeem and among other notable fighters. Novelty factor aside, Hunt displayed some impressive strength as he beat a sumo wrestler, gigantic MMA fighter Bob Sapp, and a professional strongman to be crowned champion.
“Yeah I loved doing that show; it’s good for my popularity over there. Fighting is fighting, but it’s all part of it, so it’s great. They had a few other fighters there like Alistair (Overeem), Bob (Sapp), and it was great. I had a lot of fun.”
While Hunt is once again the underdog against Struve, that’s nothing new for the “Super Samoan,” who was once the unheralded fighter from New Zealand who won the K-1 Grand Prix, then the PRIDE newcomer who beat legend Wanderlei Silva, and now the UFC fighter who is in the midst of an unlikely comeback. When asked about his status as underdog, Hunt cites a maxim from the standup game.
“It’s good, I like it that way. What you don’t see coming hurts the most. I don’t mind being the underdog, it’s fine.”
Martial arts has been a life saver for Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt. Raised in South Auckland, New Zealand, Hunt says he was once a young man with a chip on his shoulder.
“When you grow up with poor surroundings, poor people get angry. They get pissed off that they haven’t got anything that everyone else has got. That’s why I’ve got that chip I was talking about, people who don’t have much get real upset. And martial arts saved me; actually God helped me through martial arts, saved me from being an angry person. There are a lot of kids out there like that.”
Fighting has instilled discipline in Hunt, who takes on Stefan Struve this Saturday on UFC on FUEL TV 8 at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
“It takes a lot of hard work to be a martial artist and train all the time, takes a lot of dedication. There are a lot of easier things I could’ve done in my life, but this is what I was supposed to be. It’s God’s plan.”
A father of five, the 38-year-old Australia-based Hunt says one of his children may yet follow him into fighting.
“My youngest son loves fighting. I’ll support him in whatever he wants to do. He loves fighting because I’m doing it. He’s only five years old.”
Formerly a kickboxer and the 2001 K-1 Kickboxing World Grand Prix champion, then an MMA fighter in Japan’s PRIDE FC, Hunt has seen spectacular highs and lows in the fight game, but he believes his long martial arts journey gives him a key advantage over Stefan Struve, who is aged just 25.
“I’ve been fighting longer than he’s been born, 26 years of martial arts and he’s only 24 or 25 so I’ve got a lot more experience than he does. He’s just got his youth, that’s all.”
Standing at 7 feet tall, Struve is the tallest fighter on the UFC roster. Struve is 9-3 in the UFC and on a four fight win streak. But the 5-10 Hunt doesn’t see many threats from the Dutch fighter aside from his formidable height and reach.
“He’s a tall kid who’s been blessed with being a big person. He’s good at jiu-jitsu but that’s all it is. I’ve got a lot more experience than he does.”
In 2011, Hunt staged an impressive career turnaround. After a six fight losing streak, he scored a second round knockout over Chris Tuchscherer and a grueling decision victory over the favored Ben Rothwell. In 2012, Hunt earned another upset victory with a first round TKO over veteran Cheick Kongo. His comeback even inspired a spirited Twitter campaign from fans rallying to get him a championship fight. He didn’t get a title shot, but with momentum on his side, he was scheduled to fight Struve in May of 2012. Misfortune struck as Hunt suffered a knee injury and was forced to withdraw from the bout. In his understated style, he admits being sidelined for so long has been difficult.
“I’m looking forward to it (fighting again). It didn’t really help with this injury, it just happened and it was just a setback for a while and it’s hard to train with a leg injured like that. We’ll see how it goes in a couple of weeks. Gonna party (laughs).”
While he has previously trained with American Top Team in Florida, this time he’s prepared more locally.
“I started off in New Zealand doing modified strongman work; now I’m back here (in Australia) training with the local guys, so it’s pretty good.”
Hunt has worked with a 6-7 jiu-jitsu player to prepare for Struve. It’s a wise move given that the rangy Dutch fighter holds four UFC wins by submission. Hunt, best known as a granite chinned knockout artist, has fallen prey to submissions in the past.
“I’ve trained with a tall guy for my jiu-jitsu, his name’s Marco (Carlos Gracie black belt Marco Villela).”
But when asked if he’s found any tall sparring partners for the standup, Hunt replies with more of the candid humility he’s become known for.
