Darren Elkins won a unanimous decision in complete domination over Steven Siler at UFC 154. The Hobart Indiana native is now 4-0 in the UFC’s featherweight division, a mark that not many can say they have achieved. The victory should get Elkins a top ten or even a top five opponent for his next fight, but he would forgo that to fight at UFC on Fox in Chicago. We sat down with Elkins to discuss the win, what’s next, and fighting in Chicago.

How’s it going today?
It’s going great.

Where does your victory over Steven Siler rank among your other UFC fights?
It’s a big one, I think. It’s up there with one of my best. It puts me at 4-0, it puts me at a step up again, and I think the next fight’s gonna be a bigger step up. Each fight I’m getting better, so it feels great.

You were absolutely dominant in your fight. Was that how you saw the fight going?
It wasn’t exactly… I wasn’t sure I would dominate like that. But I had a feeling I was going to be stronger than him, I had a feeling I was going to be the better grappler. But just how much better I wasn’t exactly sure. I just think I was on my A-game. Everything I was doing was on point. Even my striking — when we were mixing it up I thought I was getting the better of him in striking. I had him guessing some take-downs sometimes I wouldn’t go for take-downs and we would stick with striking and then I’d take him down, so I really had him off his game.

Was there anything that surprised you about Siler in the fight?
Not a whole lot. The thing that I didn’t think would be — I thought I was gonna be able to hold guard on him — once I got on top of him — a lot easier. But he was flexible, and he had pretty good guard defense. That kinda threw me. I knew he had some tricky submissions, but I didn’t think he was going to be able to get his guard back so quickly.

The victory now puts you at the 4-0 in the featherweight division. What are you looking for in your next opponent? Are you looking for one of the top 5?
Yeah, that’s kind of what I’m looking for. Definitely a fight that puts me in the big picture. I think I’m heading that way in title contention, for sure, at 4-0. But I think I’m going to have to beat somebody, like you said, in the top 5 to really be in the mix.

Even though it would be just a two-month turnover, is there any chance of seeing you on the UFC on Fox card here in Chicago?
I would like to. I would love to fight in Chicago. I’m only a half an hour away from Chicago. But it all depends on how fast I can get a fight because that’s pretty quick. It takes a couple of weeks before I maybe even get somebody. It might not even be enough time. So that’s what’s working against us is time right now I’m worried about.

Was there any suspension given to you after your fight against Siler?
I didn’t hear any. They didn’t tell me. I doubt they gave me a suspension. Maybe less than a month because sometimes they do that, but they didn’t give me – didn’t tell me any, so I guess I’m good to go on that.

There are already a lot of top featherweights fighting on that card. With Chicago being your hometown, would that be one of those cards where you would be willing to fight somebody who’s not necessarily in the top 5?
Yeah, for just being the fact that it’s Chicago, I’d be willing to just step back in with somebody they can get to me. It’s not an opportunity that we get very much. It’s been coming to Chicago more, but it’s not an opportunity I’ve ever had to fight on a Chicago card, so, yeah, I would fight whoever to get on that card.

Currently Jose Aldo is set to defend his title against Frankie Edgar. Many still thought that the fight should have been given to Koch or to a guy like Ricardo Lamas or the Korean Zombie. What’s your take on the title fight?
I like it, honestly. I’m looking forward to that fight. I think Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo makes a lot sense. I think it’ll be a great fight. It’s one of those things. We know in this game, for sure, that Dana White says nothing’s guaranteed. It’s been like that for a while — someone gets hurt, and they change the fights up. It’s a bigger sell. I can see where it’s coming from. It’s definitely a bigger sell of a fight. Frankie Edgar was a champion at 155. He’s only lost to Benson Henderson two close fights, too. So that kind of makes sense to me.

Since you were the first fight of the night at UFC 154, what was your take on getting to watch the rest of the card?
First I went back to the hotel and took a shower and cleaned up, got all the blood off me, and then I came back. And I thought it was a pretty good card. I thought the Hendricks knockout was freaking crazy, and the Georges St. Pierre fight was great. The crowd there was something to experience. I’ve never seen an experience like that — with how loud they got and how much they cheered for them and everybody standing — it was nuts.

Is it safe to say that was the best crowd you’ve ever fought in front of?
For the Canadian guys? Yes, they were definitely into it. For me, I was the first fight of the night, so it wasn’t as packed as the Georges St. Pierre fight, but it was a good crowd. Any fights just watching the main event and how loud it got, and for some of the other fighters, it was definitely a different experience.

Any big plans for Thanksgiving and Black Friday?
I’m for sure going to have some family come over to my house, eat some turkey, watch some football maybe, and just kind of share some good stories. And Black Friday? I don’t usually go out on Black Friday; my wife does. I usually watch the kids. I’ll play babysitter.

Where can the fans find you at?
You can find me on my Facebook page or Twitter page. @Darren_Elkins

Any people you want to give a shout-out to?
My family, my teammates from Duneland Vale Tudo, Team Colon, my teammates from Team Carlson Gracie in Aurora and my management team Paradigm

John Dodson will be fighting Demetrious Johnson at UFC on Fox. When we got to speak to him, he had no official confirmation of the date as multiple cards were on the table. About four hours after the interview it was announced via twitter that he would be main eventing the UFC on Fox card.

How’s it going today?
Things are going great. I’m enjoying life and I can’t wait to fight Demetrious Johnson. Until then, all I can do is keep in on training and teaching.

You are currently on tap to fight Demetrious Johnson at a date to be determined for the UFC flyweight title. I know last week, you stated on Inside MMA you didn’t have a date yet, still no date for the fight?
Na-uh.

Is that frustrating knowing you have an opponent, but don’t have a date for the fight?
No. At least now I have a face so I can imagine who I am beating up.

The UFC announced some dates for some cards for early in 2013, with UFC on Fox returning here to Chicago and then the weekend after UFC 156 in Las Vegas. Given a choice between fighting as the main event on the Fox card or the main event of the PPV which would you prefer?
Probably Fox because then you can get more fans into the UFC. Everyone wants to be on PPV, but they want to get a piece of that. I just want to get people to be more aware of flyweights and the fighting style of a flyweight. I want people to see the technique that a flyweight brings. People complain about us not being able to knock people out, but I am trying to prove everyone wrong about that.

You are going out there and showing that flyweights do have knockout power. What do you attribute to the fact that you are one of the more successful at getting the finishes in the flyweight division?
Mike Winkeljohn. Him and Greg Jackson are the guys that are having me believe in my knockout power. For the longest time I didn’t believe in hitting people as hard as I could, it was more about the pitter pat motion. I always thought speed kills. Then I got some losses on my record and apparently you can’t always get the win off of points.

There was an interview with Demetrious before it was announced you would be fighting him and he stated he had hoped you would get the next shot so you two could put on the “fastest paced mma fight ever”. Looking at his fights, how much do you think he is going to have to keep up with you as I believe you are the faster of the two.
I think I am the only one who can keep up with him. Everyone has sat there and tried to follow him and chase him, but they have all failed at it. I think I can match his speed and it won’t be so much of a cat and mouse fight. I can’t say I am faster than him or he is faster than me, but we have seen each other, and we just want to see who really is the fastest out of the two of us.

So a 100 yard dash after the fight?
(laughs) Ask me that question later.

You also stated you have been studying him, what’s one thing that has impressed you about him since you started studying him as an opponent?
I’ve been studying film on him since he first had his first fight in the WEC. He’s been one of the guys I wanted to fight cause I saw myself as him. Me and him have a similar fighting style. We both like to use our angles but he likes to use a lot more takedowns than I will ever.

Do you think the wrestling aspect will come into the fight?
I guarantee both of us will be using every tool in our arsenal to get that win. Be it our wrestling, jiu jitsu or our striking. I will say it will be awesome if we were striking for twenty five minutes cause that would be close to 2500 punches thrown by each person.

The fight odds are out, you are a near 3-1 underdog. Do you even think about the betting lines at all?
Nope I don’t care. I have always been an underdog my entire life. I look at it as an honor and something I dealt with. I can’t look down at him for being the favorite. A lot of people didn’t think I was going to amount to anything.

Where can the fans find you at?
On twitter @johndodsonmma or on facebook.

Any sponsors or people you want to thank?
Hyabusa, Century MMA, all the people at Jackson-Winkeljohn martial arts, my brother Eric Dodson, my girlfriend Belle, my mom, my family, my teammates.

Morning Commute is back and today’s edition features UFC on Fox coming back to Chicago, Invicta FC president Shannon Knapp goes to town on managers, Stephan Bonnar has been suspended for a year, Dan Henderson still talking about Sonnen getting the title shot, and Anderson Silva’s potential superfight with Georges St-Pierre.  All that and a double dose of this day in history, makes for a fantastic episode.  Download it for later use, or use the player below to stream it live.

