1. Mike Whitehead and Andre Mussi, WEC 13: Heavyweight Explosion

The very last heavyweight grand prix they had. I remember when I got invited to fight in that one, I was thinking, ‘oh man, this could be the breakout.’

I went there and won both fights. I don’t want to say with no problem, but that seemed kind of easy. I thought, ‘Maybe we can do this.’ It didn’t sink in until the drive home next day. I won, I really can do this, I can make this happen for real.

I think I had a broken hand, so every time we hit a bump my hand was jarring. I didn’t realise it was broken until we got home. I just thought it was sprained. Stupid fighters!

2. Randy Couture, UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera

When I fought Randy, I love Randy to death and he’s still a mentor, but I gave it to Randy in any way you can think of.

Nobody has ever taken Randy down, nobody has ever mounted Randy, nobody has dropped Randy. I did all three in one fight. He didn’t want to do anything but hold me on the cage. Randy is strong, I couldn’t get him off me. I’m all about being a good sport and being respectful, but the moment that decision came, I walked off confused. I literally sat down outside the cage and was just thinking, ‘What else could I have done, man?’ I don’t remember getting hurt, I don’t remember him taking me down.

3. Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera

My favourite fight of all-time was against ‘Shogun’ Rua. It was in LA, main event at the damn Staples Center. And it’s Shogun. I remember thinking, man, if I bulls**t this camp, this guy could literally kill you by accident. He’s just always been a hero. Because I was scared I trained so hard for that fight.

I gave it to him. Me and Shogun beat the hell out of each other. I ended up losing that fight and I made a rookie mistake.

I remember Shogun hitting me with the hook on this side, I think it was a right, and my mouthpiece popped out when I was biting it. As soon as I reached into my mouth, Shogun clipped me.

I remember thinking, ‘You f**king rookie!’ I should have circled out and made more room. Instead, I was close to the fence and Shogun hit me.

As soon as I got up, I looked across the ring and I just started smiling. I went to Shogun, gave him a hug. I hugged my coaches and started crying. I wasn’t crying because I was sad. I was crying because I was f**king happy, man. It was an amazing fight. I got to put it all out there and bang with one of the best guys in the world.

Shogun Rua was jumping out the way of my kicks. Shogun Rua has never run from somebody kicking him, ever! I thought I was dreaming that.

We walk out and we see each other. Dude, we both started crying and calling each other ‘motherf**ker’. We can’t believe it. We’re holding each other and talking and laughing. Laughing and crying, bro, two grown men trying to kill each other. We were like, ‘Hey man, I want to train with you, man.’ That was the beginning of me and Shogun becoming really close and me finding out there’s a lot more I can give than I thought I had or even knew was possible. It was so cool, man.

4. Igor Subora, ONE: Warrior’s Way

This was more personal, my first fight with ONE. Everything was as perfect as it could get. I flew to the Philippines, caught my first connecting flight back, and landed in Hong Kong. I got a phone call from the ex-wife. I miss it. She sends a text. ‘I want to get a divorce.’ Over text, bro.

I was lost for a long, long time. I didn’t know what I was doing. The only thing that kept me focused was training.

I trained two or three times a day. While this was happening, I hurt my back. It seemed like the world just turned against me and now I’m stuck in the mud trying to climb up the hill getting wet and muddy on slippery rocks. Coaches took care of me. My now fiancée was taking care of me back then.

You have to rise to the occasion against insurmountable odds. To then go fight and perform the way I did against Igor and win my first fight with ONE in the Philippines, in front of the home crowd, that felt like the greatest level of elation and someone taking a thousand tons off my back.

I remember just standing in the ring and thinking f**k all of you – all who stopped believing in me or never believed in me.

After that fight, I knew I was ready to move to the Philippines. That was probably my favourite victory, just because of everything that was against me. When you go through something so negative and reach something so positive, it feels good.

5. Paul Cheng, ONE: Spirit of Champions

That was confusing because I was supposed to fight Chi Lewis Parry. I’m not ready for Paul Cheng, I don’t know what this kid does. The last fight I could really find on him was when he made another guy retire because he punched him in the face so much.

He and the other guy went back and forth hard-core. They beat on each other. I was like, ‘Jesus Christ, so now I have this tank that doesn’t quit and the last guy he fought he made retire? That’s great. What are we going to do now?’

I remember I fell asleep and hit myself with an iPad watching his fights. I’m freaking out. It just seemed like it was me against the world again.

I honestly expected a five-round war. I saw him take big shots from a big guy who was way bigger than me. He just ate them and just kept coming forward the whole fight. I thought, ‘Right, this is where I’m at. Let’s do this war.’ I was nervous.

When the fight started, man, I kicked him and his leg lifted into the air. I kicked him again and his leg turned again. When I finished Paul, I put my hands in the air and, again, it was all elation.

The fans in the Philippines were nuts, man. That was for sure my favourite moment, especially when Rich (Franklin) came in and put the belt around me. This is what all the headaches were for. This is why we grind. This is why we survive. This is why we don’t complain. This is why we just move forward.

...

Already Subscribed? | Login