When Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter began, Chris Camozzi arrived at the UFC Training Center ready to go to work.

And while a fractured jaw forced the Colorado native to withdraw from the competition before the preliminary fights, Camozzi knew that the hard work was just beginning.

"Once I left the show," Camozzi said, "I spoke to my management team with Magnetic Marketing Associates, and they just told me to stay on all the social networking as much as I can, and use my couple of minutes of
being on the show to run with it. My manager told me, once I'm gone, a
lot of people forget right away, so we need to make them remember me
immediately."

Camozzi stayed involved wherever possible to try to make that happen. He blogged about early episodes of the show for MMAJunkie.com before handing recapping duties over to his Team Ortiz replacement, Seth Baczynski, continued
to comment on the show on his own site, CamozziMMA.com, and built up
his following there and on Twitter (@ChrisCamozzi) using a giveaway of
Team Ortiz gear he'd picked up while in the house.

Most importantly, Camozzi avoided dwelling on the negative, and remained upbeat as he rested his jaw and eventually returned to training.

"I accepted the fact that I had to leave," Camozzi said, "and that it was out of my control for the most part. I mean, next time I'll learn to move my head a little better, keep my hands up, and then maybe I
won't be in that situation."

Of course, while Camozzi may have made mistakes in his elimination fight against Victor O'Donnell - leading to the fractured jaw that sent him home - the fact remains that
the three-round war had a major role in Camozzi's ability to make an
impression on Dana White and UFC officials despite his early exit.

"It was a pretty exciting fight to watch," Camozzi said. "Both of us went all out. We matched up well. He fights the same way I do. He's just as tough, fighting with a broken orbital."

Still, if there were any plans to bring Camozzi back at the time, the UFC President was certainly vague about it.

Said Camozzi, "Dana told me when he came in the back - when he told me I had to leave - he was just like, 'Keep your head up. You're tough, you'll be back.' So I was really counting on that, and my manager told
me that there was a possibility I could get a spot on the finale as long
as I could keep the buzz about myself and make people want to see me
fight again."

So, Camozzi got to work, not knowing whether it would pay off until about five weeks ago, when Camozzi got the call to fight James Hammortree. Even then, Camozzi had to keep his joy and relief largely to himself.

"He started with a lecture about how tight-lipped they were keeping it before he told me anything," Camozzi said of the call from his manager. "He was just like, 'You can't tell anybody. Don't even tell
your family or anything like that, just your coaches and whoever needs
to know.' It's pretty hard not to tell people."

Now, though, the cat's out of the bag, and Camozzi can devote all his attention to former teammate Hammortree.

"I think it's going to be a real tough fight," Camozzi said. "We both like to stand there and go hard at each other. I know he's a decent wrestler, too. He's a real strong guy, he'll charge in for the takedown
and stuff. I think I've got more tools to work with all around."

Camozzi got the news that he was fighting Hammortree just in time to see his quarterfinal fight against Court McGee, giving him an extra opportunity to scout his foe. Still, Camozzi's not expecting
the exact same fighter who tapped out to a standing guillotine in the
second round.

"You can't ever watch a tape and expect the same fighter," Camozzi said. "Everbody grows, and they go home and work on what they need to work on."

For Camozzi, one of the most important parts of preparing was shedding any fear associated with his jaw injury, an injury that required him to avoid chewing anything for two months.

"When I started training again," Camozzi said, "I was a little hesitant, and then I fogot that as I got hit. I just wanted to make sure it was completely healed up and it is, and it's not even a factor in my
head anymore.

"I've been hit plenty of times in this training camp, and nothing's happened. The doctor told me the bone would actually calcify stronger than it was before."

Now, like his jaw, the time has come for Chris Camozzi to come back strong.