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 In Person! Diaz vs. Condit. Big Country vs. Werdum. Koscheck vs. Pierce. UFC 143 is loaded with wars, and the main event alone makes it worth the trek to the desert. Plus, there are tons of free fan events going on, so score your tickets, book your travel and come see us in person.
On the Big Screen in 3D Sure, you've seen action on the big screen but never like this! For the first time ever, a UFC Pay-Per-View will be broadcast live in movie theaters on the big screen! Find a screen near you and buy tickets now at www.ufc.com/3d. Plus, at select theaters in Vegas, Mobile, Mesa, Denver and Fairfax, the night will be hosted by a UFC fighter.
Pay-Per-View... or Pay-Per-View 3D! UFC 143 can be seen on Pay-Per-View through your local cable
operator. (Available on Main Event in Australia; Sky Arena in NZ; UK fans see it for free on ESPN at 3 am.) If you've got a 3D television, select cable providers (including DirecTV, At&T U-verse, Cox and Comcast) are also offering the fights in 3D - check yours for details. Besides Superman punches that look like they're going to break through your TV, the 3D broadcast will feature its own announcing team.
On Xbox LIVE Download the UFC on Xbox LIVE app to your Xbox 360 and get free access to exclusive programming, live streams of the weigh-in and press conference and more (US and Canada only for now - more countries coming soon!). Plus, during Xbox LIVE Free Gold Weekend, you can use the upgrade features like fight picks and an expanded video on demand menu. Then on Saturday, watch the Pay-Per-View live and check out interactive features such as fight card displays.
UFC.tv
Re-watch every knockout from multiple angles. Keep the camera on your
favorite fighter even during his opponent's walkout. Hear every
word Nick Diaz' corner shouts (on second thought...). Watch the free demo of UFC.TV
with its multiple camera angles, HD-quality stream, audio feeds and DVR
controls. It's a futuristic experience available at your fingertips
today - www.UFC.tv.
At a bar It's Super Bowl weekend, so you've already got wings on your mind - why wait until Sunday!? Visit bars.ufc.com from your computer or mobile device to find a location showing the big guys nears you.
On your Android On the move with your phone? Use the UFC Android Application watch UFC 143 live.
On Your Favorite Site The biggest online video portals are catching UFC fever - catch the Pay-Per-View on YouTube, UStream, Yahoo!, and more.
On Facebook Fans can use Facebook credits to view the stream right on the same tab where you watch the prelims. Like!
On ROKU This UFC experience combines internet streaming on large-screen televisions. Make sure you download the UFC Channel on
your ROKU set-top box.
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 You had to hear it to believe it, and even then it was shocking. Hundreds, maybe thousands of British fans were firing back at American Chris Cope with the “Woooo” yell that has become his trademark (via pro wrestling legend Ric Flair) as he walked to the Octagon to face home country favorite Che Mills at UFC 138 last November. It was one of those moments that only sports can provide, and The Ultimate Fighter 13’s Cope has an idea why fans from another continent were buying in to what he represented.
“Here’s the thing, and I’m not trying to sound cocky or arrogant, but I’m kinda like a Rudy, and how can you not like the underdog?” said Cope, referring to Rudy Ruettiger, the walk-on for the Notre Dame football team whose story was immortalized in the film “Rudy.” “Forrest Griffin is never gonna be known as a spectacular, crazy fighter, but that guy provides the average Joe with hope because he’s a guy who came from grass roots, he worked hard and trained hard and now he’s in the UFC and he’s one of the poster boys.”
Already 1-0 in the UFC with an impressive win over TUF13 castmate Chuck O’Neil in June of last year, Cope was in the process of building his own success story until a crushing knee sent him to the canvas and kicked off a sequence that saw him stopped in 40 seconds by Mills. Yet as he walked back out into the LG Arena to watch the rest of the event, once again he was stunned by what happened.
“I got laid out in that fight,” he said. “I got caught with a knee 40 seconds in, and I was embarrassed as hell. I knew I was going up against a really good fighter and I knew that things could happen even though I’ve never been caught like that before. It is what it is, and it happened. But I remember going back to the locker room and then coming back out to sit down, and they all wanted autographs. They all wanted pictures. I’m like ‘guys, I lost; I got caught in there, why do you want my autograph?’ They said ‘We don’t care. We love you, you’re great.’ That made me feel good because it made me really feel like it doesn’t matter whether I win or lose because these people have got my back. I call it the Woo Nation. I do it, they do it, and when I fight, I’m not just fighting by myself. They’re in there fighting with me.”
This Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, odds are that the Woo Nation will be out in force again to back their man when he faces Matt Brown in one of those fights that promises action.
“I think he’s a very tough guy, he comes out to fight very hard right off the bat, he’s got very good striking, underrated submissions off his back, and he’s a gamer,” said Cope of Brown. “He comes to fight, and he’s always very dangerous. I’m a fan of his and I’ve got nothing but respect for him.”
There’s also plenty on the line for both men. Cope, still relatively inexperienced with eight pro fights, is coming off the loss to Mills, which puts him at 1-1 in the Octagon. Brown is 1-4 in his last five, making a win imperative. But regardless of what’s at stake, Cope has never strayed from a path of work, work, work.
“I’m a grinder,” said Cope, who does paralegal work at a Southern California law firm in addition to his fighting career. “I wake up at six in the morning, I’m at work by seven. My lunch break is training, I train and then I go back to work, I leave at four. And then I basically go to pro practice from 4:15 to 5:30, then I work another hour with a trainer from 5:30 to 6:30, then either run or do strength and conditioning after that. I don’t know what it is about me, but if you’re gonna build a wall of success, you build it one brick at a time. And all those practices add up.”
For him, that’s the key, just being consistent and working harder than the next guy.
“People saw me on The Ultimate Fighter, and they didn’t think I was that good,” he said. “And you might be better than me, you might be faster than me, and you might be more athletically gifted than me, but when you’re missing sessions, I’m not. I’m in the gym, and come hell or high water, I’m getting those three goals.”
Three goals?
“I’ve got three goals in this thing, and once I do those, I’m done. One of them is to fight for the UFC, and I’ve done that. The second is to fight in Japan. The third one is to win a belt, and if I can do it in the UFC, that’s the number one dream come true. And once I get those three, I’m out.”
If Cope sounds like he’s got everything together at the age of 28, that would be an accurate assessment. But it wasn’t always that way for him.
“My dad used to be a narcotics cop, and when I was growing up, he always told me that he’d disown me if he ever caught me on drugs, and the whole time I was growing up, when kids were getting involved with weed and ecstasy, and after graduation, cocaine, I never messed around with it,” he said. “Alcohol was the one thing, and I’m like ‘it’s no big deal; it’s legal, I’m fine doing this.’ Well, lo and behold, in my opinion it’s one of the most destructive drugs out there. Almost every time there’s a murder, or an accident, or sometimes a fight, usually alcohol’s involved. It’s America’s drug.”
And Cope bought into it hook, line, and sinker, using alcohol as a means to fit in with the crowd his father warned him about.
“I thought I was the cool guy,” he said. “I graduated from UCSB (Cal-Santa Barbara) and Playboy rated it like the number two or three party school in the country. And the college parties I threw were out of a movie. I thought I was awesome and the coolest party guy ever.”
But after getting picked up by the police on three misdemeanors (vandalism, public intoxication, and resisting arrest), Cope began to see that he was headed in the wrong direction.
“For the first time in my life, I saw myself on the other end of the legal system, and I didn’t like that at all,” he said, “But I still kept drinking for a couple years.”
All the while, his pro MMA career was taking off, and when he got called to Las Vegas to be interviewed by producers for season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter in 2010, it was party time for the 4-1 Cope.
“I was faded, and that was 11 in the morning the next day,” he recalled. But when he got home to San Diego, he took a good, hard look at himself and didn’t like what he saw.
“I was embarrassed about myself,” he said. “I said enough’s enough. I’m done. I quit. And that was December 8th, 2010.”
More than 13 months later, he’s still sober.
“I used to call myself an alcoholic and I don’t call myself that anymore,” he said. “I just say that I’m a person that doesn’t really have a kill switch. It doesn’t define who I am, it’s just an aspect of my life, and I just keep going. It (alcohol) didn’t add anything to my life. It really alienated people from me, it caused me to blow a lot of my money, and I would guarantee that if I was drinking on that Ultimate Fighter show and got drunk on there, I wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in now. Life couldn’t be better now and I’m glad I did it.”
If that’s not a reason to become a full-fledged member of Woo Nation, I don’t know what is. And if you’re looking to count someone out of a fight, Chris Cope is probably not that guy, because no matter what the final result is, he’s already won.
“You can play in small in life, or you can play big, but to play big, you’ve got to get on the field,” he said. “And when you get on the field, you might win or lose, but you still got on the field and played ball.”
