Initiation: Part 2 

Okay, let’s play The Ultimate Fighter season 8 drinking game: every time Frank Mir says “NIIIIICE!!!” during a fight, take a shot.  You’ll be feeling warm and fuzzy after this episode!  I “counted” at least 17 during the first round of the Marshall-Grygoryan bout and the full fight wasn’t even aired!  I love Frank.

We all know that the real mayhem does not start until next week and writing about each remaining fight and giving my opinion will not be a great read-so let’s skip that part.  I know most of you want the inside scoop from behind the scenes and I promise you, it just gets better each week!

Let me see what I can remember of that crazy day as it was over 3 months ago.  I get punched in the head for a living so my memory is not as good as it used to be.

Eliot Marshall was a wreck after his 3 round war with Grygoryan.  I don’t mean physically but emotionally.  He thought he won and most of us watching thought he won, shit, Dana and all the staff thought he won, so I don’t blame the guy.  To this day I don’t know how the judges gave Karn that fight; I honestly did not think it needed a third round.  Eliot controlled the whole fight from start to finish.  Don’t get me wrong, Grygoryan put up a great fight, but Eliot was the clear winner in this one.  I am not saying this just because we are good friends either.

MM-EH!!?!?!  One minute you’re out, next minute you’re in.

This was a huge opportunity for Eliot (and the rest of us) and despite his best efforts he was being sent home.  Eliot definitely learned a big lesson: don’t leave it up to the judges.  But it wasn’t over for him yet; Dana told Eliot he would be the first pick into the house if there were any injuries.  Imagine the expression on Eliot’s face and the emotional lift he felt when he saw Antwain Britt walk back in with a cast on his hand.  It’s like finding out Santa didn’t miss your house after all. 

John “gimme a hug” Polakowski is a nut.  That kid was awesome.

“Does the mind rule the body or does the body rule the mind?”  In Ryan Lopez’s case the mind ruled the body.  Lopez is a great physical specimen a.k.a. one scary looking dude but his mental game was non existent that day. He lost his fight even before he came out of the locker room.  It was really weird to see a guy ask almost everyone for advice on what he should do in his fight.  He wanted to know how he should fight his opponent, what he should he throw, how he should move, what he should look out for… If you don’t have a game plan set and its 30 minutes to your fight- you’re done.  Lopez even asked if his opponent looked better than him-I thought that was funny.  Undoubtedly his nerves got the best of him as it is not everyday you get a chance to fight in front of the UFC President, a former UFC champ and the current UFC champ, not to mention millions of viewers that will watch you fail or succeed.

Sorry guys-not much drama this week as there was only one objective: MAKE THE HOUSE!!!  Now that the 16 have been chosen, it’s on!  Let the games begin!

Krzysztof

It’s All About the Shrink Wrap!

I was the first one in the house and set out to find a room.  Jackpot! An immediate left turn led me to the only single room in the house!  At least I won’t have to deal with people snoring, farting, talking or whatever else they might do in their sleep.  I claimed the room and set off to explore. The house was spectacular 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom mansion with 2 living rooms and a massive kitchen.  We had 3 refrigerators and a big freezer.  There was a steam room, sauna, pool, hot tub, basketball court, trampoline, ping pong table, and pool table. The balcony had a patio set and a huge barbecue.  Now, I know how good this sounds but don’t forget there was no TV, telephone (there was a telephone but only to reach a producer), computer/internet, stereo or books.  You have no access to the outside world aside from the van trips to the training facility.  We could not speak with our family or friends for six weeks.  There were cameras in every room, even the bathrooms, and camera crews in your face 24/7. Now add alcohol!

The first two nights involved Junie getting drunk and making a complete ass of himself.   I have never seen a guy go through a complete 360 of emotions, it was nuts.  At one point Junie tells me that he will be the Chris Leben of this season.  I knew right there that we were in for a treat and that this was going to be a very crazy season of The Ultimate fighter.  Most of us were pretty annoyed at Junie’s antics and it had only been two days.

To be honest, I only had one thing on my mind for the first few days in the house: the pain in my right hand.  See, I was pretty sure I broke my hand in the fight against Mike Stewart.  I think it was the right uppercut just before the ref jumped in to stop the fight.  After seeing Antwain sent home, I knew that if a doctor or an official found out I would be sent home too.  I did not want to get kicked of the show; I worked so hard to get to this point.  I had to be discreet.  The only person I told was Dan Henderson who was at the training center watching the fights.   He offered me a few anti-inflammatory pills to help with the swelling and at the house I was in so much pain I was popping Advil like they were Tic Tacs. 

