Chasing paper is what Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone has become known for. In 2011, Cerrone fought a total of five times, racking up four “Fight Night” bonuses to the tune of $290,000.In 2012 Cerrone has fought only twice, but he put a…
Chasing paper is what Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone has become known for. In 2011, Cerrone fought a total of five times, racking up four “Fight Night” bonuses to the tune of $290,000.
In 2012 Cerrone has fought only twice, but he put a little extra in the bank when he collected $120,000 for “Knockout of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” bonuses at UFC 150. Unless the UFC is looking for an emergency injury replacement the odds are that we are not going to see Cerrone step foot inside the Octagon until sometime early in 2013, when he hopes to face Anthony Pettis.
Talking about the relative lack of activity, a smiling Cerrone told Bleacher Report, “It’s brutal, my bank account’s feeling it.”
Cerrone has been looking for a fight with former WEC champion Pettis since Cerrone defeated Jeremy Stephens in May of this year. Following that unanimous decision victory, Cerrone said he wanted to fight at UFC 150 in Denver, and why not make that fight against Pettis?
Cerrone got half his wish, competing on the UFC 150 card, but not against his desired opponent. Instead he faced Melvin Guillard, collecting the aforementioned bonuses during the 86-second fight.
The fight was one of the increasingly rare occasions where two friends and training partners had faced each other inside the Octagon.
As far the fight affecting their friendship, Cerrone said that was a non-issue, before and after the UFC 150 bout.
“Oh no, we texted each other, everything’s good,” he stated. “Like I said, once he (Guillard) moved down to Florida our communication kind of slowed up a little bit, we text each other back and forth. No hard feelings, I don’t think either way and there were really no hard feelings going into that fight.”
Looking ahead to the matchup with Pettis, the trash talk and animosity between the two has been steadily growing to the point where they were talked about as potential coaches for season 17 of the The Ultimate Fighter, but with the recent announcements that Jon Jones and ChaelSonnen would be coaching opposite each other and a longer-than-expected injury rehab for Pettis, that coaching opportunity never came to fruition.
As Cerrone said about the gig going to Jones and Sonnen, “Obviously we got overrun by a bigger, badder wolf.”
Cerrone would have welcomed the opportunity to coach opposite Pettis, saying “That would have been awesome to be a coach against him, that would have been fun, it’d be entertaining, but I just want to fight.”
For now it looks like Cerrone will fight Pettis in January. He said that nothing is set in stone as far as date or location, but the fight looks like it is going to take place, “Nothing’s set, they just keep telling us, mid-January, end of January, be ready for January.”
Going back to the TUF coaching gig—while a great opportunity, Cerrone feels that it would have delayed his fight with Pettis even longer, putting him out of the cage for almost a year, stating, “You know January will be a quicker opportunity to fight, if we were doing the show it (the fight) would have been delayed until June or July.”
For now, Cerrone is keeping busy trying to stay in shape and tending to the ranch he owns in New Mexico.
As far as the ranch, Cerrone said, “Everything’s good on the ranch. The gym we got down there’s going good, we got guys coming and going, everything’s going really well. The animals are fat and fed, I just need to keep fighting so I can keep them fat.”
While Cerrone has made it clear that the fight with Pettis is the right fight to take career-wise, he also made it clear that if the UFC called looking for an injury replacement he’d be more than willing to step up.
“If they call me tomorrow and say let’s go, let’s go,” he said. “Pettis is definitely in line for No. 1 contendership so taking the right fight, he’d be the one to wait for and that’s what I am doing, but if someone got injured, I would definitely step up and fight.”
After all, he needs to keep the animals fat and fed, right?
In the world of sports, natural talent is typically the most precious attribute an athlete can have. Those who have been blessed with such gifts quickly ascend the various levels of competition until they reach a point where knowledge, maturity, and ex…
In the world of sports, natural talent is typically the most precious attribute an athlete can have. Those who have been blessed with such gifts quickly ascend the various levels of competition until they reach a point where knowledge, maturity, and experience are required to travel further. That being said, fighting is a different animal entirely unto itself.