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UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit
Nick Diaz Works Out With His Brother Nate At UFC 143 http://fb.me/1jUgmzb1x (@DiazBrothers209) -Diaz Brothers
Just picked up my crackin new custom suit from @D2Kill in downtown ABQ http://pic.twitter.com/wKEl223D (@CarlosCondit) -Carlos Condit
I'm in Las Vegas for @UFC 143! So who do you think takes it: Condit or Diaz? (@GeorgesStPierre) -Georges St-Pierre
PR week almost over, and the fight actual starts tomorrow. Thanks for the supports. (@roynelsonmma) -Roy Nelson
All I have 2 say! Enjoy the show. Feb 4 PPV don't miss it #ufc http://instagr.am/p/mbndo/ (@JoshKoscheck) -Josh Koscheck
KOS, I agree with you. You should start looking to beef up you're resume now. These guys can help: resumesplanet.com (@MikePierce170) -Mike Pierce
Almost game time! (@cliffordstarks1) -Clifford Starks
Make sure to Catch me on UFC 143 Prelims by watching it on Facebook! It's FREE and in the comfort of your own house...Time to Conquer (@dantheanvil) -Dan Stittgen
I find myself relating to Diaz after watching the Primetime special. (@KCBanditMMA) -Jason High
That was a quick trip to LA, always get a bunch done here. Headed 2 Vegas @DiazBrothers209 & @CarlosCondit is gonna b epic! 2 bad dudes! (@UrijahFaber) -Urijah Faber
Look What You Started, Pat Barry!
@DustinPoirier hitting a PLANK on our way to cut weight at the Palms!! Rep ping that UFC Brand! #ufc143 http://pic.twitter.com/wb5KBGS2 (@TimCredeur) -Crazy Tim Credeur
WWW.SkypeAMonkey.com
I wish monkeys could Skype.... ... Maybe one day :-/ (@J_Brookins) -Jonathan Brookins
Right!
so this guy tells @badboygarcia and I that he fought. I asked "how'd you do?" the guy said "medium, but I felt dirty afterward" ? Wtf right (@DUANEBANGCOM) -Duane Ludwig
WEC Never Forget
We keep it #WECVintage over here, both tryin to do big thingsRT @Sholler_UFC: @jamievarner @SMOOTHone155 little WEC reunion over there?Nice! (@SMOOTHone155) -Benson Henderson
Gladiator Man Never Forget
Looking forward to seeing the new @ufc intro everyone is talking about!!! #RIPgladiatorman (@JoeB135) -Joseph Benavidez
Smile. It Makes People Wonder What You’re Up To
:) (@LouGaudinotUFC) -Louis Gaudinot
:) (@DanaWhite) -Dana White
Prank the Frank
Frankie Edgar gets PRANKED! http://bit.ly/xF1pfT @FrankieEdgar @Almeidabjj @mmanytt @AliDominance @RenzoGracieBJJ @ufc (@AkiraCorassani) -Akira Corassani
Ear-y Tweets
I never seen cauliflower ear on a girl..@rondarousey What do u guys think hot or not? http://pic.twitter.com/XVGFJe79 (@SugaRashadEvans) -Rashad Evans
@SugaRashadEvans thanks, it was nice meeting you ... Despite you making fun of my ears ;) (@RondaRousey) -Ronda Rousey
Whenever someone starts to tell me something I always say "I'm all ears" even though I'm technically only 40% ears (@ForrestGriffin) -Forrest Griffin
Stylish Outcasts at the Dogpark
Being anti social at the dog park ... We are the kids in the corner smoking cigarets http://pic.twitter.com/KGfhxUAT (@Unclecreepymma) -Ian McCall
You’re Not Alone, Bro.
So I think @UFC_Undisputed 3 is gonna be my date for Valentines Day #imaNerd @ufc (@CubSwanson) -Cub Swanson
Showtime Fired Up
Can't sleep after watching UFC fights!!! Can't wait for Japan.... #fb (@Showtimepettis) -Anthony Pettis
Can’t Keep a Good Mexicutioner Down!
Well when you fight the way I do stuff like that can happen. Props to @lavarjohnson for the win. Not sure what's next for me but I'll be ok. (@mexicutioner760) -Joey Beltran
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 Saturday night can’t get here soon enough for Carlos Condit.
After spending the final four months of 2011 in what felt like a constant state of limbo, the 27-year-old will finally get to switch from hitting mitts with coach Mike Winkeljohn to putting his considerable talents to work in the cage. In a fitting twist of fate, Condit will get to take out the frustrations he’s endured against the man who has been at the root of many of them.
Rewind to September: Condit was slated to face UFC legend BJ. Penn in the co-main event of UFC 137, a bout that would be followed by Diaz challenging Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title.
