The Ultimate Fighter 3 Thread

[habbalah]

Yeah the ultimate fighter 3 was pretty good tonight. I wonder why Ken is going to skip out next week?

[Knapik]

Yeah the episode tonight was fantastic! It's getting better and better. Tito looks to be an awesome coach and a pretty good guy to boot. I think it's cool that Tito was kicking himself for not picking Ed... hope we get to see him fight in a couple weeks.

Next week looks awesome! Go Team Dagger!

[Mad Dog]

I keep thinking that Ken can't get any dumber week to week but he's pulling it off really well.

[Darth Turkish]

I have said it before, and I'll say it again,: Ken is a meathead, but he knows what to do in the Octagon.

[Shon Maxx]

This totally confuses me. Shamrock has run the Lion's Den for years. He knows everything about coaching. So why is he acting like a complete moron on TUF? This should be a cakewalk for him! Instead, he's acting like a #$#@ rookie in there.

I'm actuallying hoping Tito kicks his rear the next time the face!

Take care,

Jay

[habbalah]

knapik said:

Yeah the episode tonight was fantastic! It's getting better and better. Tito looks to be an awesome coach and a pretty good guy to boot. I think it's cool that Tito was kicking himself for not picking Ed... hope we get to see him fight in a couple weeks.

Next week looks awesome! Go Team Dagger!

Oh God.. I hope (it's funny and all I'm just saying)
this team Dagger business dies with this season. I sware if either of these to goofs do that nonsence when there in the big show I'm gonna tare my hair out. It's sooo irratating (but yeah I laughed my *** off.)

[LWPD]

Tonight the Light Heavyweights are up for elimination.

LWPD (with Noah safe and with Bisping & Hamill still on deck I wouldn't be shocked if we see an all Team Ortiz LH Semi-Finals...it may all come down to the skills of Josh Haynes)

[LWPD]

Courtesy of wrestlingobserver.com

Ultimate Fighter interview with Jesse Forbes

by Jason Milloff

Conducted on 4/24/06

Question: What motivated you to tryout this season for “The Ultimate Fighter?”

Jesse Forbes: “I have been involved with amateur wrestling pretty much my whole life. I’ve only been training in MMA for a year now. I viewed the show as a win/win situation. I knew going in that most of the fighters were going to have a lot more experience than me. I went in thinking, what’s the worse that could happen? I lost my first fight on the show but I ended up getting my foot in the door.”

Question: Why do you think you were chosen as one of the sixteen fighters cast for this season?

Jesse Forbes: “I think a lot of it had to do with my personality. I came in and acted like a character. I’m sure they probably thought I would be good for TV. I can fight and everything but I also realized they were looking for fighters who would be entertaining on the show.”

Question: During the initial evaluations, what were your impressions of Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock?

Jesse Forbes: “It was actually pretty surprising. I had only seen them on television before all this. Going in, I thought they were both going to have big egos and come off as jerks. Neither one acted like that at all. If they do have egos, they set them aside for the purpose of the show. I was a little surprised when Ken made me the first pick for his team. I knew I really tore it up during those initial practice sessions and left a good impression. I just went with things from there.”

Question: What did you think of Ken Shamrock as a coach? What was it like being a member of his team?

Jesse Forbes: “I’m sure Ken Shamrock is a great guy and all. It just didn’t seem like he had everything together as far as coaching was concerned. Some of his methods came off as odd. The coaching staff he brought along didn’t really have much to offer. Tito brought in an excellent standup coach and Jui Jitsu coach. Our team didn’t really have that at our disposal. I think a lot of us became frustrated because we didn’t feel like we were getting the quality of training that Tito’s team was receiving. The fighters tried to pay Ken his respect as a coach. I don’t know. Maybe some of the guys didn’t respect him. I just think it was more of a case where the guys were comparing him up against Tito Ortiz.

I don’t want to say that Ken Shamrock is a bad coach. I’ll just say that we weren’t working as hard as we should have been. The training I do back home is a lot more demanding. My cardio actually went down hill on the show. I realized that when I returned home and began training with my team again.”

Question: A lot of people have scoffed at the fact that Ken Shamrock brought in Dan Freeman to act as his team’s nutrionalist. What exactly did having such a coach bring to the table?