For a young fighter like Brad Tavares, competing on the biggest stage in the sport has been a baptism by fire. Inside the Octagon, physical gifts are tested much more quickly, and the intangibles that differentiate contender from prospect must increase with each subsequent fight.
What began on pure instinct for the 24-year-old Hawaiian has now turned into calculation and execution. Countless hours at the helm of coach and mentor Ray Sefo, have not only strengthened his skills and body but his mind as well.
The respected and experienced Sefo has worked to add structure and technique to Tavares‘ raw power and aggression. Where he once worked off instinct, footwork and spacial difference now dictate his attack. The process has yielded impressive results, as Tavares has evolved from a tough island kid with a warrior spirit to one of the most promising prospects in the increasingly competitive 185-pound weight class.
“Honestly the biggest change is the coaches I get to work with,” Tavares said. “It is such an honor getting to work with Ray Sefo. I like striking and while I’m a mixed martial artist, striking is what I like to do.
“I think strikers with good ground and wrestling games get the farthest in the sport. They are the most notable and the ones fans want to see. Striking is a huge part of my game and it has always been like that. In the past I wasn’t able to work with someone with as much knowledge and experience in the sport like Ray Sefo has. That has made a very big difference to me.
“On top of that I get to train much more than I did when I was living and training full-time in Hawaii. When I was training Hawaii I had a normal job where I was working 60-plus hours a week, at least 40 hours minimum, and then I would go train after that. But then I moved to Las Vegas and began training at Xtreme Couture.
“Now I’m surrounded by coaches and awesome fighters who are great training partners. Luckily they are also full-time fighters and we can meet up any time of day. We can get together, go over things, and have a great training session. That makes a huge difference.
“This sport is very young and you have to continue to constantly evolve. There are so many aspects to this sport when it comes to striking, clinching, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu, you have to always be evolving.
“Even back when I was on The Ultimate Fighter, I said learning is what I like to do on my off time. I like to learn knew things and sharpen the skills I already have. I don’t train crazy when I’m off. I listen to my body and I’m smart about it but I’m always training and learning. I want to always be a better fighter than I was the last time.”
Positioning himself at one of the sport’s premier gyms has fueled Tavares‘ growth tremendously. While he came from Hawaii with a solid base of skills, the collection of experience at Xtreme Couture has pushed Tavares to new heights.
He has elevated every aspect of his game but it is his wrestling abilities which have developed the most. With hours of drilling and grinding in the trenches with a collection of the sport’s best, Tavares has a new found love for grappling and is constantly preparing for the challenges he will inevitably face on the road ahead.
“It’s great working with so many wrestlers at Xtreme Couture but what a lot of people don’t know is that the little team I came from in Hawaii had a lot of good wrestlers as well,” Tavares said.
“Early in my career I never had to use my wrestling too much. My first four or five fights were all either fast TKO’s or submissions. My wrestling definitely has stemmed from Hawaii. I never wrestled in high school or as a young child. I started wrestling when I began training with my team in Hawaii MMA Development. The wrestling coach is Rob Hesia and I’ve just grown from there.
“I love wrestling now and I wish I would have done it growing up. That would have helped me tremendously in this sport. I’m learning and I get to work with guys like that and the guys I work with now like Jay Hieron, Kyle Griffin, and all the great wrestlers that come through the gym. It’s an awesome experience.
“The guys I’m fighting nowadays come with these crazy wrestling pedigrees. They are collegiate Division One wrestlers, All-Americans and things like that. It really helps being able to train with these guys to prepare me for the fighters I’m going to have to face.”
During his time in the UFC, Tavares has found victory in four out of five outings, with the lone setback coming via decision to Aaron Simpson. Each showing has been a learning experience as Tavares has shown marked improvements with each performance. Though he has always shown flashes of promise but it was his most recent fight that showed the talented kid from TUF was becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Stepping in against highly touted newcomer Tom “Kong” Watson at UFC on Fuel 5 in Nottingham England, Tavares attacked from the opening bell as the two fighters put on one of the card’s most impressive scraps.
Watson’s UFC debut may have come in his home country, but it was Tavares who refused to give ground as he fired combinations from bell to bell. The battle ultimately went to the judge’s scorecards and Tavares‘ hand was raised in victory. It was a huge step for the TUF alum and another important learning experience in the books.