But when Diaz missed a string of media obligations, UFC President Dana White made a change, demoting Diaz from the main event, and elevating Condit. The man known as “The Natural Born Killer” broke down in tears on the phone when White told him the news.
Just 11 days before he was set to fight for the UFC welterweight title, Condit’s dream was put on hold. St-Pierre tweaked his knee in training; their bout was rescheduled for UFC 143, the annual Super Bowl weekend show. Diaz and Penn headlined UFC 137 instead, with Condit assured the outcome of the main event would not have an impact on his upcoming title fight.
On October 29, Diaz battered Penn before throwing down the gauntlet for GSP, questioning the legitimacy of his injury, trying to talk his way back into the fight he lost a month early. By the time White took the podium for the post-fight press conference, Condit’s fight calendar needed adjusting once again.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs; a lot of excitement and disappointment,” admitted the former WEC welterweight champion. “It’s been crazy, as anybody looking from the outside can imagine. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of focusing on what I need to do — which is train and be prepared for whoever I end up fighting — and this time it ended up being Diaz.”
After shuffling places twice in the last six months, Condit and Diaz will now pair off, a torn ACL sending St-Pierre to the sidelines and the surgical table. With the date of his return to the cage uncertain, the top two welterweight contenders will battle for an interim version of the 170-pound championship on Saturday night.
It’s a fight that has been a long time coming for the 27-5 native of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“I’m stoked to be done with camp. I’m stoked to be finally stepping out there to do what I’ve been training to do for the last six months: to go out there and fight, compete to the best of my abilities.”
While Diaz began his second stint in the UFC with much fanfare and an immediate shot at the welterweight title, Condit has quietly been working his way up the 170-pound ranks.
The last welterweight champion in WEC history, he lost a razor-thin decision to Martin Kampmann in his debut, coming out on the right side of the verdict against Jake Ellenberger in his second Octagon appearance. A come-from-behind victory over Rory MacDonald at UFC 115 caused people to start taking notice, and a first-round knockout of Dan Hardy in his own backyard announced Condit as a potential contender, though he remained behind some of the more established names in the company.
“It’s hard to get out from under the shadow of these guys like (Jon) Fitch, and (Josh) Koscheck, and maybe even Thiago Alves — guys that have been in the division for years and years and years, and all had great wins.”
But now is Condit’s turn in the spotlight.
His savage first round destruction of Dong Hyun Kim was his fourth consecutive victory, the second straight bout that he’s earned Knockout of the Night honors, and the third consecutive contest to produce a post-fight bonus. Though it looked like the gods were against him, Condit’s patience and perseverance has been rewarded, and he’s ready to make the most of it.
“This is a fight I’ve wanted for a really long time, and the fact that it’s happening now, after all this turmoil and craziness with the change of opponents and everything, it really couldn’t have worked out better.
“I think that styles make fights, and I think that this style match-up is going to be extremely exciting. It’s a very tough fight; Nick’s one of the best in the welterweight division. I think there are some guys stylistically that could probably beat him, but I think the matchup between us — we’re very evenly matched. We have similar skill sets, maybe a little bit different approach — different style — but it’s exciting.”
The 28-year-old Diaz is on an 11-fight winning streak that includes nine stoppages, with victories over the likes of Frank Shamrock, KJ Noons, Paul Daley, and Penn. An enigma outside of the cage, Diaz is all business when the lights go up and the fight begins, blending tremendous boxing with a slick submission game.
He’s also adept at shaking his opponents with a barrage of pre-fight banter, an ability and instinctual talent he’s passed on to his younger brother Nathan as well. Condit is prepared for it all — the boxing, the jiu-jitsu, and the verbal jabs.
“Nick likes to get in your head, talk a lot of trash, so I need to stay composed, and step in with the attitude that I always do; just be about my business, and not get sucked into all that other stuff. I just have to fight my fight. No matter what an opponent says or how much trash they talk, I get the opportunity to go in there and beat him down. I can just hold my tongue and let it build, and as soon as the cage door closes, it’s game time.”
Condit knows he’s in for a battle, but he’s ready, and confident that if he sticks to the game plan, he’ll emerge from Saturday’s headliner as the interim UFC welterweight champion.
“Nick is probably the toughest guy I’ve ever fought. He’s an endurance athlete — he puts tons and tons of pressure on guys — and he’s got some really good skills with his hands; his jiu-jitsu’s great.
“But I just really need to fight my fight. If I do that, I feel like I’m going to walk away with the belt.”
