How’s everyone doing? I wanted to thank you for reading my recaps here at BloodyElbow.com. I wanted say with UWC 8 right around the corner, you’ll have a couple of chances to come hang with me. There will be a TUF viewing party with me, teammate Jamie Yager and Jason “Fearless” Frank aka the Green Power Ranger. We’re still working out the location, but stay tuned to my Twitter feed for info. I’ll also be at UWC 8 on May 22nd.
Onto the show.
The show started off with a recap of last’s week fight between Nick and Court. They showed footage of Nick talking to a doctor about his knee. Here’s the weird part. I know his knee was busted up. There’s no doubt about that. But just two or three weeks after this fight Nick was doing heavy squats during training. Was he as injured as the show made him look? More on that in a minute.
The fight for this week was announced: Joe Henle vs. Seth Baczynski. Seth’s a great guy and a great teammate. Seth looked good in the eliminator fight and in training. His fight with Court McGee was close and Seth showed well-rounded skills. In training he was really able to work us over with his guard and top conditioning. I also think even though Seth has a few losses on his record this experience was a big help over a novice like Joe.
Joe might have been the nicest guy in the entire house. He would whistle when he walked around. His mood was almost always good and he always seemed up for whatever. Maybe it’s just me, but that might be part of the reason why he lost. The thing is, Joe was nice to everyone, but never seemed to form a tight bond with anyone. I can’t say for sure why that was, but I know having someone to lean on helped a lot. He also worked hard in training, but never really had a sense of urgency about anything. There were times I just wanted to put some savage in him to fire him up. He was one of the better athletes and showed a lot of promise, but I think to go far he’s going to need to be a lot hungrier.
Back to Nick’s injury. You never really know how injured another man is. I’m also sure he wasn’t 100 percent. But I can’t lie and say I’m a little suspect of Nick’s injury. Like I said before, the guy was doing heavy squating in training just weeks after his fight. If you’re knee is falling out on you walking, would you even risk it like that? You could do a lot of other things besides the squat rack. Was he trying to confuse people about how healthy he actually was? That’s my guess.
Then came the fight. I think Seth got caught up in the moment. That isn’t to say Joe didn’t show up. The guy rose to the occasion. The thing is Seth has a lot of well-rounded skills I didn’t think showed up in this fight. What did show up was his ability to take the long view. He held on in a lot of bad or frustrating spots and turned a lot of them around. That never quit attitude was who Seth is. I also think he was surprised at how well Henle was taking it to him early and got kind of alarmed.
After two grueling rounds they announce it’s going to a third. There was a lot of early control by Henle and some back and forth as the fight went on, but round three was all Seth. He completely took over in the last frame. Henle was in shape for the most part, but all of the wrestling and pressure I think finally got to him. Everyone was happy for Seth. To lose early in the show only to come back in a “bonus” fight with a tough opponent all while keeping a good attitude was a real asset as a teammate.
The show ends with the announcement of the wild card slot. I never knew I was going to be picked. I was hopeful, but didn’t know what to expect. I thought I deserved a second chance, but I’m sure everyone who was hoping for a slot did. Hammortree was upset he didn’t get picked, but the selections you saw happened on the same day as his injury when he went to hospital. I think the UFC was nervous about his ability to go on. Henle thought he deserved a second chance, but he was so green I think the UFC might have been reluctant to go with him.
My attitude at the time of the announcement was low key but focused. I didn’t jump for joy, but that didn’t mean I was happy. I was. I also knew I had work to do. I knew what it felt like to be put out of the competition and I hated every second of it. I realized the road back was going to be tough, so I was happy but aware of what I had to do to succeed. I think Kyacey felt the same way. In a way and even though I hated the first loss, it kinda woke me up. It gave me a new sense of purpose. I was determined no matter what to not let this opportunity go.
That’s it for now. Be sure to support the people who support me. Make sure you’re paying attention to Ranger Up, Assassin Industries, Ultimate Warrior Challenge (UWC), Carnal Dammage and Team Lloyd Irvin/Gold Medal Grappling. You can also get at me on my website: KrisMcCray.com.
I’ll be back here on BloodyElbow.com next week. I’ll be on Twitter until then. Be Savage.