“I had a little bit of training with a couple of boxers, a couple of kick fighters. It hasn’t been too great at all, but I get what I can get.”
This fight marks another return to Japan for Hunt, the country where he has fought for much of his career. And he recently enjoyed a stint on one of Japan’s famously bizarre game shows, participating in a tug of war alongside Alistair Overeem and among other notable fighters. Novelty factor aside, Hunt displayed some impressive strength as he beat a sumo wrestler, gigantic MMA fighter Bob Sapp, and a professional strongman to be crowned champion.
“Yeah I loved doing that show; it’s good for my popularity over there. Fighting is fighting, but it’s all part of it, so it’s great. They had a few other fighters there like Alistair (Overeem), Bob (Sapp), and it was great. I had a lot of fun.”
While Hunt is once again the underdog against Struve, that’s nothing new for the “Super Samoan,” who was once the unheralded fighter from New Zealand who won the K-1 Grand Prix, then the PRIDE newcomer who beat legend Wanderlei Silva, and now the UFC fighter who is in the midst of an unlikely comeback. When asked about his status as underdog, Hunt cites a maxim from the standup game.
“It’s good, I like it that way. What you don’t see coming hurts the most. I don’t mind being the underdog, it’s fine.”
Explosive striker James Te Huna, who fights Ryan Jimmo at UFC on FUEL TV 7 this Saturday at London’s Wembley Arena, wasn’t always an impressive athlete. But the self-described uncoordinated kid found his niche in combat, saying in 2010, “When I finished school I took up boxing, put a lot of hours in the gym, just worked hard at it, became good at it, and yeah – the fighting game was good for me.”
Te Huna made his MMA debut in Australia in 2003 at age 21, losing his first fight by armbar. Winning more than he lost, his early career was nonetheless dogged by a chronic shoulder injury. At its worst, Te Huna was forced to consider quitting fighting when it dislocated in a 2007 loss to Hector Lombard. In one of the many small miracles that make up his triumph from over injury, however, Te Huna’s shoulder recovered and he beat his next two opponents to earn a spot in an Australian light heavyweight tournament.
In 2009, Te Huna sensed that winning the eight man elimination tournament was his ticket to the UFC. Rolling the dice, he quit his job as a bricklayer and borrowed money from his family to finance full-time training. The gamble worked: he paid his family back and defeated three opponents by KO (including current UFC light heavyweight Anthony Perosh). He’d earned a spot in the Octagon.
The UFC debut of the Australia-based New Zealander against Igor Pokrajac in 2010 followed the consistent thread in his remarkable career. Suffering a broken arm in the second round, Te Huna demonstrated his toughness by continuing to fight and finishing his opponent by TKO in the third. The broken arm did not heal easily, with Te Huna being told by a doctor he would never fight again. But he bounced back once more, and returned to the UFC after a year’s layoff.
Te Huna then squared off against current top contender Alexander Gustafsson in February of 2011. After a strong start Te Huna appeared outclassed by the Swede, who won by a rear naked choke in the first. The difficult loss forced Te Huna to re-evaluate his training. Of the adjustments to his training, he said in 2011, “I changed up my boxing coach, I’ve been training with Lincoln Hudson, he works with Olympic boxers, and he’s got a whole bunch of pros that he coaches. I used to think my hands were all right until I went to this guy. His boxers just towelled me up and exposed all these bad flaws that I had so I went to him and just fixed them right up.”
In Lincoln Hudson, who remains Te Huna’s boxing coach, he has found a rare gem. Trainer of former world champion boxer Vic Darchinyan, among other notables, Hudson is a latecomer to the world of MMA. But Te Huna describes him as a professor when it comes to breaking down the standup game in the Octagon. Hudson, together with Aussie kickboxer Stuart McKinnon, and BJJ instructors Richard Sergeant and Fabio Galeb, now form the core of Te Huna’s homegrown fight camp.
The changes paid dividends for Te Huna in his next fight against Ricardo Romero at UFC 135 in September of 2011. As usual, he was forced to deal with difficult injuries before the fight, as a dislocated finger on one hand and a torn ligament on the other made making a fist difficult. Nevertheless, his fists were closed tight enough to KO his opponent in the first round.