Jesse Forbes: “I don’t really know. When he was first introduced, everyone was skeptical but we figured he might have something to offer. We were thinking that he would sit us down and design each of us an individual plan to follow. That didn’t really happen. He was helpful when it came to holding the pads. He would help Ken yell at us. Other than that, he wasn’t much of a factor. I’m not a nutrionalist or anything but as an athlete, I already have a pretty good idea of what I need to be eating. Cutting weight wasn’t much of an issue for most of the light heavyweights. I had to come down from 213 lbs. I think Noah Inhafer was walking around at 217 lbs. The middleweights were the ones that really had to watch their weight. Most of them were over 200 lbs. coming in and had to drop down to 185 lbs.

Question: What was the story behind the verbal altercation between Kalib Starnes and Ken Shamrock during that one team practice session?

Jesse Forbes: “They sort of showed the gist of everything behind it. I know that Kalib had a broken foot that was bothering him during practice that day. They kind of kept that under wraps on the show. He had x-rays for it and everything so I’m pretty sure Ken was aware of the injury. Sometime during the practice, his foot started bothering him so he limped away from what was going on. That’s when Ken started yelling and insinuated that Kalib wasn’t a team player. That wasn’t the case at all. Out of all the fighters on my team, I probably learned the most from Kalib. I’m thinking Ken must have been in a bad mood that day.

There were a lot of things building up that was going to lead to eventual words coming out between the fighters and the coaches. The fighters were unhappy about how the practices were being run. Ken had us wearing boxing gloves and headgear while we were sparring. I didn’t let it bother me but it was a real big pain to train in. It made things real awkward on the ground to where we couldn’t really work any techniques. I just tried to push all the negativity aside and concentrate on what I needed to do.”

Question: For the show’s first light heavyweight fight, Ken Shamrock matched you up against Noah Inhafer. How much say did the fighters have in regards to who their opponent would be?

Jesse Forbes: “As far as my team was concerned, Ken Shamrock had the final say in who was going to fight and who their opponent would be. We discussed everything as a group but it was pretty much out of my hands. I didn’t really care who my opponent was going to be. My top two choices were Noah and Josh Haynes. I ended up with Noah and that didn’t quit go the way I planned.”

Question: It seemed like a lot of the fighters didn’t care too much for Noah. Was there something about his personality that brought forth such a reaction from his peers?

Jesse Forbes: “Noah would tend to whine and bitch a lot. The show provided all of us with a great opportunity. Everything was taken care of for us. All we had to worry about was our training and our upcoming fights. There wasn’t anything to whine and bitch about. I think that’s where he rubbed people the wrong way. They aired the footage of Noah and Tait going at it. Noah just seemed to find himself in the middle of a lot of incidents like that.”

Question: Let me ask you about Tait Fletcher. He seems to be one of the more controversial personalities on the show this season. How was your relationship with him?

Jesse Forbes: “I had a good relationship with him. Tait is a real great guy and a good fighter. I know a lot of fans who watch the show think he’s a jerk. I think that’s just because he’s a pretty outspoken guy. If someone got in his face, he would get right back in theirs. He came in wanting to have a good time and to train hard. I have nothing but good things to say about Tait.”

Question: Footage was shown of you being rather destructive around the house. A lot of the property you destroyed didn’t belong to you. Did those actions bring forth any ramifications?

Jesse Forbes: “Yeah, I got bitched out pretty good. When I shattered the vase, the producers stepped in right away. They were worried that the broken glass could have hurt one of the guys, forcing them to be unable to fight. I actually had to reimburse them for the cost of the vase. Nothing was mentioned about me stabbing the basketball. I didn’t have to pay for it. I lucked out with that I guess (laughing.)”

Question: While preparing for your fight against Noah, what type of strategy did Ken Shamrock want you to follow?

Jesse Forbes: “I don’t have a lot of experience but I’m aware of what my strengths are. I have good hands and strong wrestling skills. Shamrock wanted me to get the takedown right away. If my regular coaches were corning me during that fight, I think I would have been advised to keep it standing. I knew the armbar was there for him to take. I got over aggressive and my mind just froze up.”

Question: What did Shamrock say to you after the fight? A lot of viewers thought he came across as having a nonchalant attitude towards your loss.

Jesse Forbes: “Ken didn’t have too much to say after the fight. He told me to keep at it and that I had a lot of potential. There wasn’t any long drawn out goodbyes or anything like that. It was pretty short and sweet.”

Question: Would you want to be coached by Ken Shamrock in the future?

Jesse Forbes: “No, I would not. I don’t have any regrets about my time on the show. If I had to pick one though, I would have probably wanted to work with Tito Ortiz more.”

Question: What were your impressions of Dana White?

