Ultimate Fighter episode 8
After last weeks display of the worst possible way to fight, my loss kept team Mir in control of the picks. I remember thinking to myself during the fight, "just attack" and every time I see that match it gets uglier and uglier. It sucks to lose but to lose knowing that I could have done better eats me up. The worst part I think might be seeing the faces this week of my team mates and seeing their disappointment.
I have to say I have been looking forward to this week's episode for a long time. I've wanted to tell people about the pranks that were shown this week. The situation with Tom's fruit platter was hilarious. Fortunately, Tom and I hit off early on in the season and became good friends. Even though there were a lot of people eating other people's food, Tom was my friend, so I chose not to eat his food because I felt bad. Now don't get me wrong there were some things you could eat. For example, we had a lot of meat in the freezers so when there was an abundance of one thing it wasn't a big deal if we ate it. But a fruit platter is big and takes up a lot of room and everyday of every week one would show up and the red team would usually eat it. Now in defense of the red team, at the beginning, Tom's name was not on the platter. No one really complained about it so we didn't think anything of it. As the weeks went by, Tom started requesting his name on the fruit platter this is when I stopped eating it but everyone else didn't. Soon enough it became an inside red team joke to eat Tom's fruit platter and laugh about it. You have to understand a fruit platter is the most appetizing thing after coming back from a hard practice. It's like putting crack in front of a drug head; they're going to eat it no matter what the consequence is. What pushed things way over the edge is when Tom came home and found the empty fruit tray on his bed. This was just a slap in his face after he politely asked for people to quit eating his shit. Personally, I think if he would have asked in his Rick Flair voice people would have listened.
Since no one listened, Tom decided it was time to get the red team back. The best solution he came up with, which I must admit was pretty damn good, was to piss in his own fruit tray. This is very clever because if you ate his fruit tray then you are the one in the wrong. If the man wants to piss in HIS fruit or shit in HIS Cheerios then he has every right to do so. It was fun to watch the episode because I had just heard about it, to actually see Ryan and Phillipe eat the fruit while making fun of Tom made it so much better.
What most people don't know is that Phillipe actually got REALLY pissed off. For two days he talked about how we needed to get Tom back. He said that eating piss was taking it way too far, but we explained to him that there is nothing he could do because he did it to himself.
Next prank…. Cum in the sushi. Now this one is way out of the timeline, this happened right around the last week we were in the house. Truth be told, certain members of Team Mir ratted out that Dave Kaplan kept eating Phillipe's sushi. Now we aren't sure if this was directed at Phillipe or it just so happened to always be his sushi but according to the blue team Dave was to blame. Tom's explanation of why he could pee in his fruit reassured us that we had the right to do what we wanted to our food also. You can't piss in sushi and you can't rub it in shit without it being noticeable. What you can do, however, is cum on it. I'm not really sure on who thought of it but I'm thinking it was Kingsbury so I'll give him credit for it. So, we all got together that morning and carefully opened up the sushi so that it appeared that it hadn't been tampered with. After Kyle was finished making magic, they took each piece and rubbed it in the cum to make sure everyone was covered. Here's the worst part, Phillipe's sushi hadn't been stolen in a while so it took Dave about 5 days to finally decided to open it up. So, Dave took it upon himself to eat the sushi since it had been there a good while and right away everyone's eyes lit up. Even though Dave was one of the people who gave the fruit platter explanation, that reasoning seemed to go out the window when the tables were turned. Let's just say he was pissed and ready to get revenge! He started to swear that by the end of the show he would get everyone back who was involved. We all started to shit our pants, I was thinking about packing all my cloths in the body bag I had and carry it to the gym all the time. This was no joke. Kyle and I took turns watching the room, he would sleep I would cook and vice versa. It was funny we even did workouts in the room it was like we kids again playing war. What happened ? Guess you will have to wait and see.
I mentioned before that there was tension between the light heavy weights on Team Mir's side and Vinny was beginning to leak information. As you can see now, there are also problems with the light weights. Junie was pissed off, complaining that no one wants to train so how was he supposed get ready for his next fight. So in return, not only do we have the light heavy weights falling apart but now we have the light weights falling apart too. Now, Vinny and Junie are our singing bees to what's going on on the other side.