The day after the fights we went back to the training center for team picks.  It was an honor being the first one selected.  As I stood beside Frank he showed me his list.  Mir’s picks one through eight were exactly what he had on paper.  He just kept smirking every time Nogueira would make his selection and show me the list.  The biggest shock was that Nog did not pick Vinny.   Both are Brazilian and jiu jitsu blackbelts we thought it was a sure fit.  Vinny was pretty upset.

At team training I finally told Frank and my teammates about my hand; everyone was supportive.  We taped up the hand well and proceeded to spar.  Frank jumped in to spar with us and I knew right there that he was going to be more of a training partner than just a coach.  Frank and I were going to get along just great.

We had only been at the house for a few days but it felt like an eternity.  When you have 20 hours of down time a day you get bored very quickly.  The prank had nothing to do with getting under the skin of Team Nogueira; we just needed to preserve our sanity.   Junie can only keep us entertained for so long.  Now, we are not a group of experienced shrink wrappers so it took a lot of time to get things done but all that effort paid off.   The look on Bader’s face when he finally found his underwear after 5 hours of searching was priceless!  It was around 1am before he found his stuff and it took him a good 30 minutes to unwrap it all.  He was sweating bullets.  I was on the floor in the next room laughing my ass off!  I’m pretty sure that he is just finding out who was responsible for the prank; he was asking everyone who did it for days.  Gotcha!!!

Bader’s fight should have been against Eliot Marshal but Elliot had a nine day suspension from the athletic commission; three days for every round he fought.  All I can say about Bader vs. Lawlor is under hook, under hook, under hook; it is no secret that Bader wanted to fight from the top position.  Tom did very well getting up from bottom position in practice.  He was getting his under hooks and scooting out to the side and getting up.   It was a different story in the fight as Bader would prove challenging to anyone.  Bader is a two time all American wrestler, with a very good base, trying to bash your face in—not exactly a cake walk.  Also, Bader’s physical strength was a definite advantage; he controlled Tom very well from the top.  Tom is a smaller lightweight (he doesn’t even have to cut weight) and I think he would be better suited to the middleweight division. 

I guess we should have shrink wrapped Bader to his bed instead of his underwear-maybe we could have won by default. 

Krzysztof

 TUF Episode 4: My Best Friend Junie

 The only thing I can say about this episode is “Junie is a mess!!!”.   I didn’t know if he was putting on an act or if he’s that messed up.  I think it’s a little of both.  The episode was very accurate; Junie and Shane got trashed on wine and tequila during the ppv.   Junie, as always, starts with verbal threats and calls out everyone on Team Nogueira.  Finally someone stands up to Junie and chaos erupts.  We did not realize how far he would take it this time.

There was a notable moment not shown; most of us came together and decided that it was time to get Junie kicked off the show.  We were going to antagonize him until he broke down and took a swing at one of us; keep pushing his buttons.

I am not sure what made us go outside; I think it was the noise from the patio set breaking.  The pool area was a mess, broken glass everywhere.   The pool was full of chairs, cushions and statues.  I never realized how much a soaked cushion weighs, it’s heavy!!! 

It was time to go to work: get this guy out of here before he really hurts someone.  The boy has some great mma skills, but threatening us with the beer bottle was the final straw.

How we all kept our composure and not bashed Junie’s head in is beyond me.  We just kept egging him on until he broke. I was very surprised at how long it took for Junie to start swinging.  Big props to Bader; good control on his part because after Junie swung at him Bader was ready to go.

On a funny note, the “This is Sparta” push kick by Junie was laughed at for a long time by all of us; Tom Lawlor did not live that down for quite a while.  That was a perfect flop by Tom; he fell flat on his butt and even bruised it a bit.

It was really weird how fast everything calmed down, it took seconds.  Junie was at the end of his merry-go-round routine, so he was crying, Polakowski was giving out free hugs to anyone who needed one.  We were like a big family after an intervention.  We all believed that Junie was going home, even Junie himself, boy were we wrong!!!

I did not witness any of Shane’s antics.  Taking care of one child was enough for Eliot and I.  We were beat.  Nothing more to say about Shane other than he was a puppy dog following his master. 

