UFC Fight Night 107's Alan Jouban says championship-level preparation will help him beat Gunnar Nelson

LONDON – Alan Jouban has plans on scoring a statement victory in his co-main event slot at UFC Fight Night 107 in London. Indeed, those plans have seen his training taken to a new level – championship level.

Versace model by day, face-punching practitioner by night, Jouban took a quantum leap forward in his career with his composed, controlled performance in his last outing against trash-talking knockout artist Mike Perry.

And the Los Angeles-based welterweight says the reaction to that victory at UFC on FOX 22 has helped give him added impetus as he bids to gatecrash the ranking positions in the UFC’s 170-pound division.

“After that fight, people took notice,” Jouban(15-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) told MMAjunkie during a media day interview in London to promote his co-main event contest against Gunnar Nelson (15-2-1 MMA, 6-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 107, which takes place Saturday at The O2 in London. The entire card streams on UFC Fight Pass.

“Mike’s a tough guy for anybody, and Mike has that capability of taking a punch and being able to knock anybody out in any given fight, so he’s a dangerous opponent for anyone,” Jouban said. “The thing about a guy like him, he talks so much trash and is so disrespectful he gets in your head and he makes you want to fight him. It makes you want to street-fight him and makes you wanna bang, and that gives him the biggest opportunity to win.

“It wasn’t a ‘Fight of the Night’-type performance, so when I finished the fight, I was kindof critical of myself, to be honest. I was like, ‘Were there boos during that fight?’ There were up and down moments. There were highs and lows.”

That win in a high-profile contest alerted the world to Jouban’s potential, as the 35-year-old showcased the sort of fight IQ that separates prospects from contenders at the sport’s highest level.

“At the end of the fight, when I started reading the comments from the media, my peers, fans and they were saying how tactical I was and how I picked him apart – it was like a new side to me,” he said. “So it did level me up. (It said that), ‘Alan’s not just a banger, he’s not just a guy who has muay Thai power. He’s not just a Fight of the Night tough guy. He can go in there and tactically chess-match a guy that’s playing checkers.’

“That was very encouraging, and it did elevate me in a way that I know I can outsmart guys and out-tactic these guys in fights, so it was a good fight for my career.”

After the clash with Perry and his in-your-face approach, Jouban now faces a completely different character in the laid back Icelandic star Nelson. The fight offers an opportunity to fight higher-level opposition and co-main event card placement. Without that billing, however, Jouban may have declined the offer.

When asked if he’d have accepted the fight under lesser conditions, Jouban admitted, “I probably wouldn’t have.”

“It was tough,” Jouban said. “I had to stick to my guns to get this fight. I was lobbying for fights, man. I’m not a trashtalker, but I know that in the state of my career, and in the UFC in general right now, you have to make things happen on your own. You have to somewhat find opportunities.”

Those opportunities proved tough to come by, however, as Jouban’s call for a ‘name’ opponent turned up a blank.

“I called out a number of guys,” he said.

“I called out Rafael dos Anjos. I called out Jake Ellenberger. I called out Matt Brown. I called out Donald Cerrone. I was just like, ‘I want a fight. I want a big name. I want a ranked opponent.’ None of those fights materialized, and I was just waiting and waiting and waiting.

“I wanted to fight immediately, but I had to stick to my guns. My manager kept telling the UFC, ‘Look, top-15 or nothing. Co-main event, main event. Something with some zing to it.’

“After three months or so of training and not hearing back, I said it was kind of like losing steam. So when we finally got the call, it was a bit short notice, four to five weeks. But with what came with it – co-main, Gunnar, No. 9, in London. ‘Absolutely,’ was the answer when they asked me.”

The bout will see Jouban pitched against one of the most dangerous grapplers in the welterweight division and a man with a strong, yet often overlooked, karate-based striking game.

And Jouban revealed he’s left no stone unturned in his preparations for the contest, explaining his team treated his fight camp as if it was a world title fight.

“I think with most fighters you don’t wanna stress too much on the negatives, and you want to think about the good, the positive,” he explained. “For me, it’s always about what do I do the best, and how do I continually polish that?

“That’s what I did in this camp. I polished what I do well, and then I took things that he did and I worked on them: rear-naked choke defense, armbar defense, guillotines, arm-in, arm-out guillotines, everything. I constantly put in those reps, that way it’s just a part of my DNA.

“I did what I always did: I polished my weapons, and I just added these defenses and elements to my game to lower Gunnar’s percentages of getting in a favorable position against me.

“With a five-week camp, I did everything. As soon as I got the call, I called my team and said, ‘This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to bring these guys in. I’m going to get the Machida brothers, they’re gonna be my karate guys. I’m going to get Kevin Casey. I’m going to get Jared Carlsten. I’moing to get a number of other black belts. These areoing to be my black belt ground guys.’

“And we just put it all together and then we just made it happen. Credit to my team, my coaches, everybody. We came together as if this was a championship fight and we said we’re gonna bring in this guy, bring in this guy and make everything happen. And we did that, the entire five weeks.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 107, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.