Te Huna then fought Aaron Rosa in March of 2012 in Sydney, Australia. This time he entered the Octagon with perhaps his strangest injury yet: a third degree ice burn after an ice pack was left on overnight. Unfazed, he quickly poured pressure on Rosa. Just over two minutes into the first, Rosa wilted under a powerful barrage of punches, giving Te Huna a TKO victory and earning him a fight against battle-hardened veteran Joey Beltran.
Before the fight against Beltran, Te Huna reflected on his struggle to find confidence as a fighter, saying “I felt like (I belonged in the UFC) after my second fight. I watched Gustafsson put away Matt Hamill. He fought Matt Hamill after our fight and he just toyed with him. Matt Hamill’s a really accomplished wrestler and he couldn’t get him down, and after I watched that fight I was like I do have the skills to stay in the UFC,” he said. “That was the hardest thing; my first two fights in the UFC I kept on questioning myself. After I watched that fight I believed that I belong in the UFC. I started getting better and better, and started being confident and believing in myself.”
In Beltran, Te Huna faced an extremely durable brawler. Te Huna landed powerful shots on “The Mexicutioner” and nearly finished him in the first. But Beltran’s remarkable chin and heart kept him in the fight. While Beltran landed some blows of his own, Te Huna was busy enough in the second and third to claim a unanimous decision victory. It was a feat made all the more impressive when Te Huna revealed that he suffered a broken left hand and foot in the first round, injuries he has now successfully rehabbed.
Following his three fight win streak, the 31-year-old Te Huna now faces the toughest test of his career in Ryan Jimmo. Jimmo has won his last 17 fights, and as a former Canadian karate champion, he presents an interesting stylistic challenge for Te Huna. The Canadian was long known as a cautious counter striker. But a seven second KO over Perosh in his UFC debut quickly dispelled the idea that he isn’t a dangerous finisher. If Te Huna wins he will make a strong case for a fight against one of the division’s top ten. After an arduous MMA journey with a fair share of injury and disappointment, the stakes have never been higher for Te Huna.
Explosive striker James Te Huna, who fights Ryan Jimmo at UFC on FUEL TV 7 this Saturday at London’s Wembley Arena, wasn’t always an impressive athlete. But the self-described uncoordinated kid found his niche in combat, saying in 2010, “When I finished school I took up boxing, put a lot of hours in the gym, just worked hard at it, became good at it, and yeah – the fighting game was good for me.”
Te Huna made his MMA debut in Australia in 2003 at age 21, losing his first fight by armbar. Winning more than he lost, his early career was nonetheless dogged by a chronic shoulder injury. At its worst, Te Huna was forced to consider quitting fighting when it dislocated in a 2007 loss to Hector Lombard. In one of the many small miracles that make up his triumph from over injury, however, Te Huna’s shoulder recovered and he beat his next two opponents to earn a spot in an Australian light heavyweight tournament.
In 2009, Te Huna sensed that winning the eight man elimination tournament was his ticket to the UFC. Rolling the dice, he quit his job as a bricklayer and borrowed money from his family to finance full-time training. The gamble worked: he paid his family back and defeated three opponents by KO (including current UFC light heavyweight Anthony Perosh). He’d earned a spot in the Octagon.
The UFC debut of the Australia-based New Zealander against Igor Pokrajac in 2010 followed the consistent thread in his remarkable career. Suffering a broken arm in the second round, Te Huna demonstrated his toughness by continuing to fight and finishing his opponent by TKO in the third. The broken arm did not heal easily, with Te Huna being told by a doctor he would never fight again. But he bounced back once more, and returned to the UFC after a year’s layoff.
Te Huna then squared off against current top contender Alexander Gustafsson in February of 2011. After a strong start Te Huna appeared outclassed by the Swede, who won by a rear naked choke in the first. The difficult loss forced Te Huna to re-evaluate his training. Of the adjustments to his training, he said in 2011, “I changed up my boxing coach, I’ve been training with Lincoln Hudson, he works with Olympic boxers, and he’s got a whole bunch of pros that he coaches. I used to think my hands were all right until I went to this guy. His boxers just towelled me up and exposed all these bad flaws that I had so I went to him and just fixed them right up.”
In Lincoln Hudson, who remains Te Huna’s boxing coach, he has found a rare gem. Trainer of former world champion boxer Vic Darchinyan, among other notables, Hudson is a latecomer to the world of MMA. But Te Huna describes him as a professor when it comes to breaking down the standup game in the Octagon. Hudson, together with Aussie kickboxer Stuart McKinnon, and BJJ instructors Richard Sergeant and Fabio Galeb, now form the core of Te Huna’s homegrown fight camp.