Jesse Forbes: “Dana was a real good guy. He wasn’t that involved in most of process. He really kept a low profile throughout the show. He would emerge during the fights or if something real important was going down. Other than that, he mainly hung out in the back office and let the fighters and the coaches do their thing.”

Question: What are your future plans in regards to Mixed Martial Arts?

Jesse Forbes: “I currently train at “Arizona Combat Sports” in Tempe. My main instructors are Trevor Lally (Muay Thai) and Gustavo Dantas (Brazilian Jui Jitsu). Drew Ficket and Jesse Moreng are two of the more well known fighters that train there along with me. Tim McKenzie just came over to us from the Cesar Gracie Camp. I’m going to keep training hard and continue to improve on the areas I need work on.”

[Knapik]

I just read a recap of the Kris/Bisping fight... was it all Bisping? How'd they look in the cage?

[Darth Turkish]

Well, Kristian did not look like he wanted to be there. Bisping was all heart and Kristian had the "this should be fun" look.
Thus Kristian had no ferocity or desire and when he got hurt, he was done.

[LWPD]

knapik said:

I just read a recap of the Kris/Bisping fight... was it all Bisping? How'd they look in the cage?

Ha...like you don't know where to go if you want to watch it yourself.

The story arc for this episode was largely focused on Bisping.....who was very impressive in his victory. He showed an effective sprawl, used vicious elbows when he did go to the guard and was Liddell-esque with quickly getting up from the bottom. He was very effective at on his feet with heavy hands and busted Kris open from the clinch with a vicious knee. The fight was very fast paced from start to finish which caused a bloody beaten Kris to gas before the end of the first round before the ref mercy stopped it.

LWPD (Bisping is a killer and I was hoping we'd see him match up with potential sleeper Mike Nichols...an eventual match with Hamill would also be fun to watch)

[LWPD]

Here is an interview with TUF 3 Middleweight Semi-Finalist Kendall Groves.

Courtesy of WrestlingOberver.com

Kendall Groves Interview
Conducted by Jason Milloff on 4/24/06

Question: Growing up in Hawaii, was Mixed Martial Arts a big part of that culture?

Kendall Groves: “Not really. It’s huge now but that wasn’t the case until around five or six years ago. Enson and Egan Inoue were doing their thing and running a school in Oahu but that was pretty much it. BJ Penn breaking into the scene helped popularize the sport on the islands. When BJ started to become successful, schools started opening up all over the place. Young fighters used to have a real hard time finding quality places to train locally. If you lived in Maui, you would have to travel to Oahu in order to receive professional level Jui Jitsu training at “Grapplers Unlimited”. Training opportunities were hard to come by until around the year 2000.”

Question: When did you first become involved in Mixed Martial Arts?

Kendall Groves: “I started training around 2001/2002. I used to get into a lot of street fights growing up. As you can see, I’m not exactly the biggest or strongest guy in the world. I used to get my butt handed to me a lot. I had a buddy who was a blue belt in Jui Jitsu. He had the keys to a gym and we would go there every night and work out. I had wrestled in school and really enjoyed the one on one nature of it. Jui Jitsu had that same element. After training for awhile, I realized that I was actually becoming pretty good. I figured if I committed myself even further, I could become great.”

Question: In what city did you tryout for the show?

Kendall Groves: “I tried out in Las Vegas. I actually live in Las Vegas now. My roommate is Joe Stevenson. He won the whole competition last season. I went to see him fight in last season’s finale. I ended up talking with a few people who thought I would be good on the show. When they began casting for the 3rd season, I got a tape together and sent it in. I have a happy go lucky personality. A lot of people call me a comedian. The producers and Dana White liked what they saw in me. Everything pretty much took off from there.”

Question: What were the first few days of training like on the show?

Kendall Groves: “It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Joe (Stevenson) had told me that I needed to be prepared and get into good shape. He said they were going to try and break me those first couple of days. I showed up in excellent shape. I was prepared to die during the first few days of training. I think they were more lenient this season as far as the training went. They were more observant of what skills we had coming in. They wanted to see where our skill levels were at and then work with us from there. They drilled us on a lot of techniques. That kind of threw me off guard. I kept waiting for them to throw us on the treadmill for a few hours. I thought the way they evaluated us in the beginning was a good thing. They didn’t set out to kill us or anything. I don’t think they wanted any injuries or anyone quitting this season. They assumed we came in prepared and ready to go.”

