UFC bantamweight Nick (The Ninja of Love) Denis credits an episode of "Star Trek" for his career path. Not fighting, but biochemistry. He started at the University of Ottawa as a math and physics student. But hooked on "Star Trek," he saw an episode where a disease hype-accelerated some on board the Enterprise and Dr. McCoy had to figure it out. "After that episode, I was like Screw physics. I want to do biochemistry. Its cool," Denis said with a laugh. "I based that decision purely on an episode of TV." Denis went on to get a bachelors and masters degrees in biochemistry, electing at the start of 2011 to focus on fighting rather than continue with his PhD studies. On Saturday night, the Montreal-based fighter steps into the Octagon for a second time when he takes on Ronald Delorme in all-Canadian bantamweight battle on a televised UFC card in East Rutherford, N.J. The man event at the Izod Center features lightweights Jim Miller (21-3) and Nate Diaz (15-7). Denis diving into biochemistry illustrates his penchant for setting a goal and accomplishing it. Denis got into MMA at 20, just looking for something different than lifting weights. He joined a gym and got to meet some fighters. "One thing led to another." "When I decide I want to do something, whether its learn about something or accomplish something or whatever it is, I just find a way to do it and I do it," he explained. He set his sights on the UFC when he learned it was adding his 135-pound weight class. Winnipegs Delorme (7-1) is an injury replacement for Johnny Bedford, who pulled out less then three weeks ago. Both men appeared on Season 14 of "The Ultimate Fighter." Denis (11-2 with 10 knockouts) sees them as fairly similar in body weight: tall with long, lanky limbs. "Bedford was like a wrestler with good jiu-jitsu that likes to strike. Delorme is more of a judo guy with good jiu-jitsu and sometimes like to strike." Denis also tried out for TUF, making it to the final stages last summer in Las Vegas where he hung out with Delorme. "Hes an nice guy, for sure." When Denis didnt make the final cast of the reality TV show, he took matters into his own hands. At a Wreck MMA card last October, he finished Nick Mamalis with a devastating suplex slam that knocked his opponent unconscious. The UFC took notice and the colourful bantamweight didnt disappoint in his January debut, knocking out Joseph Sandoval in Nashville with a string of nasty elbows just 22 seconds into fight. Its believed to be the fasted knockout by a Canadian in the UFC since Dave Beneteau stopped Asbel Cancio in 21 seconds at UFC 5 in 1995. The five-foot-seven Denis collected US$45,000 for knockout of the night, which he used some of to take his girlfriend to Cuba for a week and to buy a two-horsepower, top-of-the-line Vitamix blender -- the Rolls-Royce of blenders. It also capped quite a comeback for Denis, who prior to Mamalis had not fought since a March 2010 loss to Yuji Hoshino at Sengoku. In the aftermath of that fight, he was training for a Wreck MMA title bout when he suffered a pinched nerve in training. He shot in on an opponent "and my body went one way and my head turned like the opposite way -- and it just cranked my neck real bad." His arm went numb but he kept training. The next morning, trying to shower or putting on a shirt were impossible. "I couldnt barely raise my right arm. I couldnt even lift a peanut butter jar with my right arm." he recalled. "Not painful, but very weird," he added. Months of physio followed as he waited for the injured nerve to grow back. When he did finally get healthy, several fights fell apart when opponents pulled out. Unable to train immediately after the injury, he and a friend drove across Canada and back -- camping or sleeping in the car. He met new friends along the way, taught a few seminars and tried his hand at surfing in Tofino, B.C. "Lots of good memories," he said of the monthlong trip. A native of Ottawa, he now lives in Montreal where he trains at the Tristar Gym. He made his pro debut in October 2006 and fought most of his early fights at featherweight (145). He walks around at 155 pounds. "I love the freedom it gives me," he said of fighting. " I like doing something physical with my body and its also mentally challenging." Golf may be the one sport that may have won a split decision over Denis. As a teenager, he threw himself into the sport and trimmed his handicap of three. But dreams of a pro career were dashed when he was unable to reproduce that in a tournament setting. He puts it down to youth and inexperience in handling press. Ever