UFC 184 is taking place in Los Angeles this Saturday night (Feb. 28, 2015). That is music to Alan Jouban's ears. The UFC welterweight resides in the "City of Angels" and he is thrilled to be home after losing his last time out to Warlley Alves, and having to deal with a horrible traveling experience to Uberlandia, Brazil, prior to that fight.
"I'm definitely excited to fight in L.A. Aside from just fighting in L.A. at the Staples Center, the biggest venue I've ever fought at in my life," Jouban recently told MMAmania.com. "I'm coming off my last fight, which was in Brazil. That was 24 hours of travel to get there. Three different flights with five-hour layovers in between. Brazil was great, but the travel getting there was unbelievable. To be able to fight 10 minutes from where I live is going to be pretty nice."
Jouban, 32, will be taking on Richard Walsh in the preliminary portion of the UFC 184 card on FOX Sports 1. The 10th Planet brown belt shares the same 1-1 record in the Octagon as his Australian counterpart, who was also a TUF semifinalist, and he is feeling great about the match up.
"I'm happy with it. I like the match up. I respect his game. He does what he does well. His assets -- and he knows it -- is that he is a pretty strong guy. He looks physically imposing and he kind of fights that way. He uses a lot of brute strength and he's got some sharp boxing that I I'll give it to him. It's a good match up for me.
"I think my style, I'll be able to pick him apart. He will try to get me against the cage. He is going to try to use his boxing and his strength to push forward and push me into the cage and from there, hold me against the cage and bring me to the ground. But I think my wrestling defense will stuff that. Once I'm able to stuff that and slow down the fight, I think I will be able to finish him."
The Louisiana native considers his stand up to be his best attribute, as evidenced by eight of his 11 career victories coming by knockout or technical knockout. The 10-2 fighter has taken up striking with Julio Trana at Saekson Muay Thai for the last year. And while he is always trying to "fill holes" in his overall game, for him, it is important to keep his "strengths very sharp."
"I've been with him for about a year now and I've seen a lot of improvement," said Jouban about Trana. "Striking has always been my go-to thing and it's what I've always been best at. Since I've been with Julio for the past year, I'm doing a lot of new stuff that I've never done before.
"It's kind of like one of those things when you get with a new coach you try to implement new things right away but it's really not part of your system yet. You haven't had enough reps yet. And I feel like now being with him for about a year now I'm starting to see some of the stuff I'm doing come across. I'm excited to show some of the things I've been working on in this fight."
If you didn't already know, Jouban is also a model. It's something he says he "fell into," and has now been doing for the last decade. His manager, Ajay Chander, the head of the London-based EPOK Agency, recently partnered up with Soul Artist Management to bring Jouban and his other clients into mainstream-media opportunities like magazine covers, as well as movie and TV appearances.
Chander thinks the exclusive partnership "has innovated the way athlete representation is going to be done in the future for MMA," and likened the business model he has in place for Jouban to that of David Beckham. He also said the merger will provide "additional revenue streams and income," which will certainly come in handy in July when the Reebok deal begins in UFC.
"Well I mean first, right off the bat it's just exciting to know there is opportunity out there," Jouban said. "I don't' try to really hold my breath for anything. If it turns into something, then so be it. I'm excited about it. When he mentioned it to me, getting the deal done it was a lot of contractual work that they were working on back and forth between EPOK and Soul Artist Management. Once they finally got all that out of the way and I was able sign on the dotted line and kind of get a shot, it was exciting. "
So far, the fighter and model has done a cover for Men's Health and one other magazine shoot since the merger in December. "They are getting my name and face out there, which is cool," he says. He then explained that modeling was not something he was "passionate about," but it was paying the bills. When he found mixed martial arts, that is what really drove him.
"When I found fighting, I found what I was passionate about," said Jouban, who admitted he had to show up to photo shoots with black eyes and even stitches in the past. "And now, if I can actually use the modeling experiences I've had over the years to further my career as a fighter it would just... everything would come full circle. I just have to do what I've been doing and grind it out in the gym and win fights and be successful.
"I feel like as long as I can continue to do that everything else will fall into place with this partnership. First comes winning fights and then secondly, I think I will start to see some of these jobs and earn some money outside of the cage as well."
Jouban said he's learned you can do wonders with makeup and finding the right angle, but does he have any concern about getting banged up for a fight now, with the new opportunities that are awaiting him?
"I used to when I was fighting in the smaller leagues, just because modeling was paying the bills and I wasn't fighting for much money at all," he said. "I used to really worry about it because I would fight on a Friday and have a shoot on a Monday. Things like that. Now that I'm in the UFC, I don't think about it. I'm a full-time fighter. Now my work has paid off.
"I'm in the UFC and I'm fighting the best guys in the world. That's my career. That's my job. That's what I'm here to do. If I get banged up or whatever, well now they are hiring me as a UFC fighter. Before I was just an MMA fighter who was also a model. Now when they book me as a job they are hiring me as a professional athlete."