All three spoke some about their backgrounds, as well as the road they’ve travelled to arrive at UFC on FX 2, in a recent video from the UFC profiling the trio.

“A lot of people would tell me that (I) was too small to do certain things. People would be like, ‘You’re too small! Give it up!’ I was like, ‘Whatever…,’ said Johnson, while opponent McCall explained, “I was a tiny little kid. I always wanted to fight, I love fighting. I love beating people up. I love beating up everyone who is bigger than me.”

While Benavidez may not have directly been told he was too small to be a professional athlete, he’d never realized it was an avenue he could pursue and actually gave up wrestling during his first year in college. After taking a regular job back home, Benavidez soon discovered Mixed Martial Arts and the rest is history.

“I saw people doing this sport around my city of Las Cruces and I was like, ‘I can beat these guys up. Why are these guys fighting?’ Took up MMA and I just love this sport, it became a passion of mine. I was doing it at as a hobby, doing a regular job and doing that after work,” revealed the Team Alpha Male fighter.

Before long Benavidez decided he’d found his calling, packed his bags, and headed out West where a chance encounter with Urijah Faber changed his life.

UFC on FX 2 starts tonight at 9:00 PM EST and features a main event between welterweights Martin Kampmann-Thiago Alves. Prelims begin at approximately 6:00 PM EST on Facebook/Fuel TV.

Check out the full video below featuring the aforementioned flyweights as well as bantamweight stand-outs Faber and Dominick Cruz:

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

The division will make its debut on March 3, when UFC on FX 2 plays host to the start of a four-man tournament to crown the division’s first champion. Former bantamweight title contenders Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson will face Yasuhiro Urushitani and Ian McCall respectively.

After post back-to-back wins against Eddie Wineland and Ian Loveland at 135, Benavidez will look to build on that momentum at 125. With only two losses in his career, both decision losses to current bantamweight king Dominick Cruz, the Team Alpha Male stand out will have his hands full with current 123 lb Shooto champion Urushitani. The Japanese veteran is currently riding a five fight win streak and holds notable victories over John Dodson and Mamoru Yamaguchi.

Failing to capture the bantamweight strap in his last bout against Cruz, “Mighty Mouse” will try to bounce back in a new division where he’ll no longer be undersized. Prior to the Cruz loss, Johnson rattled off four straight wins, including victories over Miguel Torres and Norifumi Yamamoto. Like Johnson, McCall tried to find a home at 135 in the WEC but couldn’t overcome the size disparity, losing two of his three bouts in the organization. “Uncle Creepy” has fit in at 125 though, capturing the Tachi Palaca Fights flyweight title and defeating Jussier da Silva, who was the consensus top flyweight in the world at the time.

UFC on FX 2 will take place on March 3 from the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia. The event will mark the UFC’s first event in Australia since UFC 127 earlier this year in February.

According to an official statement from the UFC, Wineland will take on Joseph Benavidez on August 14 at UFC Live 5 as part of a card already featuring in-ring appearances from a number of popular fighters including Stephan Bonnar, Ben Henderson, and Amir Sadollah.

Prior to his performance against Faber the well-rounded Wineland had won fifteen of his previous seventeen fights including four consecutive victories leading up to the bout. He holds an overall record of 18-7-1 with nine TKOs and five submissions to his credit.

While Wineland will be looking to rebound from defeat in Milwaukee when the two meet in the ring, Benavidez has emerged with his hands raised in back-to-back outings against Wagnney Fabiano and most recently Ian Loveland at the very event Faber outpointed his upcoming opponent at. The 26-year old protégé of “The California Kid” has yet to be finished in his sixteen-fight career with fourteen wins to show for his efforts counting impressive showings against Rani Yahya, Jeff Curran, and Miguel Torres.

PHOTO CREDIT – ZUFFA

The 13-2 Benavidez’s booking against Loveland has been included in the official line-up listed for UFC 128 on the company’s website.

Loveland will enter the cage with a smidge more experience in the UFC than Benavidez, as he stepped in on short notice to fight Tyler Toner at the Ultimate Fighter Finale 12 where he eventually went on to score a unanimous decision victory. Prior to the out-pointing the Oregonian had finished five straight opponents.

However, there’s little doubting Benavidez’s readiness for the challenge. The 26-year old grappler has faced a number of difficult draws in his career including a pair of fights against WEC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz, Miguel Torres, Jeff Curran, and most recently Wagnney Fabiano. With the exception of the Cruz clashes, Benavidez has emerged successful every time he’s entered the ring and both of the defeats were based on scorecards (one even being a split decision) meaning he’s yet to be finished in a fight.

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According to information received by Five Ounces of Pain from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the 16-1 Cruz, who retained his title via split-decision, will have to get his right hand x-rayed if he hopes to defend his belt again at some point over the next six months.

Meanwhile, Benavidez’s injuries were more minimal and will only require him to avoid contact for the next month. He will be eligible to compete again as soon as October 3rd, 2010.

