Author: By Thomas Gerbasi

September 17. 6am. It’s an ungodly hour for anyone to be up, but this was a special Saturday for Walel Watson, a fight day unlike any other. Later in the afternoon, his childhood friend Robert Peralta, who he had known since they were in seventh grade, was about to make his UFC debut against Mike Lullo. It was almost like Watson was fighting, and in a way he was, through his buddy.

“It was so exciting,” said Watson. “I woke up so early that morning, and I was like ‘I can’t wait, I can’t wait.’”

After three rounds in New Orleans, Peralta’s first UFC fight resulted in his first UFC victory as he decisioned Lullo. Back in Southern California, Watson, 8-2 in his own pro mixed martial arts career, waited for his turn to do the same thing, and Saturday in Washington, D.C., he’ll get his chance against Joseph Sandoval. Hollywood couldn’t have scripted a better story.

“I know he (Peralta) has been doing it a little bit longer than me and I knew what it meant for both of us,” said Watson. “He played football too and he kinda went through the same thing of not being that big and all that. So I know what it meant for both of us to be professional athletes and fight in the best show in the world.”

A former wide receiver, cornerback and special teams returner in junior college, Watson always had ambitions of taking to the professional gridiron just like every kid who puts on the helmet and shoulder pads. And he was good. He just wasn’t big.

“When I played football, because of the gear and everything and sweating every single day, I never weighed more than 142, 143 pounds, and I played junior college and semi-pro that way, being the smallest guy on the field all the time,” said the 5-foot-11 Watson. And when National Signing Day rolled around and the phone didn’t ring, he knew that his dreams of playing in the NFL were over.

That’s when Peralta called his longtime friend.

“He knew that I was very interested in fighting and he was just getting started at that time, so he said ‘come check this out, come to the garage. I got a surprise for you,’” recalled Watson. “That was it. He got me into training and we were just hooked after that. We never stopped training after that.”

The year was 2008, and Watson and Peralta quickly outgrew the garage, where there weren’t any high-tech workout machines or amenities, but there were plenty of opportunities to prove whether you were cut out for getting punched in the face.

“It really did make you tough because it was almost like a fight club,” said Watson. “We didn’t really have any rules and we didn’t have a training regimen. We’d just come in, put on some gloves and we’re all just smashing each other. (Laughs) At that point, me and Robert realized that we really wanted to pursue this and get serious with it, and that’s when we had to break off from the whole garage thing. But it really did make us tough. There were a lot of people getting choked out, knocked out and all kinds of crazy things.”

Eventually winding up with different camps, Watson with Manolo Hernandez and Peralta with Xplode MMA, Johnny Hughes, and Jeff Clark, the two never lost touch with each other, texting or talking multiple times over the course of the week and even getting in some sparring time. Later in 2008, with Peralta already getting ready for his eighth pro fight, Watson made his debut with a submission loss to Enrique Cuellar. He wouldn’t return for another year, and when he did, finishing Peter Martinez in the second round, he was ready to make a run up the bantamweight ladder.

“I don’t want to sound cocky, but I felt like from the moment I started that I could really be something at this,” said the 27-year old Watson. “I don’t know if it’s just because I’ve been a competitor my entire life and I’m used to trying to be the best at everything I’ve done, but right away, from the day I stepped in there, I felt like I could be the best in the world at what I do, especially in my weight class.”

Earlier this year, the 8-2 Watson and the 14-3 Peralta got their calls to the big show. The subsequent phone call between the bantamweight and the featherweight went as you would expect.

“The first person I thanked was him because he gave me my start,” said Watson. “He invited me out to the garage three years ago and was the one who put my foot in the door. We’re always giving positive reinforcement to each other or talking about our training and giving tips to each other. We’re really good friends, and we don’t let anything get between that.”

Watson also gets some helpful hints from Strikeforce female contender Liz Carmouche, who has seen her share of the spotlight this year as well.

