1. Eddie Fyvie, Reality Fighting 10

My first fight was a hair-raising experience, stepping inside a ring for the first time. I’m not someone who gets in bar fights, so to go into a fight and commit to it, before any formal striking training, was scary. I never fought at amateur level, and did one grappling tournament before going straight into this. I had five different opponents, but ended up fighting Eddie Fyvie, who is really well known in the grappling world. I went out and had a good fight, but it was weird: two, four minute rounds in a six-sided ring that was eight feet across. It was basically a phone booth with ropes!

2. Frankie Edgar, Reality Fighting 14

This was the sixth fight for both of us and we knew the winner would get into the UFC. We had a hell of a fight and I learned a lot from it. My gym closed down three weeks before the fight, and I had four or five training partners. Two were 17-yearold kids brand new to jiu-jitsu, two were my buddies who were crazy and just liked getting beat up, and the other was a 310lb purple belt. After that, I knew I needed to surround myself with a better team. We went out and scrapped. I got compliments from that fight for years and it’s unfortunate the video disappeared. It was a good fight.

3. Joe Lauzon, UFC 155

My first fight with Lauzon left its mark on the sport, on him and on me. We both have scars and deformities from this battle. It was a tough camp and I had five weeks to prepare. I tore my shoulder the first day of camp and tried to finish him in the first round. I thought, ‘Just keep leaning forward. He’s tired, too.’ Between the second and third rounds, my trainer got in my face, yelling and screaming. After the fight, he grabbed me and I smacked him in the face. I said ‘Don’t you ever yell at me like that again!’ I was drunk on lactic acid, and it took three showers to get all the blood out of my ears.

4. Fabricio Camoes, UFC 168

This is as close as I have ever come to fighting perfectly. That’s my goal every time I step out in the Octagon: I want my fights to go so well that I don’t even break a sweat. I want to destroy the guy. It’s also much easier to fight two months after a fight like that. It would have been nice to get the bonus after that one, but I got hosed on that deal.

5. Takanori Gomi, UFC 200

He is one of the reasons I got into the sport. He’s a guy I was watching years before I started fighting, so just to share the Octagon and opportunity with him was an honor. The Gomi I fought was not the Gomi who was number one in the world, destroying guys. I didn’t want to fight him on the downslide and use him as a stepping stone, but I can almost guarantee he was injured going into the fight. When I had his back, he was grunting and groaning like he had a rib or back problem. That was probably the most emotional fight I have had to date.

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