“To be quite honest I had a weird anxiety leading up to the fight,” Tavares said. “It stemmed from it being the first time I had to travel that far and taking that long of a flight. I was going into a different country where I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as far as nutrition. I didn’t know what was going to be available and if those things were going to throw off my weight cut.
“Ray Sefo and I discussed it and I went out there a little bit lighter than usual. I did that just in case because I’ve had fighters tell me when they fly that far their bodies won’t let go of the water. I was kind of worried about that but luckily when I got there, everything worked itself out.
“When it came fight time everything went right like it normally does. I got those same emotions where I was excited and anxious to get out there to fight. You work so hard for so many weeks and the fight itself is really the fun part about it. That’s your play time. You have been putting in work for eight to 10 weeks, and the fight is your chance to go out there and showcase your skills.
“As far as thinking about who he was or what he’s done, none of the hype or any of that bothered me. I knew I needed to respect this person. Just looking at his record, how long he’s been at it, the people he’s fought and how those fights went; I knew he was going to be a game opponent. He trains with a very good team at Greg Jackson’s. He is a tough guy and I knew he was going to come out with a good game plan.
“I re-watched the Watson fight and it was a good pace throughout. We were going at it, hitting each other with hard blows, and all the fans really liked the fight. Even the other fighters on the card enjoyed the fight. That is what people can expect from me. I’m just going to get better and better.”
While Tavares may still be in the early stages of his career his eyes are fixated on the levels above. Ever the student of the fight game, he pays attention to the fighters who are competing in the positions he strives to reach and is excited by the resurgence of the middleweight division.
Tavares knows that in order for him to become one of the weight class’ elite fighters, he will have to face the best the division has to offer, and it is an opportunity he’s eagerly awaiting. But until the UFC calls with an offer to fight a top-ranked opponent, he is happy to work his way up the ladder in a division that is heating up.
“I definitely think things are getting exciting in the middleweight division,” Tavares said. “There are guys who have come up in recent years who are proving to be real contenders. For example, a fighter who has taken the division by storm is Chris Weidman. We came into the UFC around the same time. Obviously I came off the show and he fought his way in. He is definitely a contender now.
“There is ChaelSonnen who is the only man to have taken the fight to Anderson Silva thus far. Mark Munoz just lost but he is still a contender. Michael Bisping has been around for a while but I think he’s really coming into it. I think he’ll get the next title shot at 185.
“Tim Boetsch has really been a surprise. Nobody expected him to be a contender but here he is knocking off top guys like YushinOkami and Hector Lombard. He is another guy who recently came to the division with a lot of hype. I don’t think anybody expected Boetsch to beat him but he did.
“The division has gotten a lot deeper and a lot more exciting. There are a lot of different looks and hopefully by next year I’ll be right up in that mix. Hopefully, I’ll be one of those guys people are talking about who came up and fought his way into title contention.”
As the sport continues to grow and the dynamics of the fight game evolve, Tavares understands he will need to stay one step ahead in order to obtain the goals he has set.
He knows it won’t be easy—nothing about fighting ever is—but with an unbreakable work ethic, the desire to learn and a genuine love for the tumultuous fray of trading leather with another human being; the future looks incredibly bright for Tavares.
“I’m in this sport because I love it but now I’m in the UFC and I eventually want to be a champion one day,” Tavares revealed. “The only way to get there is to fight the best guys and big names. In the near future that is what I want. I want to be getting the calls to fight these guys.
“People talk so much about fighters being preliminary card guys or main-card status, but to me the only difference is how much you get paid. That is a big difference and I do want that main-card status.
“I want to be on the main card where people will be able to see my fights without having to go on Facebook. I definitely see myself getting there. I’m young and have a great work ethic. I’m only going to get better.
“I’m going to keep bringing exciting fights. I’m always going to go out there and look for the finish. That is super-important in this sport. You have to put on exciting fights because nobody really pays to watch somebody hold somebody down for three to five rounds or put them against the cage. They want to see exciting fights and finishes.
“I’m not saying you can go out there and finish every fight. At this level of competition you are going to have two men inside the Octagon who are fighting at a very high level and you have to be very precise.
