Issue 186

December 2019

The extrovert light heavyweight talks us through five of his most important encounters and what it means to fight friends and improvise on the night.

1. Brian Stann, UFC 109

He was already a world champion. And I was four fights into my professional career. I was maybe two years into training, period. I had to give myself a lot of positive self-talk going up against a guy like Brian Stann. You have to tell yourself, listen, here’s how you are going to win. You are going to win because, I don’t care how bad it gets, he’s going to quit first. It doesn’t make sense until it happens and then you tell yourself, “I told you so!” That’s how it is. I was outgunned. I was outclassed. All I had was two fists and some bubblegum. You have to be able to use that bubblegum and tie him up and use it as rope. You have to be able to make something happen.

2. Liam McGeary, Bellator 163

It was our first fight. When I watch him I wonder how he even does what he does. I watch that inverted triangle and it’s unbelievable. Is that a real thing? It was one of those nights. I planned to come in and dirty box. I planned on putting him on the fence and making it an ugly fight. I ended up grappling him. That was never the plan, but man, the takedowns just kept coming! I was able to advance to mount and stay in the positions that I love that are also very low-risk. I don’t like to turn down a good thing. That wasn’t the game plan but that was the plan that was wining. That was a special one for me. It was great to get the belt. Of course, the belt's a huge deal. 

3. Lyoto Machida, UFC 163

He comes in highly touted and with a great skill set. He has a very particular skill set and I wanted to get my hands on a guy like that. He is a guy you have to get your hands on. Similar to Alex, I knew I had to get my hands on him. If you watch his fights, he is like trying to grab butter. He is so elusive. It’s hard to explain to people. He maintains distance very well. He is quick laterally. He is very quick in and out. He will come out pop, pop, pop and then he will be gone. He is very hard to catch. He is the gingerbread man. My whole thing in the approach with the fight with him was that I had to get ahold of him and never let him go. That’s it. 

4. Glover Teixeira, UFC 179

What a tough dude. What Machida is in style Glover is the complete, polar opposite. He is all power. He will be right there in your face. In that fight, I was the guy who had to pick the right angles or he was going to take my head off. You are staring down the barrel. He has a great left hook and he has a great overhand. It doesn’t matter what he hits you with first, the other is coming. It’s left hook then overhand or overhand and then left hook. Occasionally, he will throw in the uppercut. You get all three for the price of two. It’s all second nature for him. It was important for me to stay disciplined in my attack and how I approached it. I had a game plan for him which wasn’t simply to take him down. I had more time training with great guys. That had given me a lot of confidence in my standup. I could stand and takes some shots and deliver some. That fight was about being composed and sticking to the game plan. 

5. Alexander Gustafsson, UFC 112

You aren’t a real fighter if you haven’t fought a friend before. He had ten wins and nine knockouts. I though oh, we are going to have to wrestle him! There is no other option here for us! I remember thinking let me mix it up but we have to get this to the ground. There is no two ways about it. I was right. He is not the guy you want to be trading with. He is the best. Out of all the guys I have trained with he is one of the best guys with his hands.