TUF 8 Sherblog: It’s All About the Shrink-wrap
Krzysztof Soszynski Oct 2, 2008
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 wouldn’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 five-bedroom, five-bathroom mansion with two living rooms and a massive kitchen. We had three 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 and internet, stereo or books. You had 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 told me
that he would 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. 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 watching Antwain Britt get 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.
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 downtime 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 five hours of searching was priceless! It was around 1 a.m. 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 received a nine-day suspension from the athletic commission -- three days for every round he fought. All I can say about Bader vs. Lawlor is underhook, underhook, underhook. 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 underhooks 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 cakewalk. Bader’s physical strength was also a definite advantage; he controlled Tom very well from the top. Tom is a smaller light heavyweight (he doesn’t even have to cut weight) and I think he would be better suited for 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.
The house was spectacular five-bedroom, five-bathroom mansion with two living rooms and a massive kitchen. We had three 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 and internet, stereo or books. You had 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.
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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. 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 watching Antwain Britt get 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, then would show me
the list. The biggest shock was that Nog did not pick Vinny
Magalhaes. Both are Brazilian and jiu-jitsu black belts, so 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 downtime 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 five hours of searching was priceless! It was around 1 a.m. 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 received a nine-day suspension from the athletic commission -- three days for every round he fought. All I can say about Bader vs. Lawlor is underhook, underhook, underhook. 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 underhooks 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 cakewalk. Bader’s physical strength was also a definite advantage; he controlled Tom very well from the top. Tom is a smaller light heavyweight (he doesn’t even have to cut weight) and I think he would be better suited for 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.
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