"I had to do exactly what I did. That was the game plan to a tee. We didn't have a lot of time to prepare for Rick. My trainer, my brother, and myself kind of looked at it as he does what I do, but I have to do it better because we were confident in the fact that I could do it better...I had the upper hand in that one. It was a win-win for me. He just beat Thiago Alves and, not trying to disrespect myself, but to go from Thiago Alves to Nate Marquardt to Charlie Brenneman, who was fighting on the undercard, had to be hard for him to get up for," stated UFC welterweight Charlie Brenneman as he talked about his impressive victory over Rick Story at UFC on Versus 4 after stepping in as a late replacement on less then 24-hour notice. Check out what else he had to say about his performance, his future plans and much more.

PC: Congratulations on the big win over Rick Story.

CB: Thanks man, I appreciate it.

PC: What was your week like?

CB: We got to Pittsburg on Wednesday. We were feeling good and then we got the call from Joe Silva that my opponent, T.J. Grant, was sick and wasn't making the trip and then we were at the lowest of lows. So for the next few days, we were not emotionally or mentally in a good situation. And then, towards the end of the week, we got wind that I may be fighting. There was a slim chance, so we didn't want to get our hopes up. And then, at the weigh-ins, literally 45 minutes before weigh-ins, we found out I was the guy.

PC: Going through an emotional up and down rollercoaster like that, how did you keep everything together both mentally and physically?

CB: You know, the way that I kind of handle it and look at it, we put in all of the training with sparring, mitts, did all of the drills with Jiu Jitsu and wrestling, etc., so when I go in the Octagon, regardless of if I'm in a fight with my fiancé or if I have other things going on in my personal life, for that 15 minutes, my mind and my body kinda disconnect and my body just goes and does what it knows how to do.

PC: Rick Story was a guy who was quickly moving up the ranks and starting to be mentioned as a guy who could be contending for a title soon. Going into that fight, what did you feel you had to do to walk away with a win?

CB: We felt that I had to do exactly what I did. That was the game plan to a tee. We didn't have a lot of time to prepare for Rick. My trainer, my brother, and myself kind of looked at it as he does what I do, but I have to do it better because we were confident in the fact that I could do it better.

PC: You controlled the fight throughout. Was there anything about Rick that surprised you during the course of the fight?

CB: You know what? Not so much. I watched a lot of his fights before just as a fan. I have always kinda picked my potential opponents apart while watching them, so I kind of had a good read on him and his abilities and fortunately, I was right.

PC: You went from fighting on the undercard to fighting as the co-main event against a guy who was coming off of his biggest win. Where do you go from here? Is there anyone in particular you would like to face next?

CB: At this point, no, I don't have anyone because this all happened so fast. I went from an undercard guy working his way up to all of a sudden beating the 6th ranked guy in the world, so for me, personally, I'm just going to let it sit in and kind of get a feel from Joe Silva what he wants next for me.

PC: He was coming off of the biggest fight of his career 3 weeks prior and I'm sure he was at his emotional highest point for the Alves fight. You were pretty much there as a spectator and was thrust into this fight and tremendous opportunity. Who do you feel was in the tougher spot?

CB: I think I had the upper hand in that one. It was a win-win for me. He just beat Thiago Alves and, not trying to disrespect myself, but to go from Thiago Alves to Nate Marquardt to Charlie Brenneman, who was fighting on the undercard, had to be hard for him to get up for. He was set to fight Marquardt, who had fought for the title at 185 pounds, and then he had to fight me, who half of the world never even heard of.

PC: He had a triangle on you for a good portion of the 3rd round. You looked pretty comfortable. Was that because you never felt like you were in any danger from that position? What was going through your head?

CB: I think it was a couple of things. One is because I never felt like I was in that much danger, so I stayed relaxed. For a couple of seconds, I thought, "Maybe I am in some danger," but to be honest man, I've rolled with some of the best guys there are; whether it be just straight legit Black Belts or just some of the best MMA fighters, I get in a lot of peculiar situations, so the biggest things are to stay calm and that's something that I'm fortunate to be able to do.

PC: After each takedown, did you sense his gas tank running low? Joe Rogan stated that's why he thought the triangle attempt didn't come through for him.

CB: I wouldn't say necessarily I saw him gassing out because I felt from the beginning of the fight if I can impose my will, that it would kind of confuse him and it would prevent him from getting off and doing what he normally does. I think that's what happened more than anything.

PC: Once they started reading the scores, I got a little nervous for you. Did you have those same nerves going?

CB: You know what? A little bit, but I knew that if it didn't go in my favor, it would be a travesty and I would have been somehow rewarded for that performance had it unfortunately gone the other way.

PC: This was a fairy tale type of story for several reasons, but the biggest reason for me is that it took place in your hometown. What did that mean to you to take advantage of this opportunity in Pittsburgh?

CB: It was a fairly tale type of story; you hit the nail on the head. There were 10,000 factors that had to come together to put me in that position and to have it happen in Pittsburgh in front of my family and friends and 2 hours from my home. It was a story book. Dana White said it was a Rocky Balboa moment; it really and truly was. It could not have been any more perfect.

PC: Hats off to you my man. It was a great performance under any circumstances, but especially with all that you overcame leading up to the fight. I wish you the best of luck in your next outing and enjoy every second of press that you get from this. Is there anything you want to say in closing?

CB: I just want to try to rattle off my sponsors here for my last fight: Sheetz, MicroTech, Custom Skin Art Tattoos, No Limits Personal Training, IAVA, In Motion Meals.