Brandon “The Truth” Vera and Jon Jones have a lot in common. At one point in their careers, each man has been touted as the future of the UFC and both are very confident in their respective abilities.

Vera was a hot shot heavyweight making waves and challenging Chuck Liddell when Liddell was still knocking people out cold.

These days, Vera is a light heavyweight and trying to get back to a time when his star was shining brightly. This Sunday night, Vera will take on the rising star Jones in the main event of the first UFC card televised on The Versus Network. The bout seems to have invigorated Vera and he is promising fireworks.

Madness: How has it been training up at Big Bear and preparing for Jon Jones?

Vera: Things are going very well. I have never been so confident in a training camp before.

Madness: I read recently that you were planning on incorporating more BJJ into your game. What specifically are you working on to make that happen?

Vera: I have been focusing more on my jiu-jitsu than in recent camps. I have been concentrating on my jiu-jitsu in my practice and given it more time than I have before.

Madness: Have you had a hard time finding training partners who can emulate Jones style?

Vera: No, we really haven’t concerned ourselves so much with his style. We have concentrated more on my conditioning.

Madness: Is there any added pressure fighting in the main event on the first UFC event on The Versus Network?

Vera: Short answer: no, not at all.

Madness: You have a 3-2 record as a light heavyweight going into the bout. Have you considered moving back up to the heavyweight division?

Vera: Hell no!! Not yet at least!

Madness: What is it like watching your wife Kerry Vera fight?

Vera: It’s hard as hell. I don’t like watching her get hit.

Madness: How far do you think she can go in Strikeforce?

Vera: Further than any other woman has gone before. I see her winning titles, making movies, etc..

Madness: Has there been any recent talk of the UFC holding an event in the Philippines?

Vera: I haven’t heard anything recently.

Madness: Are you still training with Lloyd Irvin?

Vera: Yes I am.

Madness: Are there any young fighters there who we should keep our eyes on?

Vera: Yes sir there are plenty of good fighters here. It would be easier if I told you to watch them all, especially Mike Easton.

Madness: What do you feel you need to do to be more successful?

Vera: Everything.

Madness: Assuming you are able to defeat Jones, how close do you feel you will be to a title shot?

Vera: If I beat Jones the way I want, I will ask for the winner of the Lyoto Machida-Mauricio “Shogun” Rua fight.

Madness: Were you able to catch Manny Pacquiao’s fight on Saturday?

Vera: He killed Clottey!

Madness: How do you see this fight with Jones playing out?

Vera: One of us is going to sleep early on Sunday night.

Madness: Where will you be in the next 18 months?

Vera: Hopefully I will be the UFC light heavyweight champion.

Madness: How many fights are left on your current UFC contract?

Vera: Six.

You can see all the action this Sunday on Versus as the UFC debuts on the sports network. Along with Vera vs. Jones, you’ll see Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Junior Dos Santos and John Howard vs. Daniel Roberts. Keep it locked on MMAMadness.com all week for features.

The Forrest Griffin you see on television is the same Forrest Griffin that he is in real life. There is no “character”…what you see if what you get.

We spoke to Griffin recently about his role in the movie Unrivaled, married life and his fighting career.

Madness: What can you tell me about Unrivaled?

Forrest Griffin: I was only in it for a couple of days, but in those couple of days, I got to pretend to beat people up and pretend to get beaten up myself.

Madness: Sort of like life imitating art?

Griffin: Yeah, something like that!

Madness: Did you enjoy the acting part of the movie? I realize that the basis of the movie is pretty much what you do every day, but is this something you could see yourself doing after your fighting days are over?

Griffin: I think I have borderline mastered the art of playing a fighter. I was just being myself. I don’t like sitting around all day. You shoot a scene and get all sweaty and nasty, then you have to sit for like three hours. What the hell…it beats working for a living!

Madness: What is the plot of Unrivaled?

Griffin: To be honest, I haven’t sat down and watched the movie yet. That would have dramatically helped this interview. I got to shoot some scenes with Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine. It was actually a lot of fun chatting with those guys.

Madness: Do you have any other movies or television appearances on the horizon?

Griffin: I was in some other movie which I liked. I got to shoot a lot of guns. The whole movie was running around shooting guns and that was a lot of fun. Anything I can do where I can pretend like I was a kid playing with guns is always fun.

Madness: How much longer so you see yourself fighting?

Griffin: I’m 31 now, so I would say until I am 35.

Madness: How is married life treating you?

Griffin: It’s great! How can the first six or seven months of marriage be anything other than great?

Madness: Have you begun training for your bout with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira?

Griffin: I’ve been working, trying to get ready. I got about nine or ten weeks.

Madness: Are you the guy the UFC looks to when they need a big fight? Your list of opponents is unbelievable.

