It was getting to be a distraction -- the taunts, the insults, the things said about him by the U.K. fans.

DaMarques Johnson didn't want to add to the pressure of his fight with James Wilks in Saturday's finale of "The Ultimate Fighter: Team U.S. vs. Team U.K." But as the only American finalist -- and thorn in the side of the Brits all season -- the West Jordan mixed martial artist and his Facebook page suddenly were the target of a nation rabid to prove its place in perhaps the world's fastest-growing sport.

"I just need to stay focused and not get wrapped up with what's being said on the Internet. It really wasn't doing me any good," the 26-year-old said of his Facebook profile. "As long as I had it, I would keep

checking it just to see what people were saying. It's almost like a weird addiction that way, so I just kind of removed it because I noticed it was becoming a distraction. The U.K. fans hate me baaaad ." Part of that stems from talent, but much of it is owed to the show's editors focusing on what Johnson calls "my fight persona, the loudmouth kid that would fight someone in a parking lot."

"I'm not that angry guy," he says. After all, the T-shirts he's having made say, "Fighting makes me smile."

The welterweight enters the cage tonight in the reality show finals, which air at 7 p.m. on Spike TV, for the biggest fight of his life. It's a chance to solidify a future as a professional fighter and a lucrative

contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Not that he's letting the thought overwhelm him. "I haven't even read [the contract], that's how much I don't think about it," Johnson said. "... I'm just going out to represent myself and my country, and where I'm from, the best I can."

Since the show finished taping, he's spent the past couple of months training with UFC veterans Joe Doerksen and Jeremy Horn, Johnson's coach, in Horn's Sandy gym. He spent a week and a half in Temecula, Calif., with his coach on the show, Dan Henderson, an Olympic wrestler and MMA legend.

As each week's episode went on and he became more and more a central figure in the show, the quick-witted Utahn's star shone brighter.

"Everybody told me it would happen, but I'm still not used to it, like all the random strangers that love me, or all the fans that, just walking to get a cup of coffee, people stopping in their cars to shake your hand."

That taste of fame will be magnified a hundredfold in front of the Las Vegas cameras. Johnson got a glimpse of what tonight will be like when he spent a week with Matt Hughes, cornering the former UFC welterweight champion in his co-main event fight against Matt Serra at UFC 98 in May.

"I've fought in front of some pretty big crowds before, but nothing like that. That was an eye-opener," he said. "... Seeing all the people and all the UFC craziness that goes on -- it definitely helped mentally as far as, when I see it now, this time it won't be the first time."

He feels the preparation with some of the UFC's most experienced fighters will prove the difference against Wilks.

"Wilks isn't going to outwrestle me the way Matt Hughes can outwrestle me; he's not going to have as well-rounded a game as Jeremy Horn or Joe Doerksen. He's not going to grind on me the way Dan Henderson grinds on me and wrestles."

Johnson credits his strong support system for making possible his dream of being an MMA professional.

"It's me in there fighting, but a lot of people don't get to see the mental war that goes on that every fighter goes through before any fight, especially a big fight," he said, citing his family, his girlfriend, Horn, Jen Howe, and training partners Nick Rossborough and Derek Downey as especially helpful. But when it comes down to it, there's one person who pushes Johnson harder than anyone: his 4-year-old son, Maxton Blake.

"A lot of people are out there that provide for their families by doing stuff that they hate. And I just feel really, really fortunate to not be one of those people," he said. "Yeah, rough days in the office are a little different than a rough day in the cubicle for me. But, at the end of the day, I still love what I do, and if I can feed my son and hopefully put him through private school -- provide him with better opportunities than I had -- I'll almost feel like I've succeeded as a father."

While his son won't be in the crowd today, he has gotten a kick out of seeing his daddy every week on television.

"He doesn't really realize what's going on," Johnson said, "but come career day or something, maybe he'll take me to school."

No wonder he smiles.

source : http://www.sltrib.com