“I’m not one of those fighters who is going to come out there guns blazing crazy, do something stupid and get myself knocked out. But I do go out there to push the pace and look for the finish. Even if I can’t get those finishes fans can always expect exciting fights from me.”
For a brief moment on August 24, it looked like we were going to see Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen square off at UFC 151. Jones was supposed to defend the UFC light heavyweight title against Dan Henderson, but Henderson suffered a torn MCL …
For a brief moment on August 24, it looked like we were going to see Jon Jones and ChaelSonnen square off at UFC 151. Jones was supposed to defend the UFC light heavyweight title against Dan Henderson, but Henderson suffered a torn MCL in his knee during training.
After numerous fighters declined the fight, the UFC went to Sonnen, and he accepted the bout. Jones, though, after consulting with his team, declined the fight. Sonnen has been very critical of Jones on Twitter and various outlets calling him every name in the book and then some for not taking the fight. Jones has thrown jabs here and there ripping into Sonnen, saying he doesn’t deserve the fight.
Jones threw some hints on Twitter last week about being more open to fighting Sonnen in the future if that was what the fans wanted.
Well, the fans spoke, and the UFC is listening.
UFC president Dana White told Lance Pugmire from LATimes.com that Jones and Sonnen will be the coaches of the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter. White also told Pugmire that Jones and Sonnen will square off on April 27, 2013 at a location to be determined for the Light Heavyweight Title.
The season will consist of middleweight fighters with filming set to begin on October 29 and the season debuting in January.
Sonnen had no idea though that he would be coaching on The Ultimate Fighter with Jones.
“It was a surprise to me, and I just talked to Chael a few minutes ago and it was a surprise to him too,” Sonnen‘s head trainer Scott McQuary told Bleacher Report. “I had just walked out of the movie Here Comes The Boom, and one of my students left me a message saying call me right now, Chael‘s made The Ultimate Fighter.
“I called him and he’s (Sonnen) like yea, I just found out myself. I didn’t know. We had no idea this offer was going to be on the table.”
Sonnen was scheduled to face Forrest Griffin at UFC 155 in December. Speculation was running rampant a contract wasn’t signed for the fight due to a lack of an official announcement made by the UFC. McQuary said he was told differently and training had begun for Griffin.
“We had just started our training for him (Griffin) last week,” McQuary stated. “Chael’s been fairly consistent with his training, but we hadn’t been 100 percent focused until this last week. Cheal told me a contract was signed, so we felt up until this morning, the fight was happening.”
Since the announcement was made this afternoon, people on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and various MMA forums have been split on if Sonnen even deserves this opportunity. The people who have felt he doesn’t deserve it is due to his loss in his most recent fight with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva at UFC 148.
Sonnen has only had one fight at light heavyweight in the UFC. That fight was a loss to Renato “Babalu” Sobral at UFC 55 in October of 2005. McQuary feels Sonnen deserves this opportunity for a variety of reasons.
“I think Chael deserves this opportunity because he’s the best there is out there,” McQuary stated. “He (Sonnen) puts butts in the seats. It has to be a combination of putting the two best people together who actually draw the biggest crowd.”
A lot of people had been pegging Jones for a superfight with Silva in 2013, with that fight being the biggest fight out there with Sonnen-Jones and Silva-Georges St-Pierre in the conversation as well. Now, with Sonnen-Jones to happen in April, it could be the biggest fight in UFC history.
“I think with the buildup, The Ultimate Fighter and everything that goes with what I’ve seen with TUF, I think this will be promoted in such a way,” McQuary stated. “The UFC has a long time to get this promoted and built up. I think this will be the biggest fight in history.”
Before we get to the fight, though, a season of The Ultimate Fighter will take place. Sonnen and Jones will have to be around each other for six weeks. People are already speculating this could be the best rated season of the TUF franchise.
“I anticipate that it will be (bestTUFseason),” McQuary stated. “I think you are going to get more people watching than ever, that’s for sure. I mean you have two of the biggest personalities in MMA, well at least one of them, who is definitely going to speak what’s on his mind.”