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UFC 143, which is headlined by the interim UFC welterweight championship bout between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit and the heavyweight bout between Roy Nelson and Fabricio Werdum, airs live on Pay-Per-View from the Mandalay Bay Events Center at 10pm ET / 7pm PT. Fans can also tune in to FX for four televised prelims at 8pm ET / 5pm PT, and those who “like” the UFC on Facebook can see two additional prelim bouts at 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 pm PT.
MAIN EVENT – Interim UFC Welterweight Championship
Carlos Condit (169) VS Nick Diaz (169)
PPV
Fabricio Werdum (246) VS Roy Nelson (246)
Mike Pierce (170) VS Josh Koscheck (170)
Scott Jorgensen (135) vs Renan Barao (136)
Clifford Starks (185) VS Ed Herman (185)
FX PRELIMS
Max Holloway (144) VS Dustin Poirier (146)
Edwin Figueroa (135) vs Alex Caceres (136)
Chris Cope (171) VS Matt Brown (171)
Henry Martinez (169) VS Matt Riddle (170)
ONLINE FIGHTS
Michael Kuiper (183) VS Rafael Natal (186)
Stephen Thompson (171) VS Dan Stittgen (170)
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 If you want to define the pure essence of the word “fighter,” odds are that eventually you will find yourself face to face with the story of Nick Diaz.
In many ways, he’s been fighting since his days growing up in California, moving from school to school and always being the new kid. It’s a story shared by thousands, but few have taken it as far as Diaz has – to the main event of UFC 143 this Saturday and a shot at the interim welterweight title against fellow contender Carlos Condit.
But for all the media attention and scrutiny around the 28-year old from Stockton since his return to the UFC late last year, all you really need to define who Diaz is would be a look at his second pro fight in July of 2002 against Chris Lytle. Yeah, that Chris Lytle, who at the time was already a seasoned vet of the sport. But when Lytle’s original foe, Jake Shields, was forced from the fight due to a staph infection, it was his 18-year old teammate, Diaz, who stepped in.
“This guy had something like 20 fights,” said Diaz in an interview before his 2011 bout with BJ Penn. “Chris was fighting in Japan, he was ranked in Pancrase, he was way older than I was, and I was supposed to lose.”
But he didn’t. Instead, Diaz pounded out a three round split decision that earned him his first title, the IFC welterweight belt, and truly started him on a career that he has had a love-hate relationship ever since. And though a lot of water has gone under the bridge since that day, he still has fond memories of his first big win.
“I think I was a lot happier when I won back then,” he said. “It was more about proving myself. Back then I really had something to prove and I really needed to be more than what I was. After those fights, I felt established in all sorts of ways. It was good.”
“When people would hear about who I was, they would pretty much think I was full of s**t,” he continues. “And even after these fights they would think the same thing, but at least I would know I’m not, and it was just enough for me to keep going.”
A jiu-jitsu player since he was 15, and a pro MMA fighter from 18, Diaz has spent more than half his life in the sport that made him a worldwide star, one of the best welterweights on the planet, and perhaps the game’s most intriguing figure. It’s a trio of titles that Diaz could probably do without, well, at least two of the three, and when it comes to being the best in the world, Diaz would likely enjoy that title if he didn’t have to deal with all the miscellaneous distractions and requirements that come along with it, like media obligations, etc. But he has no apologies for who he is.
“With me, you get the real me, real martial arts and a real warrior mentality,” he said at the media workouts for his fight with Condit. “I don't act friends with anyone I am going to fight. That's crazy, I don’t understand that. Some people aren’t mature enough to understand I don’t want to put on an act for the cameras. I’m real. I’m acting natural, I don’t want to be friends around a guy I am about to fight.”
You could chalk up such comments to Diaz being a hard man in a hard sport, and his mean mugs, and trash talking and taunting during fights do little to dispel that image. But we may not be seeing the full picture of the enigmatic welterweight.
“I don’t know how I come off, but I don’t like to hurt people, first off,” he said last year. “You get these guys like ‘I’m going through a lot and I’m real pissed off and I’m ready to fight and I just want to hurt somebody.’ I don’t say that and I don’t feel that. I don’t want to hurt anybody; I don’t want anybody to be hurt. I want to win, I want to come out on top, and I want to be in an exciting fight because I worked hard, but I don’t necessarily want anyone to hurt. That’s what I don’t like about fighting. I like the competition, I love it, but I don’t love fighting for money, because it hurts people.”
It may be why Diaz has been fairly reclusive when it comes to the media, and why he wants to keep his day job and his personal life as two separate entities.
