About an hour ago I was writing that Chris Weidman was too green for a title shot just yet.Well, I’m putting my foot in my mouth after his Round 2 technical knockout over veteran Mark Munoz tonight. Weidman should be able to bring it against current mi…
About an hour ago I was writing that Chris Weidman was too green for a title shot just yet.
Well, I’m putting my foot in my mouth after his Round 2 technical knockout over veteran Mark Munoz tonight. Weidman should be able to bring it against current middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
At 5-0 in the UFC and 9-0 overall, Weidman is still very young in his career. Despite his young career, he looks like a veteran. With the win tonight, and his unanimous decision victory over Demian Maia on just 11 days’ notice with over thirty pounds to cut, he’s a clear cut contender in the division.
Munoz is no joke. Many had him getting a title shot if he beat Weidman tonight and fans were expecting a competitive fight. Instead, Weidman took down Munoz early in Round 1 and remained in dominant positions until the horn all the while attempting submission after submission.
Round 2 started off the same with Weidman nabbing the takedown. But Munoz, for better or for worse, was able to get back to his feet. Shortly after, Weidman landed a Jon Jones like elbow that spelled the beginning of the end for Munoz.
By the way, the referee let the fight go on way too long, and Munoz ate 8 or 9 unnecessary shots before the fight was called. Not the kind of image the UFC wants to put out there.
Anderson Silva—a living legend—will go down as the greatest of all time, but if there is one thing we know about the Brazilian it’s that he’s susceptible to wrestling as evidenced in his fights with Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson and Travis Lutter.
Weidman obviously has top notch wrestling in the middleweight division, but his training with Serra-Longo fight team has turned him into a very competent striker and an excellent grappler with some dangerous submissions.
His well-rounded game—which was on full display tonight—separates him from Anderson’s former challengers. Sonnen is an excellent wrestler and fully controlled Silva in 6 of 7 rounds of fighting, but he simply doesn’t have the submission game or punching power to get the finish. That’s why Silva was able to beat him on two occasions. Against a guy like Weidman, Silva wouldn’t be able to relax on the bottom and wait until the next round or he’d risk being submitted or pounded out.
Up until tonight, I was talking about guys like Hector Lombard, Mamed Khalidov, Weidman and Francis Carmont as being the tougher fights for Silva later on. I still believe this, the difference being that Weidman is a tough fight for Silva right now, not later.
Leon Horne enjoys all sports and has a particular interest in MMA; give him a follow on Twitter for more information and keep an eye out for interesting interviews and news, Follow @Leon_Horne
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has been a little bit of a personal relations nightmare for himself, in terms of some of his actions inside and outside the Octagon. Let’s face it, Jackson is as enigmatic as they get, the Randy Moss of the UFC—one could…
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has been a little bit of a personal relations nightmare for himself, in terms of some of his actions inside and outside the Octagon. Let’s face it, Jackson is as enigmatic as they get, the Randy Moss of the UFC—one could say—and he’s always been that way.
Despite recent events, Jackson has to have earned some brownie points with even his most critical detractors today.
No, he isn’t signing a contract extension with the UFC, and yes, he wasn’t happy fighting boring wrestlers, but Jackson signed on for a fight that nobody else in the light heavyweight division really wants, and any fight fan out there has to respect that.
Jackson has accepted a fight with UFC newcomer, but MMA veteran, Glover Teixeira, as reported by Globo earlier today.
Teixeira (18-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has 15 finishes in what is now a 16-fight winning streak, with his latest a submission victory over Kyle Kingsbury at UFC 146. He is a very solid fighter with few holes in his game and is looking to make waves in the UFC after a long career in smaller promotions. Jackson and Teixeira are scheduled to do battle at UFC 153 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
UFC president Dana White offered the Teixeira fight to Mauricio Rua, who flat-out turned it down, according to White.
“[Shogun Rua] said he would actually rather be cut than have to fight [Glover Teixeira]. Dude, nobody wants to fight this guy. Nobody wants to fight this guy,” White told Ariel Helwani from FuelTV. “I’ve never seen a guy at the level Shogun is at not want to fight a guy so bad.”