Question: After each coach evaluated the fighters, was there a general consensus that everyone wanted to be coached by Tito Ortiz rather than Ken Shamrock?

Kendall Groves: “There was sort of a mixed reaction at first. A lot of the guys assumed that Tito Ortiz was just like the character he plays on TV. They thought he might be real arrogant and hard to get along with. Tito’s strengths are his cardio and strong wrestling skills. A lot of the fighters came in with a strong wrestling background and thought that Ken Shamrock might have more to offer them as a coach. I knew right away that I wanted to be on Tito’s team.

Solomon (Hutchinson) and I had a conversation about this during the first few days of the show. Solomon came in as a real strong wrestler but he lacked submissions. He felt that Shamrock would be the better coach for what his game needed. I knew I wanted to improve on my wrestling and takedown defense. I thought Tito would be the better fit for me. The majority of the fighters wanted to be coached by Tito but it wasn’t one-sided at first. Once the teams were selected, everyone wanted to be on Tito’s team. The fighters on Shamrock’s team weren’t too happy with the way he coached.”

Question: What was it about Ken Shamrock’s coaching style that upset his team so much?

Kendall Groves: “Shamrock didn’t seem too dedicated as a coach. Tito really gave us his time and showed us that he really cared. He wanted to see all of us go really far in this sport. Tito showed us things during practices that he has never showed anyone before. After the show stopped filming, I talked with a lot of the guys who were a part of Shamrock’s team. They all thought he was there just for the paycheck. I heard he didn’t even want to do the show at first but when he heard Tito was going to be the other coach, that’s when he became interested. He just wanted that rematch. I think Ken was there just to promote himself.”

Question: How much can a fighter improve during the course of the show?

Kendall Groves: “I think they can improve a lot. Just look at me. After my first fight aired, I had people coming up to me all the time. They were saying that I looked like a whole different fighter out there. That’s because of the coaching I received from Tito Ortiz, Dean Lister, and Saul Soliz. They made me comfortable with my skills. I always had good hands and dangerous elbows but I was scared to break out of that shell. My wrestling defense has improved dramatically. Training under Saul Soliz improved my striking tremendously. If there’s a dream team of coaches, I think those three are it. Between the three of them, they have every aspect of the fight game covered.”

Question: During the show, you appeared to form a real tight bond with Solomon Hutchinson. Did this friendship cause any friction among your teammates or coaches?

Kendall Groves: “No, I don’t think anyone cared. I see a lot of fans are bashing both of us on the internet now. I was reading some feedback where I was called a piece of shoot for turning my back on my team. I had just met some of those guys who were on my team during the show. It’s hard to say they are my actual teammates. The way the show was set up, teammates could end up fighting each other anyways. There is only going to be one winner in each weight class. When I met Solomon, I could tell he was a true guy. We had a lot of things in common and we could see where each other was coming from. We bonded before teams were even selected.”

Question: “Was there anyone on the cast you didn’t get along with?

Kendall Groves: “You know that! The only guy I really had a problem with was Rory Singer. He was always nagging and complaining about things. I think he was just ungrateful about the whole experience. For all the complaining he did during the show, I know there are fighters out there who would have killed to have his spot. Kristian (Rotheraermel) bothered me a little bit just because he’s an idiot. Other than that, I got along pretty good with everyone else.”

Question: Why was Ross Pointon selected as your first opponent on the show?

Kendall Groves: “I wanted to fight Ross because he was acting like a punk around the house. He would bump into me and give me this smile. He acted like he wanted to fight me! After awhile, we were just doing things back and forth to get on each others nerves. I was just like [censored] it, let’s scrap. I asked Tito to make the fight happen once we got control of choosing the matchups.

I didn’t want to pick Kalib Starnes or Ed Herman right away. If that’s how it went down though, I would have been fine with it. I knew this was a competition and I was prepared to fight anyone. Those two came in as proven fighters. By me getting the chance to fight either one of them, it would give me the opportunity to prove myself. I came in as a B class fighter and wanted to leave as an A class fighter.”

Question: Did your fight with Pointon go exactly as planned?

Kendall Groves: Oh yeah! Michael Bisping had fought Ross in England once before. He was able to give me some advice leading up to the fight. I knew he was going to come out throwing that lead kick. After our first exchange, I felt comfortable. I could see in his eyes he was tense. He was nervous of me taking him down. Right then and there, I knew he was mine.”

Question: Was making weight a struggle for the fighters this season?

