Alan Jouban on UFC 192: I fight the best against game opponents

UFC welterweight Alan Jouban was crushed when injuries prevented him from fighting in his home state of Louisiana this past May. "I was really bummed out," he told us in May.

"To have been able to come home, while fighting in the UFC, with a new level of fan base and growing momentum, was a dream."

That dream was deferred for the proud Southerner. Fighting in nearby Houston this Saturday at UFC 192, however, is a pretty decent consolation prize for the Lafayette native.

"Absolutely," he recently told FOX Sports.

"Houston is only a three-hour drive from Lafayette. I'm sure that Daniel Cormier feels a little the same way. He didn't get to fight on that May New Orleans card, either. I think we should have a lot of Louisiana fans make the drive but also we'll probably just have a lot of support from the South, generally. I have a lot of family and friends coming out. After the fight I'm going to go back home and spend time with them so it is the next best thing to fighting at home."

Jouban puts his two-fight winning streak on the line against the very dangerous Albert Tumenov. Tumenov poses many risks to the 32-year-old husband and father, but that's exactly why Jouban is so motivated for the fight.

"Tumenov is very dangerous for anybody in the division," he admitted.

"He is very dangerous and doesn't have the biggest name, so not many American fans know him, but he's super dangerous and he's 3-1 in the UFC. He's a game opponent. He's the kind of guy who's going to get me up for this fight. [My last fight against] Matt Dwyer, there was something about his style where I saw openings and holes. So, that made me very confident even though the fight ended up being a lot tougher than I imagined. I felt strongly that I was the better fighter than him in a lot of areas."

Jouban doesn't see the same weaknesses in his opponent this Saturday. Though that's a daunting challenge, Jouban feeds off of the struggle.

"Tumenov doesn't have as many holes and he's much more dangerous and explosive. He's not going to let me relax," he explained.

"Every night I think about the fight, and I wake up every morning thinking about it. He's going to get the best out of me in this fight. I always fight the best when I have a game opponent.