Teixeira is a guy with the skills and record to challenge for the light heavyweight belt, but he doesn’t have the name recognition because of having fought outside the UFC for so long.
The UFC light heavies don’t want to fight him because a win over him won’t change their status in the fans’ eyes, and a loss would be terrible, but a likely possibility.
According to Jackson, the last fight on his UFC contract is the last fight fans will see of him inside the Octagon. Fighting a guy like Teixeira as a final fight is great for the UFC, a step in the right direction for Teixeira and definitely fan friendly. For Jackson, on the other hand, there isn’t much upside to the fight.
If Teixeira beats Jackson, he’ll automatically bolster his name value amongst fans and get pretty close to a crack at Jon Jones’ light heavyweight belt. The UFC builds a new challenger, and they can be content that Jackson leaves the UFC on a loss against an opponent with no name.
Should Jackson win, it does nothing for him besides start a win streak, and for the UFC, it’s not so bad because it’s not like Rampage beating one of their biggest draws in the division and leaving.
I’d imagine Jackson took this fight not because of the fighter, but because of the style of fight he thinks he’ll have with Teixeira and the fact that he wants to finish his UFC contract and move on.
Teixeira isn’t the kind of fighter who will lay on Jackson for three rounds; he’ll look to finish the fight, and those are the kinds of guys with whom Jackson wants to scrap. It’s probably one of the reasons why he was lobbying for the Rua rematch so much: He wants to fight guys who go out on their shields.
I think Teixeira is going to be a tough fight for Jackson, and he very well could be leaving the UFC on a three-fight losing streak, not exactly a great bargaining chip to show future bosses.
In any case, I think Jackson regains some respect by taking this fight. Not many guys wanted to fight Teixeira, but Jackson manned up and decided he’ll fight the tough fight.
Leon Horne enjoys all sports and has a particular interest in MMA; give him a follow on Twitter for more information and keep an eye out for interesting interviews and news, Follow @Leon_Horne
UFC on FX 4: Maynard vs. Guida kicks off a UFC action-packed weekend this Friday.After the stopover in Atlantic city, the UFC takes the show to Brazil on Saturday night for UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin II. Despite being Brazilian, Luis “Beicao” Ramos wi…
UFC on FX 4: Maynard vs. Guida kicks off a UFC action-packed weekend this Friday.
After the stopover in Atlantic city, the UFC takes the show to Brazil on Saturday night for UFC 147: Silva vs. Franklin II. Despite being Brazilian, Luis “Beicao” Ramos will be in action on the under card of the FX event in New Jersey and the Brazilian gave his thoughts on his fight against Matt Brown and more to Bleacher Report.
Ramos (19-7-0) was on a three-fight-win streak before his debut in the UFC’s welterweight division. Like many fighters who debut inside the Octagon, his wasn’t an easy one. Ramos was knocked out 40 seconds into round 1 at UFC 134 last August against highly touted welterweight prospect Erick Silva.
After almost a year, Ramos is itching to get back inside the cage and show the world what he is capable of doing.
“I am very excited for this fight. I’m training since March and my team, the Nova Uniao, is always active and they make us always ready,” Ramos told Bleacher Report. “In December I was supposed to fight Matt Riddle, but he was hurt, and now I’m rested and ready to go.”
The fight with Riddle was an interesting situation for Ramos, as Riddle was sick the day of the fight and it was called off at the eleventh hour. Luckily, Ramos still got his money.
Despite the paycheck—after a loss like the one Ramos suffered at the hands of Silva—most fighters would want a chance to quickly get back to work and erase the bad memories.
“The defeat was really hard to take. I had not much time to be ready for the fight, but I have to thank the UFC for the opportunity,” Ramos said. “Erick Silva is a great fighter, but I’m sure if I win this fight against Brown and win a few more, I will have my chance for a rematch with him and you can be sure the outcome will be different.”
Ramos’ road back to fighting Silva isn’t starting with a gimme fight. Although his record of 14-11-0 isn’t anything to write home about, Brown is a tough fight for anyone and has been a staple in the welterweight division since 2008.