When Dana made the announcement of keeping Junie in the house, I was shocked.  I could not believe it; we all looked at each other stunned.  Dana’s statement pretty much allowed Junie to do anything he wants to anyone without any consequences, but who am I to argue with the boss.  Junie has the talent; everyone sees it and Junie’s crazy antics could equal ratings for the show.  I kept my mouth shut and walked off with a smile on my face.  At least if someone takes a swing at me or gets in my face I can now defend myself without being worried about getting kicked off.

To be honest, I did not care about anything that happened between the 155ers, I did not pay much attention to them.  I did not know that Junie had it in for Efraine.  When Junie jumped over the fence into the cage he was sober or at least I think he was.  We never saw him act like this without a bottle in his hand.  I did not know what to think of Junie anymore. To call someone boring after a pretty good fight and a submission win and then try to get at them was insane.  In my eyes it was all an act to get camera time, that’s all it all was.  I still believe that to this day.

Did anyone else notice the quick change in Shane Nelson after Dana told him he’ll be fighting first?  I got the feeling that Shane did not want to fight Efraine at all.   He just did not look right.  Maybe Shane should have had a few glasses of wine and a tequila shot before his fight.  I am sure that the match up would have been different if that incident with Shane and Efraine did not happen.  Shane would have probably made it to the semis; maybe even the finals.  Amazing what alcohol does to people. 

Episode 6: The Black Belt  

We are two and a half weeks into our stay at the TUF resort and slowly but surely being around the same people and doing the same things are getting to me.   I am pretty sure it all has to do with my injury.  I am not training the way I normally would, which really sucks.  All I do is kick pads with Ken and conditioning drills.  I can’t grapple, spar or do pads just yet.  Frank is bringing in a very good doctor very soon who hopefully will help out with the injured hand.

 Once again Junie is being Junie, calling out any fighter and this time its Delgado.  I knew he would throw the belt at Delgado, but I did not know he would spit on it.  I thought it was disrespectful and uncalled for. Mir, Nog and Silva were clearly upset and I am sure that Vinny and Eliot did not appreciate the gesture either.  I didn’t care about where or who Delgado received his black belt from.  Black, brown, purple, blue or white, it does not matter what level you are at when there are punches and kicks involved.  A black belt can quickly turn to white belt while being punched in the face.

Stankie is awesome; before every training session we would gather around him and listen to his wild stories.   The 205ers from Nog’s team would tell me how crazy Stankie is, but how hard he makes them all train. I would have loved to work with Stankie.  It was great to have a fellow Polak on the show.

I was not surprised when Junie did not make weight.  This kid does not know how to cut weight and eat properly. (It could have been part of his act).  He asked for my help with his meals, but did not follow anything I suggested.  It should have been an easy cut as he had only 7 pounds the night before weigh-ins.  Props to Dave for being there by his side and pushing Junie to get the 2 pounds off, when Junie was really struggling,  Tom and I helped out a bit as well.   We needed this win and control of the match ups. Personally I was not ready to fight next and I don’t think the doctors would allow me to fight anyway.  I was sure Nog would pick me to fight next if he had control.

Junie should have destroyed Delgado, this should have been a quick and easy win for Team Mir.  Delgado was scared shitless before the fight, we all saw it.  I was more disappointed in Junie’s performance than impressed with Delgado’s.  All that big talk from Junie on his pedestal—what a joke, it’s all for show.

Behind the scenes we find out Team Nog’s weak link at 205.  Most of Team Nog is telling me not to fight Jules, as it would be a massacre and that they want me to flight Kyle.  I have no problem with that at all; Kyle and I didn’t get along well.   We will have to see what Frank thinks of this. 

There are a lot of pigs in the house who don’t clean up after themselves and need to be taught a lesson soon.   A lot of us are sick and tired of eating meals in a very dirty kitchen.

Tune in next week for more pranks and mayhem.

Krzysztof Soszynski

Episode 7: R.I.P. Jules

          It was 3 weeks into our stay; Team Mir had control of the next fight.  Vinny and I talked about who we wanted to fight, I wanted Kingsbury as he and I did not get along at all.  I don’t even know why but there was something about him that I just did not like—maybe it had something to do with him sporting a Speedo everyday around the house or that he would use the bathroom with the door open.  I am sure the stress of the house didn’t help either.