The changes paid dividends for Te Huna in his next fight against Ricardo Romero at UFC 135 in September of 2011. As usual, he was forced to deal with difficult injuries before the fight, as a dislocated finger on one hand and a torn ligament on the other made making a fist difficult. Nevertheless, his fists were closed tight enough to KO his opponent in the first round.
Te Huna then fought Aaron Rosa in March of 2012 in Sydney, Australia. This time he entered the Octagon with perhaps his strangest injury yet: a third degree ice burn after an ice pack was left on overnight. Unfazed, he quickly poured pressure on Rosa. Just over two minutes into the first, Rosa wilted under a powerful barrage of punches, giving Te Huna a TKO victory and earning him a fight against battle-hardened veteran Joey Beltran.
Before the fight against Beltran, Te Huna reflected on his struggle to find confidence as a fighter, saying “I felt like (I belonged in the UFC) after my second fight. I watched Gustafsson put away Matt Hamill. He fought Matt Hamill after our fight and he just toyed with him. Matt Hamill’s a really accomplished wrestler and he couldn’t get him down, and after I watched that fight I was like I do have the skills to stay in the UFC,” he said. “That was the hardest thing; my first two fights in the UFC I kept on questioning myself. After I watched that fight I believed that I belong in the UFC. I started getting better and better, and started being confident and believing in myself.”
In Beltran, Te Huna faced an extremely durable brawler. Te Huna landed powerful shots on “The Mexicutioner” and nearly finished him in the first. But Beltran’s remarkable chin and heart kept him in the fight. While Beltran landed some blows of his own, Te Huna was busy enough in the second and third to claim a unanimous decision victory. It was a feat made all the more impressive when Te Huna revealed that he suffered a broken left hand and foot in the first round, injuries he has now successfully rehabbed.
Following his three fight win streak, the 31-year-old Te Huna now faces the toughest test of his career in Ryan Jimmo. Jimmo has won his last 17 fights, and as a former Canadian karate champion, he presents an interesting stylistic challenge for Te Huna. The Canadian was long known as a cautious counter striker. But a seven second KO over Perosh in his UFC debut quickly dispelled the idea that he isn’t a dangerous finisher. If Te Huna wins he will make a strong case for a fight against one of the division’s top ten. After an arduous MMA journey with a fair share of injury and disappointment, the stakes have never been higher for Te Huna.
There was a time when Michael Bisping – who fights Vitor Belfort on January 19th in the main event of UFC on FX 7 in Sao Paulo, Brazil – didn’t know what to do with his life. He’d dropped out of an electrical engineering course and worked a series of blue-collar jobs. But when he committed to MMA in 2003, the working-class kid from Manchester, England found some much needed direction. In 2006 he reflected on his humble beginnings, saying, “You always think you’re going to be great and you’re going to do things, but then I got in my early 20s and I was quite disappointed. And if I was being realistic, my life was going nowhere really. And it was going nowhere fast and I wasn’t getting any younger.”
After going 2-0 as a pro, Bisping fought Mark “The Beast” Epstein, a standout UK fighter. Just 24 years old and unpolished, “The Count” received a baptism by fire after he was dropped by a punch in the first round. But the resilient Bisping rallied back to win by second round TKO. Bisping then went on a tear on the UK scene, going 10-0.
The UFC beckoned.
In 2006, Bisping earned a spot as a light heavyweight on The Ultimate Fighter 3. Part of Team Ortiz, he gave fans a glimpse of two of his defining qualities: his work ethic and occasionally sharp tongue. Bisping had an opinion or two about some of his fellow contestants, but he was never distracted from the task at hand. His efforts were rewarded as he finished both his opponents to enter the finale, where he TKOed Josh Haynes in the second round for a UFC contract. Watch fight
After a first round TKO victory over Eric Schafer (watch fight), Bisping was matched against Australia’s Elvis Sinosic in 2007 (watch fight). Against Sinosic, Bisping encountered his first moment of real adversity in the UFC’s Octagon. The Brit was dropped by a knee in the second round, and soon after Sinosic nearly secured a kimura. But Bisping’s determination and superb conditioning make him a hard man to finish. He quickly roared back to TKO the Aussie at 1:40 of round 2. Bisping was challenged once more in his next fight against fellow TUF 3 contestant Matt Hamill. While elite wrestler Hamill had been a novice to MMA on the Ultimate Fighter, he showed new striking skills and scored on the feet against “The Count” in a close three round fight. The judges awarded Bisping the decision, causing a sizeable outcry from the fans. But he remained undefeated.
