UFC 152: Marcus Brimage Is Slowly Getting Used to Being the Underdog and Hated

The definition of an underdog is a competitor thought to have little chance of winning a fight or contest. That is the role that UFC featherweight Marcus Brimage has dealt with his whole career.

Brimage looks to defy the odds again as he squares off against Jimy Hettes tonight to kick off the FX portion of UFC 152, which starts at 8 p.m. ET.

The man known as "The Bama Beast" has been overcoming the odds to succeed his entire life and knows what he has to do to buck that stigma.

"I played football and played nose guard in high school," Brimage told Bleacher Report. "I had 107 tackles my senior year. "Being an underdog is nothing new to me. I'm always underrated. My coaches tell me that means I'm moving up the food chain since I'm always the underdog. I don't want to be the guy whose supposed to win. That means I'm not advanced and I'm not moving up. I'm always going to be the underdog until I'm the champion."

Confidence is something Brimage was lacking due to what happened in The Ultimate Fighter Season 14 and being the first guy to lose in that season. Now in the UFC and with a victory over Maximo Blanco at UFC 145, in a fight people thought Blanco would easily win, now the confidence is back in Brimage.

"In The Ultimate Fighter, I was the first person to fight and I lost first," Brimage stated. "It was just about being more confident because now I'm in the UFC. The first time (at UFC 145) I was like, "do I belong here?"

"The victory over Blanco felt orgasmic. It was like, "ahh in your face."

"If I had the time, I would have liked to find everyone that said that (having no chance to win) and would have been like, "haha" and just leave.

"I'm slowly getting used to being the underdog. I'm slowly getting used to the hate. It's the same scenario with this fight (against Hettes) as well."

His opponent tonight, the 10-0 Jimy Hettes, looked impressive in his debut at UFC 141 as he defeated Nam Phan via unanimous decision. Brimage was impressed with Hettes' performance and is expecting a great fight.

"I think his judo is pretty cool with the way he was tossing Nam Phan," Brimage stated. "He seems like the polar opposite of me. He's very aggressive, always putting the pressure on. He does the pressure with his wrestling and I put the pressure on with my striking. It's going to be a great clash."

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