          Vinny and I told Mir that we did not care who our opponent was.  We were not worried as neither Jules Bruchez nor Kyle Kingsbury had anything for Vinny on the ground and I was not worried about their stand up.

          My fight with Kingsbury was 10 days away and it was time to test out the hand.  It was my first time rolling in 3 weeks; I thought the injury was getting better, boy was I wrong.  I rolled lightly with Tom Lawlor and attempted a kimura from the bottom.  He dropped his hips and all his weight fell on my hand.  My hand immediately turned red and swelled up like a balloon.  Frank called his doctor to see if we could get him in to see me. The doc came out two days later.  I continued to hide the injury at the house and did the ice baths in my room behind closed doors.  Frank’s doc was amazing; he used ART (Active Release Technique) to help disperse the swelling, which it did.  He put me through some of the most intense pain I have ever experienced; I had tears in my eyes. The doc said he thought I had broken my thumb, which was my speculation from the start.

          I was a little surprised at how my injury was downplayed.  They show all of my stupid, childish and meaningless pranks, but will not go into detail about my biggest storyline in the house: my injury.  It actually has something to do with the reason why we all are in the house.

         The memorial service for Jules was my best prank; everyone in the house loved it.  Jules had a great laugh about it and even the producers gave me props.  Jules knew it was all in good fun.  Nog’s team and Jules came back with one of their own pranks on me.  I was getting along with most of Team Nog’s light heavyweights.  Bader and I hung out and had a few drinks together after his fight; we stayed up late and talked until 3 am.

          The dissimilarity between the teams was obvious: Nog’s team was like a big family whereas Mir’s team was more like friends and training partners.  Even the training sessions were a lot different.  I really enjoyed the way our training sessions were run, Frank came in with an open mind and would always listen to any of our suggestions.  We are all individuals and train in your own way; Frank knew that. He gave us options for each training session; we had a choice in what we did.  Nog’s team training sessions ran differently and seemed like they all had to do the same workouts together, nothing wrong with that, just not for me.

          I really enjoyed Rafael Alejarra’s conditioning circuits, they were very challenging and not what I was used to.  Alejarra and I got along great; he could tell that I was a hard worker and ready to give one hundred percent every workout.  I think I earned his respect.

          It did not bother me that Nog and his coaches would drop by a lot; I can understand why.  I am sure Nog missed his home and family and was bored like us.  Frank on the other hand lives in Vegas and has his family to take care; he only came by 3-4 times during those six weeks.

          My former team mate, Vinicius Magalhaes, kept very quiet throughout the show—slept and ate mostly, oh yeah and farted a lot!  The smells that would come out of him were insane, especially during our van rides to and from the training center.  It was like tasting your lunch a second time.  Vinny would just laugh and smile as we all gagged—I hope the production crew got a bonus on those days.

          I don’t think any of us knew about Nog and Vinny’s argument, Nog is the kind of man that expects respect and rightly so.  We did see Vinny grapple with Nog before the fights to get into the house.  Vinny was cutting weight but still did very well against Nog which surprised everyone; I know for sure it went to his head. I don’t think Vinny said anything disrespectful only that he felt he was a more technical grappler.  He didn’t say anything about being a better mma fighter than Nog; however, he should have said nothing and kept it to himself.

  A fight between Vinny, a fighter who does not press the action much and is more of a counter puncher, and Jules, a fighter who seemed very scared and hesitant, had the makings of a very boring fight.  And it was.  However the second that Vinny and Jules tangled up we knew it was over.  We even had bets going on how fast Vinny would finish Jules once the fight went to the ground.  The over/under was 15 seconds—most of us lost the bet though.

Krzysztof Soszynski

Episode 8: “Juicy”

          After watching this episode I have to say that I am a bit shocked at how Team Mir is being portrayed.  We may not have been a tight family like Team Noguiera, but we were not a dysfunctional team either.  Aside from Junie being an ass, all of us got along very well. Don’t get me wrong, we did have small clicks within the team; Eliot and I would train together a lot, Vinny and Tom worked together mostly, Shane and Junie were always grappling together and Roop and Kaplan trained a lot.  However during our sparring sessions we would all work together, including our coaches, and rotate partners.

          At one point during the episode they show some of us lying around while others are trying to train.  This was taken out of context.  There were times we would finish the training session early and instead of getting into the van and driving off to the house of boredom we stayed and hung out.  There were times when guys would take a day off from training but would still head over to the gym just to get out of the house.

