After an alcohol-fueled exchange with Charlie Rader that got too personal, Anthony Ferguson became an outcast on The Ultimate Fighter 13.
What the last episode did not reveal was that, leading up to the biggest fight of his life against Charlie O’Neil in the semifinals, his teammates refused to train with him.
A week had passed since his verbal altercation with Rader, and during that time, the fighters of Team Lesnar “made a collective decision” to leave Ferguson on his own. Only Brock Lesnar and his coaching staff helped Ferguson prepare, and he spent the rest of the time shadow boxing and preparing himself while his team watched.
Regardless, he got the result he was after.
Relentless pressure and precise striking paved the way for Ferguson’s commanding third round stoppage, advancing him to the live finale on Spike TV to take on Ramsey Nijem for all the marbles.
Ferguson has been penning the personal experience of each episode in SB Nation blogs throughout the series, and here’s an excerpt from his latest recap on Wednesday night’s final episode:
What you didn’t see was the time delay. After I cleaned up and no one was talking to me, I just decided to leave the situation alone. I talked to the show’s producers to do some interviews and they filled me in. Obviously what I heard was not good.
I knew I had to apologize and acknowledge my mistake. I had to man up, but I wanted to make sure I apologized to everyone at once. How did they take it? Not great. They each took turns scolding me, one by one. I knew I had to take it and not walk away. I had to make sure they said everything they had to say. It felt like I was being lectured by my parents.
Here’s what you don’t know: my team made a collective decision to not help me train for my fight. They all told me that morning after the drunken incident I was on my own. I’d say there was almost a week’s distance between that morning and the day of my fight. I spent a lot of time shadow boxing and training myself. It sucked and it was lonely, but I was left with no choice. I still had a fight, so I couldn’t let it get me down.
In reverse chronological order, here are all of Tony Ferguson’s blogs for The Ultimate Fighter 13 on SB Nation MMA:
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