Griffin: I said when I was around 25 or 26 that I would fight anyone anywhere and I guess at some point they decided they were going to hold me to that. Lately I’ve had to reevaluate that like can I fight some people, sometimes! Why do I always have to fight the best people? The thing about Nogueira is a lot of casual fans don’t understand how good he really is, which kind of frustrates me.

Madness: For those who aren’t familiar with Nogueira, they need to realize how talented he really is. He has won a bronze medal in the Pan American games and has outstanding BJJ.

Griffin: I’m looking forward to it. My wrestling is good and I know I can hold my own on the ground.

Madness: In your last fight, you defeated Tito Ortiz. Does it bother you when you hear him make excuses and say he was injured going into the fight?

Griffin: I got excuses if you want them. I got tons of them and a few of them are quasi-valid. I knew my foot was messed up, but I didn’t get it looked at because I didn’t want the doctor to tell me it was broken. So when the doctor looked at it afterward, I said I’m pretty sure it happened during the fight. To be honest I don’t care about the excuses he made. It’s over and done with.

Madness: Is there a third fight with Ortiz in your future?

Griffin: I am definitely up for that. It’s always an option.

Madness: What’s it like working alongside Randy Couture?

Griffin: It’s great. The guy’s amazing. He actually trains really smart. He’s great at implementing a game plan and sticking to it. He has a great approach to training and he prepares for so many different situations that may come up in a fight.

Madness: So when can we expect another best-selling book?

Griffin: I am already done with my next book. The title is “When Shit Is Going Down, You Better Be Ready: Forrest Griffin And The Attack Of The Apocalypse And Other Stories That Don’t Involve Bunnies”.

You can see Griffin and others in the movie Unrivaled, out on BluRay/DVD this Tuesday everywhere. For a chance to win some signed gear from some top fighters, follow Unrivaled on Twitter.

Last Saturday’s loss to Javier Vazquez at WEC 47 may very well be the end of an era, signaling the last time Jens Pulver puts the gloves on and competes in a mixed martial arts bout. Even if Pulver never fights again, he has plenty of battles he wants to wage outside of the cage. With a new gym and a new clothing line just getting its feet on the ground, Pulver has plenty to keep him busy.

But that will not be enough for him. He needs to do more.

After a talk with Pulver, one has the feeling of wanting to go out and volunteer somewhere. He has a unique and amazing perspective on his career, his life and the sport, but after suffering his fifth defeat in a row and seventh in his last eight fights, what is his emotional state of mind?

How are things right now and where are you at in your life/career?

I am feeling kind of torn right now. It hurts to have lost seven of my last eight fights and that makes me feel bad. Then I think about the way I fought and it makes me think if I did things just a bit differently, the outcome could have been different. It is what it is. I felt great. I had started lifting again. I had three months in my new gym and got to train with Tony Fryklund again after about five years of training by myself.

Everyone is worried about my legacy, but I look at it like I’m in a slump right now. Baseball players go into slumps and they bounce back I feel like I could bounce back. I love to train, I love the sport and I love to fight. I’m in a tough position. I don’t want to keep putting my fans through this, so I am feeling kind of stuck.

Even though I have been losing, I am gaining so much in life. I try so hard to be the opposite of my dad and my brother, who is serving 55 years in prison. I’m learning how to run a gym and be a coach so it’s difficult to dedicate 100% to fighting. I feel like I’m on the right path at 34 years old. I felt like my aggression was there and I was going after it, but I got caught in an armbar by a great grappler.

Any regrets or concerns about not leaving the sport when it’s the right time?

The only thing I’m afraid of is leaving too early, only because I really enjoy competing. The sport has evolved so much and all of these skilled athletes have shot right by me. I remember Josh Grispi telling me he remembers watching me when he was in the sixth grade. I may have been the guy who motivated him to even pick up a pair of gloves. I feel like if I leave, I feel like I’ll be leaving incomplete.

I’m not worried about tarnishing a legacy. My legacy is this, me, the emotional kid, the kid that pioneered this sport. I was the first guy to win the UFC lightweight championship. I beat the top guys when I was 25-28. If I leave now, I will be leaving earlier than I really want to, but at the same token, I’m fighting the elite guys continuously and I’m just not an elite athlete anymore. The questions is can I get back to that level.

Those are the issues I’m hanging my hat on right now, because at 34, I don’t feel like I’m putting myself at risk. I am not getting knocked out. I have never had a trainer break out the smelling salts. I’m usually standing when the ref is calling the fight off. Now that I am training at this new place, I feel like I’ve got that fire back. All it takes is one little mistake when you are fighting the elite fighters of today.

I believe my health is perfectly fine. When I first started fighting, if you were stand-up, you were stand-up. If you were a ground fighter, that’s where you fought. Today’s fighters do it all and they excel at it. I am learning as I go and I am really enjoying it.

I interviewed WEC lightweight Jamie Varner not too long ago and he said that you have done more for this sport than just about anyone else, and no one has the right to tell you that you shouldn’t fight anymore. Thoughts on the admiration that you’ve got from so many people in the industry?