“We’re a real tight-knit family and we’re all pretty grounded,” said Watson of his team in San Diego. “None of us ever get too big-headed, and just seeing the way she (Carmouche) handles it, she’s real humble and she’ll be in here helping out anyway she can in the gym at anytime, whether it’s helping me spar or wiping the mats down, and I’m the same exact way. I don’t think any of us will ever change who we are.”

This weekend, things will change though, especially if he can turn back Sandoval and earn his first UFC win. And if you haven’t heard of Watson, a purple belt in jiu-jitsu who has finished all eight of his pro victories (seven by submission), he wants to make sure you know who he is on Sunday morning.

“I’ve had a lot of guys overlook me,” said Watson. “I’ve rolled with brown and black belts and world champions, and I’ve tapped them out because they’ve overlooked me. They’re like ‘oh, this guy’s brand new, he can’t get me.’ But with my tenacity and my belief that I can get anything and beat anybody that’s in front of me, I’ve been able to tap some of the best out there.”

Being a huge bantamweight at 5-11 doesn’t hurt his chances either. And unlike the late boxing star Diego Corrales, who starved his 6-0 frame down to 135 pounds, Watson has no difficulty getting to the bantamweight limit.

“It worked against me in football, but it’s helping me for MMA,” said of his size. “I don’t weigh more than 149-150 pounds if I had pizza the night before. So to get down to 135 is very easy for me. I train five hours a day, so my weight’s always really low, I eat very clean, so when it’s time to cut the weight, it drops right off.”

And as far as his height goes, “It gives me the advantage of being able to close the distance and it really helps my submissions. I can lock up submissions from some pretty strange angles because of my length and I have really good flexibility. So I pull off some strange things sometimes.”

Sounds like a fighter to watch. But is he ready? We asked the same thing of Peralta and he did just fine. So Watson is confident that he will join his buddy in the winner’s circle.

“I’m more than ready,” he said. “I feel blessed and I’m excited to show the world what I can do and what I can bring to the table.”

Take one look at Demetrious Johnson in a fight and it’s evident that he’s one of the fastest athletes in the UFC today. Who knew that he was going to take a similar path up the bantamweight ranks to a world title shot against Dominick Cruz on Saturday night?

Perhaps Johnson didn’t know it himself, but every time the UFC called, he picked up the phone, stepped up to the plate and made his own luck. Now he’s one win away from being called a world champion. It’s still sinking in for the young man dubbed “Mighty Mouse.”

“It’s hard to enjoy it because it’s part of the fight game and part of life,” said Johnson. “I’m just blessed to be in the situation I’m in and I’m happy to be in the UFC and fighting all the time. I want to be active and fight as much as possible. (Lightweight contender) Donald Cerrone, he’s having the time of his life. He’s making money, he’s fighting all the time, he’s being active, and he’s young, so that’s a good thing and how I want to be as well.”

It’s an aspect of mixed martial arts that has been lost in the world of boxing. In boxing, there’s so much riding on the perfect record and fighting the “right” opponents until you hit the 25-0 mark and can get a premium cable fight or a spot on a Pay-Per-View card. In MMA, a fighter can go from obscurity to the top of the heap in the space of a year and a half like Johnson has, simply by being willing to take risks.

“When the UFC calls for a fight, I accept any fight they give to me,” he said. “I beat Kid Yamamoto, stepped in for Brad Pickett because he got hurt, fought Miguel Torres, won that fight, and the next thing you know, they call me up and I’m the next challenge for Dominick Cruz.”

Sounds simple enough, but after debuting in the WEC in April of 2010 with a close loss against England’s Pickett, Johnson went on to hand Nick Pace his first pro defeat and submit longtime contender Damacio Page before moving over to the UFC in 2011. And while the names Kid Yamamoto and Miguel Angel Torres may not immediately register to casual fans of the sport, to fight game aficionados, you’re talking about two of the premier lighter weight fighters in history. And the 25-year old Johnson beat them both – in consecutive bouts.

“Going to fighting Kid Yamamoto from Damacio Page, there was a huge technical difference,” he said. “He (Yamamoto) understood range a lot more, he had good footwork and good boxing, and he also hit really hard. So that was a little different. And when I fought Miguel Torres, it was the same. They’re both tough, hard to put away, and they’re there to fight. They’ve been to the top level.”

