Mac Danzig’s Ultimate Fighter Blog (Episode 8)
November 8th, 2007, 1:25 am · 15 Comments · posted by Carlos Arias
Mac Danzig is one of 16 welterweight fighters competing for a UFC contract on the sixth season of Spike TV’s reality series “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Danzig has fought at 155 pounds for most of his career, capturing titles in King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge and the IFC. He is stepping up to 170 pounds for the opportunity to fight in the TUF 6 competition and make it to the big show, the UFC.
UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and former two-time UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes will be the coaches this season.
OCRegister.com readers will get to follow Danzig along for the ride as he trains, lives and fights with the other TUF 6 contestants. Danzig will have a weekly blog on ocregister.com. He will give his opinions, observations and a behind-the-scenes look at everything that’s going on with the fighters in the TUF 6 house.
TUF 6 airs on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Spike TV, and Danzig’s blog will post immediately following each episode.
EPISODE 8
So this episode, we finally get to see some footage of the great Tommy Speer.
Just like Billy said, Tommy bears a very close resemblance (personality-wise) to a “robot”. We were all pretty burnt out in general, and trying to get emotion out of any of us, let alone someone like Tommy, was like trying to get blood from a stone, or getting Jon Koppenhaver to say something intelligent. Oh wait, we’ll get to him in a minute.
Matt Hughes was just trying to get us all motivated, but Tommy Speer is as quiet and reserved as they come. Hughes wanted emotion from him, but sometimes being emotionless is good in this sport. He was also the youngest on the show. I recall many, many hours in which Tommy spent simply staring blankly at the ceiling. He had an innate ability to stay in one position quietly for hours upon end. I had no problem with this. He really was the perfect roommate.
Although he was a vicious pool player, I don’t remember him doing much besides laying in bed, training hard, and playing “gin“ with Bowman. Seldom was the occasion that he ever complained, talked loudly, voiced an opinion, or spoke in general. I really liked Tommy. He is a simple guy, doesn’t get involved with too much deep thought, and has a toughness instilled in him that someone like Koppenhaver could never fathom, no matter how many horribly-placed tattoos of inanimate weapons he puts on his body.
Ah yes, the “War Machine.“ You know, they say if you don’t have anything good to say about somebody, don’t say anything at all. For some reason, this guy has felt the need to spend hours of his own time in online chat rooms, trying to talk bad about me. I’ll let that speak for itself. I have a job to do. It’s called training full-time and fighting. If I spent all my time and money getting tattooed and spray-tanned, I might look more like your typical “So-Cal” meat-head, but I would suck horribly at fighting. Case in point.
During the fight, (which took place the same day, roughly 30 minutes after J-Roc’s loss) I was completely distraught. All the pressure of being the only person on the team to win a fight (and the incredibly negative feeling that brought) cumulated, and I felt sick. I was in a real bad place when John had Tommy’s back, looking to sink the choke. The blood was flowing and everyone from Serra’s team yelled “He tapped!” I felt like walking out of the gym to clear my mind.
The entire time up until then, I had done my best not to buy-in to the “Team Serra vs. team Hughes” concept, but when Tommy reversed John and got on top, it was war. I’m not sure if I ever cheered so hard for somebody. At the end of the fight, they were both exhausted, but Tommy was standing while “War Machine” laid there.
Finally, a victory.
Be sure to watch next week. I have a feeling it may be good. …
To check out Mac’s blog for Episode 1, click here.
To check out Mac’s blog for Episode 2, click here.
To check out Mac’s blog for Episode 3, click here.
To check out Mac’s blog for Episode 4, click here.
To check out Mac’s blog for Episode 5, click here.
To check out Mac’s blog for Episode 6, click here.
To check out Mac’s blog for Episode 7, click here.
CARLOS ARIAS/The Register
November 8th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Tommy by very boring LnP.
November 8th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
The guy has very little training in MMA, I mean he had mount for a good 2 minutes but he didn’t finish him. Tommy has incredible heart and toughness and is a beast, just needs a little bit more training and he will be a formidable and future top 10 welter weight. The guy is only 22 right now, he’s going to be an absolute beast in a few years. btw I don’t think I’ve yelled at my TV more then I did in this fight, Tommy all the way with this.
November 8th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
John could barely walk straight after the first round, they couldn’t even get him to crawl to a chair at the end of the 2nd.
