The Ultimate Fighter 3: The Introductions

Previews

TUF 3

This season features Light Heavyweights and Middleweights and will air, as the poster states, on Thursday, April 6 at 10:00 PM ET. The coaches are Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz, and they’ve never been very friendly with each other.

Let’s get the boring “me” part out of the way so you know who I am, understand my leanings, and can evaluate my evaluations of TUF3 accordingly. I’m Shelly, 22, female, student of psychology, biology, library science. I’m new to MMA viewing, and I have no training, but I’m very open to learning as much as I can and being more involved. My favorite fighters include Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Matt Lindland, and Randy Couture. To avoid going into some Goffman-esque explication of why MMA appeals to me, I’ll just state that I think it’s the purest sports competition in existence, free of sticks and balls and most pretention, focused clearly on intellectual and physical combat from a number of disciplines. That’s beautiful to me, and I love to watch it.

I’m enthusiastic about The Ultimate Fighter for those reasons, as it is to reality television what MMA is to the world of sports. The little “competitions” on the show aren’t funny games for food or prizes, but exercises that can aid in their training and which result in who gets to pick the fights each week. The eliminations aren’t done by voting, but by actual physical combat between the contestants. I think the drama of these men living in a house together, making friends that they know they’ll have to physically vanquish later in the show plays out beautifully and is, like all reality shows, a fun little mini-sociological insight into the lives of other people. Only in this instance–as opposed to, say, The Real World–it’s a show based around a phenomenon I love and people whose lives and viewpoints I’m actually interested in.

This season, people are saying, is all about Tito and Ken, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in the Ken/Tito drama that’s built up over the years. Two guys who hate each other training teams of Middleweights and Light Heavyweights to combat each other all season, culminating at the finale with two contracts being given out and eventually a fight between the coaches… it’s going to be fun to see.

I spent a lot of time over at the SpikeTV.com Ultimate Fighter 3 page, reading the fighter bios and watching their videos to put together a little rundown for you (you’re welcome!), and from what I can tell, all of these guys seem pretty cool and should be entertaining on the show as well, even if they’re sure to be overshadowed by Ken’s dangerocity and Tito’s heelish antics.

The 205’ers

Kristian Rotharmel
Kristian Rotharmel
“The Weather Underground”
33, New Orleans, 40-3-0.
Former high school English teacher.
His video interview: He lost everything after Hurricane Katrina and decided to start training full time. He was censored a few times. That’s promising. He said “Nobody should get a real tattoo until they’ve done one themselves,” and some stuff about culture. I have no idea what that was about. Q: “What’s with the long hair?” A: “It’s not a big loss if I cut it.” He doesn’t think anyone has jiu-jitsu as good as his.

Matt Hamill
Matt Hamill
?, Cincinnatti, Sherdog fails me, but he says he’s won two fights.
Wrestler, born deaf, trains with Rich Franklin.
His video interview: He’s only been training for five months. He wants to be the first deaf fighter in the UFC. He signs his segment at the end, which I found to be rather endearing. I can only wonder about the logistics of having a totally deaf competitor in a house with 15 other guys who likely don’t know ASL and may not understand his speech very clearly, but we’ll see how it works out.

Michael Bisping
Michael Bisping
“The Count”
26, ENGLAND, 10-0-0.
Attended Blackburn College, majored in Electrical Engineering. Scares me. Is my pick to win. Was featured in Total MMA issue 2, which you can find here.
His video interview: He’s appalled at the condition of some of the other guys. He thinks he’s by far a better fighter than any of “them boys out there.” “I know for a fact if we were to step outside, I’d tear into them. I’d kill any of them, easily. But we’ll see what happens in the cage.”

Tait Fletcher
Tait Fletcher
34, Los Angeles/Michigan/Santa Fe, 3-1-0.
Was Joe Rogan’s personal bodyguard. Attended St. John’s College to study Classical Literature.
His video interview: Moved to LA to do movies, trained jiu jitsu in LA with Eddie Bravo. Q: “What do you love about fighting?” A: “The relationships that build…” Q: “The relationships of… beating people up?” A: “Yeah, man.” Promises excitement for season 3.

Josh Haynes
Josh Haynes
“Bring the Pain”
28, Medford OR, 17-4-0.
Trains with Team Quest. Studied computer science at the University of Southern Oregon. Started fighting at 330 lbs.
His video interview: Largely boring. A lot of “I’m gonna fight. I’m here to fight. I’ve got heart. I’m gonna win.” I think “Bring the Pain” is a stupid nickname. In spite of all of these seemingly negative comments, here, I’m very pro-Team Quest, and I will cheer blindly for anyone affiliated with them.

Noah Inhafer
Noah Inhafer
24, South Dakota, 22-4-0.
Runs his own lawn mowing business. Is studying to be a special education teacher.
His video interview: He focuses on wrestling and jiu-jitsu. His girlfriend isn’t going to cheat on him while he’s gone for six weeks because he “keeps his pimp hand strong.” Says he’s really confident on the ground.