It's kind of ironic how all last week when I did interviews or spoke to other fighters they all wanted to know how hard was our training. Last week's episode showed us having a relaxed practice and Team Mir having their grueling snorkel conditioning workout. It's funny how after just seeing one episode every one assumes that our practice was so easy and their's were so hard. A couple of people have asked me, "Do you think that's why ya'll have lost the last few matches?" My response to this is that the relaxed practice you saw us have was only twice out of the whole 6 weeks we were there. Truth be told, as time went by, a few people from the blue team complained that their practices weren't intense. On this episode I could actually see that what we were being told was true. This was seen when Junie got pissed when no one wanted to practice with him.
Fight time Dave picked Phillipe to fight, to be honest I was nervous when I watched the episode. I didn't know that Dave was that good not that I thought he was bad I just didn't know much about him. I thought it was a good match up myself Phillipe had a great open fight and practices hard. Of course Junnie weeded out any fears we had by telling us all of Dave's weaknesses since he hates Dave so much. Its funny how the blue team all made fun of the red team eating together but they are falling apart and now hanging around with us more.
As for the fight Dave started with a good combo and followed it with a great leg kick. Phillipe returned with straight punches down the middle that caught Dave and brought him to his knees. There was a scramble at first but Phillipe begin to rain blows down on Dave again. This caused Dave to give up his back allowing Phillipe to sink in a rear naked choke.
Now shit really begins to get wild in the house now stayed tuned for next week to see what I thought they would never show on TV !!!!!!!!!!!
Episode 7
Well America it looks like in week seven Junie as finally calmed down after his win against Roli. But even though Junie has won, that's not good enough for Frank Mir. As you saw, Frank told him that "He expected more from him" and Junie agreed that his performance was not good. Junie finally realized that he needed to start taking care of himself and stop acting like an idiot. I think that fight allowed him to release some of his anger which enabled him to stop acting up and losing control
Frank decided to make sure that wouldn't happen again by bringing in Wanderlei Silva's conditioning guru, Rafael Alejarra, who puts them through hard cardio training with snorkels and ice baths.
We all new that Nogueira confronted Vinny about his trash talk but we had no idea that their argument was that intensive. I think the best thing about watching that was how Vinny said there are cameras running all the time and when you watch this you will see that I didn't say anything. But then right before the argument they show Vinny saying everything. The camera doesn't lie!! Vinny runs his mouth a little bit, but hey then again he has won multiple Jiu Jitsu titles. But to go as for as calling Nogueria's ground game basic, Come on now !!!!!
Now there are only 4 heavy weights left to fight. A lot of people have asked me if we had control who would we have picked. I wanted to fight Vinny because I figured I'd have a better stand up match up against him. While, Nogueira felt that Kyle was a better match up because of his reach and stand up. Since we didn't have control we didn't know what was going to happen or…… did we????
Team Mir did a good job of throwing hints around trying to convince us that Kyle would be next up to fight against Krzysztof. What they didn't know was that Vinny had been leaking information to us the whole time. For the past few weeks, Eliot and Krzysztof had been teaming up and isolating themselves from Tom and Vinny at practice. This was really beginning to piss off Tom and Vinny. As I mentioned in my last blog, Vinny was getting mad because he kept hearing Krzysztof and Eliot talk about how they would be in the finals together. This caused Vinny to retaliate and give Team Nogueira inside information. He warned us that Krzysztof's hand may have been broken so he probably wouldn't fight this week. This caused us to speculate that it would be me and Vinny.
Now how about my tombstone!!! I must say that was great! I wish I would of thought of that! Just to clue everyone in, that prank didn't happen right before my fight. It actually happened much earlier when we first got into the house. I still think that it was the best prank of the whole show! The stuff actually came in handy. We later used the tombstone as target practice with the bow and arrow that Phillipe made. We also used the candles for our salt baths at night to relax.
As for as the fight between me and Vinny, what a disappointment on my end. My goal was to take it to him standing up, but the distance seemed to get the best of me. I make no excuses for my actions; I lost fair and square. I was truly convinced I would take it to the second round and finish him standing up. I mentally beat myself more than anything I just didn't know it. When Vinny hit me with the inside leg kick he hit me with his foot. Vinny doesn't kick with his shins which gives him an extra foot in reach. That totally threw me off! I was used to a guy who comes out straight at you so when he threw the kick I felt way out of range. I didn't freeze I just felt that if I threw a punch after the kick like you are supposed to then I would over reach and would be leaning forward in range for him to punch me. Once the gap was closed and I caught his knee I froze for 1 second and thought to myself "I'm not supposed to go to the ground with him." Naturally, in that case I would sweep the back leg slide him down the cage pin him and pound away. Just when I thought of what not to do he thought of what to do and jumped for a flying arm bar. He took high mount on me the worst position I could be in. I actually felt safe for a second but knew I must get out of there. I never expected him to lean towards the cage I didn't think there was enough room for him to try to arm bar me, WELL I WAS WRONG!!