When I first started, I was out there starting a weight class that let them know that, “Hey, maybe this guy’s not too small to be competing in MMA.” Look at where the sport is now. The smaller guys are just as important than the bigger guys. I was told many times that I was too small, but I kept lighting people up and made my case. So if another fighter is grateful, then that makes it all worth it.

I love the Zuffa family, I love Dana White, I love being with this organization, but they may hang it up for me. What can I do? The fans make it worth it as well as they gave me a bigger ovation than any other fighter on Saturday night…that really blew my mind. When I walked back to the locker room, the crowd went wild, then when the guys did an impromptu thank you, it made me tear up. I am very appreciative and I have never for one minute taken that for granted.

I have always loved what I’ve done and I feel like a proud papa. I love these guys and I love the sport. I will always be a part of it. I want to help these fighters at the next stage, because we have a lot of life to live after fighting. I want to keep pioneering, I want to help these guys survive when their careers are over. I tell people to enjoy themselves and create a good story. I don’t sit back and think about the admiration. I think about all the traveling I’ve done. I think about all the people I’ve met. I feel like I’m right where I need to be. I’m extremely happy. If I could, I’d fight once a month. I’d tear it up.

Your gym is off to a good start and so is your t-shirt company. What should we know?

If you look at the clothing, we are not fight gear. We’re not knuckle-up fighting. We’re life gear. We have a military and civil servants line for all of the police, fire and military personnel. We feel that anger is a gift. It’s about taking that anger and proving all the naysayers wrong. I’m gonna prove to myself that I can change my scars and that I’m not a loser. It’s about what drives you everyday. That’s why the gym is called Driven. Hopefully we can grow and spread the message more.

If your fighting career is done, what do you think you would do? What other interests do you have?

I’d love to get into motivational speaking, but I don’t know how. I just spoke at a local high school to an entire assembly. I had a great time talking to all the kids. I spoke about my life and I signed autographs. Then faculty asked me to sit with them and talk to them. They asked me to show them how to get the kids to respect them. When I talk to anyone about my career, I don’t talk about fighting. I talk about the sport, I talk about training and I try and promote a healthy lifestyle because it leads to healthy living and being able to go after your dreams.

I have issues. I have problems, but I still keep pushing. Who knows where we will be in a year? I tell people to never close any doors…who knows what tomorrow will bring. Now that I am a coach, I let these kids know that I am here for whatever they need. I want them to always have a place to go to. It’s my turn to help people out.

Is commentating with the WEC something you’d like to keep doing or would it be too close to the action?

I would love to, but again, I have to wait for that call. I just sit here. I’ve been managed by Monte Cox my whole life. I got to learn how to figure this part out. My hats off to Tito Ortiz…he’s a businessman. I wish I had grabbed some business sense, but I’m learning. I would love to commentate again. I would never say no, but I hope they bring me back. I’d rock the sweater vest again and do it proudly. I like to commentate like I am with my friends.

I don’t need to know every jiu-jitsu move out there. I don’t have to put on a shirt and tie. That’s not me. At the end of the day, I would love to speak publicly, I would love to commentate. I’m not sure what anyone wants from me, I guess I’ll have to figure it out for myself.

The 26 year-old Benoit seems to embody everything that makes a regional promotion special in that he’s loyal, dedicated and humble. An iron worker by day and mixed martial artist by night, he does all of this so he can pursue his dreams and make a better life for him and his girlfriend Sarah. Spend a few minutes and get to know Benoit and you will truly understand what regional MMA is all about.

MMA Madness: Can you tell me a bit about your background and how you got involved in MMA?

John Benoit: I started wrestling in the sixth grade and I loved it. I wrestled as a freshman but soon turned my focus to hockey. I went back to wrestling and as a senior, I compiled a 44-4 record but blew my back out during the states and had to withdraw. I competed in cross country to stay in shape. After high school, I wrestled in a few men’s leagues and got a job as an iron worker. I was thinking about doing some amateur body building and ran into an old friend who invited me down to watch one of his fights. He beat his opponent pretty badly and I used to beat him during my wrestling days so I started training with him.

A month after I started training I moved on over to Renzo Gracie’s school and trained with some studs. There were some great jiu-jitsu guys who were pounding on me day and night. It was really humbling and I knew that it would only make me better. Now I am one of the guys that the new guys watch and look up to. I roll with guys who outweigh me by 50 pounds and handle myself pretty well. We get a lot of Renzo’s guys from New York to come down and we also get to train there whenever we want.

Madness: Is there any one fighter who you try to emulate?

Benoit: I’m really kind of my own fighter. I have unorthodox stand-up, maybe like a Forrest Griffin. When I’m not moving, I’m kind of awkward. When I’m moving around, I move pretty good. I like Josh Thompson. I’d love to say I look like that, but I don’t. I mean Thompson is a stud and I’d love to look like that, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Madness: What is your favorite way to finish a fight?

