The Ultimate Fighter Continues: Mike Tyson’s Visit
By Gina L. Caliboso
As I last watched Episode 3, boxing champion Iron Mike Tyson had made an appearance on the show to support GSP’s Team.
Team GSP fighter Michael Johnson won his fight and with Tyson looking on, he may have earned a new fan. The team got together post-fight and it is here that Tyson provided some words of wisdom to the fighters of Team GSP. “The only reason you won is because you are smarter.
Confidence breeds success. Success breeds confidence. Confidence applied correctly surpasses genius.”Later, Tyson adds, “You always have to be careful about how you conduct yourself in the ring.” For one GSP team member, “Everything he was saying right then applied to me so much.”
Immediately following the team bonding moment shared by GSP, the show faded into Team Koscheck. According to Koscheck, down 0-2, “It’s time to get busy living or get busy dying.” A fierce and intense competitor, Koscheck wants nothing but intensity and determination. Team Koscheck should be ready to go and he says, “the harder you work now, you’ll get rewarded later.”
Finally, at home, the teams socialize. Team Koscheck fighter Sevak Magalesian and Alex Caceres (aka Bruce Leroy) decide to have a few verbal exchanges. The exchanges aren’t worth mentioning since they were all bleeped out. But the gist of it comes from Bruce Leroy’s cheering of teammate Johnson during the fight. Bruce Leroy cheered by saying, “F—k him up.” Both Magalesian and Lentz felt the taunt was disrespectful and unprofessional. In response with a smile, Bruce Leroy says, “the guys love to hate me.”
There are also the beginnings of some pranking by Koscheck against GSP. In a previous episode, Koscheck had blocked GSP’s car so he couldn’t get in. There is obvious antagonism on Koscheck’s part. As one team leaves the UFC training center, Koscheck usually tries to start something with GSP. GSP is cool, maintains his composure and says, “I do my talking in the Octagon.” And Koscheck makes it very clear he is a bully, “I don’t mind losing, but to a nerd. We’re losing to a bunch of nerds. Nerds that talk like robots.”
As the show continues, the antagonism between Koscheck and GSP still remains playful. But GSP just keeps it all in check. He is as he stated, “the good guy.” And the show is drawing on the very distinct personalities of the fighters. Koscheck says, “I don’t like losing to nobody, especially a French guy. Not when I’m here. Not when you have my name on the back of your jersey.”
Koscheck, however, remains at a disadvantage as long as GSP keeps winning. Even with two victories, GSP continues his strategy of allowing his fighters to pick their opponents. With control of the fight picks, the third fight of the series will be between the oldest and the youngest fighters of the house – Kyle Watson, 13-6-1, versus Andy Main, 4-1. When the fight is announced, Koscheck is confident his fighter will win and states that if “he (Andy) just listens, he’s going to win the fight.”
Assistant Coach John Danahan of Team GSP Coach said it best regarding this fight. Danahan observed, “It’s the first fight where psychological pressures are going to have a decisive effect on the outcome. Andy Main, with his team down 0-2, has huge pressure.
Kyle Watson is the oldest, senior member of the team, the unofficial team captain and he really wants to perform. Both guys carry anxieties. Whoever manages his anxieties, stays focused, relaxes and doesn’t get exhausted through those anxieties will win.”
Under the guidance of GSP, Watson underwent a lot of creative visualizations, a lot of rehearsal exercises to help him capture the focus of winning the fight. Watson, in his visualization, stated he would submit Main.
In the first round of the fight, both Watson and Main showed excellent striking combinations. Watson executed a clean kick-punch combo and soon the two went to the ground. Both Watson and Main are primarily jiu-jitsu specialists. As the first round ended, Watson worked out of the clinch standing.
In the second round, Watson got the takedown, went into side control, and controlled Main’s wrist. Main didn’t improve his ground position and eventually Watson got his back. Watson, as he predicted, got Main into the rear naked choke and submitted the younger fighter. Team Koscheck is now down 0-3 to Team GSP. Upon his own admission, Main did not follow the game plan. His instructions included, “Sweep. Submit. Get off the bottom.”
Right now, GSP is showing the audience just how different a fighter he is – why he is currently the best fighter in the UFC Octagon. His training methods are supported with just as much mental training. It is why I continue to watch the show. While Koscheck’s mindless training provides a balance in approaches of training and coaching methods, GSP’s methods are measured by its success.
Team GSP is now ahead 3-0 over Team Koscheck. Koscheck drives his team with intense, physical training as a motivator for his fighters. He just now needs to step it up and find his way to make his fighters better to close out the fights and win.