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Ricardo Tirloni was in the fourth professional fight of his career when he fought current UFC lightweight champ Ben Henderson, and things were going well.

Until he got tired.

"I managed to knock him down on the first round," Tirloni told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

"I took his back on the second round and rode him for three and a half minutes.

But I couldn't sub him."

Instead, Tirloni got tired wrestling with his lanky opponent, and that left him vulnerable to a mistake.

"Later on I tried to take him down, he caught me in a guillotine and submitted me," Tirloni said.

"I felt I was winning the second round, but in the end I lost."

Winning until losing.

It's a common thought process for fighters who see their fortunes change in the blink of an eye.

It eases the ego after spending so much time preparing for something, and it gives you some encouragement for the next time out.

For Tirloni, though, it's about more than that.

He was beating the UFC champion, and that champion was the only person to hand him a loss in seven years and 15 fights.

This is a case where he can take pride in defeat.

"It makes me feel good," he said.

"At least the one person I lost to is the world champion."

And, of course, things have changed since then.

Tirloni revamped his training after the Henderson fight, and he hasn't been beaten since.

"Back then I didn't train with a professional team," he said.

"I didn't do physical preparation.

I had only three fights under my belt.

"I joined Ataque Duplo with (UFC lightweight) Thiago Tavares.

Now I'm training more, training better in all areas, especially physical conditioning, which contributed to my one defeat, since I did get tired during that fight."

Tonight, Tirloni (14-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC) will need his strength.

He's fighting Bellator tournament veteran Rick Hawn (11-1 MMA, 3-1 BFC), who makes his debut as a lightweight after falling short in the promotion's season-four welterweight tournament.

The two meet at Bellator 62, which takes place at Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas, and airs live on MTV2.

(Preliminary-card fights stream live on Spike.com.)

"I think he's a great striker with heavy hands," Tirloni said.

"But this will be his debut at lightweight.

He's never done it before.

"He likes to take people down and use ground-and-pound.

But I believe in my jiu-jitsu and that I have ways to beating him, whether standing or on the ground.

This was the time when I've trained the most for a fight.I'm very ready.

This will be the fight of my life."

After a win in his Bellator debut this past October, Tirloni's friends and family in Brazil will now be able to watch him fight Hawn live now that Bellator has a TV deal with Esporte Interativo.

And he hopes he never has to tell them he was winning until he got tired.

"Despite the difficulties in the sport, I wish to make my dear ones proud of me, and also I wish to make my proud my city, my state, my family," he said.

"I want them to know there's someone representing them in the cage."

For more on Bellator 62, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.