Oregon Sports Live

Undefeated UFC newcomer and Oregon native Evan Dunham was kind enough to grant OSL some exclusive insight into his upcoming lightweight fight against MMA veteran Marcus “Maximus” Aurelio on Saturday night at the Rose Garden. Aurelio signed to fight Dunham as a last-second replacement after Dunham’s original opponent and fellow undefeated upstart Matt Veach was forced to withdraw due to injury. Dunham has amassed an 8-0 professional record and most recently knocked out Per Eklund in his UFC debut at UFC 95 in London, England. He was born and raised in Eugene and is a graduate of the University of Oregon.

OSL: Evan, it’s been a while since we’ve talked. How are you feeling? Are you still training at all at Northwest Martial Arts (NWMA) in Eugene, or are you at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas full time?

ED: I’m feeling really good. Between fights, I train at home down at NWMA, but when I’m a couple months out (of my next fight), I’ll go to Vegas and train.

OSL: Are you in Portland yet for the event?

ED: Yeah, I’m in Portland. I’ve got to weigh in tomorrow, so I’m back.

OSL: And how’s the weight cut going? Where are you at right now?

ED: Right now I’m at about 165, so I’ve got a little ways to go.

OSL: Being an Oregon native, what’s it like to be fighting in Portland for the UFC? Did you think this would happen so soon for both yourself as a fighter and the UFC as a promotion?

ED: It’s really an honor for me to fight in Portland. I’m not surprised that the UFC is holding an event here because of the rich history of MMA in Oregon.

OSL: Do you think the MMA scene in Oregon is bigger here than in other states? Is it growing faster?

ED: I think it is. In the last couple of years, I think it’s petered off a little bit, but not too long ago I remember there were a couple of small shows happening pretty much every weekend.

OSL: Turning to your fight, what do you think of Marcus Aurelio as an opponent? He’s never been finished and he’s the guy who choked out former Pride FC lightweight champion Takanori Gomi when Gomi was in his prime. How do you need to attack him?

ED: Well, Marcus Aurelio has been around a long time, and he’s a big name in the sport. His jiu-jitsu is awesome. I really want to push the pace against him and make him break. My conditioning right now … I can just go all day. So I want to try and keep it standing as much as possible and push the pace. I think I can break him.

OSL: Do you say that because you think you have a mental edge, or because Aurelio is 36 years old?

ED: Well, I think it’s a combination of both. Although, I don’t think that you can say that just because somebody is a certain age that his conditioning will be worse than a younger guy. I know a lot of guys in their 30s and 40s who have great conditioning and endurance. I just think that I’m going to be able to push the pace and break him, because I’m in awesome shape right now.

OSL: How does he compare to Matt Veach, and what changes have you made in your training? Was the late change frustrating for you?

ED: No, not at all. I totally understand Veach pulling out with an injured back. If anything, I’ve embraced it, because I think Aurelio has a bigger name than Veach does. So when I beat Aurelio, it’ll do more good to get my name out there to the average fan. As far as strategy goes, I want to do a lot of the same things against Aurelio. Against Veech, I wanted to stand as much as possible, and I figured he’d eventually try to take it to the ground because he’s a great wrestler. The only difference is that on the ground against Veach, I wanted to be aggressive with my jiu-jitsu and really go for submissions. With Aurelio, I have to slow down a little bit and really think when I’m on the ground and stay safe and out of bad positions. I’m confident in my jiu-jitsu. I just have to slow down if it hits the floor.

Dunham's heavy left hand disposed of Per Eklund in London.

OSL: Your boxing looked as good as I’ve ever seen it against Per Eklund at UFC 95. I think your jiu-jitsu has been the most impressive part of your game in the past. You said you want to keep it standing against Aurelio. Have you really been working your hands recently in preparation for this fight?

ED: Well, I’d been working on my boxing long before I knew that I was fighting Aurelio, because obviously that was a last minute switch. But I’ve just been working with my coach in Vegas, Shawn Tompkins, and my hands are getting better and better.

OSL: What got you hooked on MMA? A particular fight? A particular experience?

ED: Well, I always loved wrestling as a kid. Then when I was in middle school, I saw my first UFC, and I was hooked. It was one of the really early events. I’d go down and rent the tapes whenever they became available, because back then that’s what you had to do. I decided that if I ever had the opportunity to do something like that, I had to do it. Then when I was in college and had been training jiu-jitsu for a while, I had the opportunity to have my first (amateur) fight with FCFF (Full Contact Fighting Federation), and I just fell in love with the sport.

OSL: Who’s a guy out there who you would really like to fight in the future? Either a match-up that you think is particularly favorable style-wise, or maybe a guy who you think would just make for an exciting fight?

ED: There’s no particular guy. I actually get asked this a lot. I just want to continue to fight better and better competition so that my name will get bigger and the average fan will know me.

OSL: Can I get an official prediction for your fight against Aurelio?

ED: Like I said, I really want to push the pace in this fight and wear him out. If I had to say, I’d probably predict a decision win. But if the opportunity is there to finish the fight either standing or with a submission, I’ll take it.

OSL: OK, last question. Unrelated to fighting, do you follow Ducks football?

ED: I do, yeah.

OSL: Do you have a prediction for the season opener at Boise State?

ED: Oh, man. You know, I’ve just been so into preparing for this fight that I haven’t really been able to keep up for this first game. I know we’ve got a great offense and a new coach, so it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with starting the season without Mike Bellotti.

OSL: Thanks for your time, Evan.

ED: Thanks.

Make sure to stay tuned for the full UFC 102 preview, coming soon.