The team was really into full swing and we had really become a solid unit, the whole OZ v UK battle really showed our true colors in the way we were training together supporting each other in and out of the gym. Welterweights were back in the firing line and to be honest we were pretty confident that Manny or Xavier could get the job done.
“Chalate” if you hadn’t noticed already was the running the ship when it came to food preparation and definitely a great chef, I think to some extent he could have been the leader of our team in a few of the boys eyes and really the glue that bought the team close in the first place.
With UK having the fight pick and only 2 of our guys left to fight in the WW’s both guys were ready to go and fairly close to weight, and with Ross choosing Bola to fight Manny really gave us all the confidence in the world as Manny had been preparing for this exact fight. Morale once again picked up after coming off a loss once again we have 24 hours to make weight and then 24 hours to fight.
NOT much to say about his fight as Bola did exactly what we thought he would do and did a great job keeping many at distance and after landing a huge leg kick dropped Manny and gained top position. It seemed from where I was sitting that after spending 3 or so mins on top position he didn’t cause any damage and after making a mistake Manny was able to scramble secure a high crotch takedown dumping Bola on his head and instantly landing with a north south choke on. I’m not sure if Bola didn't know what was happening or how to defend as he lay still for a few seconds allowing Manny to secure and squeeze……… and tap Bola with one of his pet submissions.
After we went back to the change room and the excitement died a little we found out that Manny had a pretty sore leg and had to go get it checked out. Back in the winners circle again the Aussies went home happy chaps!
In episode 4 the Aussie team travel down to the beach for our first outdoor practice and it was great to get out of the house, away from the gym and put our toes in the sand. We were all riding pretty high after Rob won his fight with that epic knock out and we even got some coffee (from a proper coffee machine) before practice. We headed over to the sand dunes after a short run on the beach and it turned out that Manny and Richie train here regularly. Essentially we were doing sprints up and down sand dunes called “ Mexicans” and it wasn't fun. I don't think one person enjoyed that session until we got to swim in the ocean after.
The Kitchen continued in the same direction it was heading and became a disgusting mess and really started to smell, I ended up collecting a few things I needed and washed it as I used it. It took a few days but the boys from England decided to all pitch in and clean it up, we were surprised to see this happen but glad.
The pranks continued in the gym with coach Nathan stacking some mats on the outside of the UK room but hardly a harsh prank, Brendan seemed to think that this was the prank that was taken to far and we had crossed the line. Brendan what on earth do you mean? If you think that is a bad prank you could be in for a rough time during your stay in the TUF house.
So we head to another fight pick and again the light weights are up, as George walks in the whole UK team are yelling out “ pick me “ randomly (this was the phrase Norman kept yelling after the first fight of the show) George then invites Luke to come train with us if he wants to learn some striking. I think the remark was aimed at Ross and the UK coaches more than Luke and just a continuation of the rivalry that has formed between the coaches. George finally gave Norm what he was looking for and matched him up against Richie Vas. The Pom’s were 100% sure they had mad George change his mind during the pick and caved into the pressure of them calling out “pick me “ at him but George had already decided on the match up quite a while beforehand. Definitely amusing to see the UK team so adamant and trying to claim they had changed George’s mind.
Richie Vas did fight his ass off for two rounds but really was always going to have a tough time with so much height, weight and reach to make up before the fight even started, Norm looked pretty dry when he made weight and Richie came in a kilo or so under weight with out having to cut anything. He did clip norm early in the 1st round and had norm backing up for a bit, but as norm came forward and got the take downs there was little Richie could do from the bottom and giving away so much weight. Much the same for round two and the UK even things up on the scoreboard. To be fair Richie is competing on TUF at two weight classes higher than usual but in saying this he made no excuses after the fight and to be honest I think that guy would fight anyone that was put in front of him.
Next week back to welterweights and with 4 great fighters left we are guaranteed a great fight regardless.