Now he’s there as well, a turn of events that has surprised some observers. But as far as Johnson is concerned, if the man calling the shots believes he’s ready for a shot at the crown, that’s all that matters.

“It doesn’t bother me because people are gonna say what they want to say,” he said. “I can’t control what they think of me. If (UFC President) Dana White thinks I should be there, then I’m happy to be there.”

After gutting out a close victory over Torres in May despite breaking his fibula in the second round, he’s about to take on the King of the Hill in the unorthodox Cruz, another fighter who won’t be losing any fastest man competitions anytime soon. If you’ve ever felt the need to watch a fight in slow motion to catch all the intricacies of the fast-paced action, this may be the one.

“I think it (speed) is gonna play a huge part in the fight,” said Johnson. “He moves so much that it makes him a lot faster than a lot of people, and obviously speed’s gonna be a huge factor whether he’s using his speed or I’m using mine. But I’m just gonna go out there and fight like I always do, put the pressure on him and see what happens.”

And when it comes to breaking down one of the most hard-to-decipher styles in the sport today, Johnson feels like he’s got all his bases covered, with “The Wizard” himself, Matt Hume, working up a gameplan in the Pacific Northwest home of the AMC Pankration gym.

“We have a lot of guys in the gym who use a lot of movement to fight,” said Johnson. “One of my main training partners, Drew Brokenshire, he uses a lot of movement when he fights, and we actually have a coach, Trevor Jackson, who watched like 14 hours of footage on Dominick Cruz and he can imitate him down to a tee. I’ve been sparring him and Matt Hume, who’s an awesome wrestler and who outweighs me too, twice a week. So I think I prepared myself to get the best imitation I can for Dominick Cruz. But he can bring people into town to imitate me, and I can bring in people to try to imitate him, but it’s not gonna be the same until you get in there and actually experience what me and him can actually do with each other.”

What people are expecting from this Saturday’s title fight is a bout that may go 25 minutes but feel like only 10. Cruz and Johnson are dervishes in the Octagon, always looking to stay a step ahead of their opposition. Put them together, and they may give a run to Cruz’ previous bout with Urijah Faber for Fight of the Year consideration. It’s a lot of pressure for Johnson, considering that this is not only his first UFC main event, but his first main card appearance, but he seems to be taking it well, quietly confident that a 13 week training camp has touched all the right bases.

“I think my confidence comes from working out in the gym and training with the best in the world,” he said. “Before this fight was even in the books, I never took time off from training, and I’m always trying to evolve my game and get better. I broke my fibula in the Miguel Torres fight and I was on crutches, and when I wasn’t on crutches, I was already training for this fight. I’ve done the training that I need to to go out there and win this fight, and I trained my butt off. I believe in my skills, I believe in my coaches, and I’m just ready to go out there and see what happens.”

Title shots don’t come around too often, and they rarely rear their head a second time. Demetrious Johnson knows what’s at stake on Saturday, yet he’s not focusing on what could happen after the final bell. He’s got a fight to think about first, and if there’s one thing that “Mighty Mouse” is sure of, it’s that he’s got plenty of fight in him for Dominick Cruz.

“I’m a small guy, but I’ve got a lot of heart, and size doesn’t matter,” said the 5-foot-3 contender. “The only thing that matters is the fight in the person and how much that person wants it and how much drive the person has. I’m happy to be in the situation I’m in, I can’t wait to go out there and fight on a live card, being the main event, and hopefully I’ve got Dominick Cruz’ number. He’s beaten everybody in the weight class so far, but I’m going out there to try and seize the opportunity that’s been given to me.”

If you look at the top bantamweights in the world, Dominick Cruz has beaten practically all of them. Urijah Faber, Brian Bowles, Joseph Benavidez (twice), and Scott Jorgensen have all fallen at the hands of the UFC champion, but as he prepares for his latest challenge, a Saturday night main event against Demetrious Johnson, there is no more or less pressure on him; it’s just another fight.