People keep asking me if you could change anything what would it be? I would have been a lot more aggressive. I truly think I could have stopped him standing, by stepping in so he couldn't throw his long kicks and sticking him with my jab setting him up for the straight and hook.
If there is anything I learned from this it is that you must always be prepared, even though I offer no excuses I will never enter a show unprepared again. I will keep this feeling of humiliation and disgust with me and carry it close to my heart that way I will never forget this feeling. This will allow me to continue to work hard and give it my all next time I am in the cage.
To all who have been watching me and supporting me, I know it is great just to make it to the show. Considering all the obstacles I faced to get there and while I was there, somewhere deep down inside me I am proud of myself. But I am not content! I will not give up! I will continue fighting and making the push to stay in the UFC.
Thank you to my family and all my friends in Louisiana and all other states that have supported me in this journey. This will not be the last you see of me. Thank you and God Bless.
Episode 5 Jules Bruchez
Sorry this is so late but here it is!
In this episode, Junie once again tests the waters of getting kicked out. The show starts off when Effrin submits Shane Nelson with a triangle. As Effrin's hand is being raised, Junie begins to run his mouth. Effrin responds by simply smiling and saying we'll see, but Junie's anger once again takes over. His rage overwhelms him and causes him to jump over the octagon. Team Nogueira grabs Junie first to hold him back and then Frank Mir's team eventually calms him down.
Now everyone was sure that Junie would finally be removed from the house! As for luck, it seems like Junie once again slips through the cracks of getting kicked off the show. To make the situation even more surprising we found out that the head of the State Athletic Commission wasn't present at the fight which is pretty awkward because he usually attends every fight. Due to him not being present, this saved Junie not only from getting kicked off the show but also from being suspended from fighting in Nevada.
Pranks….. Pranks…..Pranks!!!! You see a lot going on in the house but you don't see it ALL!!! Truth of the matter is at this point, Team Mir has pranked Team Nogueira without any retaliation. Once the itching powder was poured into our beds, it was war. First, we let everything slide but they just kept pulling one prank after another and we new it was time to come back with something that would make a real good impression. In our room that night we went over several different options. Kyle suggested leaving broken glass outside their door, I wanted to spray their beds with vinegar, we even thought about filling their beds with shaving cream. The next day on the way to practice I suggested using tuna fish in some sort of way to get them back. Tuna reeks and won't go away easily. When we returned from practice, I can't exactly remember who but a few of the guys found cans of sardines and headed straight to Krzysztof's room. We spread it all over their beds and walls; we even put some in Krzysztof's sauna suit. We proceeded to hit all of their rooms after that. Some of the stuff you didn't see was how we put it in the blinds and shoved it in the carpet. I even put some in their shower head. After a while we began to think, "Holy shit maybe we went too far!" But by that time the damage was done so screw it and maybe now they'll learn to quit messing with us.
Coaches came over for dinner the next night and tried to calm the whole situation down. We really didn't mind the pranks but we could clearly see the point that our coaches were trying to make about getting off track and remembering why we are here. After a couple days, we came to some rules and all agreed on how to prank each other without over doing and not affecting anyone who has a fight coming up.
If you noticed after that fight between Eliot and Shane you'll see Eliot and Krzysztof talking about how they are going to be in the finals. We eventually found out that this is something they had been doing in front of Vinny. You can see Vinny's response when he says I can probably beat both of them in the same night. This was the first indication of their team internally falling apart. I can understand pairing up with someone and talking about making it all the way to the end with that person but doing it in front of your other team mates who are still in the competition may not be the best idea. This is just the beginning of what's to come amongst this group.