Benoit: I’ve never knocked anyone out in a fight and I would love to do it. I would love to land a head kick and knock my opponent out cold, stiff like a board, Michael Bisping style. I like submissions, but only if it’s a good one like a Peruvian necktie. I don’t mean the bulls**t submissions where you make a mistake and you get caught in a guillotine. I mean a submission that you really had to work for: subs like the ones Dustin Hazelett pulls off. His skills are nasty.

Madness: Where do you see yourself in two years?

Benoit: I’d love to be on one of the big shows. I was offered an opportunity to fight in the WEC twice as a fill-in fight, but it wasn’t the right time for me. I’d love to hold a belt on one of the smaller shows. I see myself working and still going to Renzo’s. I like the smaller shows. Maybe I could get a spot in a main event on HDNET for MFC. I want people to know who I am wherever I go. I want people to know that I come to fight. I love fighting for the WCF as they’re an awesome promotion and they take care of their fighters. My little brother is in a wheelchair and they put him right up front when I fight. They give you a good percentage of the tickets you sell, so I make pretty good money fighting for them. They actually put me on two billboards!

Madness: What advice would you give to a young kid looking to get into the sport?

Benoit: Start young and take your time. Get your education so you always have something to fall back on. If I could do it all over again, I would’ve gone to college. Learn all aspects of the game and don’t rush into a fight. Be patient and be humble. So many kids think because they are bad asses on the streets they can come in and do well. We go easy with them and they start swinging for the fences, so we’ll tap ‘em out a few times or crack good with a body shot to put them in their place. Renzo’s trainers preach humility.

Madness: What do you know about your opponent, Noah Weisman?

Benoit: He’s just got his brown belt about five months ago. He’s never wrestled and he’s 2-0 as a pro. He comes out with a lot of head movement and changes levels, but looks like he’s going to gas early. He looks like he has good takedown defense but I’ve wrestled for over 15 years. I’d like to stand and bang with him and see what he’s got. We’ll see what happens. I think it’ll be an exciting fight.

Madness: Anyone you’d like to thank?

Benoit: Boston Brawler. They make my shorts and t-shirts for me and it costs me nothing. They sponsor all of my fights. I wrestle up at Smitty’s Barn. I have to thank all of my training partners and most of all my fiancee Sarah. She’s been awesome.

You can see John and the rest of the WCF this Friday at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. Head to their site for more information for what should be a great night of action. Tickets are still available!

Here’s a preview video:

Sam Stout trained hard in preparing for Joe Lauzon. (photo courtesy of Xtreme Couture)

MMAMADNESS: You’re facing Joe Lauzon at UFC 108. What do you expect to see out of him?

SAM STOUT: I expect him to come out, throw his hands kind of wildly like he usually does, and look for a takedown pretty quick with me.

MM: When you compare your records, Joe has a lot of submission victories, you have a lot of knockout victories. Is this fight as simple as he wants to take you down, you want to keep him up?

SS: Yeah, I think that’s pretty much going to be the way that it plays out. He’s got some decent standup, and my ground game’s better than a lot of people think, so the fight could end up anywhere. Regardless of where it ends up, I don’t think one of us is going to completely dominate either, so I think it’s going to make for a very interesting fight.

MM: So if it does go to the ground, it sounds like you’re comfortable there.

SS: I think I can at least defend all his submission attempts. I may not be submitting him, but I think I can hang with him definitely.

MM: How do you see this fight ending?

SS: I don’t like to make any predictions really, but I expect to try and keep this fight standing as much as possible and really put my hands on him and hit punches and kicks and knees and elbows on him.

MM: You moved from Xtreme Couture to the Tapout gym with Shawn Tompkins. How has that experience been?

SS: I think I’ve had a great training camp and I feel more ready for this fight than I think I ever have… I started my training camp at my home gym, the Adrenaline Training Center in London, Ontario, Canada. I had a really good start to my training camp up there, and a really good finish here, so I’m feeling really physically strong, mentally I’m at a really good place for this fight. I’m feeling really optimistic about it.

MM: You’re one of the first fighters to fight out of this gym. Is there any extra pressure when you fly the flag for the first time?

SS: I don’t think there could be much more pressure than being on the main card spot on the UFC. It’s hard to make it any worse than it already is.

MM: You’re coming off of a Fight of the Night victory. Obviously every fight in the UFC is important, but how important is it to build off of that last victory?

SS: Very important. A lot of people, as soon as you get a win start asking you about title shots and stuff like that, and really that’s not what’s on my mind right now. What’s on my mind is climbing that ladder towards the title shot. I know I’m not going to get a shot at BJ Penn in my next fight if I win this one. I’m just looking to get stacking up some wins and getting my record back to where it should be in the UFC, and that’s a winning record. That’s my main focus and my main goal is to take it one step at a time and build myself up.