“I feel like every time I fight I’m not defending anything,” said Cruz. “Nobody owns the belt; you just go out there and win a new one every time you fight. So this is just another fight. Fighting Faber, beating Faber, that was just another step in my career that I needed to make happen for myself. I did it, I accomplished another one of my goals that I set, and that’s how I look at it. I’m going out to fight another fight, win a new belt, and put a beating on DJ.”

If that sounds like the confident words of a champion, that would be accurate, and Cruz has earned such a right with his performances. Unbeaten at 135 pounds, a weight class he has graced since 2008, the San Diego native won the WEC and UFC versions of the bantamweight title, but he didn’t truly put his stamp on the division until July, when he defeated the only man to beat him as a pro (at featherweight) in Faber. The five round war won Fight of the Night honors at UFC 132, but it wasn’t until the next morning that everything sunk in for the champion.

“It was like a weight off my shoulders,” said Cruz of beating Faber. “There were a lot of emotions tied into that fight, and not just because of the trash talking, but because deep down inside I knew I could beat him, and I knew that I was supposed to beat him. It was something I just had to do and wanted to do. So there was a lot of pressure, and a lot that I put on myself more than anything. I’m my own worst critic, and anything that anybody can say about me, I’ve already said about myself and thought about it, so to lose to Faber the way that I did (in 2007), it wasn’t necessarily that I lost; it was the way that I lost so quickly. I didn’t even get to fight him and he didn’t even get to see who I was. Nobody got to see who I was in that fight. And this last fight, I got to go out there and show it and prove it and get that W. It was an unbelievable feeling, it’s an accomplishment, and I feel really good about it.”

So do the fans that got to witness a bout that lived up to every ounce of the pre-fight hype that surrounded it. Cruz wasn’t surprised though, as he knew the first 135-pound main event in UFC history was going to deliver.

“I knew that he would (bring it) and I knew that I would,” said Cruz. “So I kinda assumed that was something that was gonna take place. I knew that me and him was either gonna be a five round war that was gonna be an awesome fight at a high pace, or I was gonna go out there and sleep him in the first round. I’m always willing to go to war – I invite the war, I accept the war, and I look forward to the war. That’s what it was and I’m glad we were able to put on a good show for the fans and it was something that I expected.”

Saturday’s bout against Johnson, a powerhouse wrestler with lightning-fast takedowns, promises more of the same. The only question is if Cruz, after all the emotions attached to the Faber fight, can go back to the mental well once more just three months later.

“We’re fighting for a world title – if that doesn’t get you hyped up, what does?” said Cruz. “This is fighting on the biggest stage on the planet for the highest accolade you could possibly get in fighting. I’m hyped every single time I fight. I’m hyped to fight somebody new, I’m hyped to have a new problem to solve in there with a different opponent. DJ’s not somebody to look past. That guy beat Miguel Torres and Kid Yamamoto back to back. The guy’s an underdog that loves the underdog role, and uses it well to fuel him. And that’s exactly what he plans on using to fuel himself against me. But it’s not gonna work because I don’t look at him that way. I look at him as just as tough, and tougher in some ways, than Faber was.”

Guess that answers that question. So what about the idea that Cruz, the presumed fastest gun in the division, may be facing someone even faster in Washington State’s “Mighty Mouse”? That’s going to be an intriguing plotline to see play out at Verizon Center, but one that isn’t fazing Cruz too much.

“He’s pretty quick, but everybody’s quick when they’re comfortable or of you fight them a certain way,” counters the champion. “He’s never fought a high-level wrestler except for Kid Yamamoto, and Yamamoto sat down on his punches very hard and was trying to take his head off with every punch, and you can’t fight a guy like Johnson like that because he plans on that and looks forward to you doing that so he can take you down. There’s just a specific way you gotta fight every single person; you can’t fight everyone the same. I don’t think he’s the quickest I’ve fought. How are you gonna say that he’s faster than Faber or Benavidez? He’s just a different kind of fast and he has a different look than anybody else I’ve fought. He’s got a good rhythm, he’s got good timing on his takedowns, and it’s all about fighting him a certain way and making him uncomfortable.”