“I’m trying to separate life and MMA fighting because they’re really two different things for me and that’s kinda rough for me to deal with and it’s probably been my biggest problem, more than the fights,” he said. “It’s my challenge to separate the two.”
So when he falls short of succeeding in that challenge, he’s left with two things – training and fighting. And with 11 consecutive wins constituting an unbeaten streak that has lasted nearly four years, it’s obviously something that has worked for him professionally. Personally? That may be another tale to tell.
“I don’t have any life, I don’t have anything else going on,” he said. “All these other people are like ‘oh, I have a wife and kids now.’ I don’t have any of that. I screwed all that potential stuff I had going for that up way back when I was too busy training to fight and acting crazy to train. Now I don’t really like the idea of changing what’s been working for me right now. So as long as I’m fighting, I don’t see things changing for me.”
Especially not with an interim title shot and the prospect of fighting current champion Georges St-Pierre right at his doorstep. But first he has to get by Condit, an equally hungry contender who has earned Diaz’ respect.
“He’s the next guy I need to prove myself against,” said Diaz. “We are both top level and we win by doing damage, not by trying to score points. He has a realistic fighting style like I do. Carlos is a very well rounded guy. He’s tough and it will be a fight.”
If Diaz emerges victorious on Saturday night, he will once again be the center of attention, something that has seemingly plagued him for years, but never more than when he missed two press conferences for a proposed fight with St-Pierre last year and saw the fight scrapped. He was eventually brought back into the fold for his UFC 137 bout with Penn, which he won via unanimous decision, and is now slated for Saturday’s matchup with Condit, which was originally going to be the GSP fight until the champion injured his knee and was sent to the sidelines. But during all of this, Diaz became mixed martial arts’ anti-hero, the most interesting man in the world not appearing in beer commercials.
It’s everything that he didn’t want, but with another stellar performance, the focus will be on his fighting and not everything else that he’s already put to the side to focus on his craft. On Saturday night, he could make his case for being the best welterweight in the MMA world, something that will only be proven as fact should he beat Condit AND St-Pierre. But he already has an endorsement from boxing’s best at 168 pounds, super middleweight champ Andre Ward.
“I've worked (sparred) with Nick and his brother Nate in the past,” said Ward, who was recently named 2011 Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America. “Both are extremely good boxers, and have a great feel for standup boxing. Nick specifically, is left handed, tough as nails and physically strong. That's why we work with him. I like Nick Diaz in an Octagon against anyone. I also feel he could compete in a boxing ring, if he so chooses.”
That’s the kind of respect Diaz wants. He’s not interested in photo shoots, autograph signings, or the bright lights. This is a fight. And if everyone else hasn’t figured that out yet, that’s not his problem.
“This isn't soccer, it’s fighting,” he said. “I've got no problem that this is a sporting event and being respectful, but it is a fight. It is what it is. It matters how I am seen by fans; sometimes I care, sometimes I don't, but when I think about it, I try to be real.”
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 It's been a good week for The Downes Side: I went 5-0 with my FOX picks bringing me to 9 wins in a row. My Chicago homecoming went off almost flawlessly (save a lowlight in which an entire family of four flipped me off on my way to the arena). That's my biggest victory streak since I won the Vocabulary Bee in Mrs. Florian’s 6th grade classroom 11 weeks in a row.
I’ll get another shot at glory this week as the UFC rolls into Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay for UFC 143. The main event is my fellow wordsmith Nick Diaz facing Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight title.
Ed Herman vs Clifford Starks
Ed "Short Fuse" Herman has looked great coming off a nearly two-year layoff from a knee injury with quick wins over Tim Credeur and Kyle Noke. Clifford Starks is another example of the old adage, “Only two things come from Arizona State: drunk college girls and UFC wrestlers.” He made his debut last October with a weigh-in wardrobe malfunction followed by a decision win.
Prediction: Starks is a great wrestler, but Herman's superior striking and submission games will be too much for him. Starks has the potential to grind out a decision, but I’m sticking with the ginger. When you don’t have a soul, you have nothing to lose, and Herman takes this middleweight melee by 2nd round TKO.
Renan Barao vs Scott Jorgenson
Next we have Renan Barao pitted against Scotty “Young Guns” Jorgensen to determine who'll be at the top of the bantamweight heap in the post-Cruz/Faber 3 universe. Jorgensen is searching for another shot while Barao wants to increase his unbeaten streak to 30 straight (showoff).