MM: You’ve already earned three Fight of the Night bonuses in the UFC. How gratifying is it to be recognized as an exciting fighter?

SS: That’s something I really pride myself on. I think it’s very important. The sport is not just a sport to me, it’s a business and it’s entertainment and I keep that in mind. I like to go out and push myself and really test my limits and try to put on exciting fights for the fan.

MM: UFC 108 is in Las Vegas, the same city as your gym. How nice is it not having to commute?

SS: I’m loving it. I was just saying that this morning, how nice it is. This would normally be the day [Tuesday] that I’m flying out to whatever city I’d be fighting in, and I’m already here. I’m used to the climate, I’m used to the air, I’m used to the time. It’s a lot more relaxing to not have to deal with the whole stress of traveling. I’ve got a place to stay if I don’t feel like staying at my hotel, I can stay at my sister’s place. It’s a nice feeling for sure.

Ryan Bader chats with Cameron Gidari on this week's MMA Q&A.

MMAMADNESS: How did you become a mixed martial artist?

RYAN BADER: I’ve been a wrestler for my whole life. Wrestled in college and wrestled at the elite level and nothing to do after that… as far as being an athlete. Work, come home, not worrying about going to practice, and I found out that I missed that part, I missed the competition. MMA’s a natural progression for collegiate wrestlers, so it kind of fell into place. A friend was training at Arizona Combat Sports, and asked for a little help in wrestling, [he was] fighting Matt Hammill. It was Jesse Forbes, and we went in with him and started training. Had my first fight, loved it, and stuck with it.

MM: What was your first experience as a mixed martial artist?

RB: My first experience was probably my first fight. I was fighting at an Indian reservation in Arizona, and I’m warming up. Kind of nervous, and a bunch of things running through my head as far as what’s going to happen, how it’s going to play out, and I look over at my guy who I’m fighting. I’m fighting a guy… he has a long pony tail, and he starts warming up on the mits, and his pony tail flew around and hit himself in the eye, and he went down, and then right there I was like, ‘I think I’m good on this fight.’ That kind of alleviated some of the nerves.

MM: What is the best part of being a mixed martial artist?

RB: The schedule. It allows me to be an athlete which I’ve always wanted to be. That’s how I grew up, since I was five years old, doing some kind of athletics. Basically I’m living the life of a college student without school. I just have to train, and that’s what I did as a wrestler going to school, so now I’m just training full time and… getting ready for fights. The freedom to do that, freedom to be my own boss physically and get to the gym and do what I need to do and then after the fights, have some fun for a little while, then back to training. It’s pretty much the freedom and the competition and the desire to be the best that I can be at my particular sport.

MM: Is there anyone in the sport that you look up to?

RB: There’s tons of guys I look up to. For me, I like watching the guys that came from my background. I like watching those wrestlers, early wrestlers. The Dan Hendersons, Randy Couture. It gives you a blueprint, how they came up and how they’re succesful. But I also like watching different types of styles, like Anderson Silva. [Antonio Rodrigo] Nogueira I look to a ton, being on his team on the Ultimate Fighter and getting to know the guy and how cool of a guy and caring of a guy, and also his skills as a mixed martial artist. I look up to him a ton.

MM: So who was the first person to call you ‘Darth?’

RB: I didn’t really like it for awhile. They started calling me ‘Darth’ on these wrestling message boards a little bit, and Aaron Simpson was calling me it in college. When I came to Arizona Combat Sports… they started calling me it without prior knowledge to it, so I’m never going to get away from it. It’s better than ‘master-Bader,’ so I’ll take it.

MM: As a Star Wars nerd I love it. You even have the theme music remixed as your walkout song. Who did that?

RB: I just found it. It’s a Rage Against the Machine remix to the Imperial March.

MM: Arizona Combat Sports is a very close knit camp. What benefit does that give you?

RB: The benefit is that we know each other well, we’ve been buddies and cage fighters for ten plus years… It’s knowing the guys… and also we’ve been going so long that we’re all real competitive. We want to beat each other and want to progress and turn it up all the time, so in sparring we go after it. No one wants to give an inch. And we’re there for each other. If Aaron [Simpson] has a fight and I just got done with my fight, I’m there for him and vice versa, so it’s not like, ‘I had a fight, I’m done for two months afterwards.’ It’s one thing that makes us successful

Pat Miletich (right) discusses MMA, MFS, and moving behind the mic for Showtime.

MMAMADNESS: How did you originally get started in MMA?

PAT MILETICH: A friend of mine who had refereed my Muay Thai kickboxing told me about an upcoming event, it was a winner take all event, so I told him to put my name in.

MM: What is your first memory as a mixed martial artist?

PM: My first memory was it dawning on me that everyone was very… they hold very close to their person the art that they studied, whether it was wrestling or boxing or jiu-jitsu. It was like it was part of their being, they were too prideful to learn the other arts to become well rounded. That was something that kind of dawned on me right away that was kind of necessary to beat everybody.