And if you haven’t watched Cruz in action, let’s just say that perhaps no fighter can make you as uncomfortable as he can. With cardio for days (he’s fought three five rounders in a row), constant movement and a striking style that has you guessing where the next punch is coming from, Cruz is one of those rare athletes that you can’t figure out. And just when you think you have got a bead on him, he switches it up all over again.

“I’m always training, evolving and trying to get better,” said the 26-year old. “You fight me once, I’m one fighter, you fight me another time, I’m a different fighter. And the other thing is, I don’t fight everybody the same. Even though I’ve got the same sort of style, my gameplan for every person is different. I change up my strikes, I change up the angles to a different side, and I have gameplans according to what my opponents do for every fight.”

But the real secret is that he’s not just focusing on himself, but he’s watching everybody else as he rounds out his MMA game.

“I’m always watching everybody,” he said. “I’m a fan of the sport, and I’m learning from every newcomer that comes in and I’m learning from every veteran and I’m trying to grow and improve. I watch tons of boxing and I think it’s an art and it’s beautiful. And I mix that in with my kickboxing and my wrestling. But you can’t just use boxing and go out there and win. You can’t just use Muay Thai and go out there and win. You have to be able to take certain things from every art and you add it to your style. The beautiful thing about MMA is that there’s always something to add.”

With that attitude, his skillset, and the idea that he’s not the champion, but a hungry challenger, Dominick Cruz may be settling in for a long reign at the top. But maybe settling isn’t the right word, because this is one fighter who can never sit still for very long – in or out of the Octagon. And that’s just the way he likes it.

“I live for this,” he said. “I’m having a blast, I’m loving every second of it and I’m taking it all in. You see me after my fights, I put my hands up, close my eyes, and after every win and before every single fight, I’m soaking in the energy and loving every second of this. I’m in the one percentile of the entire planet, I’m doing something that I love to do, and God has blessed me, so it’s unbelievable and I’m loving it.”

UFC Live, which is headlined by the UFC bantamweight championship bout between Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson, and the heavyweight showdown between Pat Barry and Stefan Struve, airs live on VERSUS from the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., beginning at 9pm ET / 6pm PT. Fans who “like” the UFC on Facebook can see the entire slate of UFC Live prelim bouts at 6:40 pm ET / 3:40 pm PT.

Main Event – UFC Bantamweight Championship
Demetrious Johnson (135) VS Dominick Cruz (135)

Stefan Struve (261) VS Pat Barry (243)
Charlie Brenneman (171) VS Anthony Johnson (171)
Mac Danzig (155) VS Matt Wiman (156)

Rafaello Oliveira (155) VS Yves Edwards (155)
Paul Sass (155) VS Michael Johnson (156)
Byron Bloodworth (138*) VS Mike Easton (135)
TJ Grant (155) VS Shane Roller (156)
Keith Wisniewski (170) VS Josh Neer (171)
Joseph Sandoval (134) VS Walel Watson (134.5)

* Easton has agreed to face Bloodworth, who will be fined, at 138 pounds.

Matt Wiman had left the building. Literally. Moments after his razor-thin decision loss to Dennis Siver in July, the Colorado native decided that he wasn’t going to stick around for any of the usual post-fight pleasantries. So he stormed out of the Octagon and just kept on going until he was outside the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“I went outside to where I almost got lost because I kept running,” he said, chuckling about it now. “It crossed my mind to just leave. I had heard that (former UFC lightweight champion) Sean Sherk had done that one time, and I really respected him for it. (Laughs) They said he ran back to his hotel, and I was gonna just leave and hope that everybody knew that I was fine and meet up with them later. But out of respect for my cornermen and everybody else, I just came back.”

He must have gotten some funny looks walking through the casino, right?

“I don’t think anyone wanted to make eye contact with me.”

That was probably a good thing, considering that Wiman was more than a bit heated following 15 minutes with Germany’s Siver. Thinking back, he says the impulsive run was more of a self-preservation move than anything else.

