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MG: It was pretty crazy. Besides him being a good coach, he was a really nice guy. Really nice guy. He was there all the time. Besides that, he was a little unhappy before my second fight with a little stomach problem. I came up to him and went "Dude, what's going on with you, Jens? You look a little unhappy." And he goes, "I'm just having a little problem. I'll let you know later." And I hugged him and I was like "Dude, I'm winning this just fight for you!" He got really happy and after the fight he hugged me and goes, "Thanks Manny for doing this for me."
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He was a real coach. When I got ready to fight Joe Lauzon, everyone on my team said they thought I was going to win. Plus, Jens talked to me and he goes, "Manny, forget the fact that he beat me, that he knocked me out. You're 10 times better than me and you're 10 times stronger than me." And I was like "Dude, look at the confidence he has in me!" So I was like "There's no way I'm going to lose."
Q: You and Nate both fought for Jens, and you trained together extensively. Did you go out of your way in training for the final to maybe learn a few new things in order to trip him up a bit?
MG: I never change styles for a fighter. This is the way I am, this is the way that I fight. For Nate, I'm not going to change my style. I know what he's capable of, and he knows what I can do. Basically, he got my number and I got his number. The thing is can you stop it?
I'm training really hard, I'm preparing for my fight. He's a dog and I'm a dog because we're both fighters. It's going to a huge, crazy fight.
Sam Caplan is a Philadelphia-based sports talk show host and freelance sportswriter. He can be reached via e-mail at SCaplan8@comcast.net. You can also check out Sam's blog at: http://www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com or on MySpace, at MySpace.com/FiveOuncesOfPain.