Two of Zack Micklewright’s three most recent opponents—Bart Palaszewski and Dustin Poirier—are in the UFC. There’s a pretty good chance that Micklewright, a protégé of Spencer Fisher and Pat Miletich, could also be…
Two of Zack Micklewright’s three most recent opponents—Bart Palaszewski and Dustin Poirier—are in the UFC.
There’s a pretty good chance that Micklewright, a protégé of Spencer Fisher and Pat Miletich, could also be competing at the highest level of the sport. But fighting—at least in a cage—hasn’t exactly been a priority for the long-time Marine in recent years.
Micklewright, whose father and an older brother spent time in the armed forces, joined the reserves after finishing high school in his native Davenport. The youngest of four children, Micklewright thought about doing everything from firefighting to teaching, but he has spent the better part of the past decade in the Marine Corps. Micklewright served in Iraq from 2007 to 2008—where he primarily worked on fuel system parts for trucks—and is currently overseas with the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 12.2 in Africa.
Micklewright doesn’t think that his mixed martial arts career has had much of an impact on his time in the military, but the former WEC lightweight contender conceded that his time spent with the Marines has made quite an impression on his fighting career.
“It’s been positive at some times and negative at other times,” the 26-year-old noted via email from an undisclosed location in Africa. “Scheduling fights around the military can sometimes prove to be challenging. Deployments are obviously negative because it puts my MMA career on hiatus. I think it causes me and other fighters in the military to lose that momentum and have to start all over when we return to MMA.”
Micklewright, whose most recent bout was in April of 2011, uses only one word to describe the current state of his mixed martial artist career—hiatus.
“There’s not much I can do from half way across the world that is going to help my MMA career,” he offered. “I still work out, and I still train when I can. I have a few friends here that like to grapple and hit mitts and stuff.”
Micklewright hopes to return to Davenport—by way of North Carolina’s Camp LeJeune—in time for Thanksgiving. Micklewright noted that it will be “business as usual” when he returns home—excepting a few daytrips on his motorcycle, perhaps—but he intends on focusing his attention on training full-time for the foreseeable future.
“I’m looking to come back and take some time to get back in the mix, build some muscle, and make some noise at welterweight,” he noted.
Micklewright can realistically see himself someday leaving the armed forces to pursue his in-ring ambitions 12 months out of the year. But for the time being, he sees both occupations playing a prominent role in his future.
“I’ll probably be in the Marines for as long as I fight, if not longer,” he offered. “I’ve been in the Marines for over eight years now, so I might as well stick it out and retire. There’s always a chance of me getting sick of the military and sticking totally to fighting, but I don’t think it’s very practical for me to do that. The military helps me be able to carry out my career in MMA by having an extra income, along with benefits and things.”
Ed Kapp is a Regina, Saskatchewan-based freelance journalist. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations were obtained firsthand.
Over the course of his mixed martial arts career, Jon Fitch has seen it all. For the past five years, the Indiana native has been considered one of the world’s top fighters at 170 pounds. He holds victories over some of the division’s best, and on the …
Over the course of his mixed martial arts career, Jon Fitch has seen it all. For the past five years, the Indiana native has been considered one of the world’s top fighters at 170 pounds. He holds victories over some of the division’s best, and on the strength of those performances, Fitch has loomed within striking distance of another title shot.
Unfortunately for the American Kickboxing Academy trained fighter, a series of injuries and a first-round loss to Johny Hendricks have threatened to push him out of the sport’s upper tier.
But if there is one thing about Fitch you can pick up from his time in the Octagon, it is resilience. While he has spent his entire career testing the heart and spirit of the opposition, Fitch now finds himself under the microscope. He knows the first step in his rejuvenation begins with a victory over Erick Silva at UFC 153 because losing is simply not an option.
“Honestly it has to be,” Fitch told Bleacher Report in regard to the next chapter of his career. “If this fight doesn’t go the way I need it to, I’m kind of at a loss of what to do next. Losing fights is not paying the bills. It is not really an option for me to go out there and not perform well or not put on a good show. I’m really looking for the ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus. That is something which is really going to put some distance between me and financial problems.
“Fans are going to see a man who is highly motivated and a man who is driven to perform well. They are going to see a man who has to perform well, not just for himself, but for his family and career.”
