Countdown to UFC 119: 13 Days | Waylon Lowe vs. Steve Lopez

Steve Lopez will have redemption on his mind when he gets into the Octagon in Indianapolis on Sept. 25.

The South Bend native will be making his second UFC appearance. His debut at UFC 103 last September was a disappointment. Throwing a simple left jab in the second round against Jim Miller, Lopez's shoulder dislocated. He immediately gave a verbal submission -- a fluke loss in his biggest career fight, a bout he'd taken on short notice as a 12-1 lightweight who had stormed his way through regional promotions enough to catch the eye of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva..

"It hurt pretty bad," Lopez said. "But all those cameras on you, you can't break down while everybody's looking at you."

Lopez said he didn't experience any first-time UFC jitters, which made the way he lost more disappointing than if he lost a three-round war.

"I know if I'd beat a guy like Jim, that throws me in the mix of everything," Lopez said. "That's obviously not the way you want to lose."

After surgery and plenty of rehab, a year later Lopez is ready for his next shot, which will come against Waylon Lowe.

Lopez, who wrestled in high school at South Bend Washington, including a meet at the Merrillville Semistate in the 2001-02 season, was 40-8 as a 125-pound senior. He then wrestled collegiately at Bethel College in nearby Mishawaka before giving MMA a try.

After parting ways with his camp at Midwest Martial Arts in Osceola, Lopez has been training at one of the most elite gyms in the world -- Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, run by UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture.

Though Lopez said he won't miss the Indiana winters, he said (while watching the Michigan-Notre Dame game from Vegas, proving you can take the fighter out of South Bend, but you can't take South Bend out of the fighter) the move was an effort to train with the best in the business at his weight class.

"The biggest thing is workout partners," Lopez said. "It was tough to have people in and around my weight reliably coming in on a daily basis to work out with. Nothing against the people I used to work out with, but before I was signed with a big organization there was really no motivation to go in on a daily basis and work hard. So I wanted other people around me who were working hard."

And Lopez said that move has made a world of difference.

"I feel like I've learned more the past two months than I have three previous years of my fighting career," he said.

Lopez now gets a second chance for a new impression -- and in his home state.

Steve Lopez, 155, 12-2-1 (0-1 UFC)

Hometown: South Bend

Waylon Lowe, 155, 8-3 (0-1 UFC)

Hometown: Jefferson City, Tenn.

A state champion wrestler in Tennessee who went on to win a Division II wrestling title at the University of Findlay (Ohio), Lowe got his first taste of the UFC on Season 9 of "The Ultimate Fighter."

With a format requiring fighters to win a preliminary fight to get onto the show, Lowe was paired against Santino DeFranco, who had been accepted onto Season 2 of the show but couldn't compete after a brain aneurysm.

Lowe's first-round performance was dominant -- and most believe the fight should have been stopped. But DeFranco survived -- causing even UFC president Dana White to believe DeFranco wouldn't answer the bell for Round 2. But he did, and delivered a flying knee that stunned everyone in the gym and sent Lowe home.

A loss at UFC 114, which came at the hands -- or knee, rather -- of fellow UFC 119 competitor Melvin Guillard.