A Foothills Composite High School graduate and former Okotokian has some unfinished business to take care of on July 21 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.
Nick Ring will bring a chip on his shoulder to his proceedings with Court McGee for their middleweight (185 pound) tilt on the UFC 149 card, the Ultimate Fighting Championship ' s first stop in Alberta.
Ring and McGee squared off in an evenly matched tilt during the 11th season of the Ultimate Fighter in 2010. It was a majority decision victory for the Canadian martial artist. McGee had the last laugh though.
The 27-year-old ended up winning the Ultimate Fighter as an injury replacement, despite his loss to Ring, while Ring was sidelined from competing against McGee in the show ' s quarterfinals with a knee injury.
“ I feel like I would have won that show for sure,” said Ring, who graduated from the Comp in 1999. “ I think this fight represents that, but I can ' t get too caught up with what the outcome is.”
Grudge match aside, putting on a good showing for his hometown fans is at the forefront of Ring ' s mind.
“ I ' ve got to go in there and just focus on my fight, be there as a presence and worry about putting on a good performance and not what it means for me to win this fight.”
The rematch should again be decided on the feet where both fighters typically prefer to keep their martial arts contests.
“ I think it ' s going to be a brawl,” Ring said. “ You guys are in for a treat.”
If history is any indication, the prediction is a safe one.
Ring (12-1), a former Golden Gloves kickboxing champion and muay-thai black belt, has attempted just eight takedowns compared to 305 attempted strikes.
McGee (13-2) is cut from the same cloth as a stand-up fighter with a boxing background and just 26 attempted takedowns in five professional fights in the UFC.
Still, as a veteran martial artist Ring knows he and his opponent will bring polished versions of themselves to the octagon on July 21.
“ I know a little bit of what to expect, but at the same time he ' s definitely much more refined and he ' s a tougher fighter now than he was when I fought him,” Ring said. “ And vice-versa, I believe I ' ve got a lot more skill than I did before.”
There ' s also unfinished business between the two.
The two enter the octagon with something to prove as both Ring and McGee are coming off defeats.
The Calgarian suffered his first professional loss at UFC 135 to Tim Boetsch in a unanimous decision in September.
McGee had his three-fight winning streak snapped in March when he lost a unanimous decision to Constantinos Philippou.
Ring ' s preparation has matched the magnitude of the first UFC show in Alberta.
“ I ' m really excited for the UFC being in my hometown and getting to be a part of it,” Ring said. “ I ' m part of history here and very honoured to be a part of this.”
Ring has played the role of a tightrope walker over the past few months as he ' s been forced to endure a balancing act of training and promoting the UFC ' s first trip to the Stampede City.
“ When you ' re training for an event or doing anything worthwhile there ' s going to be all sorts of distractions popping up,” Ring said.
“ As an athlete you need to learn how to tune out and just do what you ' ve got to do, keep that focus and don ' t let any of that get in your way especially being here in your hometown.”
The training is the only thing that is really important, said Ring, who trained for his fight exclusively at his home gym Champions Creed Martial Arts in Calgary.
“ The camp ' s been fine, I ' ve got a good group of guys all trying to help me out,” said Ring, who continues to be under the guidance of longtime Brazilian jiu-jitsu trainer Brian Bird, wrestling instructor Mike Dunn and strength and conditioning coach Matt Jordan.
“ Preparation has been good and I can ' t wait for it.”
With his fight just days away, Ring ' s grueling training for the July 21 event tapered off by design in the final week of preparations.
“ For the rest of this camp I just get to relax a little bit and get ready mentally,” said Ring, who will need to cut close to 10 pounds before Friday ' s weigh-in for the 185-pound middleweight tilt.
The 33-year-old has learned the dangers of significant weight cuts before fights since his difficult experience doing so in his promotional debut in February 2011, a controversial victory over Riki Fukuda at UFC 127 in Sydney, Australia.
“ I gained a bunch of weight on the plane, got to Australia hopped on the scale and I was 214 pounds,” Ring said. “ I had seven days to lose the 29 pounds.”
“ To lose all that weight is absolutely draining.”
The UFC 149 weigh-ins goes July 20 at 4 p.m. at the Saddledome.
The UFC 149 card, Saturday July 21 at 8 p.m. has been plagued by an epidemic of training injuries. Subsequently, nine of the fighters on the original card — including featherweight champion Jose Aldo and former light-heavyweight champion Mauricio Shogun Rua — were removed from the docket. The main event features The California Kid Urijah Faber and highly touted Brazilian Renan Barao in a bantamweight (135 pounds) headliner.
For more information on the event go to www.ufc.ca.