“It’s one of those things where I’m like ‘what was I doing?’” he said. “It’s something you just don’t think about. I think what I wanted to do was get the hell out of there. As soon as I felt like I was screwed, I didn’t want to talk to anybody or lose my temper or embarrass myself. I knew I needed a moment alone. I ran outside and had that moment alone and was able to think about my family and friends, and I wanted to be okay for them. I didn’t want them to worry about me. I said ‘I’m fine, it is what it is, and I’ll survive.’”

Wiman even met up with Siver later that night, and he made it clear to his foe that the post-fight outburst and some pre-fight heat was nothing personal. It’s just the way he gets ready for what is, in reality, a fight.

“He (Siver) is a really nice guy,” said Wiman. “I could tell he thought that I was mad and he wanted to respect my space, and I didn’t want to be friendly with him before the fight out of respect for the fight. I don’t like those guys that are buddy buddy and then they try to elbow your face in. It’s one of those things where I wanted to respect his distance and I wanted him to respect mine, but after the fight I wanted to let him know that I really respected him as a fighter and liked him as a fighter and that I was a big fan of his.”

When the dust settled, regardless of whether you thought Siver deserved the unanimous decision or that Wiman did enough to pull out the win, it was Wiman who left Vegas with a loss on his record, his first in over two years. A three fight winning streak was history, and the 28-year old had to begin his road to a title shot once again. How long does that take to get over?

“Maybe no time at all or maybe the rest of your life,” said Wiman. “It kinda comes and goes. Some days I think it doesn’t even matter and then some days I’m thinking that it changes everything. It does weigh on you, but it is what is, and I think what I have to keep my mind around is not playing ‘what ifs,’ and just deal with the cards that I’m dealt and only control what I can control. I think it’s better in the long run to go the hard route. It sucks, but if the chips always fall in your favor, you might have a different perspective on life and you might not appreciate things as much. I think that when things are difficult, it teaches you a lot more. I learn more from hard times and losses than I do from victories.”

He may come off as a free spirit who doesn’t let anything faze him, but Wiman is one of the more introspective fighters in the game, and when you take things as seriously as he does, losing a fight by one point on each of the three judges’ scorecards doesn’t just affect your won-loss record, but it touches everything around your career.

“I thought about all the momentum I had created, the money and glory I got screwed out of, but I just came to terms with the fact that the judges could have said I lost every round, they could have said that I was an awful fighter or a great fighter, and it doesn’t matter what other people say – it’s what you did and how you feel about yourself, and that’s all that matters. I was proud of my performance and I thought I beat him and did enough to earn the victory, and I guess at the end of the day, that’s the only thing that matters.”

Oddly enough, now Wiman knows how his opponent this Saturday in Washington, D.C., Mac Danzig, felt after their first bout in June of 2010. In that UFC 115 match, Wiman sunk in a guillotine choke and after a few seconds told referee Yves Lavigne that Danzig was unconscious. Lavigne believed him and stopped the fight. Danzig never lost consciousness, but the decision stood. Nearly 16 months later, they will meet again, both trying to erase the memory of controversial defeats that have stalled them in one way, shape, or form.
 
“I would say I took him down and submitted him completely, but in his defense, if I was in his shoes, I would have been pissed off too,” admits Wiman. “At the end of the day, I should have just been patient and kept squeezing. But now I have to redo my work.”

That could be a difficult thing, and Wiman will admit as much. But that’s just Matt being Matt. He’s honest to a fault, and he wears his heart on his sleeve. That could be seen as a problem by some, but would you rather see an emotionless robot in the Octagon, or a kid who goes in there, is willing to fight his heart out, and even tear out of the arena if things don’t go his way? I think I’d rather watch Matt Wiman. And as far as he’s concerned. Saturday night isn’t a rematch – it’s a whole new ballgame.

“I’m kinda treating it like we’ve never fought before,” said Wiman. “If you fight a fighter 10 times, the outcome’s gonna be different every time, but I think that I’ll beat Mac Danzig more times than he’ll beat me.”