At UFC 78, Bisping faced his toughest test yet in the undefeated Rashad Evans. Anticipation grew as the two engaging characters traded verbal barbs in the weeks before their fight. But Evans prevailed, scoring takedowns on the Brit repeatedly for a split decision victory. Bisping had his first loss.
The loss sparked a move down to middleweight for Bisping, who wanted to avoid being outsized. His 185-pound debut against Charles McCarthy was preceded by another entertaining war of words, but “The Count” scored a first round TKO victory. After a win over Jason Day (watch fight), he took on exceptionally tough brawler Chris Leben. In a disciplined performance, Bisping demonstrated the cerebral side of his game. He refused to be drawn into a slugfest with Leben, choosing instead to stick and move en-route to a unanimous decision victory. Watch fight
In 2009, his successful run at middleweight earned him a spot coaching The Ultimate Fighter 9 against legend Dan Henderson, and a fight against the former two-division PRIDE FC champion. (Watch TUF season) Not surprisingly, squaring off as opposing coaches bred plenty of hostility between the two. In the second round of their bout, Bisping walked into a massive Henderson right hand that sent him crashing to the canvas. Henderson followed up with another right for good measure, but Bisping was already out cold in one of the most brutal KOs in UFC history. Bisping’s title aspirations lost steam, and fans wondered whether he could recover from the loss. Watch fight
Bisping’s chance to prove he could bounce back came in the form of a 2009 match against Denis Kang, a long time top international fighter. Kang caught “The Count” with some heavy shots early, but Bisping weathered the storm. In the Fight of the Night winner, he came back harder in the second round to finish Kang with strikes, putting an exclamation point on his return. Watch fight
Bisping was then matched against another legendary fighter like Henderson in the form of Wanderlei Silva. It was another tight bout, but the Brazilian narrowly scored the decision win. Bisping’s title run was stopped in its tracks.
But once again, Bisping came back better. The Brit won a decision over tough Dan Miller (watch fight) and the highly touted Yoshihiro Akiyama (Watch fight) in another bout that won Fight of the Night honors. At UFC 127 in February of 2011, he took on fellow contender Jorge Rivera, and before their fight, Rivera released a series of videos poking fun at “The Count.” Bisping, a fighter who wears his heart on his sleeve, soon fired back with harsh words of his own. It was the most bitter in the long line of Bisping’s feuds, and he addressed his colorful pre-fight history, saying, “I’ve got a rep for talking smack, and I’m not saying I don’t talk crap here and there, but I’ve never started anything first. Look at my career and you’ll see guys like Dan Miller, (Yoshihiro) Akiyama, nothing but respect all the way.”
Bisping’s emotions were obvious in the fight, which turned controversial after he stunned a downed Rivera with an illegal knee. Bisping went on to overwhelm Rivera in the second for a TKO victory.
Bisping reprised his coaching role on The Ultimate Fighter 14 opposite Jason “Mayhem” Miller. There were plenty of heated verbal skirmishes. But Bisping is a man who fights best when angry, saying in 2011, “In my opinion, I think I fight better when I’m – for want of a better word – pissed off. So for me, that does help. I’m emotional in and out of the ring, and before and after a fight I’m emotional, but generally when I’m fighting, I’m very, very focused and I’m focusing on what needs to be done as opposed to doing anything silly because of letting my emotions get the better of me.”
Miller had a solid first round but soon tired out. Bisping poured on the pressure as he battered “Mayhem” for a round three stoppage.
Bisping again found himself close to a title shot when he fought Chael Sonnen in January 2012. In another agonizingly close fight, Sonnen’s takedowns and control were enough to give him the win in the eye of the judges.
Bisping was forced to rebound from another frustrating defeat, and face a dangerous opponent in knockout artist Brian Stann on September 22, 2012. Bisping, once little more than a striker, showed off the skills he’s picked up in close to 10 years in the game. He repeatedly scored takedowns on Stann to earn a unanimous decision victory.
