Turning Back the Clock

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He seemed lost in the shuffle in mid-2009, but bantamweight Eddie Wineland has rebuilt his career with four wins in a row. A revamped approach to training, driven by a return to his old team and his decision to embrace a new approach to grappling, has the former WEC champion on a roll.

In facing former featherweight king Urijah Faber at UFC 128 “Shogun vs. Jones” on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Wineland sees the opportunity of a lifetime to score an upset that would resonate through the mixed martial arts world.

After losing to Rani Yahya via rear-naked choke in April 2009, Wineland’s 67-second performance promoted tough questions, and he was determined to answer them.

“The team I first started training with in my career was Duneland Vale Tudo. I strayed from them and started training with Miguel Torres,” says Wineland. “The camps were good, and I learned a lot, but my style wasn’t the same. I didn’t have the same confidence I did with my old team, so after the Yahya fight, I took a step back and went back to my old ways.”

Known mostly to fans as a rugged brawler with a physically assertive style, Wineland also added some tweaks to his grappling, adding in sessions at New Breed Jiu-Jitsu to round out his game.

Since the Yahya bout, where Wineland seemed out of sorts and was quickly overwhelmed, he has rebuilt his prospects considerably. After decision wins over Manny Tapia and George Roop, Wineland knocked out Will Campuzano, earning him a match with once-beaten American Top Team prospect Ken Stone at WEC 53. Wineland scored a devastating victory, winning via monstrous slam a little more than two minutes into the first round.

“The difference now is all mental. My determination and composure are better, and, right now, I’ve got the mindset that nobody is gonna take me down,” Wineland says. “Nobody’s gonna beat me to the punch. I didn’t have it to the extent that I have it now. Nobody’s gonna beat me at anything. I might lose the battles, but I’m gonna win the war.”

That kind of mindset pretty much defines Faber’s approach, as well, which is why Wineland looks forward to their fight. The former WEC featherweight champion made his bones by outhustling and overpowering numerous foes, including current UFC bantamweight boss Dominick Cruz, whom Faber submitted in the first round in 2007. Since then, Cruz’s game has improved measurably, while Faber lost two bouts to Mike Thomas Brown and a one-sided decision to Jose Aldo, prompting the drop in weight. Thus far, Faber looked impressive at 135, scoring an impressive first-round submission against Takeya Mizugaki in November.

Strength-wise, Wineland knows Faber figures to be a handful at the lower weight. Still, he is not sold on that idea he cannot match up there.

“People say Urijah is going to be big for the weight class. I’m at 153 pounds right now, and I’m dead lifting 425,” Wineland says. “There are not a lot of guys doing that. I think he’s gonna make the weight just fine, but we don’t know how he’s going to react in deep water.”

One never knows, precisely because surprises and plot twists define the fight game. Sometimes, it involves landing a big slam on a guy like Stone, the talented upstart that was supposed to overwhelm you. In other instances, it involves something going wrong, such as when Wineland’s cauliflowered ear exploded in a 2007 title defense against Chase Beebe. Wineland pushed through the mangled ear injury, leaking blood all over the cage, en route to losing a five-round decision and his WEC belt.

“Before that fight, my ear had blown up and was still in the soft stage of cauliflower. I didn’t think to drain it and if it had been drained, it wouldn’t have exploded,” Wineland says. “I think it says a lot about my heart and determination.”

Wineland was always an aggressive kid, but it was not until recently that he thought he could make a living fighting.

“I wrestled since I was 6, off and on, and then picked it up big after high school. Then after high school I was lifting [weights], and I got bored,” he says. “I’ve got a real mean side to me and didn’t have anything to take my aggression out on. A buddy of mine had been training since we were 16 and said to come on in and check it out. I was fighting in small shows, thinking I’ll never make a career out of it. Now, I’ve got a very good opportunity. I grew up watching the early UFCs with my dad, thinking these guys were crazy. It’s a dream come true. And the next thing you know, they’re a world champ. The UFC is the big stage.”

Mark Vives, owner of New Breed Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Chicago, believes the new Wineland fights smarter, not just harder.

“We started helping him around the Tapia fight,” says Vives. “The Eddie Wineland of yesterday is no longer the Eddie Wineland of today. For the longest time, in the MMA world, he made it as a one-trick pony. He was a scrapper with a wrestling base. He’s added a couple things to the mix. His grappling defense is getting better, and he’s a much smarter, more patient fighter. Before, he was just brawling, but now, he’s really starting to pick his shots. Urijah has weaknesses just like anyone else.”

While Faber’s standup game has improved considerably since his early career, his biggest asset remains a blend of athleticism and quickness on the ground. He can be impossible to keep in bad positions and, at 135, figures to be his characteristic overpowering self, if the Mizugaki fight showed any hints.

Faber simply took Mizugaki’s back and willed himself into a rear-naked choke. The Japanese fighter did not tap to the hold, leaving him unconscious for several moments until he was revived. While Faber’s undersized frame ran into problems against bigger opponents in Brown and Aldo, at 135, it may well be that he is the bully.

“Urijah’s explosive and extremely strong,” says Vives. “Anyone who fights him is always going to have a hard time to find the right training partners than can mimic his explosiveness and strength.”

At times, Faber is akin to a cat thrown out of the window of a speeding car that somehow lands on the hood.

“And not only is he on the hood, he’s searching for your neck,” says Vives. “We’ve got to get Eddie ready for that type of scramble.”

With Faber’s drop to 135, the UFC’s bantamweight division gets an ex-champion with a hard-earned reputation for excitement. Reigning bantamweight boss Dominick Cruz remains at the top of his game, and a rematch between the two could be around the corner with another win by “The California Kid.”

For Wineland, who wants his name in the conversation, it represents the opportunity for which he has worked. Friends with Cruz, he complimented the champion on his improved style in recent outings in which Cruz used nifty footwork and dizzying standup approach to be effective on the scorecards and baffling to opponents.

“Dominick’s a great guy, and I’m pretty good friends with him,” says Wineland. “That’s the big picture. I’d love to fight Dominick, but I’m not looking past Faber. That’s the fish on the plate right now. I’m taking it one fight at a time. I think Faber’s conditioning is second to none, but I don’t think he’s really pushed it at 135 for a full 15-minute fight. You never know what can happen.”

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