The Dreams and Nightmares of Clifford Starks

Clifford Starks remains one of MMA’s best-kept secrets.

After he excelled on the regional scene and drew a call from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the Tempe, Arizona, native looked to be well on his way to joining the middleweight elite. Starks started his career 8-0, including a unanimous decision over Dustin Jacoby in his October 2011 debut in the UFC. Buzz was beginning to build, until the former collegiate wrestler ran into two men with far more experience -- Ed Herman and Yoel Romero -- and suffered back-to-back losses. Starks was then cut from the UFC roster.

While his release stung, he took the setbacks in stride, regrouped and learned from the experience. Starks has not lost since.

“I was still fairly new to the game when I was in the UFC,” he told Sherdog.com. “Those fighters pinpointed weaknesses that I was still trying to work on at the time. I think I came into the UFC a little too early. I mean, I didn’t even really know what jiu-jitsu was back then, and to go up against a guy like Ed … Once he got me on the ground, I didn’t know what to do. He got me in the rear-naked choke rather easily.

“When I went up against Yoel,” he added, “he was a very explosive athlete. I think I would have been able to beat him then and I still think I can beat him now, but he is such an explosive athlete that if you make a mistake, he is so good that you’ll immediately pay for it. Unfortunately, I paid for it that night.”

Starks has clearly learned from his mistakes. He has returned to his winning ways, scoring victories over Joe Yager and Jacob Ortiz in Bellator MMA before agreeing to terms with the World Series of Fighting. There, he has beaten Jake Heun, Mike Kyle and Krasimir Mladenov in succession.

“I’m learning about angles a lot more now to set them up,” Starks said. “I’m learning to be more patient and calm my nerves. Being an athlete, I have always been able to do that, but fighting was such a new experience altogether. You’re in there trying to hurt someone who is trying to hurt you so it kind of messes with your nerves a little bit, but the more you fight, the better you get at controlling the nerves; and that’s all I needed.”

Starks has surrounded himself with one of the best teams in the country: Arizona Combat Sports. The daily training he has received has proven invaluable. Starks believes in hard work and sees the fruit it yields in the cage.

“I am not going to lie: I hate training camp with a passion,” he said. “I am angry and bitter and cussing them out, yet all I can do is focus on getting my hand raised at the end. That is what I go through. It’s torture, but there’s a reason why the gym is so successful. Success doesn’t come easy because if it was, everybody would be successful. What we do down here is what puts us on another level, but, man, I am cussing them all out in my sleep. The fight is the fun part, but when you’re going through the camp, dear God, it’s a nightmare.”

Starks will try and take the next step in achieving his goals when he challenges David Branch for the World Series of Fighting middleweight championship in the WSOF 30 headliner on Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Both men will enter the cage -- the NBC Sports Network will carry the four-fight main card at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT -- with significant momentum. The 34-year-old Starks admitted that training for an opponent with no glaring weaknesses can be difficult.

“I have to train and get good in all areas regardless, and in order to get to where I want to be, I’d have to beat someone like him anyway,” he said. “I want to be the number one guy, and in order to do that, I need to train in all aspects, even if I wind up fighting a one-dimensional fighter. I’m at the stage in my career where I will train specifically for a certain opponent, but when there are the periods where I don’t have anything lined up, I’ll train in every aspect of my game.”

Branch, a Renzo Gracie-trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, has won seven fights in a row and become the first two-division champion in WSOF history.

“He’s a tough fighter,” Starks said. “He’s well-rounded in all areas, so I have to have my Ps and Qs ready to take advantage of the opportunity that I have. I think the one thing that he does best is that he doesn’t have one overall strength. Him being so well-rounded is what makes him so dangerous. It’s going to be an interesting fight. We both have different skill sets, and it’ll come down to whoever has the better game plan that night.”