          Junie complaining was such bullshit.  You have a guy who rarely did any conditioning classes and every time Shane or Kaplan would tap his ass Junie would storm off and make a huge scene by throwing stuff and getting pissed off.  How can you train with someone like that?   All he had to do was ask questions: “how did you catch me with that?”, “where should I go from here?”.  That’s how you learn.   We had Mir, Vinicius Magalhaes, Demian Maia and Robert Drysdale, four of the top BJJ guys on the planet, and Ken Hahn, our striking coach, always available to help and answer questions.

          I’m proud to say that I did not have anything to do with urinating and ejaculating on the food.  This went beyond anything I did or would do.  Yes, my pranks were childish and stupid but they were not malicious.  I tried to have fun with my pranks and have some interaction within the teams but these guys stepped way over the line. I was very disgusted when I found out what happened, I knew that this would escalate to something very bad.  Team Nog took it pretty good but Kaplan was pissed off.   His plans for revenge were in poor taste and couldn’t even be aired on TV.  After that night everyone would inspect their belongings for feces.

          I don’t think anyone on Team Mir knew about Junie giving tips to Team Nog about Dave Kaplan.  I felt this was one of the most disrespectful things I had seen and any remaining respect I had for Junie was gone.

          Dave Kaplan’s game plan:  “I will stand right in front of him, take his two hardest shots, walk through them and then kick his ass”.  Needless to say this is not a solid game plan.  Dave’s vanity to prove his toughness impeded his performance.  Nover was a beast.  No one on Team Mir knew how talented Nover was until that fight.  I mean the kid passed out during the first minute of taping the show.

          Stay tuned next week as Kaplan and Lawlor get out of control and I finally step into the cage against Kyle Kingsbury.  It’s been four long weeks and I am ready to tear it up!

          Thanks for reading!

Krzysztof Soszynski

Episode 9: Two Boys and a Glass

Just when you thought you’ve seen it all and could not get more grotesque, IT DOES!!!  The Ultimate Fighter presents: “Two Boys and a Glass” starring Tom “I am going to drink your urine” Lawlor and Dave ”No, I am going to drink your urine” Kaplan.  Just to let all of you know, these guys go even further than this.  I think it will be shown during a future episode so I will not give it away now.  If it does not air I will write about it in one of my future blogs.  Let’s just say I was ready to leave the house!!!

          The two pranks that were shown during the episode actually took place after the quarter finals and before the semi finals.  I do have to admit that Team Nog’s prank was very well put together; it actually surprised me that they came up with it such a clever prank.  It did take a few hours for me to clean out my room.

          My prank with the dishes has a story to it as I did it to teach everyone a lesson.  Bader, Eliot, Philippe and I worked really hard to keep the house clean, especially the kitchen and dining area; no one wants to eat in a pigsty. Some of these guys were absolute pigs; Kaplan was the worst as he would leave all his garbage and dishes anywhere he pleased.  Vinny and Junie were no better.  I had enough of cleaning up after everyone.  Is it really that hard to wash your dishes after a meal or throw your wrapper in the garbage?  I decided to move the table and all the dishes out to the basketball court. Ultimately you would grab only what you needed and hopefully clean it since you didn’t have a million other dishes available.  It actually worked! The kitchen was kept pretty clean after that and most guys pitched in and cleaned up.

          I was very surprised at some of the comments made by Vinicius Magalhaes (my former team mate) and was shocked to hear him say that my wrestling and BJJ suck.  I will agree with Vinny on one thing: wrestling is not my strong point.  I had never wrestled before and never took a wrestling class until I signed with Team Quest.  I am just starting to understand the wrestling game.   Vinny also said that I was taking Kingsbury lightly.  In my past 30 fights I have never taken anyone lightly, I always train hard for every fight. 

          Having Dan Henderson train with Team Mir for a few days before my fight with Kingsbury was very special.  I have been with Team Quest for less than a year and really appreciated Dan’s support.  It showed me that Dan cares and is proud to have me at part of the Professional Fight Team at Quest back in Temecula, California.  This definitely provided me with even more confidence going into the fight with Kingsbury.

