TRAINING: A typical day of training consists of two sessions. Once in the day for two hours doing technique, strategy sparring, and once at night for two hours for my conditioning and power training.

Thoughts on opponent, Dennis Siver? Dennis Siver is a very tough fighter. He has great standup and he's not a slouch on the ground. I'm definitely going to have a fight on my hands!

When and why did you start training for fighting? My whole life I’ve been into martial arts. I used to use my abilities on the street and eventually I asked myself why I was doing it on the streets and getting in trouble when I could be doing it professionally and making a living off of it. It made sense because it is what I love to do and I’m good at it.

What ranks and titles have you held? X1 world featherweight champ in Honolulu HI and Tachi Palace Fights featherweight champ

Do you have any heroes? Bruce Lee, because he was the guy who got me into martial arts

What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? I’ve been fighting for 12 years and I’ve been wanting to fight for the UFC the entire time. I’m pretty stoked, I’m excited, and I’m training really hard. I’m definitely not going to take this opportunity for granted and I’m going to give the UFC the best of me!

Did you go to college and if so what degree did you earn? I got my associates degree in carpentry, so carpentry is my trade.

What was your job before you started fighting? Carpentry, because it something to fall back on just in case I couldn’t do fighting full-time. When fighting wasn’t paying all the bills, I started doing construction and going to school at the same time to get my degree.

Specific accomplishments in amateur competition? I’ve competed at numerous jiu-jitsu tournaments and have quite a few medals from them, including from NAGA, Grapplers Quest and others.

Ranks in any martial arts styles: Brown Belt in Jiu-Jitsu

Favorite grappling technique: Chokes, any kind of chokes.

Favorite Striking technique: I like all striking

•    Turned pro in July of 2000

•    Five wins by knockout, five by submission

•    Has won seven of his last nine bouts with the only losses coming to Assuncao in 2011, and in 2009 to UFC vet Diego Saraiva.

•    Has faced Rich Clementi, Joe Jordan, and Vitor Ribeiro

•    Most recent pre-UFC win was August 2011 submission of highly-regarded Joe Soto