UFC Manchester: Cheerleader Chael Sonnen provides 'inspiration' in Luke Barnatt corner I have a lot of great training partners for striking and I obviously have a boxing coach, but Jimmy is a formidable grappler, and an MMA grappler. I can't think of a better grappler in MMA who's not top ten in the world," Barnatt told Telegraph Sport. Jimmy is a black belt on the ground, a very good black belt. He was a state champion wrestler and we have a very good bond. Obviously when we were fighting together we spent eight weeks in the same place in the TUF house and we helped to get each other through it, because it's such a hard thing, mentally. Quinlan has brought detail to Barnatt brainstorming for this fight. "He's a great teacher, he's actually Joe Lauzon's grappling coach over there and he works with Ricky Lundell and some of the big names," continued Barnatt. He's going to bring a lot of tactics. I sent him an email weeks ago that I'd be fighting Andrew Craig and he sent me back a five-page essay about the fight, breaking it down. Here's game plan number 1, here's B, if that doesn't work we go to this, look at how he wrestles in the cage, look what leg he's weaker on ... he's a tactician and he's brought a lot to my camp. When it comes to the corner on Saturday night, it will be a return for Sonnen, his TUF coach. Jimmy probably won't be in my corner. Obviously I've got Chael in my corner and there's no one better than having Chael there, along with my head coach Robbie Olivier. Chael's cornering as the third man, but he's like my inspiration, which sounds a bit weird. Chael's just an inspiring guy himself, just the experience he's been through. To him, fighting in the UFC is natural now, it's all he does. Obviously I fought in the domestic scene, the UFC's quite new to me. Having him there just makes you realise that you can do it. I'll always remember the moment when I fought Collin Hart and before I stepped into the Octagon, it was the very last thing, Chael put his hand on my back and said: "I believe in you." It had a big impact on me, it sounds like such a small thing but for a man who's seen it from the ground up and fought for the world titles and been around the UFC for a long time, I could feel his belief. And he believes that I could contend in the UFC at middleweight. He believes that I could be in the top ten. He believes I can do these things. I get text messages off him sometimes saying: "You know you could beat all these guys." So in that sense, he's just a great guy to have around. Barnatt is even relishing being the underdog against Craig. "I think it definitely helps," he said. You've got much lower expectations when you're the underdog and I think I'm deservedly the underdog as well, so psychologically I think it's definitely a push for me and I'm happy with the matchup. I think it's a very even matchup but when you know the fans don't expect you to win and then you win it's even sweeter. Another coach, Nigel Burgess, talks for hours with Barnatt about fights. There is sense in how they pick apart fights, styles, and what the judges are looking for. Barnatt will need to utilise all his advantages, notably reach, against Craig, and even tie him up. "We just talk about the emotion behind it, the tactics, the gym, everything," Barnatt said. We honestly talk for hours and hours. he has like long drives and rings me when he gets bored and we talk for hours. And it just felt very natural for me to break down fights because I've been doing it for the last five years. I don't know what other camps do but we look at what the judges are looking at, and what counts. That helps you formulate your game plan because you know I never want to fight to a decision. It's not what I plan and train to do but sometimes it happens and you need to make sure you're tipping the scales in your favour. "The thing we were talking about the other day was Jon Jones" leg kicks and if they actually count ... and they do. The judges score it massively so you know if I can kick someone in the leg and it scores as much as a right hand to the face then points are points. You've got to tip the scales in your favour. At 6ft 6 ins tall, Barnatt is the tallest middleweight on the UFC roster. Sporting success has come late in his life - at the age of 25. It took a while for me to grow in to my body, I was one of these guys who was very lanky and tall, but skinny growing up in school. I never really took to anything that well sportswise. I wasn't a great sprinter or jumper or anything. I played basketball, it even says it on my UFC profile that I played basketball at high school but it's not like basketball in America. I used to go to two practices a week and mess around. I wasn't very athletic before MMA. I'm only really just starting to believe that I'm an athlete now, pushing my body to those sort of levels. If I'd have been pushed through sport at school and people had noticed my athletic capabilities I could have gone down a completely different road. Now I can sprint a very quick 100 metres, in under 11 seconds and I'm not even a sprinter. In that sense, I think Britain as a whole, as a sporting country, needs to wake up and try and push it a bit harder. The Ultimate Fighter would have been recorded a year ago when I fight. A lot has happened in this year. I've really put myself out there. I've been media friendly and I've really tried to get in front of the camera and do podcasts and all the other media stuff out there. And I just love it. I really enjoy it, I love talking about the UFC and being a part of the UFC in any way. Even if I'm not fighting I like to talk about it. It's all I think about. It is my life so you know it just feels very natural and easy, so another string to my bow has definitely been going on as an analyst on UFC: Beyond The Octagon on BT Sport. I've been quite a featured fighter on there, so I want to try and continue that. A win in Manchester would cap all that. Carpe Diem for Barnatt. Tickets for UFC Fight Night 30 are available via ticketmaster.co.uk and phones4uarena.co.uk