          I also had the privilege to train with Don House.  Don is a great boxing coach and a cut man for the UFC.  Frank Mir would bring in Don to tape up my injured hand and Don would stay and work with me for an hour every training session.  Don’s style is very different from what I was used to.  He made me keep my hands wide apart and lower than normal. We would also work really hard on my head movement.  The theory behind this style is that you are able to see things more clearly and your opponent does not know when your punches are coming because your hands are not at the chin.  The punches are coming from various angles.  I am one of those fighters who is very open to new ideas and I tried this style right away in my sparring sessions and it really worked.  I decided to use the style in my fight with Kingsbury and I think it was very successful.  My punches came from many different angles and I was moving my head a lot; I don’t think Kingsbury landed a single punch.

          I was very surprised with Kingsbury’s game plan.  I was sure he would stand and trade with me as he had the height and reach advantage but every time I would land a combo or step forward he would immediately clinch.  The injury to my hand did not help as I could not use it to push off.  I tried to maintain under hooks and throw a lot of knees to the thighs and mid section.  At one point I felt him go for a takedown.  I started to lose my balance and wanted to make sure that I did not end up in a bad position on the ground.  Once in guard I made sure to breakdown Kingsbury’s posture and attempted an armbar.  The armbar sunk in tight, Kingsbury rolled and I just waited for him to break his grip.  Once Kingsbury let go, I adjusted his wrist and extended my hips, I heard a yell and a loud “TAP”.  Just like that, it was over.

          After the fight I yelled out: “I have jiu jitsu too”. I hope no one took that as disrespectful.  Obviously Team Noguiera thought I was just a striker and their best chance to win the fight was on the ground.  I was overwhelmed with emotion and just wanted to let them know that I was not a one dimensional fighter.

          I injured my hand again on the uppercut I landed in the clinch just before Kingsbury attempted the takedown. It hurt like hell but the good news was that the rest of the body was good to go.   Now I play the waiting game curious to know who my opponent will be in the semi finals.  One more fight left!

Krzysztof

Episode 10: “Fire the Cannons”

I would like to start my blog by giving George Roop big props for his fight with John Polakowski.  Five days before their fight George mangled his right hand.  It had been caught in the octagon fence as Shane Nelson attempted a take down.  Roop’s hand looked like a catcher’s mitt--extremely swollen and red.  I knew exactly what he was going through, except I had 4 weeks to get ready for my fight and Roop only had 4 days.  Mir’s doctor is a miracle worker; he worked out most of the swelling and Roop was able to make a fist. 

Roop’s game plan was perfect; he was going to jab all day and go for the takedown once Polakowski came forward—we all knew that John had no ground game.  The plan worked to perfection.  Roop did not throw a single right hand in the first round and still won the round.  I know the second round was very close but Roop deserved the win.

After Roop’s win Team Mir celebrated in the locker room.  I guarantee that no one had Team Mir winning 5-3.  This clearly proves how individual the sport is.  You can surround yourself with a great group of guys and become a tight family, but at the end it’s you, and only you, in that cage.

Once we were back at the house all hell broke loose.  John Polakowski got hammered and he’s the only Polak I know that can’t handle vodka.  As his blood alcohol increased John took his hugging to the extreme and every single toast was for peace.  I did not think Polakowski had a shell to come out of—boy was I wrong.

With a few exceptions, our days were relatively boring—we didn't know whether to wind a watch or bark at the moon.  We needed something to release some stress and break the monotony.  Bader suggested a food fight.  Everybody jumped on the idea.  Everyone who was in the kitchen took out some eggs and fired them at the guys in the hot tub.  Junie “loose cannon” Browning got pegged with an egg and lost it.  I found it ironic that one day he is encouraging everyone to throw eggs at him and the next he is pissed off about it.  He probably missed the attention and thought it was time for another Junie episode.  Once Junie calmed down everyone took part in the food fight.  We used everything that was available—fruit, veggies, flower, sugar, jam, eggs, cereal and pizza.  The kitchen looked like a war zone but we all had a great time and it was a great stress release.   I am pretty sure that this will be shown on a future episode so I will not get into some of the details—just know that some shit did go down after the food fight involving Junie.

It was no secret as to who would be matched up for the semi-finals; Eliot Marshall called out Bader in front of everyone after his win over Primm and Junie jumped over the cage after Efrain’s win over Shane Nelson.  That left Nover against Roop and Vinny against me.

