Jun-17-2009
Andre Winner - A Changed Man
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TapouT TUF 10 Team Rampage Compression Top - Black/Silver
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By Thomas Gerbasi
Inspired to take up mixed martial arts by UFC welterweight standout Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy, as well as internationally respected 170-pounder Paul Daley, Andre Winner may, oddly enough, wind up being the most recognizable of the trio if he can win The Ultimate Fighter season nine lightweight final over teammate Ross Pearson on Saturday night.
“It’s a little bit strange, but it’s all good,” said Winner. “When I first came into MMA, Dan and Paul Daley inspired me because we were all similar ages. I saw them training, they were at the beginning of their careers, and they were doing well. I looked at these guys, and I had always been training, but I never really did anything with it, and they were out there doing it. So they inspired me, and I looked up to them, and they’ve always been ahead of me as far as success and the level of their game. I’m not too far behind now, but now that this has rocket launched me forward, it’s kinda weird to be out and have someone approach me first because they saw me on TUF.”
Such is the power of being in the world’s living rooms on a weekly basis. It’s the type of promotional tool that can take a fighter from obscurity to stardom in the space of 12 weeks, and that’s not even counting the opportunity to win a UFC contract if you win all your fights during your six week stay in Las Vegas. Being on The Ultimate Fighter is especially beneficial to the UK fighters, who have only seen a handful of their countrymen make it to the big show. What season nine has shown the world though, is that the level of MMA across the pond is getting better, and that the smaller fight scene has developed a group of tight-knit competitors eager not only for themselves to make it to the UFC, but for all of them to make it.
“The UK’s smaller and the circuit’s smaller so everyone kinda knows each other and have been around each other a lot more so everyone kinda gets along,” said Leicester’s Winner. “It’s more tight-knit in the UK. We’re all trying to do well, but we’re happy for anybody else that gets out there as well.”
For now though, the two UK reps who have emerged in the competition are Winner and Pearson, with James Wilks hoping to join them should he get by the United States’ Frank Lester in tonight’s episode of the show. The two lightweight finalists may be different stylistically, but in terms of their mental makeup, they’re almost twins, with the whole experience not being one to put away as a bad memory to be forgotten about, but one that allowed them to make longtime dreams come true.
“It was a great experience,” said Winner of life on TUF. “It was a competitive environment being around all the other guys, but we did all get along, and I think I grew as a person in there as well.
I just concentrated on the fights that I had, remembered what I was there for, and I got more serious about what I was doing.”
For Winner, a native of Grenada who has been involved in sports all his life and in karate since the age of 16, taking the sport seriously had previously been his Achilles heel. Sure, he trained hard and obviously had the talent to succeed, winning of nine of 12 pro bouts leading up to the show, but when it came to putting his foot on the gas to take opponents out, he was stuck in second gear. Subsequently, he went 0-1-1 in his last two pre-TUF fights, dropping a majority decision to Bendy Casimir and drawing with Abdul Mohamed in two winnable fights.
“What I think happened was that I got into the mode of not wanting to lose instead of going out to win fights,” he said. “I was fighting people that I knew I could have beaten, and I was turning them into decision fights because I wasn’t going out there to win the fights. Even though I had a decent record and really wasn’t struggling, I hadn’t really performed to the level I could perform at and I was holding back too much when I was fighting. So my approach coming into the house was that if I wanted to make something of myself, I had to do my best and give it my all, instead of holding back and being a bit shy with myself.”
And once in Vegas, Winner felt that he had what it took to go all the way, adding to his confidence level.
“Going into the competition, I fancied my chances,” he said. “On the UK circuit, most of the guys I’ve either trained with, fought previously, or somewhere along the line got to know them fairly well. So I knew where I stood as far as the UK guys. As far as the US guys, I didn’t know much about them, but once I saw a few of the fights and got my first fight out of the way, I was pretty confident that I could win it.”
Three straight wins (all by knockout or submission in the first round) over Gary Kelly, Santino DeFranco, and Cameron Dollar followed on the show, and in impressive fashion Winner stepped up when the stakes were at their highest. Now he needs to do it one more time against his teammate and buddy Pearson.
“It does make it slightly different because you know each other fairly well and you do get along, but at the same time, I don’t think we’ll have any trouble fighting each other,” said Winner of Saturday’s bout. “We get in the gym, we sparred a lot together, we bashed each other about quite a few times, and we’re still gonna be friends at the end of it. It’s gonna be like a hard spar really.”
A hard spar that can change Andre Winner’s life forever. That’s a lot to have riding on 15 minutes or less, but the 27-year old is content with what’s at stake. In fact, it’s the only thing on his mind. Not what happened a month ago or what’s going to happen in the next year. All that matters is June 20th.
“I’m confident in my abilities and confident that I’m gonna win, and hopefully I will, but I won’t think about June 21st until after my hand’s raised.”
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