Make sure you tune in next week as you see Junie, once again run his mouth, even more this time as he prepares for his fight against Roli. When the fight selection happens watch closely to what Junie does that sends Anderson Silva so pissed that he has to leave the building. Speaking of Anderson, training with him was more than a dream come true. A lot of times people become friends and say, "Oh no one can beat this guy" but all bull shit aside, after training with this guy when I tell you this guy is the real deal, I just don't see anyone in the near future beating him.
Jules Bruchez Episode 4 Blog
OK, America, here is another episode of the Ultimate Junie Browning TV Show. At least, that's what it's starting to turn into. This week, they allowed us to watch the Pay Per View inside the house and naturally, things got out of hand again.
Everyone was having a couple of drinks after our first week in the house and enjoying ourselves when Junie began to run his mouth, as usual. Most of the time, we really don't mind because Junie is just doing it to get air time and he is joking around, but every time alcohol is involved, Junie's personality switches over to his dark side. Junie was having fun talking trash to everyone and throwing cashews everywhere. But, when it was returned back to him, he couldnt' handle it. Kyle Kingsbury started playing back and throwing cashews back at Junie. This upset Junie and he retaliated by throwing a glass of wine in Kyle's face. Kyle got pissed and threw the whole container of cashews at Junie. I screamed in a desperate rage, "Save the cashews! Throw a pool ball!", but it was too late. And just like in the movies, you could see that one drip of sweat trickle down the side of Junie's face at he became enraged. His pupil's dilated larger than a silver dollar. Like a heat seaking missile, Junie launched the wine glass at Kingsbury, cutting his arm open. It was so deep, we could almost see the bone. OK, maybe not that deep, but it bled. And according to Dutch from 'Predator', if it bleeds, we can kill it. We quickly stepped in to stop the situation before it got out of hand.
During this time, Shane Nelson was also having one too many drinks. Between him and Junie, they began to feed off of each other. Shane began to run his mouth and also got in Roli's face and pushed him out of his chair, egging him on to fight him. When Roli calmly backed down and walked away, Shane turned towards Efrain and began to call him out instead. What you didn't see on TV was that this went on for quite some time. It was more than just one push and little bit of trash talking from Shane. Twice, Shane's team mates had to hold him back before things got really bad. Just when we thought everything had calmed down, Shane and Junie decide to start breaking stuff downstairs and throwing furniture into the pool.
As you could see on TV, Junie's clothes were thrown into the pool. What you didn't see, is that I was the mastermind prick suggesting to Krzysztof to throw Junie's clothes into the pool to really set him off. I never expected it to get to the magnitude that it reached, but it was all in fun and games, even though Junie was in Krzysztof's face egging him on to throw a punch. Once the situation calmed down, Ryan Bader threw Junie's clothes back into the pool. I, myself, didn't have anything to do with that, but I was anxious to see if we would have a good fight. I'm not a fan of being a bully, but watching a bigger guy beat up a smaller guy is still fun, I don't care what you say. Ryan tried to push Junie into the pool and Junie tried to drag Ryan in to drown him. We all pulled Ryan out and also, out came Junie in his American Psycho rage. He was doing everything he could to get to Ryan. In the process, he kicked Tom Lawlor down and swang over someone's shoulder and punched me straight in the face. Surprisingly, after that, the situation actually calmed down. I was able to talk to Junie and make him realize what he had done and what his consequences would be if he didn't stop. After that, I walked him back into the house and that's when Krzysztof and the other's started antagonizing and picking on him again. That's when the shit storm blew up and we went through the whole cycle all over once more.
To be honest, at this point, I really felt bad for Junie. We can all tell he has problems and anger issues and we thought he was already kicked out the house, but they kept antagonizing him. The other stuff they didnt show was me calming Junie down again in his room later that night which lasted almost an half hour. Everyone keeps asking me, "Why didn't y'all just hit Junie?" but you have to understand, the rules are that you can't touch anyone or else you're out the house. One thing that did piss us off was when Dana White did come into the house, he asked us the same thing, "Why didn't you hit that little fucker?" He told us he wouldn't have kicked us out, that he would have understood. So, as you can see, he gave Junie a second chance, which was a freakin' miracle compared to what he pulled off and Shane has to fight Efrain even though we had the fight pick advantage.
