Dave Branch thought he got his first UFC win back in July. That's how scrambled his brain got for a few seconds after getting powerslammed to the mat by Gerald Harris at UFC 116. Branch jumped on Harris to try and pull guard, instead he was given a quick nap. "When I woke up, I actually thought I had won. Because I had never lost so I
didn't know what it was like getting knocked out," Branch told Neil Davidson from the Canadian Press. Branch (6-1, 0-1 UFC) said the blow wasn't physically damaging but it was mentally for a while. "It wasn't painful at all, I didn't feel any pain at all. It was just like my
computer restarted. I was completely coherent in the locker-room and
backstage," said Branch, who then went into a mini-depression. "Oh boy, I stayed in my house for about a week
and I didn't go outside. I kept watching the fight. I watched the fight maybe a
hundred times. I'm obsessed with winning, I hate to lose." It took some encouragement from both Renzo Gracie and Georges St. Pierre to pull Branch from his doldrums. Branch has worked with Gracie for over 10 years. He's the guy who awarded Branch his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Branch learned from the Harris fight that he has to be a little more deliberate in making sure that he fights his fight. Tomasz Drwal is a good test. If he stands with the Pole too long he could be taking another nap. If not, Drwal (17-3, 3-2 UFC) nearly had his leg taken off in his last fight against Rousimar Palhares at UFC 111 and is clearly not a jiu-jitsu ace. Branch may have caught a break with this matchup tomorrow at Ultimate Fight Night 22. He was originally slated to face a good wrestler in Aaron Simpson. When Simpson, and Branch's teammate Catone had to be dumped from the card, the Drwal fight was made.
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