Bisping has had several near misses, but never quite strung together enough wins for a title shot. But he’s stayed determined and continuously improved. In 2011, Bisping reflected on his time in the UFC saying, “I’ve been in the UFC for five years now. A lot of good fighters don’t last that long. And I’ve had to go from pretty much a UK-level striker to a well-rounded fighter while competing in the UFC. A lot of TUF winners have struggled in the UFC. Compare their records to mine and you’ll see while I’ve not achieved all I want to in my career, I’m not doing badly overall.”
In Vitor Belfort, he fights an extremely dangerous contender. Belfort is an experienced knockout artist with fast hands and excellent grappling. It’s hard to predict the outcome of the fight, but it’s easy to predict how Bisping will show up. He’s always in shape and he’s always game. Now a father, Bisping once worked menial jobs for little pay. A 2011 quote from “The Count” makes it clear why he works so hard.
“It’s been the best ride of my life. I remember (UFC President) Dana White saying some things when we came off The Ultimate Fighter and it’s fully lived up to everything he’s said and far exceeded it. Being part of the UFC family, I’m so proud and so happy with my life. I’m a lucky man. I get paid well, but I truly love my job. I love being a part of the UFC, I love being a professional fighter, and I love the rewards that it gives to me and my family. So it’s unbelievable.”
There was a time when Michael Bisping – who fights Vitor Belfort on January 19th in the main event of UFC on FX 7 in Sao Paulo, Brazil – didn’t know what to do with his life. He’d dropped out of an electrical engineering course and worked a series of blue-collar jobs. But when he committed to MMA in 2003, the working-class kid from Manchester, England found some much needed direction. In 2006 he reflected on his humble beginnings, saying, “You always think you’re going to be great and you’re going to do things, but then I got in my early 20s and I was quite disappointed. And if I was being realistic, my life was going nowhere really. And it was going nowhere fast and I wasn’t getting any younger.”
After going 2-0 as a pro, Bisping fought Mark “The Beast” Epstein, a standout UK fighter. Just 24 years old and unpolished, “The Count” received a baptism by fire after he was dropped by a punch in the first round. But the resilient Bisping rallied back to win by second round TKO. Bisping then went on a tear on the UK scene, going 10-0.
The UFC beckoned.
In 2006, Bisping earned a spot as a light heavyweight on The Ultimate Fighter 3. Part of Team Ortiz, he gave fans a glimpse of two of his defining qualities: his work ethic and occasionally sharp tongue. Bisping had an opinion or two about some of his fellow contestants, but he was never distracted from the task at hand. His efforts were rewarded as he finished both his opponents to enter the finale, where he TKOed Josh Haynes in the second round for a UFC contract. Watch fight
After a first round TKO victory over Eric Schafer (watch fight), Bisping was matched against Australia’s Elvis Sinosic in 2007 (watch fight). Against Sinosic, Bisping encountered his first moment of real adversity in the UFC’s Octagon. The Brit was dropped by a knee in the second round, and soon after Sinosic nearly secured a kimura. But Bisping’s determination and superb conditioning make him a hard man to finish. He quickly roared back to TKO the Aussie at 1:40 of round 2. Bisping was challenged once more in his next fight against fellow TUF 3 contestant Matt Hamill. While elite wrestler Hamill had been a novice to MMA on the Ultimate Fighter, he showed new striking skills and scored on the feet against “The Count” in a close three round fight. The judges awarded Bisping the decision, causing a sizeable outcry from the fans. But he remained undefeated.
At UFC 78, Bisping faced his toughest test yet in the undefeated Rashad Evans. Anticipation grew as the two engaging characters traded verbal barbs in the weeks before their fight. But Evans prevailed, scoring takedowns on the Brit repeatedly for a split decision victory. Bisping had his first loss.