Ramos was originally slated to take Riddle to make up for the UFC 141 debacle, but Riddle pulled up lame once again and Brown stepped in.
“The main difference for my training is that Riddle is left-handed and Brown is right-handed,” Ramos said. “Matt Brown is an excellent athlete and comes in great shape, so I can say that this will be a great fight.”
Hopefully Ramos is able to get himself back on track against Brown. A win will give Ramos some breathing room and a chance to get back on a win streak, which will lead him to bigger fights. Until then, Ramos wanted to thank his supporters for preparing him.
“I want to thank my team Nova Uniao, my master Andre Pederneiras, all my friends that give me great strength, Facebook friends who always encourage me and you guys for this opportunity.”
Leon Horne is a writer for Bleacher Report and is part of the B/R MMA team. Follow @Leon_Horne
I’ve written about the sport of Mixed Martial Arts for over three years now, interviewing 30 athletes, managers and personalities in the sport over the last year and a half.Some of the interviews went easier than others but, for the…
I’ve written about the sport of Mixed Martial Arts for over three years now, interviewing 30 athletes, managers and personalities in the sport over the last year and a half.
Some of the interviews went easier than others but, for the most part, it’s been smooth sailing. Then I met the one guy who didn’t like my style and wasn’t big on cooperation, and that man is Jason “Mayhem” Miller.
“Have your questions like clear and concise and ask them like with confidence,” Miller told me like an upset teacher would tell their student. “If you’re not asking with confidence it really sounds like you’re a guy in his mom’s basement, not an actual writer.”
That’s a sample of some of the kind words Miller had for me.
Usually for a feature piece of the written word, I prefer to have a conversation with the fighter to see where the interview leads us as opposed to having preset questions, but with Miller, that simply wasn’t the case—for the most part.
I say for the most part, because some interesting things were said during our short conversation, so without further adieu, let’s hear what he had to say, besides bashing my “style” or lack thereof.
Despite not wanting to talk about his last fight against Michael Bisping, Miller appears to have taken what UFC president Dana White said after the fight to heart judging by his actions.
White had some harsh words for Miller.
“Some of the punches that were thrown by Mayhem Miller in this fight, you could go to a girls’ Tae Bo class and see better form, better stand-up. It was embarrassing,” White told the media at a press conference shortly after the Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale.
Miller knows his shortcomings against Bisping and has been working to correct them. He made the trek across the Atlantic to go work on his kickboxing in Holland, one of the aspects of his game that looked like it needed work after the fight with Bisping.
“I trained with my Afghan brother SiyarBahadurzada and I got some amazing training in the art of kickboxing,” Miller said. “I worked with other guys at the Golden Glory gym.”
In terms of kickboxing, there aren’t many better places in the world to learn the art form than the Netherlands. With former K1 champions and greats like Peter Aerts, SemmySchilt, BadrHari and many others, the Netherlands has been a hotbed for great kickboxers.
Bahadurzada recently made his UFC debut against Paulo Thiago at UFC on Fuel TV: Gustaffson vs. Silva. He extended his win streak to 7 with the 42-second knockout victory that had Thiago face down on the canvas.
Highly touted for his striking prowess, Miller couldn’t have trained with a better guy to improve his stand up. Bahadurzada has great striking and he seems to have adapted it well for MMA, which is great for Miller.
Miller doesn’t think very highly of his opponent C.B. Dollaway for UFC 146 this Saturday, that much is clear.
“He’s going to get his a** kicked because he’s not as good as I am at fighting,” Miller said.
Dollaway has a wrestling background, but Miller doesn’t think of him as a wrestler at the moment, in fact, he doesn’t think very highly of Dollaway‘s style at all.
“He’s turned into a kickboxer recently,” Miller said. “A kickboxing grappler, that is what he is. His wrestling, he uses it, but the majority of his fights are these strange kickboxing matches where every once in a while he shoots a take down.”
Dollaway was knocked out in his last two fights, so I’d expect him to revert back to his wrestling, and Miller will be ready for whatever his opponent comes with.
“I’m ready for everything!”