This time we walked back to the change rooms victorious again in the WW division and honestly I was just as shocked by how the fight ended as I was stoked to see Rob get the KO in epic style. Rumor had it that Luke was a killer on the feet and he came out and showed us why, not sure if you guys think the same but I saw his punches being thrown in a very different way to what I’m used to seeing and that kind of looping action left the corridor open for the straight right. Now I can vouch for Rob’s right hand and yes he hits as hard as it looks (I had the pleasure of wearing a few of those during time in the practice room) and I wasn't expecting Luke to recover from that shot. I was however a little shocked at the result as Rob was backing up the whole time until he landed that punch from the back foot. A 19 sec KO set the new standard for our belief and us was growing strong after that match.
Whittaker is another fighter that cuts huge weight to get down to 77kgs and he to was impressive during the weight cut and how he made it look so easy, I know that shit aint easy but I guess the Hungry Jacks burger, angry fries and can of coke he devoured straight after he got off the scales added a little more to the whole Rob Whittaker weight cut method. So at this stage Whittaker and myself are through to the semis and things are looking good for the Aussie WW’s.
Back at the house after things had cooled down after Wall vs. Freak show, we were having a bit of a chat in the living room when young Mr. Wall proceeded to tell us that with another shot at the Freak show things might be different, which in turn allowed me to exhaust my ‘second to none ‘ negotiation skills and set up the rematch. This rematch how ever would take place in the kitchen and involve 2 hot substances and 4 nostrils. If you missed the final result of the first ever ‘ TUF smashes wasabi challenge ‘ do your self a favor and watch episode 3 ASAP. To his credit Wall was strong but Freak show was stronger and if not for puking everywhere may have been a closer decision but Freak show went 2-0 up on Wall with some hectic yet delicate and precise snorting.
Wall definitely gained a lot of respect from the Pom’s and it seemed to unify the entire household for a short time, short lived we all went back into fight mode the next day and prepared for the next fight pick. With the house already starting to break down the kitchen started to become disgusting and yours truly initiated the first clean up (although there was not many other things to do at the time) and was hoping that it stayed a little like the way we left it for at least a while.
Back from training that night we were tired, sore, run down, hungry, thirsty and looking forward to having a clean kitchen to make some food without having to deal with a mess and to our total surprise the kitchen was looking great again with shit everywhere. The episode ends here with again yours truly having a few words to say about the great environment we had for making food so if Missed it you don't have long until episode 4. Also up for fight pick is the lightweights and if you have been following twitter its no surprise who is up next and we all know this fella brings it every time he fights…. Can we get our first LW win for Australia? Tune in guys Wednesday night.
Episode 1 came to abrupt end 40 or so seconds into the second round with my fight against Valentino, the outcome definitely set off a few of the Poms and while the ref was raising my hand in the middle of the cage our boy Xavier seemed to be pumped about the whole thing which caused a bit of confrontation with Norman from the UK team. The 2nd major event was Mike being sent home due to a torn bicep, he was a heavy favorite to win the competition in the LW division and heartbreaking for the entire house to see his dreams crushed before the fights began.
Now if you didn't pick up on it the entire UK team was hating on Ben Wall, we couldn't work out the reason for it and I just put it down to the UK being down 1-0 and the amount of testosterone getting around in that house. It didn't take very long at all before Norman and Freakshow came up with a few names and the one that stuck was ‘fox piss’. It was at this point that the entire UK lightweights were hoping that they would be matched with Wall.
Myself, Manny and Whitaker had the chance to chat to Freakshow a little and he seemed to be a cool guy, a little bit eccentric but pretty cool so we weren’t to sure if the whole persona thing was an act or actually him. He was a little frustrated with the UFC taking his ‘ bag of goodies’ from him prior to entering the house and I kind of got the feeling he was ready to fight a.s.a.p.
After George looked at putting Wall or myself up first depending on what weight class was nominated Wall had basically double the time I had to prepare. Freakshow was the chosen Pom to face Mr. Wall and really seemed quite confident in the faceoff. Our take on the whole thing was the same as the previous fight in the UK showing confidence to mask the nerves and doubt they were still carrying from the ‘shock ‘ loss from the last fight.