 

CAUTION: SPOILERS INCLUDED – The field on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller has been whittled from 32 down to 16 after some of the best fights in series history. Now the 16 surviving bantamweight and featherweight prospects will see whether they will be training with Michael Bisping or Mayhem Miller for the next six weeks.

After an opening day barbecue and some anointing of nicknames in the house, it’s off to the UFC Training Center for the picking of teams. Bisping wins the opening coin toss and opts to take the first fighter, leaving Miller to pick the first fight.

At bantamweight, Bisping chooses Louis Gaudinot as the first overall pick, and Miller chooses John Dodson as the first member of his squad. In the featherweight division, Bisping opts for Diego Brandao at number one, while Miller takes Dennis Bermudez.

Here’s the way the teams stack up after all the picks have been made:

TEAM BISPING
FEATHERWEIGHTS
Diego Brandao
Akira Corassani
Marcus Brimage
Stephen Bass

BANTAMWEIGHTS
Louis Gaudinot
TJ Dillashaw
John Albert
Josh Ferguson

TEAM MILLER
FEATHERWEIGHTS
Dennis Bermudez
Bryan Caraway
Dustin Neace
Steven Siler

BANTAMWEIGHTS
John Dodson
Johnny Bedford
Dustin Pague
Roland Delorme

Miller is amped up for the first practice, and his fighters feel the same way.

“I’m real excited to help a batch of new guys start their UFC careers right here,” said Miller. “I’m gonna do everything I can as a coach to help these fighters, and I’m gonna do everything I can as a fighter to smash Bisping.”

He even takes things to another level later on, as he and assistant coach Ryan Parsons bring compression suits to his team for them to use.  

While not as high-tech, Bisping is just as excited to get things going.

“I want to do everything I can to help these guys succeed,” said ‘The Count.’

For the first fight of this round, Miller chooses Caraway to take on Team Bisping’s  Brimage.

“It’s a classic striker vs. grappler matchup,” said Bisping. “I think what they’re trying to do is pick one of their strong guys against one of our weak guys. But for me, Caraway didn’t impress me. I don’t think he has the killer instinct. Marcus has got the killer instinct.”

“I just know there’s a lopsided gap in the skillsets between the two guys,” said Miller. “I know that the wrestling and jiu-jitsu of Marcus is not going to be able to handle the level of Bryan Caraway.”

Brimage is at 157 pounds two days before the fight, which means a rough weight cut, but Bisping and his coaches make sure they’re there to help him get there.

Of course, this is an opportunity for Miller to pull his first prank on his opposing coach, and he has his team move all the tires they’ve been training with into Bisping’s pre-fight room. Bisping’s response? Break the door to get in, while promising revenge.

At the weigh-in, Brimage makes weight at 145, and Caraway joins him at the same weight, but it’s a little pre-fight song from Team Bisping and a scream from Brimage that get under Caraway’s skin.

“At first it was cute, but then they made it disrespectful,” said Caraway. “They personally attacked me, and that’s not cool for me and the sport.”

Once the bell rings, Caraway has little difficulty getting Brimage to the mat and pinning him to the fence. In a scramble, Caraway takes his opponent’s back and looks for the finish. Brimage fights to escape, and his submission defense is solid, but he is unable to shake Caraway loose before the bell.

Brimage comes out swinging in round two, but he’s taken down once again. Caraway takes his back a second time, he can’t finish though, as Brimage gets loose and gets back to his feet.  The tide looked to be turning in Brimage’s favor, but Caraway scores the takedown and this time he gets the rear naked choke and the tap out to move on to the next round.

Team Miller takes a 1-0 lead in the competition. Here’s how the teams look:

TEAM BISPING
Diego Brandao
Akira Corassani
Marcus Brimage – Eliminated in episode two by Bryan Caraway
Stephen Bass
Louis Gaudinot
TJ Dillashaw
John Albert
Josh Ferguson

TEAM MILLER
Dennis Bermudez
Bryan Caraway 1-0
Dustin Neace
Steven Siler
John Dodson
Johnny Bedford
Dustin Pague
Roland Delorme

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