With the way Miller was talking about Dollaway, it seemed as if he was maybe a bit upset with the UFC for relegating him to the under card against a fighter on a two-fight losing streak. I asked Miller if this was the case and he denied being upset with the UFC at all.
“I’m not bitter at them [the UFC] at all, I put on a crap performance and I deserve whatever the hell I get,” Miller said. “I’m going to smash this guy [Dollaway] to show where I deserve to be.”
With a win over Dollaway—which according to Miller is going to be the case come Saturday—where does Miller deserve to be? What should be next?
Jake Shields, 1-1 at welterweight since his loss to current champion Georges St-Pierre has made the decision to move back up to the middleweight division, where he holds notable victories over Dan Henderson and Miller himself.
One would think the rematch between Miller and Shields would make sense should they both win their next fights. Miller even asked him for a rematch in the cage after Shields defeated Dan Henderson, leading to the Strikeforce Nashville brawl between himself and the rest of the scrap pack, which includes the controversial brothers Nick and Nate Diaz.
“He (Shields) doesn’t deserve to fight me, watch what I do to this guy [Dollaway] this weekend and then we’ll write the next chapter in the Mayhem story,” Mayhem said.
It was a bit surprising to hear Miller shrug off the Shields rematch like that. One would figure he’d want to get that loss back, but maybe with his performance this weekend Miller is looking to show himself, fans and the UFC that he has bigger fish to fry in the middleweight division.
We’ll just have to wait and see what Miller does on Saturday against Dollaway before we can speculate on what happens next.
That’s what we managed to talk about during the short time we spent on the phone together with some rough patches in between. Miller trained his butt off for this fight and hasn’t been eating the way he likes, which is testing his patience.
Despite the rocky time, Miller was somewhat apologetic towards the end.
“Good job bro, I hope it comes out good and I am sorry I gave you so much trouble, it’s been a long day.”
Miller also did an interview with MMAfighting.com’s Ariel Helwani today and talked a little bit about his frustration this week and the rough interviews he’s given to a few people.
“I like hearing myself talk, obviously I like to do interviews and what not,” Miller told Helwani. “For this camp I’ve been kind of a jerk, like I’ve done some interviews which I owe you guys an apology, I’m sorry I’ve been kind of a jerk to people.”
I imagine my interview with him is one of those interviews. In any case, maybe with a tweak in my “style” and a little more willingness from Miller we can setup round two.
Leon Horne is a writer for Bleacher Report and is part of the B/R MMA interview team, Follow @Leon_Horne
There was a scare last week when rumors that Josh Thomson injured his knee and would be forced to pull out of his title fight with Gilbert Melendez were circulated, but those rumors were unsubstantiated.Thomson will be showing up for the rubber match a…
There was a scare last week when rumors that Josh Thomson injured his knee and would be forced to pull out of his title fight with Gilbert Melendez were circulated, but those rumors were unsubstantiated.
Thomson will be showing up for the rubber match against Melendez at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier. Thomson took some time to talk to Bleacher Report about the fight, among other things.
Thomson is making a quick turnaround from his last fight, a decision victory over K.J. Noons in early March. Prior to the fight with Noons, Thomson hadn’t fought in over a year. Despite the quick turnaround, Thomson relished at the chance at a rubber match with Melendez.
“I wanted the opportunity to fight him [Melendez] for the trilogy, and it presented itself and here we go,” Thomson told Bleacher Report. “I think it’s going to be a great fight.”
The last fight with Melendez, Thomson lost in a five-round war, but he is looking to fight more like he did in their first meeting, when the five-round decision went in his favor. Win or lose, though, he’s ready to go five rounds for the third time with the Stirkeforce champ.
“Every time you fight Gil you’ve got to prepare for the full five rounds,” Thomson said. “I’ve had years of training with him, I’ve fought him obviously twice and he’s really hard to finish on the ground.”
“I’m not looking to have a war like we did for the second fight, I’m really kind of looking to pick him apart like I did in the first fight, frustrate him, get in, get out and land my shots,” Thomson said about how he wants the fight to play out.