The fight was Efrain Escudero vs. Shane Nelson. At the fight, the tension and expectations were high. Efrain is a phenominal wrestler and Shane is an outstanding BJJ fighter out of BJ Penn's camp. We were all excited to see what would happen when the fight would go to the ground. The first round was pretty even. I remember while I was there that we had won the first round, but after watching on TV, I think I give the first round to Shane. The second round, Shane Nelson's cardio proved to be his fatal downfall. As he began to get tired, he began to slip up and Efrain caught him in a good triangle, reversed it, and mounted Shane and began to throw punches. At that point, the choke sank in deeper and Shane had to tap out. This is one of those fights I wish I could have seen when each person had 3 months to train for each other, but I will definitely take the win which leaves Team Nogueira up 2-0 over Team Mir.
Tune in next week because the pranks in the house are about to get good and to see who is next up for the Light Heavyweight fight.
TUF 08 - Episode 3
Ok America here it is, week 3 of the Ultimate Fighter. As you can see there is already a lot going on in the house on our first night. So let's get started…
The episode was supposed to begin with team selections but before we could do that there were a few injuries that needed to be addressed. Brian McLaughlin and Karn Grigoryan were both injured. The only thing I have to say about this is that that's the rules and it sucks! Both are great fighters, but the one thing that I can't understand is what Karn did. If I remember correctly, the doctor checked him out after the fight and Okayed him. Karn was the one who insisted that his nose needed to be checked out; this is the one thing a fighter should not do! Everyone knew that if you had an injury that was too severe then it meant it was time to go home. He had it made, he was in the house. What you didn't see is that both of them stayed the first night in the house, but Karn brought it on to himself by having a doctor check him out and confirm his fractured nose. So basically what I'm trying to say is that all he would have had to do is just shut his mouth and he would have stayed in.
Team Selections
As everyone can see the team selections are now final. To be honest, going into the house I was looking forward and wanting to be on Frank Mir's team. Everyone at my gym all had the same idea that there may be a language barrier with Nogueira since he is from Brazil. Seeing that Frank Mir is such a good commentator and a great ground fighter, we figured that Frank would be a better fit. When I was put into Nogueira's corner for the preliminary fights to get into the house, to my surprise, I felt very comfortable with my corner men. Every move I anticipated, my corner called out to me. I felt very much at ease knowing that we were on the same page. After the fight, my mind had a different outlook and I now was hoping to be on Nogueira's team. Don't get me wrong, I came here to learn as much as possible and would be satisfied no matter what team I was picked to be on. Both coaches have been fighting for a long time and are at the top of their division. They both have a tremendous amount of knowledge and insight to pass on. So when the day to pick teams came, I was pretty much at ease because I felt that I was going to get good training either way; this would not be a wasted opportunity.
After being picked by Nogueira, I realized that God had placed me there for a reason. Everyone seemed to be on the same page. We were all there for ourselves, but let's be honest, without each other we can't get ready for the fights to come. We all knew we had to unite and become a team. This is an individual competition, but you need your team in order to win it. As everyone could see by our "family" meals, we immediately bonded and united. Junie thought we were a bunch of fags because we all ate together as a team, but in actuality it's just words of jealousy. We all believed that our unity was our biggest strength, just like their individualism was their biggest weakness.
What about the prank that was pulled by Krzysztof?? At the time, we did not know who did it; we just assumed that the whole blue team was involved. We weren't really upset, in fact, it was pretty funny. The only thing is that it was just the second day so we had all decided not to retaliate and just sit back and see what happens. If it continued, we will get them back where it really hurts.
As ya'll all could see there was quite a bit of drinking in the house. Junie took it upon himself to go overboard and make a name for himself by being the poor everyone feels sorry for me, the drunk kid that has nothing. The fact of the matter is all the shit talking and name calling that comes out of his mouth is nothing but a big front. Junie is a good guy and likes to have fun like all of us. But when he began to drink, he turned his jokes into a reality. I would say that after crying on the pavement, you would think that Junie learned his lesson. But after seeing next week's commercial you can see that there is a lot more to come!! You will have to wait till next week for that!
Tom Lawlor vs. Ryan Bader
To be honest, at times this match up seemed to be a toss up. Both are very very good wrestlers and both have a good stand up game. You would think that you wouldn't want to put these two together because it would be too close up of a match. If Ryan's strong point was wrestling, it was better to put him up against another wrestler instead of a good jiu-jitsu of which Team Mir has two black belts. We all believed in our coach's decision and felt that it was a good match up. There was a bit of sense that Tom was the underdog which he mentioned in one of the confessionals. This is only because we had the pick and when you pick first, you usually pick the weaker link so you can win and keep control of the game. That definitely was not the case, Tom is a very solid fighter and we just felt that his wrestling was just a tad bit lower than Ryan's.