May 8, 2012 edition of RecapRadio. Hosted by Brent Todd and John Petit the topics included a breakdown of the four fights from UFC on Fox: Nate Diaz vs Jim Miller, Johnny Hendricks vs Josh Koscheck, Alan Belcher vs Rousimar Palhares, and Lavar Johnson vs Pat Barry. Other topics included Dominick Cruz’s torn ACL, replacement for him at UFC 148, should Urijah Faber’s fight be for an interim title, Siyar Bahadurzada replacing Akiyama at UFC 149, Michael Chandler retiring Gono, BJ Penn declined to fight for Strikeforce and more.

On the May 1st, 2012 edition of RecapRadio, hosts Brent Todd and John Petit talked about a variety of topics including UFC on Fox predictions, Anderson Silva’s manager saying that 80% of fans will be rooting for Silva, Nick Diaz’s lawsuit with the NSAC and more. Listen to the show below.

In a sit-down of six contenders, the UFC on FOX 2 press conference was full of fireworks. The event takes place January 28th at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. This is the UFC’s first time back to Chicago since UFC 90 when Anderson Silva defended his title against Patrick Cote. The three-fight main card featured Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis, Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz, and Michael Bisping vs. Damien Maia.

The most outspoken, unsurprisingly, was top middleweight contender Chael Sonnen. His sharp smack-talk was on point as he made shots at Anderson and his current opponent, Mark Munoz in a battle of wrestlers. Chael Sonnen, however, doesn’t label himself as such.

“I’m not a wrestler. I’m a fighter from the mean streets of Westland, Oregon,” said Sonnen, who later claimed to be a gangster. His hilarity didn’t stop there, it snowballed into an evening of laughs.

“I think everybody up here is grateful to be on FOX. They say, ‘FOX, thanks,’ everybody but me. I would say, ‘FOX, you’re welcome. You’ve been telling people for years you’ve got the American Idol and now you finally do.’”

“I’ve got no problem with Anderson Silva, but I’m not going to change my schedule around just to kick his ass.”

“I’m not waiting for him or anybody else. If I’m not the best guy and Mark is, then God bless him, and he can go have the shot.”

Sonnen responded to a question from mmarecap.com about a tweet that Dan Henderson issued earlier in the week.

Henderson’s tweet read, “All the “injuries” that keep Anderson from a remath w/ or Chael will heal real fast if they offer Bisping to him.”

Sonnen responded, “I don’t believe Anderson’s hurt. I know he says he’s hurt and then he was in training camp with Wanderlei that got caught on tape. He just got done working with Machida that got caught on tape. I really don’t care about Anderson Silva. I truly don’t. How hard is it gonna be to become world champion beating up math teachers? I don’t understand it. Give Anderson Silva my schedule and see how well he does. Yeah, I think he’s ducking me. I think he’s ducking Dan Henderson. I don’t know if he’d be eager to fight Bisping, you’ll have to Dan about that comment but no, I don’t think he’s hurt.”

Michael Bisping was happy to respond as well, “Well he’s just another person who had his shot, wasn’t he? I seem to remember him getting tapped out like Chael did, so both of these guys have a problem with submission defense. If he’s bitter about it, don’t talk shit to me about it just because you blew your shot,” said Bisping.

Rashad Evans, though, possibly ignited the largest reaction from the fans in attendance when he made a crack at Phil Davis. The pair shot remarks back and fourth before the one-liner.

“Phil, he’s getting knocked out,” said Evans.

Davis responded, “I’m glad you mentioned that because one of your buddies, Jon Jones, said you don’t have much of a chin.”

The two debated back and fourth, prompting Evans to say, “I guarantee you’ll be the first one to take a shot. Guarantee. Because I’m going to put my hands on you worse than that dude did them other kids at Penn State.”

The exclamation made waves, prompting various negative stories. UFC president Dana White explained for the light-heavy weight contender.

“We talked. It’s not like I’m dealing with stupid people here. It’s one thing when you’re dealing with dummies. When you’re dealing with people who are really stupid, it’s tough to talk to them. But when you call a guy who’s an intelligent guy, he gets it. He knows. The whole thing with me is people are looking to me, and I saw a couple of stupid stories that were written, people who want attention — you know who those people are. What do you want me to do? You want me to have our lawyers draw something up and I’ll come out and read it to you guys? You know, he said something stupid. It’s probably one of the dumbest things you could say. He gets it, and he knows it was a stupid thing to say, and we’ll see what happens.”