The saying in MMA is “styles make fights,” and there a few better examples in contrasting styles than Fitch and Silva.
The young Brazilian brings a unique blend of speed, power and accuracy into the cage. During his three fights in the UFC, Silva has made short work inside the cage, as he’s dispatched all three opponents in quick and dominant fashion. He has yet to make it out of the opening round under the UFC banner, and that is one of the areas Fitch will look to test the young prospect.
“My intention is to drop him into deep water,” Fitch said. “He’s a prospect, very explosive, with a lot of ability, but he hasn’t been tested. In his career leading up to the UFC, he wasn’t really tested. That can mislead a lot of people and the fighters themselves because fast knockouts or fast finishes over opponents who get finished and knocked out often could build a false sense of confidence.”
When Fitch’s grinding style of fighting is mentioned, criticism is sure to follow. Over his seven years on the sport’s biggest stage, he has held the line as a perennial contender.
Despite carrying one of the highest winning percentages of any fighter in the organization, a lengthy run of decision victories and a wrestling-heavy attack have put Fitch on the defensive where fans are concerned.
The ideology of being a better fighter who can impose his will on the opposition at anytime is something which drives a wedge between the sport’s fanbase, and Fitch believes it is a point the fans miss.
“I think that concept is a little bit lost in MMA today,” Fitch said. “On top of that, I believe I receive unfair criticism. If you look at the guys I’ve fought and the fighters I’ve been matched up against, they are not people who get finished often or ever. I think that is lost on a lot of people. Take a guy like Mike Pierce who has never been finished. A guy like AkihiroGono, who at the time I fought him, had been finished four times in a 15-year career. He’s fought guys like Dan Henderson. He’s fought multiple times against opponents several weight classes past his size. The list goes on with a lot of the guys I’ve fought.
“I still don’t get credit for great performances against really tough guys who are very tough to finish. I think people are kind of superficial with their fandom in this sport. Sometimes I think they are more impressed with somebody beating up an opponent who isn’t that good in quick fashion rather than a drawn out battle between two guys who are top tier and very good at what they do. If you are a better fighter than me, then you are going to be able to stop what I’m trying to do and be able to take advantage of whatever holes in my game you find.”
When he steps into the Octagon Saturday night in Rio deJaneiro, Fitch will be a man at a distinct crossroads of his life and career. The 34-year-old is fully aware of everything teetering on the line and knows only one result will suffice.
This is a case of the savvy veteran versus the dynamic young prospect, and Fitch intends to prove the time for a change in positions has not yet come.
He will square off against Silva in the Brazilian’s home country and rather than allow the pressure of the situation to set in, Fitch believes he will harness the energy of the spirited crowd in Rio.
“It is something I think I’m going to be able to feed off of,” Fitch said about fighting in Brazil. “I love it when the crowd is excited, screaming and going nuts. It is something I missed and really didn’t have in a wrestling background. When I played football in high school, it was there, but not when it came to wrestling. We had a very good team and performed well, but the crowds weren’t there going crazy.
“Being able to to be in that type of environment with that type of crowd creates a lot of energy to feed off of and I’m looking forward to it.”
Last year Rick Story’s name was on the watch list of surging contenders in the UFC welterweight division. The Vancouver, WA native had put together an impressive six-fight win streak, and with his victory over Johny Hendricks and next Thiago Alves at U…
Last year Rick Story‘s name was on the watch list of surging contenders in the UFC welterweight division. The Vancouver, WA native had put together an impressive six-fight win streak, and with his victory over Johny Hendricks and next ThiagoAlves at UFC 130, positioned himself in the Top 10 of his weight class.
Story was ready to square off with the division’s best, and when the opportunity to step up on short notice to fight Nate Marquardt arose, he attempted to seize it. But it was a fight he would never see, and following a storm of circumstance which resulted in a loss to last minute replacement Charlie Brenneman, Story suddenly found himself once again on the outside looking in.
“It still bugs me to this day,” Story told Bleacher Report. “I hadn’t experienced that before and didn’t know how to deal with the situation. I still lost and I have to accept it. I have to prove myself. Everyone almost remembers me for that fight. They don’t realize I’ve had two fights since. Every conversation I hear people are saying they saw my last fight with Brenneman. I get haunted by it quite a bit.”
