“This Saturday night I will be competing for the first time since winning season nine of The Ultimate Fighter back in June. Winning The Ultimate Fighter has allowed me to improve as a fighter and offered numerous doors for me. I’m now able to train like a UFC fighter and learn from the best coaches in the game, as opposed to just training like an aspiring mixed martial artist … It’s been a long time coming and this UFC 105 show is going to be an incredible event … I’m sure the noise and the magnitude of the event will knock me for six on Saturday night, but I’m doing my best to be prepared for it. One thing I’m definitely prepared for is my opponent Matt Brown.”

– The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9 welterweight winner James Wilks blogs on Telegraph about his second straight underdog role (+125) coming into the November 14 “Couture vs. Vera” event against Matt Brown (-155). “Lightning” upset the heavily-favored DaMarques Johnson to win the crown at the June 20 TUF finale by dominating both on the ground and on his feet — leaving many observers (including yours truly) feeling a bit hustled after a competent but hardly spectacular run through the Spike TV reality show. In any case, if Wilks continues to perform like he did back in June, it could be a long night for “The Immortal.”