MM: At some point you went the opposite rout, because you developed the Miletich Fighting Systems and started training other fighters.

PM: For one, I needed to have good training partners to get ready for my fights, so I just took guys that were wrestlers and starting teaching them how to box. It was born from the recognition that every martial art had something to offer, so I tried to explore other types of boxing, namely boxing and Muay Thai, a little bit of Karate. I have a black belt in Karate. But also wrestling, jiu-jitsu, sambo. The way I started coaching people was really right away I wanted to have a lot of good training partners and I thought that if I could show that I could not just be a decent fighter but create good fighters that business wise at least people would recognize that I knew what I was talking about.

MM: Was there anyone you looked up to in the sport?

PM: I wouldn’t say there’s really one person at all because I admired a lot of the guys that were fighting, but there wasn’t really anybody that I aspired to be because everybody has kind of their own journey to be honest with you. When I was young running a football in games, I didn’t say ‘I’m Walter Payton,’ I was like, ‘I’m Pat Miletich.’

MM: You’ve seen this sport grow and evolve. What’s the most striking thing you’ve seen?

PM: I guess how the masses can be led easily to believe certain things about brand names and things like that. How the fans maybe don’t recognize enough how good the fighters are in all the major organizations like DREAM, Strikeforce, UFC. There are so many good fighters out there. Maybe now it’s slowly starting to change. The attempts by so many organizations at success that have fallen flat on their faces, it’s just been a tough road across the board.

MM: You’ve also done commentary work. How difficult is it talking about a fight on camera, as opposed to actually fighting?

PM: It’s interesting you ask, because I do pay attention to commentators, but I pay way more attention now. The job of being a commentator is a lot of pressure to make sure that you don’t say too many negative things about kids and affect their possibilities at earning down the road by something you say negative about them on the air. It’s really important to point out maybe the things that one kid might be doing really well and taking advantage of while defeating someone without really saying anything bad about the kid that’s losing the fight. I think it’s a pretty big responsibility by the commentators because you really to wield a lot of power, you have the potential to really hurt a kid’s career. I think it’s important to stay as positive as possible and on top of that, the play by play guys like Mauro Ranallo, Gus Johnson and [Mike] Goldberg, they’re all good friends of mine. You see on the forums, people that say negative things about each guy and things like that. Mauro Ranallo… If somebody sat for three days with us and went through the production meetings and watched him and watched him type up the opening of a show and watch him memorize… he’ll read off a computer screen three or for times the opening of a show while rehearsing it, and after that he’s pretty much done reading it. He’s remembered an entire open of a show, word for word, and he remembers my part, and he remembers the third man in the booth’s part also. Super intelligent guy, he has a memory like a bear trap, it’s amazing. The critics out there don’t realize how tough these guys’ jobs are. When they say three, two, one, live on TV, and you can’t screw up and you have to remember everything to say, trust me, those guys are good.

Aaron Simpson is ready to put himself on the map in the division.

 

MMAMADNESS: How did you get started in MMA?

AARON SIMPSON: Several things happened. The first was when I went up with Tito Ortiz and helped him for the Rashad Evans fight in Big Bear, California. That was my first taste of seeing it. After that, I started training at AZ Combat Sports helping [Ryan] Bader and C.B. [Dolloway] and some of the other guys out with their wrestling more than anything, some of the guys that didn’t have that type of background. One thing led to another and I decided I was going to throw my hat in the ring and try it out, and the rest is history. I was in love with it. My first three fights were in smaller shows, and then my fourth fight was in the WEC, had a big knockout, and that propelled me to the UFC.

MM: What’s your first memory as a mixed martial artist?

AS: The three fights that I had were small fights and I was kind of like ‘oh geeze, do I really want to do this?’ I’d been wrestling my whole life since I was four years old, and I remember being in one of the Olympic Regionals and it was kind of a small little tournament, and I was like, ‘God, this kind of sucks. I’m getting tired of this.’ Then I went to the Olympic Trials which are a huge deal, a lot of people there, and they really did it up well and I kind of remembered why I like the sport. So I had that same feeling in MMA… there were like 200 people in the crowd, kind of hokey, and in a way it felt like I was better than that (laughs). I had been competing at such a high level for so long, and now I’m starting over again. My first big fight was in the WEC with David Avellan. It was a fast knockout, and then I just got that adrenaline rush again. The crowd, five or six thousand people there, tv, and it was big again. It pushed me to the UFC, and then it became exciting for me. It got in my blood, and that’s when I decided I really want to be an MMA fighter, that first knockout.  And leading up to that point I knew it was a big fight and I trained really hard for it, and I knew it was for me.

MM: What’s the best part of being a mixed martial artist?

