"TUF8" blog: Ryan Bader

Celtic Fan · Nov 20, 2008

yeah I agree, but it was funny... I got hit in the face with a porkchop!

Celtic Fan · Dec 5, 2008

Here's Episode 11 and 12's Blogs... Even Bader apologizes for his performance.

Well, what can I say? I could hardly watch my fight myself because it was so boring, and I will accept all the harsh comments wholeheartedly. I promise you this: I will never have a fight like that again, don't give up on me just yet.

Going into that semifinal fight, I felt I like I never showed up. I had a bad feeling about it for some reason, and I was trying to snap out of it, but it looked like I never did.

I let the pressure of getting into the finals cloud the way I fought. Eliot Marshall is a great guy and a well-rounded fighter for sure, but I definitely should have opened up my ground and pound while being on top. I was giving his jiu jitsu too much respect, and for some reason I didn't do a damn thing. I am very disappointed looking back at that fight even though I got the decision and advance to the finals next week.

I have had 10 fights in my career with eight stoppages. I have never had a fight like this, and I feel sick about it.

I talked to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira about it after the fight since I was tremendously disappointed, and he just told me that it happens sometimes and that he could tell before the fight that I wasn't my usual self. I am over it and looking forward to my finale fight and bringing in a whole new style. I hope you all can move on with me. On the 13th of December, you will see a new fighter.

Moving on, what can you say about Phillipe Nover -- other than he is an absolute beast! Yes, George Roop had a badly broken hand going into the fight, but it would have been the exact same result. Phillipe went right after him and landed big shots, and when it went to the ground, he kept his composure after being swept. He then quickly got the submission.

Efrain Escudero and I had actually fought on the same day. This was the second-to-last day that we were in the house.

The whole situation with Junie Browning basically was him trying to find an easy way out. You saw Junie saying himself that he didn't want to fight and to try to put Shane Nelson in his place. This could have been more out of sheer frustration, but there had to be some underlying feelings with his confidence.

Then another glass is thrown by Junie. Shane Primm was up late on the back porch with some guys from Team Mir talking about different match ups with the fighters. They were talking about a lot of guys, which included me. Junie was basically talking about Vinny Magalhaes's jiu jitsu and how if I went to the ground with him I would be done. Shane, sticking up for a teammate, told Junie that he has no clue what I had on the ground. Junie was also saying some things about other team members and even Nogueira himself.

That's when Shane started getting under Junie's skin with his saying, "I'm from the Show-Me State; don't tell me, show me" in that country accent. For some reason, this set Junie off, and he snapped.

He threw the mug at Primm's face and took two swings at him. Luckily Shane push kicked Junie away. I was in bed at this time with my earplugs in when Shane came down and woke me up. He was shaking -- not scared shaking, but that adrenaline, ready-to-go shaking. I told him that I wasn't surprised, and we agreed that Junie was looking for a way out.

I really think that Dana White hit the proverbial nail on the head when he was talking to Junie about him being afraid of failure. He straight called him out when Dana said Junie wanted to get kicked off, go home and tell everybody how he could have won the whole show. Being around Junie in the house, I could tell that he was not his cocky, confident self, and I think Efrian's cool attitude was definitely getting to him.

Dana came up and asked us what we wanted to do with Junie. We all knew he was looking for a way out, so we decided to keep him on and "beat him off," as Dana so eloquently said. Dana told us that if Junie got out of control after his fight, he would come right over and yank him out.

When it was time for the Junie vs. Efrian fight, I had just finished my own fight. So after I got the tape cut off my hands, I went out to watch what was about to go down. You always have to love a "grudge match."

The first round was close with both guys trading and going for a few takedowns. The second round was more of the same until Efrian got Junie to the ground. Junie rolled into him at one point, and Efrian slapped on the D'Arce choke. Junie never really tried to fight it at all and quickly tapped.

We were all excited that Junie got what was coming to him. The plan worked out perfectly, and Junie failed on national television. He took the loss pretty well, though. Yes, he made some comments after the fight that you saw on TV about if he can't beat Efrian he might as well quit. But in the house that day, he was fine and took his loss like a man.

The next match-up was the one I was really looking forward to watching. For one, it was because I would be fighting the winner. And two, this was a style match-up and somewhat of a grudge match too. Vinny was always talking about Krzysztof Soszynski disrespecting him and things. They also were out of the same training camp, which provided another interesting dynamic.

The fight started, and it went exactly how everybody thought it would. Krzysztof was winning the stand-up battle, and Vinny was winning on the ground. Vinny would rush Krzysztof and pull guard and immediately go to a "rubber guard" position. He was elbowing Krzysztof on the top of the head until the escape. Krzysztof then gave Vinny about 10 unanswered inside leg kicks. Vinny again pulled guard and quickly arm barred Krzysztof for the win. Vinny is a stud on the ground, and it was only a matter of time if it hit the mat that Krzysztof would be submitted.

So the finale card is set, and everybody that was on the show has a fight. Junie made the main card with his antics, so they did work a little I guess.

I have been training very hard for the finale fight. I am in great shape and look to definitely get an impressive win over Vinny. I have been working a ton on my stand up and submission defense. Vinny is a very dangerous opponent with the ability to end a fight very quickly with his slick submissions. I feel his weakness is his stand-up game, and I think you gain an advantage if you push him into the later rounds.

In this fight, I will not follow the game plan I did with the Eliot fight. I will be looking to finish the fight at all times.

Thank you for coming along with me for the ride, which was season eight of "The Ultimate Fighter." I will be back after the finale talking about the fights and will hopefully have that contract!

Thank you guys very much. You have all been great through this entire process!
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speeds · Dec 5, 2008

I'd love to see Stankie become a fixture of the show. The guy is jokes.

valo35 · Dec 6, 2008

He took the loss pretty well, though. Yes, he made some comments after the fight that you saw on TV about if he can't beat Efrian he might as well quit. But in the house that day, he was fine and took his loss like a man.
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With Bader writing this it just makes me wonder if maybe Dana asked him to act like that on the show for ratings, and everyone will want to tune in to watch him fight because no one knows what antics he will pull.

I would like to see Bader turn into a future stud, he seems like one of the good guys from the show. His wrestling opens up alot for him, so he does have a bright future.

I definately agree with Speeds though, it would be awesome if Stankie could stay around on the show, dude is just awesome and apparently really loves it. I would quite like to see him stick around.

Celtic Fan · Dec 6, 2008

Stankie is da man.. he should be a regular fixture on TUF IMO.

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"TUF8" blog: Ryan Bader

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"TUF8" blog: Ryan Bader

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speeds $2.50 highball, $1.50 beer Staff Member Administrator GFX Team

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