Kendall Groves: “All of us made weight pretty easily. Kalib (Starnes) had problems getting the last couple of pounds off before his fight but he’s used to that. This was the first time I felt good after cutting down to 185 pounds. Before the show, cutting weight would make me real light-headed and nauseous. I felt real good fighting at 185 lbs. during the show though. I was dehydrated and everything but I felt good. Tito filled me in on what I was doing wrong in the past and showed me how to cut weight properly. I felt real healthy. Mike Stine and Danny Abaddi came in right on weight. They walked around at 185 lbs. Mike Bisping walked around at 210 lbs. Everybody this season was able to manage their weight without any issues.”

Question: Did you see the Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin fight?

Kendall Groves: “Yeah, I was in Tito’s corner. I scored it pretty much how it went. It was a real close fight. The thing that won it for Tito was that very last takedown. Thank God he got that takedown because I don’t think he would have won that fight without it.”

Question: When did you become aware of the injury Ortiz sustained leading up to the fight?

Kendall Groves: “About two and a half weeks before the show was up, Tito and Dean Lister were working with each other. They were doing takedowns and his knee twisted and sort of tweaked on him. He thought he might have partially sprained his knee so he took it easy for a few days. When he started training again everything appeared to be better. He would be in pain while training but he wouldn’t show it.

It wasn’t until after the show that he found out how severe the injury to his knee had become. He called me to go up to Big Bear with him and help him train for his fight. When we were up there, he hurt his back as well. Because of his injuries, we started training two days on and two days off. Shortly after that, his knee just totally gave out while doing drills. That’s when the practices really started to be cut short. He couldn’t spar as many rounds as he usually does because of the pain. He really wanted to train but his body wouldn’t let him.”

Question: Will you continue training with Tito Ortiz in the future?

Kendall Groves: Yeah, if he wants me to. He told me he really likes training with me because I’m young and raw. I’m not scared to get in there and bang with him. When he told me that he wanted me to be a part of his camp for his upcoming fight, I was honored. When I first got involved in the sport, Tito Ortiz was my hero. He was the fighter I would watch and want to emulate. I wore a pair of white trunks with the flames during my first MMA fight because that’s the kind Tito wore. I never thought I would end up being coached by him and be up at Big Bear helping him prepare for a fight. Justin McCully, Quinton Jackson, Dean Lister, and Saul Soliz were all up there helping him train. It was amazing to be around such a group of fighters.”

Question: Irregardless of how you place on the show, is the UFC the promotion you ultimately want to work for? Could you see yourself returning to Hawaii and fighting for some of the local promotions back home?

Kendall Groves: “My heart will always be in Hawaii. It all depends on what the UFC wants from me. I would fight for Rumble on the Rock or ICON any day if allowed. I love fighting in front of the fans in Hawaii. They are so appreciate and love their local fighters. I just want to be pushed and challenged. I want to fight good opponents. Right now, the UFC is the place for that. I wouldn’t mind be with the UFC for a long time.”

[LWPD]

Tonight the middle weights are up for elimination. So far Kendall Groves and Kalib Starnes have secured spots in the MW Semi Finals.

LWPD (in spite of their coach...Team Shamrock may have a chance to take back control here...Abaddi is the weak link so Singer/Hutcherson may be Tito's best option)

[Darth Turkish]

Team Shamrock is falling apart.

It does not seem like Shammy even cares.

Also, the "confrontation" between Tito and Shammy looked forced and like a piece the WWE performers would do.

Who says "I'm going to knock your head in" anymore?

[habbalah]

turkish said:

Team Shamrock is falling apart.

It does not seem like Shammy even cares.

Also, the "confrontation" between Tito and Shammy looked forced and like a piece the WWE performers would do.

Who says "I'm going to knock your head in" anymore?

Same person who says "I will beat the living death out of you."

Ask me a harder question. And Ken is a wwf (and i say wwf cause that's what it was at that time) (former) super star. What do you expect?

I was ammused, so thanks Ken. You gave me a chuckle.

I think Shammy did care today, I think he relized he was getting tooled on the show. (team wise).

Which has become a one sides afair.

Which.. in all honesty.. isn't all that entertaining. I was hopping for at least a little success from Ken (but hay lol I'll live with pure failure some how).

OH well team rocke.... erm team dagger was fun while it lasted.

[LWPD]

Solomon showed heart but gassed. While Rory is extremely annoying to listen to...he's a complete fighter who showed a good defensive guard, displayed strong cardio, used his reach advantage effectively and followed Ortiz's advice to a victory.