The title fight came Thomson’s way after his decision win over Noons, a victory that saw him very critical about his performance and conditioning. Thomson made some tweaks to his training to try to take it easier on his body, but ultimately he felt that it affected him negatively in his fight with Noons.
With the Noons fight behind him and Melendez on the horizon, Thomson was able to adjust his training once more to where he feels he has it just about right.
“I was more upset [about the Noons fight] because I had changed my training and I wasn’t in good enough shape to really push and get the submission,” Thomson said. “I’m leaning a little bit more to my old style of training.”
“In the middle of the day I was doing a Crossfit style, plyometric style workout three days a week, and so that was killing my body to the point where I just felt like I was so depleted, I had no strength and I wasn’t able to do the things that I needed to do to be competitive.
“Even in sparring, 135 pounders and 145 pounders were double legging me,” he said. “I got rid of that whole plyometric style workout altogether and I started cutting back the run in the morning, I think I was somewhat burning the candle at both ends.”
Now that his training is under control and injuries aren’t keeping him on the sidelines, we should see some vintage Thomson this Saturday night against Melendez. Many fans weren’t excited by the fact that Thomson was called upon to challenge Melendez for the belt, and even the Strikeforce lightweight champion expressed a bit of his disappointment with having to fight Thomson.
I’m interested in this fight simply because it is the rubber match and the previous two fights between these guys were decent tilts.
Thomson understands where Melendez is coming from, though.
“He’s [Melendez is] looking for somebody to boost his stock, and it’s definitely nobody in Strikeforce only because given the circumstances we’re not ranked like the guys in the UFC,” Thomson said.
“I kind of understand his dilemma, he’s 30 years old, he’s in the prime of his life and this is his opportunity,” he continued. “It kind of puts me in a weird situation because I want to feel like I’m fighting the best Gil and if he’s not motivated to fight me then it makes me feel a little less motivated to be honest.”
Besides a select few on the Strikeforce roster, Thomson is right—the big names are the guys fighting in the UFC. He would like to see some of the UFC guys come over to Strikeforce.
“It would be nice to have a Donald Cerrone over here to fight or, you know, Anthony Pettis,” Thomson said. “Then we could kind of get a feel like, OK, I’ll fight your guys, get us in there with opportunities for us to go over to the UFC and vice versa, I think it would just be great to be able to fight in both places.
“I feel like right now, we go over there to fight, we’re fighting on their home turf, it’s like when the Pride guys all came to the UFC they all got smashed, and then when the UFC guys went over there they weren’t successful, either. I think it’s just that home turf, that feeling like it’s your promotion, that your fighting in your own promotion gives you that confidence.”
Fellow American Kick Boxing Academy (AKA) teammate Daniel Cormier is one of those guys who will probably get a chance to head over the UFC. He is fighting Josh Barnett for the heavyweight Grand Prix this Saturday, but the Strikeforce heavyweight division is being dissolved after that fight, and many Strikeforce heavyweights have already made the transition to the big show. Obviously for Cormier, going to the UFC with a win over Barnett would be huge.
“Obviously his wrestling is second to none, probably the best in MMA right now,” Thomson said. “I definitely think his chances are looking really good in that division [UFC].
“He’s already knocked out ‘Big Foot’ Silva, he’s got a lot of good wins, I believe he is undefeated 9-0, and if he beats Barnett the sky is the limit for him with just nine fights to come and beat someone with 50 fights, and that’s just impressive.”
The AKA family was struggling a bit a few months back with the departure of Josh Koscheck and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach Dave Camarillo, but things are back on track according to Thomson.
“AKA, everything is good, everything was a little rough for a minute there because of all the media and negative media we were getting, but overall everything is good” Thomson said.
“We have a new Jiu-Jitsu coach Leandro Viera being affiliated with the Checkmat, him and his brothers are the founders of Checkmat, and it’s one of the best Jiu-Jitsu programs out now in the world. It’s great to have them here, it’s great to have Leandro at AKA, he’s been making big improvements with the guys.”