The loss sparked a move down to middleweight for Bisping, who wanted to avoid being outsized. His 185-pound debut against Charles McCarthy was preceded by another entertaining war of words, but “The Count” scored a first round TKO victory. After a win over Jason Day (watch fight), he took on exceptionally tough brawler Chris Leben. In a disciplined performance, Bisping demonstrated the cerebral side of his game. He refused to be drawn into a slugfest with Leben, choosing instead to stick and move en-route to a unanimous decision victory. Watch fight
In 2009, his successful run at middleweight earned him a spot coaching The Ultimate Fighter 9 against legend Dan Henderson, and a fight against the former two-division PRIDE FC champion. (Watch TUF season) Not surprisingly, squaring off as opposing coaches bred plenty of hostility between the two. In the second round of their bout, Bisping walked into a massive Henderson right hand that sent him crashing to the canvas. Henderson followed up with another right for good measure, but Bisping was already out cold in one of the most brutal KOs in UFC history. Bisping’s title aspirations lost steam, and fans wondered whether he could recover from the loss. Watch fight
Bisping’s chance to prove he could bounce back came in the form of a 2009 match against Denis Kang, a long time top international fighter. Kang caught “The Count” with some heavy shots early, but Bisping weathered the storm. In the Fight of the Night winner, he came back harder in the second round to finish Kang with strikes, putting an exclamation point on his return. Watch fight
Bisping was then matched against another legendary fighter like Henderson in the form of Wanderlei Silva. It was another tight bout, but the Brazilian narrowly scored the decision win. Bisping’s title run was stopped in its tracks.
But once again, Bisping came back better. The Brit won a decision over tough Dan Miller (watch fight) and the highly touted Yoshihiro Akiyama (Watch fight) in another bout that won Fight of the Night honors. At UFC 127 in February of 2011, he took on fellow contender Jorge Rivera, and before their fight, Rivera released a series of videos poking fun at “The Count.” Bisping, a fighter who wears his heart on his sleeve, soon fired back with harsh words of his own. It was the most bitter in the long line of Bisping’s feuds, and he addressed his colorful pre-fight history, saying, “I’ve got a rep for talking smack, and I’m not saying I don’t talk crap here and there, but I’ve never started anything first. Look at my career and you’ll see guys like Dan Miller, (Yoshihiro) Akiyama, nothing but respect all the way.”
Bisping’s emotions were obvious in the fight, which turned controversial after he stunned a downed Rivera with an illegal knee. Bisping went on to overwhelm Rivera in the second for a TKO victory.
Bisping reprised his coaching role on The Ultimate Fighter 14 opposite Jason “Mayhem” Miller. There were plenty of heated verbal skirmishes. But Bisping is a man who fights best when angry, saying in 2011, “In my opinion, I think I fight better when I’m – for want of a better word – pissed off. So for me, that does help. I’m emotional in and out of the ring, and before and after a fight I’m emotional, but generally when I’m fighting, I’m very, very focused and I’m focusing on what needs to be done as opposed to doing anything silly because of letting my emotions get the better of me.”
Miller had a solid first round but soon tired out. Bisping poured on the pressure as he battered “Mayhem” for a round three stoppage.
Bisping again found himself close to a title shot when he fought Chael Sonnen in January 2012. In another agonizingly close fight, Sonnen’s takedowns and control were enough to give him the win in the eye of the judges.
Bisping was forced to rebound from another frustrating defeat, and face a dangerous opponent in knockout artist Brian Stann on September 22, 2012. Bisping, once little more than a striker, showed off the skills he’s picked up in close to 10 years in the game. He repeatedly scored takedowns on Stann to earn a unanimous decision victory.
Bisping has had several near misses, but never quite strung together enough wins for a title shot. But he’s stayed determined and continuously improved. In 2011, Bisping reflected on his time in the UFC saying, “I’ve been in the UFC for five years now. A lot of good fighters don’t last that long. And I’ve had to go from pretty much a UK-level striker to a well-rounded fighter while competing in the UFC. A lot of TUF winners have struggled in the UFC. Compare their records to mine and you’ll see while I’ve not achieved all I want to in my career, I’m not doing badly overall.”
In Vitor Belfort, he fights an extremely dangerous contender. Belfort is an experienced knockout artist with fast hands and excellent grappling. It’s hard to predict the outcome of the fight, but it’s easy to predict how Bisping will show up. He’s always in shape and he’s always game. Now a father, Bisping once worked menial jobs for little pay. A 2011 quote from “The Count” makes it clear why he works so hard.
“It’s been the best ride of my life. I remember (UFC President) Dana White saying some things when we came off The Ultimate Fighter and it’s fully lived up to everything he’s said and far exceeded it. Being part of the UFC family, I’m so proud and so happy with my life. I’m a lucky man. I get paid well, but I truly love my job. I love being a part of the UFC, I love being a professional fighter, and I love the rewards that it gives to me and my family. So it’s unbelievable.”