During our meetings with Dana and the coaches I had asked to fight Ryan Bader.  I based this decision off Kyle Kingsbury’s fights with Bader and myself.  I felt that Ryan had trouble whereas I dominated. I also fought Kingsbury after four weeks in the house, which should have helped Kingsbury become a better fighter. As for a fight with Eliot or Vinny the odds become 50/50.  If the fight goes to the ground there is a very good chance of being submitted so I would have to keep the fight standing in order to claim the victory.  Ultimately, I felt that Bader would be the best match up for me.

To this day I am still confused about Vinny saying that I am talking shit about him.  I never talked trash about anyone. Did I discuss my game plan for Vinny with Eliot and talk about Vinny’s weaknesses—of course.  Eliot was my main training partner and pretty much the only true friend in the house.  I knew I would fight Vinny and every time Eliot and I would train together he would mimic Vinny’s style to help me get ready for the fight.  I am sure that anyone’s game plan against Vinny would be the same as mine.  The kid is a phenom on the ground, and I’d be stupid to go to the ground with him.  If that is shit talking than yes I am guilty.

Watch The Ultimate Fighter next Wednesday for the exciting semifinal bouts.

                           Krzysztof Soszynski

Episodes 11 & 12: The Final Days in the House

          I would like to start by thanking you for taking your time and interest in reading about my experiences on The Ultimate Fighter.  I wish I could be writing this last blog with a smile on my face but unfortunately, it just did not go my way.

          Bader vs. Marshall did not play out as I had imagined.  I was hoping to see more from both fighters in terms of their strengths.  Bader did enough to win the fight but was not very impressive overall.  It was frustrating to watch my friend Eliot not use his talents to the fullest.  He gave up the takedowns too easily and was not very active on the ground.  I believe that Bader’s physical strength played a big role in this fight as he controlled Eliot very well from the top position.  Congratulations to Bader for making the finals.

          Nover proved why he is the man to beat at 155lbs.  He came out very aggressive and dominated the fight with Roop from start to finish.  I think Nover has a very bright future ahead of him and will be a force to reckon with at 155lbs.  Once again, big props to George Roop for fighting with a seriously injured hand twice in one week.

          Junie was a complete mental case 3 days before his fight with Efrain Escuedo.  He gave every excuse not to fight and continued to act out against the other housemates.  Junie even missed weight by 2 pounds.  Kaplan and I stepped up and helped him drop the weight.  It took an hour and it was like fighting with a two year old to eat his vegetables.  At this point, it was Junie against the world as I am sure everyone was hoping he would get his ass beat.  Efrain demonstrated that he is not a one-dimensional fighter and went toe to toe with Junie.  To this day, I do not understand why Junie kept attempting the takedowns.  It took all his energy and left him without fuel to fight.  Congratulations to Efrain for making it to the finals.

          As for Vinny and I, we went into the fight without any animosity.  We had lunch together and even drove to the fight in the same van.  This was definitely a first for TUF. 

        Vinny and I had very specific game plans.  I was looking to stand and Vinny was looking to take it to the ground.  I had to be very patient with Vinny as he likes to move backwards.  I had a hard time reaching him with my punches and used leg kicks instead.  I was hoping to beat his legs so that he would not be able to move back as much. 

       The first time he pulled guard, he did not have full control of my arms and I was able to escape.  The second time he pulled guard I had double underhooks and when we fell to the floor he had control of both my arms.  I was unable to posture and pull my arms out which ultimately lead to the armbar.  He executed his game plan perfectly and I wish him all the best in the finals.

       After the final fights both teams and all the staff from TUF came together and we all congratulated each other on a very successful season.  Dana and the head producer had a big talk with us about the upcoming months leading to the finale.  They reminded us to keep our heads on straight and that our lives will change from this point on.  Warnings were issued as well.  Let’s just say that I have been keeping a five million dollar secret for the past five months!

       Overall I had a very positive experience on The Ultimate Fighter.  I had the opportunity to train with some talented coaches and athletes at a state of the art facility.  However, it was one of the hardest mental challenges I’ve faced and I did my best to cope.  I found an outlet for my boredom and managed to deal with and ignore Junie.  It was a long six weeks without contact from the outside world and it feels good to be back.

        It was a privilege to fight on The Ultimate Fighter and I look forward to future opportunities with the greatest, most recognized MMA promotion.  This dream has been 5 years in the making and is close to coming true.

       Once again, thank you for your support!

Krzysztof