By Nick Ring
Overtraining?
I didn’t think that Tito was over-training us. These work-outs were short and intense and while some of it was hard, I think it was all manageable.
Kyacey was raising concerns that we were working too hard and we shouldn’t be doing the stuff that Tito was making us do, and he was basically blaming McCray’s loss to Bryant on Tito. I thought that Kyacey was being a little bit unfair to Tito because I thought Tito was doing his best to be a good coach and Kyacey was shitting on him for it. He was trying to plant seeds of doubt in all of our minds about the training and regardless of whether the training was right or wrong it just wasn’t helping any of us to try to cause a mutiny within the team.
In my opinion I think that trust in your coaches is a crucial part of the training process. I have had the pleasure to work with some amazing coaches in my hometown and my trust in them has been a part of my success. Trust is part of what makes the coach/athlete relationship work. If you can’t trust your coach and his/her perspective on your game and take the advice, then who will you trust? Your coach is trying to help you with your success so I think you should let them help you. Don’t insult them by telling everybody else that their help sucks.
As far as I was concerned Tito was being reasonable with his workouts and he was also doing his best. I was learning new stuff and some of it I never would have even tried if I never trained with him and been open-minded enough to listen.
I didn’t see what the fuss was about, and I was just enjoying the process. Even if you don’t like the training, it would all be over in just a few short weeks and you would get to go back to your old routine anyway. I just didn’t think that complaining would be a constructive use of energy.
Kyacey Confronted
Kyacey had been pretty vocal in his criticisms to me and the other team Ortiz members. I don’t know how Tito heard about it but obviously had and it was now time for a talk. He sat all of us down to hash it out like grown-ups. In fact, I really liked the way Tito handled the situation. He was giving Kyacey a chance to say what he wanted to say and bring it out into the open and wasn’t being too confrontational about it either.
Tito was taking charge the situation in a really mature way and I felt a lot of confidence in him at this moment as a coach. It took the wind out of Kyacey’s sails without turning it into a big fight. If Tito had handled this situation more aggressively like many people might have, this situation could have been really ugly. I thought that addressing the situation in this way brought everybody on the red team more together.
Dodgeball
I know it is only a game, but this was still hard to watch. We got killed in this stupid game. Not only did we lose all 3 games, but we also lost the practice game – booooo we suck! Worst dodgeball team ever!
It was also funny to watch Chuck gloat over the game, to see his look on his face of his feelings of superiority over Tito was priceless. I don’t know if I have ever seen such unbridled happiness out of Chuck. I don’t even think he looked that happy when he beat Tito in their 2 original matches and all it took was a dodgeball game. But props to Chuck, he has an arm like a cannon.
Oh No You Didn’t!
Court called me out, and I thought it would be funny to wag my finger at him.
I think most people when they meet me think I am a bit weird. Also I do have a bit of a different sense of humor than most people and it takes them by surprise. I am pretty foul-mouthed and I like to make a lot of gay jokes.
Me and my friends back home find this shit funny, but in the context of the Ultimate Fighter house this humour got me labeled pretty quickly as the gay guy in the house. I think most of the guys in the house knew that I was joking but I also think some of the other guys thought I was a homo.
Regardless, I thought the situation was completely hilarious so I just kept going with it, and if anybody (usually Yager) ever said anything to me about being gay, I would usually just act even more gay until they shut up about it. I thought it was funny.
Anyway, we were all just sitting down at the bleachers waiting for the fight announcement. Chuck has control and there is only two guys left the Chuck can sick on me – Court McGee and Joe Henle. I figured Court was probably going to call me out because I couldn’t see him call Seth out because they just fought a few days earlier.
Chuck calls Court up and I was just sitting there waiting to be called. I thought it would be funny to give him the old finger wag like a southern United States diva.
I just figured they all thought I was gay anyway, so why not get a laugh out of it? Immediately after I did the finger wag everybody on both teams laughed and I got a mini-applause. I knew that after that little display I probably would be stuck with the gay label in the house, but it was well worth it.
Drugs
Watching Court tell the guys about his drug history was hilarious. I don’t know if he was aware of this while he was recounting his drug days, but he was horrifying everybody around the table with his little story. I could see them all just thinking “WTF?”
Now, after saying that, I also want to say that I really admire Court for getting over his addictions and pursuing his dreams. He is so strong about it, too. I was not on his team and I had no idea about his training until I watched the show. From watching him in training I can see that he is really committed and driven to become a better athlete.