The 28 year old attempted to get back on track as quickly as possible, but a unanimous decision loss in his next outing against Martin Kampmann kept that from happening. It was the first time in his career Story had tasted defeat in back to back outings. The Brave Legion fighter refused to focus on the negatives and channeled that energy into his training. He returned to the gym and locked his sights on making his way back to where he feels he belongs—amongst the divisional elite.
After getting back to the win column at the expense of Brock Jardine at UFC on FX 4, Story is focused on the next task in Demian Maia at UFC 153 this Saturday night in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil.
“When the fight with Jardine was over it was a sense of mission accomplished,” Story said. “I accomplished what I wanted to. I didn’t get it done up to my expectations because when I go out to fight I want to lay a beating on my opponent and make everyone watching happy that watches me fight. I don’t want to be one of those people where fans don’t want to see me fight. I don’t want to be in that category. I want to be an exciting fighter everyone looks forward to seeing fight.
“This fight with Maia is going to be a dang fight. It’s not going to be a fight like my last fight with Brock Jardine—I can tell you that much. This going to be way more action packed.”
The bout between Story and Maia is the classic “wrestler vs. jiu-jitsu” matchup. While both fighters have shown a willingness to stand and exchange in recent years, Story isn’t sugar-coating what he will be dealing with on Saturday night. Story knows the threats Maia brings to the table, and is looking forward to testing the Brazilian’s heart in his home country.
“I probably won’t feel anything different until I hear my name announced,” Story said about fighting in Brazil. “I’ll probably get booed but as of right now it doesn’t feel different. I’m not really paying attention to any of that. I am paying attention to whether I’m the underdog in this fight or not. That is motivation for me because it seems the underdog angle is where I have been coming from my entire life. It is a place of comfort for me and gives me more motivation.
“All the facts are out there about this fight. It is what it is. Everyone knows my strengths and everyone knows Demian‘s strengths as well. I believe wrestling is better than jiu-jitsu as far as fighting is concerned. High level wrestling is far more adaptable to MMA than jiu-jitsu is in my opinion, especially where striking is concerned. If it gets slowed down and turns into a grappling match, I’m going to have my hands full, but everyone knows the facts in this fight. There aren’t any secrets here.”
The fight will only be the second appearance for Maia at 170 pounds. A freak injury to Dong Hyun Kim halted his welterweight debut inside of the first minute and didn’t reveal much about Maia’s skill set in his new weight class.
“Making the weight is always an issue for anyone fighting,” Story said. “Him coming down and having a 47 second fight with Dong Hyun Kim doesn’t really show anything. Anyone can be strong for the first minute of any fight. This is going to be new ground for him and I’ll be happy to take him there.”
While his immediate focus rests on Maia, Story’s ultimate goal is to become a UFC champion. It was a road he was traveling at a steady pace, and while the path has taken some twists and turns, he is confident he can not only regain the position, but take himself to the top.
It will all come down to Saturday night at UFC 153. Story is aware of where he currently stands in the division and believes he belongs in the next tier of the weight class. With that being said, he is excited and ready to prove it inside the Octagon.
“A win over Maia will definitely sling shot me back in the direction I want to go,” Story said. “I am not going to make any predictions about where it is going to put me. I know who I have beaten, who I can hang with, and where I belong. I just have to prove it. I have to get it done and then wait for the next call from the UFC to see where they want me to go.
“I’d like to say thanks to my team at Brave Legion and my coach Pat White. I’d also like to say thank you to my teammates Luis Iniguez, Tommy Takemoto, Hamza Salim, and my brother Tyler Story for helping me prepare for this fight. I’d also like to thank my sponsor Hayabusa.”
To learn more about Rick Story follow him on Twitter @Rick_Story and his Brave Legion Gym at www.infernoclubs.com.
In the world of sports, natural talent is typically the most precious attribute an athlete can have. Those who have been blessed with such gifts quickly ascend the various levels of competition until they reach a point where knowledge, maturity, and experience are required to travel further. That being said, fighting is a different animal entirely unto itself.
For a brief moment on August 24, it looked like we were going to see Jon Jones and