the analyst, he notes golf involves "very fine motor skills." "So if you get nervous, just rotating a wrist or anything a degree off course off your normal swing can mean a horrible shot. So nerves really play a huge part. "I guess I just learned to respect professional golfers a lot more because they can handle that." Now he just plays a few times a year for fun. His fight nickname came from one of his coaches in Ottawa. "Fight time Im serious, like a ninja I guess you could say," Denis explained. "But in general Im not a rough guy, Im not a mean guy, Im not going to talk trash. Im just looking to have a good time -- so I guess Im the ninja of love." Cheap Jerseys China . The New York Yankees lefty had his good stuff going on this dreary afternoon. Jerseys From China . Scott Cousins hit a grand slam for his first career home run, Brett Hayes added a three-run shot and the Florida Marlins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-5 on Thursday night to finish off a three-game sweep. http://www.cheapjerseysmall.us.com/[/ur... . According to an online Sports Illustrated report, the Impact are set to name defender Alessandro Nesta as their next head coach. [url=http://www.cheapjerseysmall.us.com/]Cheap Jerseys . The 31-year-old tennis star had been scheduled to play a first-round match Tuesday against Ana Ivanovic. Wholesale Jerseys BERLIN -- A cheeky back heel goal from a mask-wearing Klaas Jan Huntelaar set Schalke on the road to a 3-1 victory over Augsburg on Sunday that nudged it up to fourth place in the Bundesliga. The Dutch striker scored the opening goal -- and his 13th of the season -- in the 16th minute past goalkeeper Mohamed Amsif from close range. He then made certain of the victory, heading the ball on from a corner for Raul Gonzalez to score the third in the 85th minute. Huntelaar was wearing a protective mask after breaking his nose a month ago. Amsif should have saved Christian Fuchs speculative effort from the left wing in the 66th for Schalkes second, after Augsburgs Sascha Moelders had equalized in the 48th with his first goal in 12 games. "Its a thankless job for a goalkeeper but I should have stopped that -- quite clearly," Amsif said. "Were missing the intelligence to make more from fewer chances." Moelders might have equalized in the 77th, but the striker fired wide with only Lars Unnerstall to beat. "I had a great chance. Thats why Im so annoyed," Moelders said. Tobias Werner wasted another chance four minutes later, before Raul put the issue beyond doubt. "We made life difficult for ourselves," Schalke coach Huub Stevens said after his 300th Bundesliga game. Augsburg, which has only scored as many goals as Huntelaar, remains bottom of the table. Earlier, Hamburger SV striker Jose Paulo Guerrero scored in a 2-0 win over Nuremberg to stretch the clubs unbeaten league run to seven games, and continue the revival under new coach Thorsten Fink. Guerrero scored in the 244th minute, when he beat Timmy Simons to a long ball from goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny before lifting his shot over Raphael Schaefer in the Nuremberg goal from a tight angle.dddddddddddd Marcell Jansen sealed the win in the 62nd, when Goekhan Toere combined with Ivo Ilicevic to elude three Nuremberg defenders before playing the Hamburg midfielder through. Jansen had only Schaefer to beat. After two wins in a row, Hamburg climbs three points above the relegation zone to 11th, while Nuremberg drops to 15th, one point above the playoff spot. On Saturday, Bayern Munich took advantage of Borussia Dortmunds 1-1 draw at Borussia Moenchengladbach by beating Werder Bremen 4-1 to reclaim the Bundesliga lead by one point. Nuremberg players complained that Guerrero pulled Simons back before scoring. "Hes not looking at the ball, hes only looking at me," Simons said. "It shouldnt happen. A foul is a foul. Its obvious." Guerrero, who struck the outside of the post from close range in the 11th, disagreed. "Its not a foul," the Peru striker said. Nuremberg striker Thomas Pekhart hit the crossbar with a header in the 38th, before hitting the post with another 20 minutes later. The visitors kept pressing to the end: Alexander Esswein shooting wide in the 68th, Jens Hegeler going close in the 71st, before Drobny pulled off a great save to prevent Gojko Kacar scoring an own goal in injury time. "We displayed a very good away performance but failed again to score," Nuremberg coach Dieter Hecking said. "For all the effort, the effectiveness is simply missing." cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '