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MMA

23rd Dec 2016

WATCH: Incredibly intense footage of UFC star psyching himself up before making the walk to the Octagon

The meanest mug ever

Ben Kiely

What goes through a warrior’s head before they step out from the trenches?

For UFC welterweight Alan Jouban’s last trip to the Octagon at UFC Sacramento, all that was running through his mind was the task at hand. All he could focus on was how he was going to beat his opponent, the streaking knockout artist Mike ‘Platinum’ Perry.

Perry entered into the bout with all the hype surrounding him after winning his first two bouts in the big leagues by a pair of stunning knockouts. However, Jouban wasn’t ready to be just another scalp in Perry’s trophy cabinet. He went through that training camp with the intent of emerging from the fight as the victor and come fight night, that’s exactly what he did.

He achieved that feat by defeating ‘Platinum’ over three rounds to walk away with the unanimous decision victory. All three judges scored the fight in favour of “Brahma” (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) and judging by how fired up he was backstage before the contest, he was never going to lose this one.

After nearly 20 professional fights in my career this was one of the most intense "on deck" holding periods I've had. There's a lot of layers to this sport that never get seen before 2 guys step foot in the cage. Mental periods. Other than the weeks of preparation there is this last minute moment. Where your opponent is just on the other side of that curtain and you are waiting to make your walk to the octagon. I could hear him and his team hollaring next to me. Also Joe Rogans voice and mine playing throughout the arena on the the promo. The whole time I was watching it on TV right in front me. Staring at my opponent trying to control my anger and keep ?focus. This is where the switch has to be flipped and your belief has to be its strongest! These moments get lost and become a blur when you are so focused. I love when my team captures things like this and you can relive it again! ??

A video posted by Alan Jouban (@alanjouban) on