A familiar face at UFC 98
There was plenty of action to keep you busy at UFC 98, but one of the coolest things may have been something you didn't see.
Did you notice DaMarques Johnson come down and help corner Matt Hughes along with Robbie Lawler and Matt Pena? He didn't get a ton of face time, and certainly that wasn't the point. Matt Hughes just made DaMarques a better fighter.
As a contestant on "The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K.," Johnson will be fighting under the bright lights of the UFC in about a month, as all TUF contestants do at the season finale. Details of that fight won't be public until after the pre-taped show airs in its entirety.
So besides the obvious coolness of being in Hughes' corner for his victory over Matt Serra, it allowed DaMarques to experience all the hoopla around a major UFC fight. The leadup, the prefight, the locker room, the walkout, the crowd (which will be smaller for the TUF finale, of course) -- everything but "the man dance."
When Derek Downey fought Nick Catone in their debut UFC fight, Catone talked about how he had walked that path months before until his fight was canceled at the last minute. He raved about how taking in the entirety of the experience -- except for fighting -- made him much more relaxed when it came time to fight Downey. He'd already seen the rest of it.
Part of the first-time octagon jitters no doubt comes from taking in what has to be a mind-numbing UFC experience, unlike anything you've ever seen, even before you step into the cage. Thanks to Matt Hughes, DaMarques Johnson has witnessed a good portion of the festivities first-hand, and that should allow him to put even more focus on his opponent June 20 -- whomever that may be.
Did you notice DaMarques Johnson come down and help corner Matt Hughes along with Robbie Lawler and Matt Pena? He didn't get a ton of face time, and certainly that wasn't the point. Matt Hughes just made DaMarques a better fighter.
As a contestant on "The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K.," Johnson will be fighting under the bright lights of the UFC in about a month, as all TUF contestants do at the season finale. Details of that fight won't be public until after the pre-taped show airs in its entirety.
So besides the obvious coolness of being in Hughes' corner for his victory over Matt Serra, it allowed DaMarques to experience all the hoopla around a major UFC fight. The leadup, the prefight, the locker room, the walkout, the crowd (which will be smaller for the TUF finale, of course) -- everything but "the man dance."
When Derek Downey fought Nick Catone in their debut UFC fight, Catone talked about how he had walked that path months before until his fight was canceled at the last minute. He raved about how taking in the entirety of the experience -- except for fighting -- made him much more relaxed when it came time to fight Downey. He'd already seen the rest of it.
Part of the first-time octagon jitters no doubt comes from taking in what has to be a mind-numbing UFC experience, unlike anything you've ever seen, even before you step into the cage. Thanks to Matt Hughes, DaMarques Johnson has witnessed a good portion of the festivities first-hand, and that should allow him to put even more focus on his opponent June 20 -- whomever that may be.
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