1. Danny Castillo, WEC 50

I lost that decision on my WEC debut. That was a huge fight for me. That was the first time I fought on a stage that size. It was the first loss of my pro career.

It showed me where I was amongst the elite fighters in the game. It showed me what I was lacking and what I was doing wrong. I couldn’t wrestle at all. I hadn’t been in a wrestling room in my entire life.

2. Josh Grispi, UFC 125

My first win in the UFC. I knew I belonged. Before that I had a win in the WEC but I just felt like the WEC guys didn’t get as much respect as the UFC guys.

I was finally there on the biggest stage and I wanted to show my worth. I fought the number one contender at short notice. Me and my wife had just bought a house. I was still working a part-time job because I wasn’t making enough money fighting. It was a huge point in my life where everything started to turn. I really started feeling like a professional fighter.

3. Max Holloway, UFC 143

It was my first bonus in the UFC. I was still making very little money.

That was life-changing for me and my wife, to get a $65,000 bonus and another win. It was the biggest payday of my life at that point. It was a short fight. I don’t remember a whole lot of it. We knew he was a kickboxer. I was going to have the advantage on the ground. We wanted to get the fight to the ground.

I still didn’t have that great of a wrestling game but I put him on the fence, ended up dumping him and putting him on the ground and getting on top of him. It was just pretty much following the game plan.

4. Chan Sung Jung, UFC on FUEL TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier

The Korean Zombie fight was a huge loss for me. It made me reevaluate the people I had around me.

I didn’t have the training partners or the people around me with the same work ethic I had. I had people that were very knowledgeable in different aspects of fighting but I wasn’t surrounded by fighters. I was surrounded by part-timers. After that I went out to American Top Team. I have been with them ever since.

5. Eddie Alvarez, UFC on Fox: Alvarez vs. Poirier 2

This last fight with Eddie was my 29th mixed martial srts fight but my first rematch ever. That was the first time I have ever done that.

Just the grudge me and the guy had towards each other, the stuff that was said, was unique. And with where I’m at in my career, earning a title shot and getting another big win, those things were huge parts of this fight. I feel like I did all those things with this win. It was a huge, huge fight for me after a long camp. In the cage after the fight I just wanted to soak it all in.

These moments go so quick. I get shuffled around in the back. I had to go back to the hotel, pack and get everybody ready to roll. You are at the airport and then boom, you are back home. These moments go by so quick and you prepare for them for so long.

Even though you prepare, you never know what’s going to happen in there. When everything comes together – the crowd, the lights, I just wanted to breathe it in for a minute.

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