Jesse Forbes
Jesse Forbes
21, Phoenix, 2-0-0.
South paw, trains with Drew Fickett.
His video interview: Weighs 212-215. Fighting/training for 1 year. He can’t hold his liquor. They talk a lot about his youth and relative inexperience. Forrest says Drew Fickett is “all about the asphyxiation,” and Jesse says that he likes hitting people, but “it goes both ways.” Forrest: “See, I had a feeling you went both ways.” Then some more gay innuendos about being in a house with 16 dudes with cameras everywhere.

Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
34, Denver, 3-1-0.
2005 gold medalist in jiu-jitsu at the 2005 Pan Am Games. Elephant trainer. Tattoo artist. Animal activist. Sherdog tells me he beat Noah Inhafer at ROF 19 in September 2005.
His video interview: He owns a tattoo shop. He says he’ll do his best to win. His wife isn’t enthusiastic about the amount of time he spends training. Says he has mean leg kicks. Calls Ken Shamrock a “hard-nosed cat.” Of the first two days of training, he says, “I saw some guys crying… it’s okay to cry…” Forrest replies with “Chicks dig that shit, don’t let ’em lie.”

The 185’ers

Kalib Starnes
Kalib Starnes
31, Vancouver BC, 8-0-1.
#2 ranked middleweight in Canada, part of the Revolution Fight Team. Favorite authors include Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn.
His video interview: He’s wearing sunglasses, did he get beat up already? Started training BJJ with Royce Gracie. Says he’s gonna win because he’s “all about wholesome family values, and peace, and love for all mankind.”

Danny Abaddi
Danny Abaddi
“The Assassin”
22, Orlando, 2-1-0.
Tae kwon do black belt by age 8. Travels the country teaching. Other talents include breakdancing and kickboxing, with a 14-1 pro kickboxing record.
His video interview: He says he’s an “amazing striker.” Forrest starts yawning and fidgeting around while Danny is talking about how fighting is in his heart, etc. and it’s hilarious.

Solomon Hutcherson
Solomon Hutcherson
?, Racine WI, 10-2-0.
Works laying cement for a concrete company.
His video interview: He’s a natural striker, not as versed as he needs to be in jiu-jitsu. Says he’s a good wrestler with killer takedown defense. Lost to Jorge Rivera and Emyr Bussade. Ends the interview with “I’m here to do the damn thing, because I’m harder than hard and I’m ready to get my regards, you know what I mean? Peace out.” During which he takes out one of his front teeth.

Ross Pointon
Ross Pointon
“The Gladiator”
28, ENGLAND, 4-6-0.
Black belt in karate, owns a gym where he teaches kickboxing and MMA. His most recent loss was to Michael Bisping at CWFC Strike Force 4 in November.
His video interview: He says he’s never been knocked out. He thinks the toughest thing about being on the show is not having any “privacy,” and he said it the funny way that British people do, twice. He says he’s one of the top fighters in the UK. He says his advantage is that he’s “crazy,” and you have to knock him out, or he’ll just keep coming for you.

Ed Herman
Ed Herman
“Short Fuse”
25, Portland, 14-2-0.
Trains with Team Quest. Is my pick to win. Bartends in the evenings.
His video interview: Walks around at 200. Wrestled in high school, has been training with Team Quest for 3 years. Not worried about his girlfriend cheating on him, but mentions nothing of a “pimp hand.” Says he’ll win because he has a big heart. Forrest calls him out about how his “heart” is only as big as his fist, so he says his “soul” is big, too. Ed says, “I’ll fight ’til the death,” and Forrest says “No death, just ’til somebody taps or somethin’.”

Rory Singer
Rory Singer
“Version 2.5” [what?]
30, Athens GA, 9-5.
From Brooklyn. Studied Biological Engineering at the University of Georgia and is currently attending the School of Nursing in Athens, GA to get his RN. Enjoys the LOTR novels. Was roommates with Forrest Griffin.
His video interview: Talks about nursing. Forrest asks if he wears the white dress. Rory says yes, it’s very fashionable, but not after Labor Day. Ends with “I figure every reality show should have a neurotic Jew with OCD, so that’s why I’m here, and if I don’t win it’s because everyone’s an anti-Semite.” Genius.

Mike Stine
Mike Stine
27, Long Island, 3-0.
Earned an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice. Has been training in MMA for four years.
His video interview: Says he’s had about 10 fights, 3 pro, and has never lost. Started with Muay Thai and submission grappling. He’s going to give “110%” each fight. He wasn’t impressed with TUF2. Says his hands are his best fighting attribute.

Kendall Groves
Kendall Groves
“Spider”
23, Hawaii, 7-3-2.
Was an All State wrestler in the 170lb division at his high school. Surfs, plays paintball.
His video interview: Jiu-jitsu is his first love. Has been fighting for 3 years. During the interview, he has a bleeding cut on his eyebrow because his housemates tried to shave off his eyebrows while he was drunk the night before. That should be a fun episode. Joe Stevenson (TUF2 winner) was his roommate.

There are your competitors, with their various college educations and training backgrounds, prepared to clash for the next few weeks. And we get to watch. I’ll be back here next week with my first actual show review. Happy viewing!

Matthew Michaels is one of the original editors of Pulse Wrestling, and was founding editor of Inside Fights and of Inside Pulse Music.