The fight began well, they traded punches and Ryan tried to take Tom down. Tom defended it beautifully, broke off to the side, threw a few more punches and separated himself. (Textbook in my opinion) Eventually, Tom stretched a little too far and over threw his right hand, that's when Ryan took him down with a double leg. There were some exchanges on the ground, and then Ryan posted up and stood up on his feet. When Ryan began to stand up, Tom did exactly what you are supposed to do and guarded him with his feet. The only thing Tom did wrong was that he pushed Ryan away instead of kicking him away. This caused Ryan to be able to stand straight up and still be in striking range, that's when Ryan threw Tom's leg over to the side and hit him with a powerful punch to the face, knocking Tom out. Up to that point, it was a very even match and it would be interesting if it would have gone to the second round.
So now that Ryan has won, Team Nogueira holds power for the next fight selection. Tune in next week to see what all the actions about!
TUF 08 - Episode 2
The scene looked like a fighter’s dream; everywhere you looked you could see trademark black and white UFC fight gloves on the ground. There were wet towels, water bottles and hand wraps draped over everything; you could see the look of exhaust in everyone’s eyes. The canvas looked similar to a military medical bed. Every inch was filled with blood, sweat and tears. Fighters were lying around wrapped in ice and bandages as they excitedly waited for their next command. They were like a bunch of soldiers just waiting for their next mission.
So you want to be a UFC fighter? Well, if you don’t mind having your dream crushed in just a few minutes, a broken nose, hyper-extended joints, broken limbs and cuts that run deep like the Grand Canyon, then come on in because that’s just the beginning of this show.
People don’t see how long it takes; these fights that you watched over a two week span actually all took place all in one day. As time goes by, you still don’t know what’s going on because you see who is too hurt to continue and you begin to wonder whose coming back to take their place.
Understand this, what you saw on TV does not show the true ability that most of these fighters have; this includes the ones who won and lost their match. There are some bad ass dudes out here! If you are one of those people who sit back and say, “That guy is not good, I can’t believe he is on the show!” Find one of those guys, go to their gym and fight them. Go show them how tough you are! I promise you will change your mind. You go through an interview process for months and then go into a place where no one tells you anything. Then, you have to fight in front of Dana White and deal with the fact that this is the most important fight of your career and let me know how you do.
Now, it’s all said and done! All the fights are over, the names are set in stone, but instead of going over each and every fight I will go over the ones that stood out to me.
Roli Delgado faced off against Geroge Roop this was a battle I wanted to see. George is a good ground fighter but aggressive on his stand up. He can fool you to think he is a stand up fighter but go to the ground with him and you will be in a world of trouble. Don’t rule out Roli! He is a very sound black belt that can take a beating and keep it coming, there were a few close calls on the ground for Roop as Roli caught him in a few submissions but he was able to escape. In the end, it was Roop who pulled it off. Too bad for Roli, I wish they would had both made it, it would be nice to see them fight again.
The other fight that stood out was jiu-jitsu black belt Eliot Marshall and unbeaten Karn Grigoryan; this was a great fight. There was a lot of hype over who won the first round and it was pretty much understood that Eliot won the second. But the feel for the match was that Eliot was more technical over all and kept the pressure in the second round, so he pretty much sealed it up. Everyone was shocked when Karn’s hand was raised as the winner. Even Dana White had called it his way; which is why it sucks to have to leave it in the judge’s hands. I liked the fight because there was blood everywhere!! That’s what I like to see baby!!
Here is the list of names of people that are in the house, tune in next week because, trust me, now it’s really going to get good and interesting.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
Krzysztof Soszynski,
Jules Bruchez
Vinny Magalhaes
Karn Grigoryan
Elliot Marshall
Ryan Bader
Shane Primm
Tom Lawlor
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Dave Kaplan
Phillipe Nover
Brian McLaughlin
Junie Browning
Shane Nelson
George Roop
Efrain Escudero
John Polakowski
Thank you everyone who came out to City Bar Downtown Lafayette on Wednesday night to support me and to everyone who watched the show at home. We will be out at City Bar every Wednesday night to watch 'The Ultimate Fighter' Season 8, so come hang out with us!
