The start to Daniel Spitz's UFC career was far from the way that he planned it in his head.

In the midst of preparing to face a grappler for the promotion King of the Cage, he was abruptly switched to fighting British kickboxer Mark Godbeer on the biggest stage of them all. A hard-fought decision loss at UFC 209 in March was the first of his career, but Spitz knows that wasn't the best version of himself.

"I'm be lying if I said I was 100 percent prepared," he recently told FloCombat's Top Turtle MMA Podcast.

And while some of that was due to the shift in opponents, it was also due to a problem that plagues many heavyweights. The division is notably thin in numbers on the roster, but that also bodes true for training partners.

"I really didn't have many heavyweights to train with before my last fight, so when I got put in the clinch, it took a lot out of me," Spitz said.

That's changed in the fight camp for his Sept. 16 bout at UFC Fight Night: Pittsburgh against Anthony Hamilton. Spitz got the opportunity through some mutual friends to train at the storied Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas. While there, he worked with veterans who he says brought his game to a new heavyweight level.  

"Roy Nelson [has] been a huge help for me," Spitz said. "He's fought everyone; the guy is a veteran. Getting to roll with him for even half an hour improves your game leaps and bounds. You learn a lot of those heavyweight niches that you didn't know just grappling little guys."

As if getting to train with a 13-year veteran of the sport wasn't enough, there were even more advantages to heading to Vegas. An admitted "fight nerd" who hasn't missed a UFC pay-per-view since he started watching at UFC 34, Spitz got a chance to meet his favorite fighter of all time.

"Randy Couture was my favorite fighter up until he retired… I developed some friends from Miesha Tate and other fighters at Xtreme Couture," Spitz said. "So through them I was able to meet him. I fanboyed out a little bit."

Although some might be ashamed of getting all excited about meeting their favorite fighter, Spitz wears his fanhood as a point of pride. His philosophy: if you aren't thinking about the sport all the time, maybe MMA isn't for you.

"If I'm not doing [MMA], I'm thinking about it or watching it," he said. "This isn't really a sport where you can dabble here and there."

It's that along with his new training partners that have him feeling confident that he's going to knock out Hamilton in Pittsburgh.

"100 percent [positive]," Spitz said. "No offense to Anthony Hamilton, but his chin has started to go just from his last fight. He barely got clipped by a middleweight and that put him on skates."