That’s not what lay and pray does to its victims, that’s the effect of a good ground and pound.
November 8th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
LnP? Are you a … moron? If he tried to sub him he would of lost position, if he committed too much to his punches he would of been bucked off. He did what he needed to win and tried to finish him, its hard to finish a vet. LnP is just an ignorant term used by morons who hate wrestlers.
November 8th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
How the hell did tommy survive that choke !
As to lay and pray.. I dont think “War” would have (or maybe even could have) stood up to dance after the 2 min trying to choke a tree trunk. Incredible.
Didnt Hughes mention the word Champion when talking about tommy last night?
Guess i shouldnt be surprised then.
Bravo to all the athletes this season. Its been a stellar season of MMA.
November 8th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
I have to say I didnt like Mac very much while watching the first few episodes. I felt he came off cocky, and acted like he was better than everyone else, in an arrogant way.
But upon finding these blogs, and reading what he has to say, I must admit that ive warmed up to him quite a bit. Enough in fact to actually pick someone to pull for in winning this season, which I was having a tough time doing.
Keep up the great posts Mac, I am already looking forward to next weeks.
November 9th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
“horribly-placed tattoos of inanimate weapons”
Wow. I think I just found my new favorite blog.
“took place the same day, roughly 30 minutes after J-Roc’s”
Really? I guess I bought into the fake timeline they project on the show: matchup, weighin, fight, matchup, weigh in, fight, rinse and repeat.
How many days did it take to do the first 8 preliminary fights?
November 9th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Mac, Since you seem like an intelligent person, I would think that you would intuit that Jon’s emotional developement stopped when his father died and he has a lot of unresolved grief issues. Nothing hurts worse than trying lifesaving CPR and failing to save the person’s life. That the deceased is a parent compounds the shock and feeling of failure and “could I have done more,” or “did I not do it right?” I hope you are never in that possition. Jon needs people to help him overcome his feelings of inadequacey and let him know it is okay to be a survivor; it’s what his father would have wanted. You are fortunate to be in a position to make a difference in his life, as well as being a well grounded role model and a source of support, rather than a critic.
November 13th, 2007 at 2:39 am
“horribly-placed tattoos of inanimate weapons”
haha. yea that’s a great line .. it made me think of Brock Lesnar’s lame tattoo.
November 14th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Pulling for you all the way Mac. I love the blog and your aspiration to look at your less positive traits and work with them.
May all beings be happy- including the ones who get beat down…
November 14th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Gradee- I mean no offense, but you are also coming from the point of view of a critic. The show seems like a highly stressful grind, and it’s not built to bring out the best qualities in people. Reality tv wants to bring out the worst qualities, so the cameras can capture the fighting and the drama that sells.
And no one who has watched some edited pieces on tv can know if Jon’s emotional development stopped when his dad died. Jon might not know that himself. We don’t. The guy “seems” like an extremely annoying person to live with, in my opinion, but all I know is the little the cameras have shown me and my own opinions. No offense intended to you.
November 14th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Honestly, gradee, you need to shut up and stop being so emotional. People go though problems all the time and I’m sure every fighter in that house has his problems, you just didn’t hear about them.
Why should Mac have been obligated to be War Machine’s “well grounded role model”? This is the Ultimate Fighter, not Dr. Phil.
And by the way, the series is over in real life, so if you want to go give Jon a hug I’m sure you’ll be able to find him on a beach somewhere.
November 16th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Where is the blog for episode 9?
November 17th, 2007 at 2:55 am
hey…whats with the lag between BLOGS? i enjoy the insight from nature boys comments. if you read your comments in this stuff MAC…i am also involved in the ’street art scene’ in los angeles…and for my next ’street art’ thing, i will street art the side of some (stuff) with your ugly mug, profile shot with that east bay funk hair style you rock.
yo, i got my money on you to win the whole thing….f. dot up that austrailian in the finals…or maybe red head farm hand.
seacrest out
November 19th, 2007 at 1:58 am
The idea of finding Jon on the beach and giving him a hug is certainly interesting, but as my friends would tell you, it would probably scar, and maybe scare him for life. I forgot about the real-time factor of the show, and my admiration for Mac and his love for nature helped me make the leap that he could have offered understanding to someone who needed it. He does certainly go out of his way to hug and love on Blake Bowman in the next episode.