Please visit the forum linked below to get to 'The Ultimate Fighter' website and let the UFC know how much support a fighter from the South can get! The more noise you make about me, the better chance I'll have to get some more recognition for myself and all local fighters from the South! It literally takes only 5 seconds to sign up for the forum to leave comments for me. Show me some support by leaving comments and messages for everyone to see! Click the link below to open a new window or just copy and paste the website address in your toolbar.
TUF Forum
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http://www. theultimatefighter. tv/forum/forum. php
Episode 1
Welcome world to another season of the Ulitmate Fighter, season 8. First, I would like to say that it is nothing less than a dream come true to be a part of this show. There were fighters from all over the world and they came for the same thing, to be the next ultimate fighter! There were so many good fighters there. I really feel that all the guys that were there deserved to be in the house.
Many people keep asking me, did you know that you had to fight to get in the house? The truth is they didn't tell us anything except to be 5 lbs over our fight weight when we showed up. That's about the only tip we got but really it could have gone so many different ways. I was prepared to fight the day we first got there I wasn't sure what they were going to throw at us. I just wanted to be ready for what ever happened. I was pretty sure that we were going to fight they have too good of a response from last year. Plus, it weeds out all the people who don't really want to be there. I think we are all sick and tired of seeing people get a second shot and make up some excuse why they don't want to fight!
The best part is watching everybody size each other up; everybody wondering who they are going to fight. They didn't show a good shot of everyone's face when they brought in the other 16 guys. Everyone's face went from excited to pure focus. I swear if someone would have said the wrong thing at that time WW3 would have broke out.
When Phillipe passed out first thing I thought to my self was "oh shit or they gonna let this guy fight?" People don't see how long we are actually standing there under all those lights in the heat and at that we are all under weight. Of course, if you are from the south like me, Louisiana boys laugh at that heat. Try coming into 100 degree plus with humidity at around 80% or more. Then tell me if you can stand the heat and we train in that year around.
As for Guida's weigh in, you can look at it 2 ways.
He should have been in better condition; he knew exactly what he was getting into. Let's face it, it was pretty stupid on his part, he blew his chance just because he didn't want to take the time out to come in lighter ahead of time.
Another way to look at it is this: Guida only had 1 lb to go and could have done it, but that wasn't the problem. Most likely for the first time he had a doctor watching over him. I must admit, I have done the same thing. There were times where I lost 20+ lbs to weigh in for a fight. I know for a fact that twice if I had a doc watching me they would have pulled me too. Its just one of those things you never think of.
Jules Bruchez vs. Eric McGee
The night before the fights I stayed up and read the Bible it was the only thing I could do to calm myself down, I couldn't stop thinking about how I hadn't fought since July 29th 2007. I had only been training for two good months before this and I wasn't even close to the fighter that I used to be. But this was my only chance to make it into the biggest fighting organization in the world and I wasn't about to pass it up. I didn't know anything about my opponent which actually made things a lot easier for me I couldn't overanalyze any situation. Instead, I just focused on what I had to do.
For the premier on T.V. it showed that I fought fourth, but in actuality, I fought first. I remember telling people I hope I fight first that way I can just do it and get it over with. Now I know why they say be careful what you wish for. I was such a roller coaster I couldn't stop from going up and down, side to side, it was impossible to calm yourself down, and tell yourself that everything was good and its no big deal. I laugh at it now but I will never forget how one coach would come up to you and say don't worry it's just another fight go out there and do your best. Then another would show up and say this is it, this is your whole life if you screw this up you go home. I was very excited to have the experts that were given to me in my corner. But quickly after hitting some mitts I never wanted my coach from home so close to me so bad before. I will never forget how the coach would call out combinations differently than what I was used to and I would begin to screw up the combos. He was so funny he would yell and hit you just like Mickey from Rocky. Just when I thought I couldn't get any more nervous he did a good job of making it a lot worse.
As for a game plan, I wanted to go in there throw a few kicks and punches and see how he reacted. From there I would be able to tell what approach to take. The only thing that was concerning me was that I knew that I was still dehydrated. I had trouble gaining my weight back for some reason, I was 7 pounds underweight than what I usually am for a fight, and I could definitely feel the difference. I knew that no matter what I had to do I had to make sure I ended it in the first round. Don't ever plan on fighting pass the second round unless your goal is to lose. When you are dehydrated your energy levels shut off like a light switch; at one moment you're 100% and then in the next you're 50%.