Maybe Thomson will have some new tricks up his sleeve. We’ll see on Saturday. It will be interesting to see what kind of T-shirts he wears into and out of the cage. Visit Thomson’s Facebook page and you can see that he wears his political opinions on his sleeve.
Last time out, Thomson created a bit of a stir in Ohio with his “Hope isn’t Hiring” T-shirt. Don’t expect anything this time, though.
“No, I did it in Ohio cause Ohio is a swing state and I was really hoping to push it and push for Ohio to let everyone know that people from California can be conservative as well. But in California, I might get jumped after if I try to leave the stadium with that on,” he said.
T-shirt or not, injury or not, Thomson will be showing up to fight on Saturday, and if the guys over at AKA are posting videos of him in training and punking him like in this one that was posted yesterday by Showtime, I think it’s safe to say that Thomson is alright.
Leon Horne is a writer for Bleacher Report and is part of the B/R MMA team.
Canadian bantamweight Nick Denis makes his return to the Octagon at UFC on Fox 3: Diaz vs. Miller this Saturday. In his last appearance he won the Knockout of the Night award with his impressive win over Joseph Sandoval. Denis hasn’t fought to a d…
Canadian bantamweight Nick Denis makes his return to the Octagon at UFC on Fox 3: Diaz vs. Miller this Saturday. In his last appearance he won the Knockout of the Night award with his impressive win over Joseph Sandoval.
Denis hasn’t fought to a decision once yet in his 11-2-0 (1-0-0, UFC) career and he is looking to improve as a mixed martial artist every time he sets foot in the cage.
“Just keep improving all-around everywhere and hopefully just keep posting wins,” Denis told Bleacher Report in reference to what he wants next. “In general just improving my wrestling and specific things for each fight and opponent.”
Johnny Bedford, Denis’ original opponent for Saturday night’s fight, had to pull out and was replaced by fellow Canadian and Ultimate Fighter alum Roland Delorme. Late opponent changes are never a welcome thing, but for Denis, he doesn’t see the switch from Bedford to Delorme as being too much of a game changer.
“I don’t have to adjust it [camp] much, you know, basically neither guy is for the striking. Bedford likes to strike more, Delorme doesn’t really have too many striking battles, he’s a Judo black belt, they’re both brown belts in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu),” Denis said. “They obviously would both be looking to take the fight to the ground, so it’s not so much of a different style of opponent; they are both similar.”
Denis is preparing for Delorme at Tristar gym in Montreal and this is his second stint in the city known for its “joie de vie” and quite different in a sense from his hometown of Ottawa.
“I’m much more well adjusted this time around. Things are a lot better here training and outside of the gym, but yeah, I am really enjoying it here in Montreal now,” Denis said.
One thing he’s missing is a little something called Ottawa Shawarma. You can get the full scoop on that in Denis’ blog over at Top MMA News. Basically, Shawarma is like fast food, Middle East style, and in Ottawa you see more Shawarma places than McDonald’s or Burger King. Montreal has great cusine, but they just don’t compete in terms of Shawarma.
“I’ve had Amir’s a couple of times and it doesn’t even compare, it’s not even close to Ottawa Shawarma so sadly, I have to live without it,” he said.
Denis didn’t go to Montreal to eat Shawarma though, he went to train with the best in the business. Tristar gym is known for Georges St-Pierre, but it’s a camp that acts as a training ground for rising stars and champions alike.
Denis worked with fellow bantamweight Miguel Torres prior to his showdown against Michael McDonald at UFC 145. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned for Torres, but that seems to be the case for most of McDonald’s opponents. Denis gave his overall opinion on the young fighter who might also be a possible opponent down the road.
“Obviously, he’s pretty good; he has good knockout power,” Denis said. “He’s got good finishing instincts, he goes after it and he’s pretty impressive.”
In addition to Torres, another Tristar member, Rory MacDonald continued his assault on the UFC welterweight division with a second-round TKO of Che Mills at UFC 145.
“He was great,” Denis said. “I was super happy for him, definitely a good performance.”
Denis wants to pick up right where MacDonald left off for UFC on Fox 3: Diaz vs. Miller this Saturday night.