Prediction: This is my favorite for Fight of the Night. While Barao has the speed advantage, Young Guns’ strength and wrestling can neutralize that. Expect a wild back-and-forth fight with Jorgensen’s grappling taking over as the fight progresses. Scotty will get his takedowns, ground and pound and put on the second best show of the weekend (the first obviously being Puppy Bowl VIII).
Josh Koscheck vs Mike Pierce
In the main card's first welterweight war, irrepressible instigator Josh Koscheck faces off against Mike Pierce, who got the fight by publicly calling out Kos. Both fighters are coming off recent wins and have solid wrestling backgrounds. Koscheck is looking to get back into the welterweight title talk while Pierce gets a taste of the spotlight with a high-profile opponent.
Prediction: Despite being a former Division I wrestler, Pierce has struggled against other wrestlers whose first names start with J (see his fights against Jon Fitch and Johny Hendricks). Pierce has never been stopped, but that streak ends tonight. Koscheck will go for the takedown immediately, get position and go HAM. He’ll look great, then ruin all the goodwill he earned with a solid black-hat performance in the post-fight interview. Koscheck wins via first-round TKO
Roy Nelson vs Fabricio Werdum
After his Strikeforce sojourn, Fedor-beater Fabricio Werdum returns to the UFC with a heavyweight showdown against Roy “Big Country” Nelson. As for Nelson, after two disappointing losses to Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir that made Big Country reexamine his lovable pudginess, he rebounded with a win against Mirko Cro Cop.
Prediction: Big Country may not be as fat and lovable as he used to, but losing weight hasn’t
slowed down Seth Rogen’s career and it won’t hurt our favorite mulleted
heavyweight, either. Werdum wants this fight to go to the ground, but Roy has the striking ability to keep him on the outside. Big Country keeps the distance and nickel-and-dimes Werdum to a decision win.
Nick Diaz vs Carlos Condit
The main event features everyone’s favorite anti-social fighter against a guy who's surprisingly mild-mannered for being a “Natural Born Killer.” Full disclosure: Nick Diaz is a friend of mine. And by friend, I mean that I once saw him in a Whole Foods in Las Vegas and talked to him for five minutes. But he didn’t call me a punk-ass bitch and we both use the same salad dressing so it’s clear that we’re very much alike.
Prediction: Condit has the wrestling advantage, but I imagine these two will stand toe to toe with one another. Condit says that he plans on testing Diaz’ chin, and that’s usually a recipe for disaster (see Diaz vs. Daley, Diaz vs. Lawler, etc). The 209 will outwork the NBK - Diaz wins the decision after five rounds and becomes the number-one source of pride for Stockton. Take that, Asparagus Festival!
Sadly, that brings an end to this edition of the Downes Side. If you can’t get enough of me, follow me on Twitter @dannyboydownes and add some comments and I’ll respond. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go place my bets for the game. For what it’s worth, my money is on Leroy Brown.
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The UFC flyweight division continues to take shape as Louis Gaudinot returns to his true weight class after his stint on last season's Ultimate Fighter. He'll next face John Lineker, who will enter the UFC riding a 13-fight win streak. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the matchup at UFC on FOX in May.
Heavyweights Barry vs. Johnson to Collide on FOX updated February 1
Get ready for heavyweight fireworks as verbal agreements are in for a showdown between knockout artists Lavar "Big" Johnson and Pat "HD" Barry on the main card of FOX's third event this May 5 in New Jersey.
Plus, Karlos Vemola has verbally agreed to drop down to middleweight to face New Jersey’s own Mike "The Master of Disaster" Massenzio.
UFC officials also confirmed that the lightweight bout between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller that night will be the main event and will be scheduled for five rounds.
Superman vs. the Boogeyman in New Jersey in May updated January 30
A second lightweight scrap has been added to the UFC on FOX </a>fight card recently announced for May 5 in East Rutherford, NJ. Lightweights Dennis "Superman" Hallman and TUF 13 winner Tony "El Cucuy" (which translates to "The Boogeyman") Ferguson have verbally agreed to the matchup.
Ferguson is coming off a December 3rd decision win after a thrilling three-round fight with fellow stand-up ace Yves Edwards; Hallman scored a first-round blitz submission over John Makdessi a week later at UFC 140.
Third FOX Event to Feature Lightweight War updated January 24
East Rutherford, New Jersey could well be home to Fight of the Year this May 5 on FOX, as two of the best lightweights in the world collide to move closer to a title shot. New Jersey’s own Jim Miller, coming off of a Submission of the Night win over Melvin Guillard, will take on Nate Diaz, who is coming off a Fight of the Night-winning victory over Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.