The fight went quicker than I expected. I threw a leg kick and right away he took me down, eventually I reversed it and I ended up back on top but that's when I was caught in a headlock. Now this is a position where you can get choked but I didn't feel any danger it's a position that actually I don't mind getting into most of the time. They usually squeeze and use up a lot of energy trying to choke you and eventually what they have to do is let go. So, then I have the upper hand since I'm fresh. When I posted up, he scrambled and eventually I ended up with his back. I went to secure his shoulder and when I did my arm just slipped right into the choke. I immediately began to apply pressure with one arm and before I knew it, it was over. I can't explain the feeling of relief and joy and everything else you can possibly think of that rushes into your body at one single moment. I will never forget how I stood up and yelled I didn't even throw a punch. No one knew that the only reason why was because I didn't want to waste any energy unless I had to. I didn't want to tire out throwing punches that weren't even going to hurt him if I was dehydrated. I went straight to my corner and apologized to them for being so cocky and ran down to the coaches and Dana White to thank them for the opportunity that was given to me. When I went back into the locker room none of the guys would talk to me. I was crying so much they thought I had lost but when they found out that I won we all just laughed.
It felt really good to be back in the ring doing what I love to do but it felt even better knowing that I just got myself into the UFC!!! I just kept saying inside my head I made it I made it I made it! I had to overcome so many things to get to this point and now even though I want to win this whole show I am truly happy just to be here. I am living what most fighters dream about, not too long ago I was fighting before people who were in my hometown and now I'm fighting for the world's largest fighting organization in the world the UFC.
Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Mike Stewart
There's not much I can say about this fight it pretty much speaks for itself , Krzysztof punched Mike in the face Mike falls down what else is there to say. One thing most people don't know about is that coach Mir tried to talk to Mike and help him before the fight and Mike just disregrarded him and said he didn't need any help. Well?
Junie Browning vs. Jose Aguilar
Onscreen you couldn't have two better fighters paired up together they both love to talk so let's see if they can back it up. It was a great fight. Jose was moving very smoothly with his transitions but Junie just kept bringing it then all of a sudden when the second round comes up José quits. I'm not too sure what all of that is about but I can say this don't ever quit!!!
Vinny Magalhaes vs. Lance Evans
I dont know much about Lance accept he is Rashad's brother even though he denied it and for Vinny well you dont want to be on the ground with him.Vinnys hands aren't so good but his legs are very powerful and he knows how to use them. Vinny has great kicks and he throws them like most people throw punches. Vinny uses his hands to set you up and finishes you with his kicks. This caused Lance to retreat most of the round and eventually led him to not coming out in the second round, due to Lance claiming his rib might have been broken.
Brandon Garner vs. Brian McLaughlin
In my opinion, this was one of the most exciting fights. There was a lot of action. I feel that McLaughlin was getting the best of him and definitely winning the round. Then all of a sudden they stop fighting and called that there was an illegal knee. While there, I never saw it but when I watched it on TV it was clear. Keep your eye on Brian this guy really can fight.
Philippe Nover vs. Joe Duarte
I was very impressed in this fight I felt that Joe was getting the best of Philippe. I couldn't help but notice the determination and the focus Philippe had. He stayed consistent throughout the round and when he came to the second round he showed everyone what he was really made of.
Fernando Bernstein vs. Dave Kaplan
This was another fight what I was very impressed with. Fernando continuously was pressing the action and it seemed like Dave had a little problem getting a shot in, but when it came to the ground Dave quickly showed his skills submitting him after a takedown.
Thank you everyone who came out to City Bar Downtown Lafayette on Wednesday night to support me and to everyone who watched the show at home.
We will be out at City Bar every Wednesday night to watch 'The Ultimate Fighter' Season 8, so come hang out with us!
Please visit the forum linked below to get to 'The Ultimate Fighter' website and let the UFC know how much support a fighter from the South can get! The more noise you make about me, the better chance I'll have to get some more recognition for myself and all local fighters from the South! It literally takes only 5 seconds to sign up for the forum to leave comments for me. Show me some support by leaving comments and messages for everyone to see! Click the link below to open a new window or just copy and paste the website address in your toolbar.
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