Something that hasn't been shown to much so far during the first 2 episodes was the weight cuts, obviously from the first fight Valentino was a much bigger guy than myself and rumor had it he had cut down from around the 95kg mark for our fight at 77kg, Wall and Freakshow are two fairly big LW fighters and I know for a fact Wall cut 10+ kgs for his fight. I was amazed at how deciplined he was during the weight cut which in turn made the cut seem somewhat easy, I was impressed at his ability to get down to weight and still go balls out for the whole fight. The fans don't realize how much work goes into making weight and I do think a little more emphasis should be put on what we go through every day in the gym and cutting weight to give the public a better idea of this game we play.
Wall went down in the second fight, which clearly should have gone to a third round. Credit to Freakshow though he fought a smart fight and did what he had to do to win. Morale was still high and I think Wall was a little frustrated as he left it to late to chase the fight down and seemed to fight a little different than the Ben Wall we have seen in previous fights. Next week stayed tuned for TUF smashes 1st house challenge WASABI vs PERRI PERRI!
So first things first, being Aussie and a sportsman means that no matter what time of the day it is, what type of activity it is (be it a sport or roc throwing) we cant stand losing let alone losing to the English. Going into the house this was the mindset the whole Aussie team had.
We arrived to the house a little earlier than the Poms and got to settle in and check everything out. Man we really lucked out with the house and I thought to myself immediately I could get used to this. Meeting the Poms was a little awkward and my first thoughts were like “ did the UFC send the wrong guys over here because these guys looked huge” I guess you could say they strolled around with a little bit of arrogance but then again which fighter doesn't have a little bit in them. The person that really got our attention was Colin aka ‘the freak show’ as he was wearing some kind of British flag body suit thing and we knew right away that this house was going to get interesting.
We only had roughly 24 hours in the house before the first fight pick and then another 48 hours before the first fight, with so much to take in so soon it felt like the first fight took no time at all to come around, we all know by now that I was matched up for the first fight against Valentino Petrescu at welterweight. Now Valentino isn’t the typical welterweight as he had had many fights in quite a few different weight classes, the fact that he was 3 inches taller than me really made him seem huge when we faced off. Things got a little heated during the weigh ins, I’m not sure why but we ended up nose to nose with our hands by our sides waiting to see who would back down first.
Fight day came around very very quickly and it started to actually sink I that the last 2.5 years of training, of busting my ass in the gym, of sacrifices I’ve made all comes down to 10 or less minutes in the cage. Now this was something running through my head the whole time leading up the fight and again I question myself “ are you ready for this “. Stepping into the cage and standing across from Valentino was the exact time I felt this is where I belong right now, right at this point in time. The fight was full of nervous energy and I think that showed the first round, once my range and timing came together I was able to land a solid left and drop my opponent and follow up with the finish on the floor. I know a lot of Aussies had their heart in their mouth during the fight but we got the job done!
To finish off I just wanted to talk about the X-mans out burst after my fight, he is a great guy and a very colorful person and very patriotic, which in turn really got under Normans skin. This lead Norman to continuously call for him to be picked next to fight and Xavier was happy to oblige anytime. The only problem was they are not in the same weight class. So there is my view on a few events that happened in the first episode.
A quick shout out to my MMA family that has been a huge help to me being where I am in this fight game today – Fiore mma, Planet max, Axis jiu Jitsu Academy, PUMMA, Punch Equipment, Tiger Muay Thai, Nutrition Underground, Suburban Armour, Sculpt training centre and Flex Pose and Fight. Be sure to keep watching every Wednesday at 7:30pm on FX channel 123 and catch my blog for episode 2 same place same time next week.
The aussie gangsta benny blanco says ‘don't talk about it be about it ‘
Always a highlight of my year when I get to go to Illinois, USA to visit Fiore MMA. Its my second family where I push my limits everyday. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Marc Fiore and his training techniques and continue to push to reach my limits.
This trip was cut short when I received the best news of my career which was I got accepted to enter The Ultimate Fighter: UK vs Australia : The Smashes.
After flying home, within days I was in lock down ready for the most awesome experience of my career to date.
On saturday night, I fought Dan Hyatt for the last eliminator fight for the title belt. Won in first round by triangle choke in 3.40s. I will now be taking on “the FREIGHT TRAIN” Cobain next year for the Brace for War Welterweight Belt.
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