UFC president Dana White tweeted the news today, noting that both men are known bonus collectors. Miller has won a Fight of the Night award and three Submission of the Night awards; Diaz has won three Submission of the Night awards and five Fight of the Night awards.
Also at that event, verbal agreements are in for a meetup at 125 pounds between last season's Ultimate Fighter bantamweight winner, John Dodson, and Darren Uyenoyama. Both men are moving down from 135 pounds to do battle in the UFC's newest division, flyweight.
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 If your last impression of Fabricio Werdum is seeing him knocked out by future UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos back in October of 2008, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and the Brazilian, who returns to the UFC this Saturday night to face off against Roy Nelson at UFC 143 in Las Vegas, will be the first to admit that he’s a changed man, in and out of the Octagon.
“Everything changed in my life,” said Werdum. “Now I'm with a stronger camp, I'm with my master (Rafael Cordeiro) and close to my family. That time was not a good time in my personal life, but now I'm 100% in every aspect.”
And that’s not just talk to explain away what, at the time, was a shocking defeat. Practically no one knew who dos Santos was when he made his UFC debut that night in Illinois, and Werdum, who was coming off back-to-back knockout wins over Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon Vera, was widely considered to be one of the world’s elite heavyweights, But a single uppercut ended Werdum’s night at the 81 second mark of the first round, sending him out of the organization while propelling dos Santos up the ladder on the way to the title.
The loss easily could have signaled the start of a decline for the native of Porto Alegre, Brazil, but instead, he got back in the gym and began reinventing himself, eventually winding up in Southern California with former Chute Boxe guru Rafael Cordeiro. By 2009, Werdum had signed with the Strikeforce organization, debuting in August of that year with an 84 second submission win over Mike Kyle. Three months later he decisioned countryman Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, but it wasn’t until June of 2010 that he made the MMA world sit up and take notice again.
That night at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Werdum needed just 69 seconds to hand the seemingly unstoppable Fedor Emelianenko his first loss in nearly a decade, and what many considered the first legitimate defeat of the Russian’s fabled career.
A June 2011 matchup with a man he defeated in 2006, Alistair Overeem, followed, and though he lost a unanimous decision to the current number one contender, he showed that he could stand with a former K-1 Grand Prix champion and even hold his own. It’s something the decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt is proud of.
“I'm training everyday with my master Rafael Cordeiro, a few months ago I got my black belt in Muay Thai, and I'm ready to strike the whole time if I need to.”
And though he was doing well in Strikeforce, Werdum always felt that there was unfinished business for him in the UFC, and he expected that one day, he would get a call back to the Octagon.
“That was one of my biggest motivations to train every day,” he said, and soon, his patience would pay off as he got re-signed to the promotion and tasked with facing Nelson this Saturday.
“Every fighter that is part of UFC is here for some reason,” said Werdum. “Roy Nelson is a good boxer and good grappler, but I'm ready for him and to prove my value in the Octagon. I'm very happy to be back, this is an opportunity that I was waiting for a long time and now I'm ready to take it.”
Frankly, the timing couldn’t be any better for “Vai Cavalo,” as a win over “Big Country” will likely shoot him straight into the title picture, where currently two familiar faces – dos Santos and Overeem – are preparing to battle it out for the belt later this year. So, any pick from the fighter who may know them better than most?
“For sure it will be a great fight for the fans,” said Werdum. “They are both top fighters and I'm excited to see both of them back in the Octagon in the near future.”
Okay, that didn’t work out. How about this: any preference for an opponent, should he get a title shot soon?
“No, I just will look for my title shot against anyone that will be in my way. This is a very good division, with so many good fighters, and I will look for my spotlight and my way for the title.”
Well, for what Werdum lacks in calling out opponents, he makes up in fighting skill, and at 34, the Brazilian veteran feels better than ever as he makes his welcome return.
“I'm feeling faster and stronger, with more skills and experience, and I’m ready to go. The fans should expect a great show, and for sure a new and very hungry Werdum, ready to put a show on for them.”
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Light heavyweights Thiago Silva and Brandon "The Truth" Vera have verbally agreed to wrap up some unfinished business this May in Fairfax, VA. "Their last fight ended up a no contest and both guys are out to prove that they are the better man," said UFC president Dana White.
Verbal agreements are also in for a middleweight matchup at that event between "Filthy" Tom Lawlor and Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald.
The bouts will take place at the just-announced third UFC on FX event, tentatively scheduled for May 15 in Fairfax, Virginia. More details including venue information and ticket on-sales will be announced in coming weeks.
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