UFC on FOX 2 is scheduled to air the three-fight main card, but has the potential to show previous bouts of the night. The event is considered the first of the seven-year deal that the UFC has signed with FOX, and they brought outspoken contenders to kick it off with a bang.

Chris Weidman will be fighting Tom Lawlor on the SpikeTV portion of UFC 139. He recently sat down with MMA Diehards to discuss his upcoming fight, his previous fights and more.

Are you going to come out with some outrageous walkout? You know your opponent is known for that, do you plan to up the stakes yourself and do something like that?
Nah I am not that creative. That’s kind of his thing and I will let him shine with that. I will try to shine when I get in the cage. I give him props for those walkouts as they are pretty sick.

In taking on Tom Lawlor, obviously he is a tough guy. We know your wrestling background, your grappling background. As much as you would like to test your standup, eventually you are going to take this guy down and punish him right?
I am going to test out my striking first. Every single one of my fights I throw punches and kicks before I get a takedown. As always I plan to mix it up and work some standup. I want to make the fight as exciting as possible.

In your debut fight against Alessio Sakara were you affected by the UFC jitters at all?
A little bit, but not too crazy. I would say it got to me a little bit, but not enough to stop me from winning that fight.

Were you surprised how that fight went?
The thing is I took that fight on short notice and had a little injury leading into it. I was a little unsure of what was going to happen. I didn’t get any sparing in. I didn’t know where I was at. My mind it could have gone bad. I didn’t know how I was going to do without the proper training. But I have great coaches around me that had faith in me.

You have had some trouble with injuries in your UFC career and fighters always say they don’t go into a fight without any. How close though do you feel to being 100%?
I am feeling awesome. Knock on wood I still have another week of training, but I am doing great.

Are you excited for the UFC on Fox debut?
Yeah I am pumped. I just hope that fight is as exciting as I think it is going to be. People who haven’t been exposed to mma and the UFC and their first time if it is a great show they become fans.

It’s been apparent in Tom Lawlor’s past couple of fights that his cardio is a bit of a problem. Are you really busting out the cardio in this fight or do you feel like you want to punish him for three rounds.
I like that, I am going to punish him. I mean one of my strengths in wrestling or jiu jitsu tournaments is my cardio. I definitely went hard with the cardio. I had a lot of time to prepare for this fight and my cardio has never been better. I could go at a very extreme pace for three rounds. I am not going to stop till he breaks mentally. I am going to be looking for the finish. I would love to knock him out cold, but I also would love to just totally dominate the fight for three rounds and break him.

Are you a proponent of training at different camps or are you sticking with one camp?
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. I go to Renzo Gracie’s academy. I am from Ray Longo and Matt Serra’s camp. But I do travel into the city to work with Renzo. I go to Delnore Kickboxing in Long Island. I do travel around a little bit, but for me I feel it is important to have a home. A place where you have guys that really care about you. If you are traveling around and traveling around it is hard to find that because they already have that. Ray Longo and Matt Serra I have that. It’s good to go around to different gyms to learn new techniques and sparring, but for your confidence and mental edge it is important to have a home.

How often do you go down to Renzo’s?
I go down every Monday and Saturday.

What song do you plan to walk out to?
The UFC just texted me about it and I haven’t had time to think of it. It will probably be something like Empire State of Mind.

Is it you can chose whatever you want or is there a list?
The UFC will let you pick whatever song you want and then approve it or not. Sometimes you pick a song that someone else already has and you have to pick a different one.

With Tom Lawlor moving up to Connecticut have you run across him in training circles at all or friends that have?
No. I didn’t even know he was up here. I know that he is out in California with Dan Henderson. But I didn’t know he was in Connecticut.

Do you feel like if you beat Tom that you will be a main card kind of guy or is that not something you really think about much?
I think so. I think I will probably be up there as far as my next fight. It depends who they give me. When I first started, my first fight was on a main card on a Versus, obviously not PPV. My manager at the time said once you were on the main card, all your fights will be on the main card. Then my next one was on Spike which was good. This one was supposed to be on Spike, then it wasn’t, now it might be. It’s a little stressful trying to figure it out and let my friends and family know so at this point I am just not worried about it.

You can listen to the full interview at MMA Diehards