AS: It’s got to be the lifestyle. I have babies at home, and I get to be a big part of their life. I’m not working nine to five or I’m not miserable and depressed sitting at a desk or sitting in traffic. I get to make my own hours, I train twice a day, sometimes three if I need an extra workout, and if I’m not feeling up to it or I’m down I take the day off. I don’t have a boss to tell me, I have coaches making sure I get the training in. I really have pretty great hours where I can enjoy my kids’ lives. I feel like people miss out on that. Next thing you know they’re 15, 16. To me, that’s the biggest thing.

MM: Is there anyone you look up to in the sport?

AS: My training partners for one. I have respect for them because they don’t hold back on me and vice versa. Ryan Bader and C.B. Dolloway and Jesse Forbes, Steve Steinbeiss, we just go at each other, and I really respect the hell out of them. I know that’s not necessarily the main thing that people want to hear, but I’ve got some respect for some others out there. Georges St. Pierre, I think he’s a class act, someone that’s a good role model for fighters but also for people who are just getting into the sport. I think he’s great for the sport, and the way he carries himself and the way he fights, I respect. Some people out there, they’re not necessarily good for the sport, and that’s just who they are. In a way, if we want to take this sport mainstream, we need to act professional and maybe take note of some other professionals out there like Peyton Manning, individuals who are at the level we aspire to be in the UFC.

MM: Is there a dream location you’d like to fight in?

AS: Vegas is maybe everybody’s dream. Madison Square Garden in New York would be unbelievable. How many people in just sports in general have gone through that place? And then my wife’s from Italy, her family’s from Italy, and I just read the other day that Italy might be on the map for the UFC, so that would also be a pretty awesome place. And of course Arizona, fight at home.

MM: People call you ‘A-Train.’ How did that get started?

AS: A buddy of mine, we were wrestling one day, and we were talking smack to each other. We’re up at like midnight in the wrestling room working out, I think we were training for some international tournament or something. It just came to me screwing around, and he was calling me it after and it just kind of stuck. People were like, ‘you need a nickname,’ so I threw it out there. Truth be told, I go by Simp Dogg more than anything. Like Snoop Dogg, but a little different.

MM: What are the benefits of having such a close knit gym like AZ Combat Sports

AS: Because we’re so close, we don’t take it easy on each other. Jesse Forbes and I just battled tonight, and we were MMA sparring, and I had a couple of friends that had come by just to observe and they were like, ‘oh my God, you guys go after each other,’ and he noticed that Jesse and I were kind of angry at each other during it. We’re throwing hard on each other, and then afterwards we were friends.  Guys that are friends that train together can really let it out like that and respect each other to really beat each other up.

MM: What are your long term plans in MMA. You’re 35, do you want to fight until you’re 40?

AS: It’s something I definitely think I can do for another five years, especially because I am still healthy and I can train at the level I’ve been training at. I take care of myself pretty well. It’s always been one fight, one match at a time.  Right now my concentration’s on Tom Lawler. My long term goals are obviously to be the best in the sport, but you don’t just get there.

MM: Tom Lawler beat C.B. at UFC 100. Given his antics before the fight, is there extra motivation to beat him?

AS: He just does goofy stuff and that’s who he is. I don’t hold anything against him. That’s what he does to market himself and maybe get himself up for the fight or whatever, but you won’t see me do anything like that to try and match him. He’s just someone I need to step through and get my hand raised. C.B. had a shot on him, he lost, and now he has another fight coming up. That doesn’t have anything to do with me.

Andre Winner is ready for the big stage set in England at UFC 105. (courtesy of David Kirkland)

Andre Winner (10-3-1) takes on Rolando Delgado (8-4-1) in a lightweight bout at UFC 105 this Saturday.

Winner was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter Season Nine: United States versus United Kingdom. Winner lost a unanimous decision to fellow countryman Ross Pearson in the finale of that season.

Fighting out of Nottingham, England, Winner will have the home field advantage this Saturday but that doesn’t really matter to him.

MMAMadness.com: You have a lot of experience fighting in England. Do you expect the home crowd to be an advantage?

Andre Winner: Obviously the crowd will get behind me, but none of that really matters as it’s just he and I in the cage, to be honest, I think I prefer it when I have a crowd that wants the other guy to win because it just makes me more determined to go and smash him up.

MM: You experienced the UFC spotlight in your last fight. Were nerves a factor then and will you be more at ease the second time around?

AW: I don’t really get very nervous when I fight and it wasn’t a problem for me last time. I don’t seeing it will being a problem this time, but you never know until your there. It’s a much larger crowd this time round.

MM: Is there added pressure fighting at home?

AW: I try to not let the pressure of fighting at home get to me; I have fought in front of my family and friends before so I know the feelings I’m going to go through.

MM: There’s a stigma that British fighters are not as talented as their American counterparts. Do you think that guys like you, Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy are helping to change that?

AW: MMA is a lot more developed in the U.S. compared to over here so we still have catching up to do but there are some really good fighters coming out of the UK now that are not far off the top U.S guys.