LWPD (at this point Ken is just embarrassing himself...I can see Herman winning or maybe Haynes/Hamill getting caught in a submission...but if these victories do occur they won't have anything to do with Ken's 'coaching skills'....he's been completely outclassed since the first episode)

"Guys..maybe we can uh...put our heads together..uh...we gotta keep doing stuff so uh...we're not wasting time."

-The Team Shamrock nutritionist in lieu of a Team Ortiz's world class submission coach filling in for a once again absent Coach Ken Shamrock

[Mr. Jimmyface]

Team Shamrock is a joke when it comes to the training aspect. Shamrock's training regimen looks weak compared to Tito Ortiz. But that's something you could figure out looking at Team Punishment's 4 and 1 record now, isn't it? Or maybe it's the fact that Ortiz OWNS Shamrock in The Octagon? Who can say...

(LWPD, for the record, is my new hero. Anyone who quotes The Godfather is cool by me!)

[habbalah]

larstoxik said:

Team Shamrock is a joke when it comes to the training aspect. Shamrock's training regimen looks weak compared to Tito Ortiz. But that's something you could figure out looking at Team Punishment's 4 and 1 record now, isn't it? Or maybe it's the fact that Ortiz OWNS Shamrock in The Octagon? Who can say...

(LWPD, for the record, is my new hero. Anyone who quotes The Godfather is cool by me!)

Yeah I noticed LWPD kinda picked up Duce's old roll.

(The go to guy at the cotg forum more or less).
Thanks for all your time and work. I'd call you LW.. but your names already abbreviated and that would make me look super lazy.
Honestly the ultimate fighter season 3 really seems like it's one long display that Ken really has no business being involved in mma. Not even as a trainer. It's amazing he keeps topping each fowl up, worse than the last each time he pops up in mma for the last few years.

[LWPD]

Rory Singer vs Solomon Hutcherson

tinyurl.com/g8k3b

LWPD (TUF 3 Episode 5...Light Heavyweight elimination match)

[LWPD]

Courtesy of The Boston Herald

Tough guy: Matt Hamill proves deafness no bar to ‘Ultimate Fighter’

By Mark A. Perigard

In a crowd of fighters, heavyweight Matt Hamill stands out. The award-winning wrestler has become a fan favorite on the Spike TV reality show “The Ultimate Fighter” (Thursdays at 10 p.m.). Hamill, 30, was born deaf and seems a natural to go all the way for the show’s grand prize, a six-figure contract.

“Naturally, a lot of people, not only the fighters, would underestimate me because of my hearing loss,” Hamill said in a series of e-mails. “But I didn’t think anything would be held against me because of my deafness. I know my true potential, and I wanted to prove that. On top of that, I have been training for six months, and I like to shock and awe the more experienced fighters with all the surprises this deaf guy has in store for them.”

In the premiere last month, coach Tito Ortiz stunned some when he picked Hamill to be the first man on his squad. Asked about that moment, Hamill said, “I was shocked, surprised, excited and relieved as well. Just imagine if (rival coach Ken) Shamrock picked me? Do you think he would take all his time with me to communicate with me? (I think not.) Hence, Tito, he’s got a big heart. I’m sure that’s why he picked me - because he saw in me what I didn’t see in myself. . . . Great things are to happen with him coaching me.”

Some of Hamill’s teammates have carped to the camera that he is Ortiz’s pet. “I ignore that label,” Hamill said. “I’ve been training very hard to reach the top, and I have the heart to be a champion. I know what I am capable of.” Hamill grew up in Loveland, Ohio, and started wrestling when he was 6. He became a three-time NCAA wrestling champion and a 2004 inductee into the Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame.

The divorced father of a 5-year-old girl was working as a bouncer in a Utica, N.Y., bar one night when he was forced to use his moves to subdue some troublemakers. A cousin of another bouncer who works for Ultimate Fighting Championship suggested he try out for the show, Hamill said.

At first he was intimidated about moving into the house and being followed by cameras. “But then I got those thoughts out of my head and just followed my heart, and my heart is telling me, ‘You can do it!’” His training regimen consists of jujitsu, boxing, Muy Thai and cardio conditioning. He can’t reveal the outcome of the show (the live finale airs in June) but did say he is also training for the 2008 Olympic freestyle wrestling competition.

“I’m more than a wrestler. My mind is like a sponge. I absorb things quickly and I think being determined, with that attitude, is one of the additional things needed to prepare for UFC. “It’s all in the mind, the body and the soul.”