Hammortree hurts his back
That was pretty scary for me to hear about. I was at a doctor’s appointment when the incident happened and when I got dropped off at the gym the guys had told me about an accident in training involving McCray and Hammortree. They made it sound like Hammortree could be paralyzed because he couldn’t feel his legs and was carried out on a stretcher. I was relieved to see he was alright when I got back to the house but it didn’t look like he would be healthy enough to pursue a wild-card spot. I did really feel bad for Hammortree. He is a good dude.
Training For Court
In training for this match I think that we all took it for granted that I would win the fight against Court and we definitely weren’t taking Court seriously. In hindsight this was definitely a mistake that could have cost me the match. Having fought Court now I know that he is tough as nails and there is no quit in the guy. He’s definitely not somebody to underestimate.
I can also see from the show that in training, they were taking me very seriously and had a solid game-plan for taking me out of my element. We definitely didn’t do anything like that for Court and really wish now that we had made a game plan around his strengths like they did for my own strengths.
Fight Day – Nick Ring versus Court McGee
It was funny to watch Hackleman talk to Court about me. Not only was he disrespecting my skills but he was bashing my hometown and implying that because I am from Calgary, there is no way I can be tough. Apparently, according to Hackleman, you need to live in California to be tough. I just thought that Hackleman was being pretty rude in saying that I’m a nobody, and making fun of my town just wasn’t necessary.
The Fight
I know that there was a lot of controversy surrounding this fight but I really don’t see what all the bitching was about. I clearly won round 1, and while Court did come back strong in round 2 I still won most of round 2.
The simple fact is that I hit Court more than he hit me using a wider array of weapons to do so. This type of competition is mixed martial arts and it involves a variety of techniques. It’s not just about punches and I am glad that the judges recognized that. I was able to tie him up on the majority of the punch exchanges. I felt like I controlled it a lot better than I am getting credit for on the video that spike put out (you’ll notice that most of the people they ask about the fight are on the blue team).
While it is quite clear that that round 2 was far from a domination, the fact is, I still won more of the round than I had lost. 60% is still better than 40% and it is still enough to win. It’s just simple math. I don’t like all the bitching because I fought very hard for that round and I took a lot of punishment and I also feel I earned it — even if it was close.
May I Offer Anybody A Temper Tantrum?
Calm down Chuck, you are waaaaay out of line. Chuck acts like he has never lost anything in his life. He looked pretty stupid stomping around like a child and if I were him I would be pretty embarrassed if people saw me throw a fit like that.
Yager Tools Chuck
I thought it was pretty hilarious to watch Chuck argue with Yager about what the outcome of what the fight should be. I thought it made Chuck look pretty silly to argue and lose his composure and try to make a point with Yager who is probably just arguing because it is fun to argue. Yager is very skilled at arguing and he has the ability to make anyone look stupid – on this particular day, that person is Chuck.
One more thing I should mention while I am bashing Chuck. Chuck is a world champion and one of the coaches on the show. He is in a high status position in this situation by default, and he should act like it. Watching him try to prove himself to Yager was extremely funny because he shouldn’t have to prove anything to Yager in the first place. By arguing with Yager, Chuck effectively lowered his own status and raised Yager’s without even realizing it. What makes that even worse is the fact that he was losing the argument. Yager tooled him.
Good job Chuck – go sit down.
Yager Is Finally Cool
I am going to give a shout out to Yager for sticking up for me against Chuck – that was the coolest thing you’ve done all season.
The air-horn was the second coolest thing you did, and calling me a bitch in training was the most un-cool thing you ever did. Two cool things minus one un-cool thing equals adequate in my book. Remember — I didn’t say we are boys yet, but you are alright.
Chuck And Dana – What Is Going On?
During Chuck’s little hissy fit I also noticed that he was holding Dana personally responsible for the decision. That really made me wonder what his deal was with Dana. Why was he so expectant of Dana to do something when it should have been so clear cut and not involved Dana?
It looked like to me from watching him “mad dog” Dana that he was pretty used to getting his way with him. Chuck was looking at Dana as if he wanted to punch him. He was looking at Dana as if he had let him down or broken his word. It was really immature on Chuck’s part because it was like Chuck just expects any fight that goes to a decision to automatically go to his fighter.
You want to see some bullshit? Watch next weeks episode.