MM: What do you expect out of Rolando Delgado?

AW: I expect Roli to tough and game, I don’t think he will want to keep it standing though.

MM: How do you win this fight?

AW: I win this fight via KO or TKO.

This event will be held at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England and will air in the U.S. for free on Spike TV and will air on ESPN in the U.K. and Ireland.

Dominick Cruz expects the WEC to give him his title shot verses Brian Bowles.

MMAMADNESS.COM: How did you get started in MMA?

DOMINICK CRUZ: I wrestled my whole life. My whole life was based around wrestling growing up. I got through high school because I wanted to be on the wrestling team. That kept my grades up and everything. After I got done with high school, I really had to stop because I had to move out of my house. I had to start being an adult like everybody else in the world does, and do all of the jobs I had to do to pay rent. I didn’t have a chance to be on a college wrestling team, so I was just going to school, and coaching wrestling is what I ended up starting to do. I started coaching at a local high school, and then I started boxing at a local gym called Boxing Incorporated, which is in Tucson, Arizona, owned by a guy named George Castro, and I still go back to my home town to train. I went there and I went to train and I fell in love with boxing, started learning how to box, and a local guy from around there said he had a couple MMA fighters. They came in and I put it on them pretty good, they said hey, you should try doing MMA. So I trained for my first fight for about six months, and went out, took my first fight, won it, and I was addicted since then.

MM: What’s your first memory as a mixed martial artist?

DC: My first fight. I just wasn’t expecting to get choked as badly as I did. I definitely won the fight, but I really was just a wrestler at that point. I had no jiu jitsu skills whatsoever, just how to get out of some submissions, and I almost got put to sleep on several occasions. The only thing that got me through it was that I had a big heart and very stubborn. I made it through the fight and from then on I made the decision that I wasn’t going to let that be a problem anymore.

MM: What’s the best part of being a mixed martial artist?

DC: Being able to live every day doing a job that I love. I’m one of the few people that, I’m young and I’m able to do something that I love to do every single day. Waking up every day isn’t a chore, saying, ‘aw I’ve got to go work that nine-hour shift today,’ because I’ve done that, an it’s terrible, and it’s horrible, and everyday sucks. I get to wake up now and say, ‘oh I get to go train,’ and after I’m done training I take a little rest, and ‘oh, I get to go train again,’ and I just love what I do so much that it’s just great. I just feel blessed that I’m lucky enough to get to do what I love every day.

MM: Is there anyone in the sport that you look up to?

DC: I wouldn’t really say looked up to, since I didn’t know him at all, but one of the fighters that I wanted to fashion myself around was Tyson Griffin. He’s got a relentless pace, every single fight he comes out consistently looking the same way, and while he might not have the title at 155, I believe that he has all the tools.

MM: Is there a dream location you’d like to fight at?

DC: I love fighting here in San Diego, but I would love to fight in Phoenix, because I’m from Arizona. One of these days I’d love to be able to get a fight out in Phoenix and fight. All my home town could come out and watch me.

MM: So why don’t you have a nickname?

DC: I do! I’ve written it on every piece of paper and document I can to get them to say it, and the announcers don’t say it.

MM: What is it?

DC: The Dominator.

MM: That’s a great nickname. They won’t say that?

DC: No dude. I don’t know why. I write it on everything. I wonder sometimes, I’ve been thrown to the wolves since the beginning of my career in the WEC, I don’t know if people really realize that. I’ve fought nothing but the best guys in my weight class from the beginning, starting with Urijah [Faber]. I wonder sometimes what their deal is with me, if they hate me or something. I’ll just keep fighting my heart out and hopefully I’ll win them over.

MM: So why The Dominator?

DC: It started in high school. I was on the high school football team. When I was in high school I was very athletic, I loved sports, period, not just wrestling. I played baseball, basketball, everything. When I was on the football team I was just so little, I was 140 pounds, and I was trying to play on the varsity football team. I wasn’t fast, I was not the fastest little guy ever, and that’s what you need to be if you’re my size. I’m quick, so it’s different. I used to call myself the scrub team badass. All the starters would play against my team, the second string, in practice. All the starters used to like me because I just had balls. I would stand in there and I knew I was going to get ran over, because these guys were twice my size, and I would try and tackle them while they were on top of me. I’d trip them. It’s almost like the oxymoron because I wasn’t really the dominator back then, I was just a tiny guy that had a lot of heart and was tough.

MM: So what’s next for you in the sport? Do you start thinking title shot?

DC: From what I understand, I’m getting a title shot. I don’t think they can deprive me of that. I guarantee that if [Joseph] Benavidez had beaten me they would have given him a title shot, because that’s where they wanted him. I would hope that the WEC will grant me that wish and I’ve heard that they will. In my mind I’m preparing for a title fight against Brian Bowles, hopefully sometime in the near future.