Andre Winner talks about TUF Finale loss
Coming off a disappointing unanimous decision loss at The Ultimate Fighter Finale Andre Winner was left scratching his head. The fight could have gone either way but ultimately the judges gave the fight to Ross Pearson. ATO recently caught up with Winner and got his thoughts on the fight.
I saw you doing interviews together while the show was airing was it difficult to hang out with Ross knowing you had to fight him?
It was not a problem to hang out with Ross even though we had to fight each other soon. It was a little strange because you cant be as open about your fight as you would be normally.we have hit each other many times before, this time it would just be for something more important.
How did you train fight since you normally train together?
Usually I train with Ross twice a week at squad sessions, Ross decided to stay closer to home to train so he didn’t come down to those sessions, my routine did not change for this fight.
It seems you controlled most of the first round. Ross seemed to come at you and pressed the pace after the accidental kick to the groin but you finished the round with a flurry of punches. What are your thoughts on the first round?
In the first round I expected us to come both try and take the center of the cage. I thought Ross would be more aggressive and come forward but he was waiting for me and I was waiting for him. We were both waiting to counter punch. When we were in the clinch I felt ok but not as good as I normally do. I didn’t feel strong, lacked power and found it hard to let my strikes go. The knee to groin was completely accidental and the flurry at the end was what I should have been doing for that round. That being said I was confident I won that round.
It seems in the second you had him pressed against the cage for most of the rounds and hurting him with dirty boxing. Ross had spurt with a minute to go and had you pressed against the cage but you caught him with another flurry as time expired in the round What are your thoughts on the second round?
I think I controlled where the fight went in this round and the fight. He had a couple of moments where he tried to put it on me and caught me with a couple of punches but I was never hurt by them. Tthere was one point in the round when I dropped my hands and he came at me, I slipped the first punch but he caught me with the second and I laughed. It was to say that the punch doesn’t affect me and I was maybe a little embarrassed that I was being cocky and got caught. I thought the work done in the clinch was fairly even but for the most part I had Ross backed up on the cage and even though he tried for takedowns they were not really threatening. Again I finished with a little flurry. Obviously I think I did enough to just take that round but it was close and could have gone either way. It was too close to complain.
Ross came out aggressive in the third and did a good job of keeping you against the cage. You eventually took control and had him against the cage halfway through the round. You ended the fight exchanging punches neither of you really hurt. What were your thoughts on the round?
I think I started the third ok. It was back and forth but Ross landed the cleaner of the punches. Right on 13 seconds to go Ross caught me with a knee that winded me and he finished the round strong. I was surprised that I got cut because I have only ever been cut once before and I’ve been hit plenty of times. I knew that I lost the round and I had a bad feeling that I lost the fight and that’s why I sat down. Plus, my muscles were extremely tired. It was the wrong thing to do because to the judges it may have looked like i was hurt.
What did you think when you heard his name announced?
I was not surprised when they gave the fight to Ross. In my head I though that was what they were going to do. I thought I won the the first, the second could have gone either way but I felt I did enough to win and the third Ross won. In my head all I could think about was I’ve just lost a fight that I know I could have won. I’ve lost a lot of money and I felt bad for all the people that spent money to come out and watch me. Also the people that put a lot of time and effort in me.
The second round is what must have won the fight for Ross, I think maybe the fact that Ross landed a couple cleaner punches or tried for takedowns is what swayed it for the judges. Like I said it was that close of a round. I can’t complain. It all depends on what you are looking for. I’ve had a lot of people saying that they thought it was a good fight and that they thought I won. I don’t feel like I preformed well or it was a great fight. It was ok but not great. As far as winning the fight, I’ve watched it back and its really close. I think we could both argue that we won. I think a fair result would be a draw because there wasn’t much in it but there had to be a winner.
When do you want to fight again?
I would like to fight within the next 3 months. I need to stay active. I preform better, also i was disappointing with the fight and my overall perfomance so i would like to get back in there and give the fans something to really cheer about. I want to shoe the people who invested money,time and love in me that it was not a waste.
Do you want another shot at Ross?
Obviously I would love to be able to put a win on my record over Ross having lost but I don’t think it would happen. I mean the only reason we fought each other was because we were in TUF and both ended up in the final. We are team mates so I will just have to try and even it up in the gym! The only way I could see myself fighting Ross again is if it is for something life changing, like a huge pay check or for the belt and we would both have to be happy with that.
Have you spoken to Dana White or Joe Silva about the fight and where you stand?
I have not spoken to Dana or Joe Silva personally. I know that my management team have been in contact with Mr. Silva and he said that I would get another shot in the UFC, so I will just have to wait and see.
I think what beat me in the fight was my cardio and muscular endurance. What most people don’t know is that I had food poisoning on the Wednesday before the fight. I had vomiting and diarrhea. I lost too much weight and in the days leading up to the fight I did not recover enough. On Wednesday I couldn’t eat or drink much as I would throw it back up. On Thursday when I could eventually eat my stomach had shrank where I could not eat a lot plus I didn’t want to put on too much weight because I had to weigh in the next day and after the weigh in I had one meal and I was that full I felt sick. In the fight my muscles were too drained, they got tired quickly. I didn’t feel strong and it was a real struggle for me to put any power in my strikes.
On one side of things I feel grateful that I was able to actually fight and make it as close a fight as it was because on Wednesday I could just about get out of bed and I thought that I would have to pull out of the fight. On the other side its disappointing to know how close I was to winning the fight and all the rewards that came with it. All that being said I am happy for Ross. He’s a good guy, a tough fighter and has worked hard.
I would just like to thank Nathan, Paul and all the guys from Leicester Shootfighters, Ollie Richardson at Leicester Tigers, Emerson George and all the lads at Chris Pyatt’s boxing club and all the team at Roughouse, Jimmy, Dan, Daley, Dean, Livo, Big T, Nick, Mac, Titch and my bro Mike.