Despite fighting on the undercard for a Fox event, Denis doesn’t really feel different about it. There is more hype and media surrounding the event, but Denis doesn’t care too much.
“My friends and family seem to get more excited,” Denis said. “It doesn’t really matter, I mean I guess I’m not watching myself, so it doesn’t really matter. It’s just like another fight, like any other event, I don’t get too excited about it.”
“For my first UFC fight, I was excited obviously for my first fight. I really noticed when I was there, specifically in the fight, in the cage and all the events leading up to it and after, it really just felt like any other fight. When you are in there, you don’t notice any of the lights or cameras.”
The fights feel the same, which is good considering things have worked out for Denis so far, but he is already starting to feel the media pressures and added hype that comes with being in the UFC despite only being one fight in.
“I get a lot of interviews, podcasts and all these other strange requests, so I mean there’s that,” he said. “Obviously, I don’t have to say yes to any of them, but it’s good for me and good for them and it only takes up a little bit of my time.
“It definitely has increased [..] there are some days where I’ll get a text asking if I’m ready for the interview and I’m really not in the mood for it, but that’s just part of it, it’s not the worst thing in the world so far.”
Talking with the media involves talking about fighting for Denis, but for him that’s not all he’s about. For example, he posts on Top MMA News as noted earlier and will blog about things like Shawarma, not necessarily the last UFC event.
“I pretty much don’t plan on ever writing much about fighting and if I do it will be a different spin,” he said. “To be honest, my day is filled with training, thinking about training, thinking about this and that and technique and whatever. When I’m not training, I don’t want to talk about my fights or UFC, I just like being a regular person. Anyone else I don’t think likes to talk about their jobs when they get home, you know.”
I think Denis was OK talking to me about his fight and the UFC though, but I think everyone can relate to the idea of preferring to leave work at work.
“I’m a human being first and a fighter second, if I get cut from the UFC, if tomorrow I tripped and broke an arm, it couldn’t be replaced and I could never fight again I wouldn’t be heartbroken. There’s more to life than fighting, I appreciate and I enjoy what I am doing right now, but it doesn’t define me, so it’s another little h.”
At the end of that quote you maybe wondering what the heck a little h is. It’s actually a part of Denis’ philosophy on life and one of his blog topics if you care to read up more on this simple yet satisfying way to live life.
Getting back to fighting for now, Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber are coaching The Ultimate Fighter this season and these are two guys at the top of Denis’ division, guys he could very well face at some point in his career. Cruz and Faber are slated to face off against one another for the third time in a rubber match and Denis gives his thoughts on the fight.
“I think Faber is going to have come up with a different game plan,” Denis said. “Cruz is like a magician, he’s disappearing and reappearing all over the place, he’s constantly moving around so Faber is going to have to come up with something else. I don’t know how it’s going to go this time, I mean I really don’t know, I wouldn’t bet on either person.”
In terms of getting an eventual title shot and maybe matching up against Cruz or Faber down the road, Denis doesn’t know how far off that is and he isn’t one to get too caught up thinking about it, either.
“I really don’t know, I really have no idea. I mean it’s really hard to say,” Denis said. “I think the important thing especially for the UFC is you’ve got to keep winning and you’ve got to be impressive. The more momentum you build, the more attention you get and the easier it is for the UFC to sell the fight.
“What they want to do is they want to sell the best fight possible. They don’t want to have someone who ekes out boring decisions and who has a seven-fight win streak in the UFC, they might give him a shot at the title, but they won’t do it happily.”
I’m sure fans can appreciate Denis’ philosophy on moving up the ladder, anybody who wants to and does put on exciting shows earns a lot of credibility with the UFC and their fans.
He got a great start with the Knockout of the Night over Sandoval a short time ago and it will be interesting to see if Denis can follow it up with another great performance this Saturday night against Delorme.
You can follow Denis’ Twitter @theninjaoflove, I think you’ll find it interesting, especially if you’re in to the world of science and technology.
Leon Horne is a writer for Bleacher Report and is part of the B/R MMA interview team,Follow @Leon_Horne
About an hour ago I was writing that Chris Weidman was too green for a title shot just yet.