The complete list of suspensions is as follows:

Danny Castillo – Must have right wrist x-rayed or no contest until 2/15/11; minimum suspension with no contact until 9/9/10, no contest until 9/18/10
Dave Jansen – Suspended until 10/3/10 with no contact until 9/18/10
Javier Vazquez – Suspended until 9/18/10 with no contact until 9/9/10
Anthony Njokuani – Suspended until 10/3/10 with no contact until 9/18/10
Zach Micklewright – Suspended until 10/3/10 with no contact until 9/18/10
Bart Palaszewski – Must have right knee x-rayed or no contest until 2/15/11
Scott Jorgensen – Must have left hand x-rayed or no contest until 2/15/11; minimum suspension with no contact until 9/9/10, no contest until 9/18/10
Brad Pickett – Suspended until 9/18/10 with no contact until 9/9/10
Shane Roller – Must have left knee x-rayed or no contest until 2/15/11
Anthony Pettis – Suspended until 9/18/10 with no contact until 9/9/10
Joseph Benavidez – Suspended until 10/3/10 with no contact until 9/18/10
Dominick Cruz – Must have right hand x-rayed or no contest until 2/15/11

Pettis ran his record to 12-1 with the scorecard-avoiding submission over Roller and will likely get a crack at Ben Henderson’s WEC lightweight belt at some point in the near future as a result. The win was Pettis’ third straight and brought his record to 4-1 in the promotion, the one exception being a split-decision loss at WEC 45.

Meanwhile, headliners Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez scrapped for five rounds with bloodied 135-pound champ Cruz emerging victorious and retaining his belt in the end. The fight featured even exchanges during stand-up sequences, as well as when action hit the mat, and was apparently won by the well-timed takedowns Cruz scored towards the end of each round. “The Dominator” is now 16-1 and won seven consecutive fights.

Also in WEC 50 action, Bart Palaszewski knocked out opponent Zach Micklewright half-a-minute into the second round of their main card bout. Micklewright was previously undefeated entering the fight, while Palaszewski has now won his last four match-ups and improved to 35-13 as a result of the win.

A full list of results from WEC 50 can be found below:

Dan Castillo def. Dustin Poirier via Unanimous Decision
Fredson Paixao def. Bryan Caraway via Split Decision
Ricardo Lamas def. David Jansen via Unanimous Decision
Javier Vazquez def. Mackens Semerzier via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) Round 2
Maciej Jewtuszko def. Anthony Njokuani via TKO Round 1
Bart Palaszewski def. Zach Micklewright via TKO Round 2
Scott Jorgensen def. Brad Pickett via Unanimous Decision
Chad Mendes def. Cub Swanson via Unanimous Decision
Anthony Pettis def. Shane Roller via Submission (Triangle Choke) Round 3
Dominick Cruz def. Joseph Benavidez via Split Decision

Benavidez measured in at 134 pounds, as did Cruz. He is 12-1 as a professional with the lone loss coming to the 24-year old bantamweight champion via unanimous decision at WEC 42 a year ago. Since the defeat Benavidez is 2-0 and most recently choked out long-time divisional king Miguel Torres in the second round of their WEC 47 match-up.

The 15-1 Cruz has won six straight fights since being submitted by Benavidez’ mentor and training partner, Urijah Faber, in March 2007. WEC 50 will mark his first title defense since winning the belt from Brian Bowles via TKO last March.

A full list of weigh-in results from “WEC 50” can be found below:

Danny Castillo (156 lbs) vs. Dustin Poirier (156 lbs)
Fredson Paixao (145 lbs) vs. Bryan Caraway (145 lbs)
Dave Jansen (156 lbs) vs. Ricardo Lamas (155 lbs)
Javier Vazquez (145 lbs) vs. Mackens Semerzier (155 lbs)
Anthony Njokuani (154 lbs) vs. Maciej Jewtuszko (155 lbs)
Bart Palaszewski (156 lbs) vs. Zachary Micklewright (156 lbs)
Scott Jorgensen (135 lbs) vs. Brad Pickett (136 lbs)
Chad Mendes (145 lbs) vs. Cub Swanson (146 lbs)
Anthony Pettis (155 lbs) vs. Shane Roller (156 lbs)
Dominick Cruz (134 lbs) vs. Joseph Benavidez (134 lbs)

The two new additions are scheduled to debut against each other at WEC 37 on Dec. 3 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, according to a report by MMA Weekly.

Benavidez is a perfect 9-0 in his professional mixed martial arts career and raised his profile following a first round submission victory against Junya Kudo at DREAM 5 in Japan this past July. A member of Urijah Faber’s gym in Sacramento, Benavidez had originally been scheduled to fight against Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto before he pulled off the card due to injury and was replaced by Kudo.

Martinez is 12-2 and a strong prospect in his own right. The Arizona native has competed in Canada for the TKO promotion and is currently the Rage in the Cage bantamweight champion. Martinez’s last bout took place for the Evolution MMA promotion this past October, where he submitted Joey Marimberga at 1:21 of round 3.

Benavidez and Martinez join a deep WEC bantamweight division that includes champion Miguel Torres, number one contender Manny Tapia, veteran Jeff Curran, prospect Will Ribiero, Brian Bowles, Marcos Galvao, Scott Jorgensen, Yoshiro Maeda, Rani Yahya, and Damacio Page.

Torres will be headling WEC 37 when he defends his title against Tapia with Ribiero and Bowles also in action against each other. Non-bantamweight bouts scheduled for the card include featherweights Akitoshi Tamura vs. Wagnney Fabiano, featherweights Josh Grispi vs. Diego Nunes, featherweights Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Cub Swanson, lightweights Shane Roller vs. Mike Budnik, welterweights Alex Serdyukov vs. Johny Hendricks, lightweights Bart Palaszewski vs. Alex Karalexis, and light heavyweights Mark Munoz vs. Ricardo Barros.

If you’re an MMA fan and haven’t read Sheridan’s book, I highly recommend you check it out. Sheridan’s first-hand exploration into the world of fighting is unique and well-written. I’m not a big fan of books, but I had no trouble getting through this one.

I especially enjoyed Sheridan’s accounts of his experience training in Brazil with Brazilian Top Team and also his behind the scenes perspective of a PRIDE show in Japan.

Some things in life never live up to the hype, but A Fighter’s Heart does.