This week we begin with Rampage being down 0-7 on the scoreboard and dumping his emotions out on the poor old cardboard door. I have to give it to Scott Junk though, who fought his heart out against Matt and would have probably pulled it out if it were a three-round fight. In this type of tournament fight format you have to be smart with your game plan. Rampage's coaching was the downfall of Scott and his team.
Rampage has a change of heart and coaching styles since Scott's loss. He is now trying and focusing on making Marcus the best fighter possible. Which makes you wonder if he would have done this earlier, what would the record be? Probably still 0-7.
On our team we have Mike Wessel whose head isn't where it should be. Fighting is about 70%-80% mental. Mike's head was on his wife and her sickness. This is the only fight our team was unsure of since Mike wasn't mentally there for this fight because he was worried about his wife. That is why I believe our team tried to mess with Marcus and draw pictures to try to even the field out. Marcus can be very sensitive so I believe this is why they messed with him.
Fight day you can see Mike wasn't all there. Marcus on the other hand was going to take this opportunity to its fullest. In round 1 we have Mike landing some shots but Marcus smothers most them, so they have no sting. They move around and Mike, for some reason, goes for takedown, which was never the gameplan. This is why it is so important to have your head in the right frame of mind for a fight. As soon as he went for the takedown Marcus reversed him and was on top. Mike tried to scramble to be on top, but then made the mistake of leaving his elbow in the guard and Marcus capitalizes on it with an arm bar.
Next we have quarterfinal picks and the meeting with Dana and the coaches. This was fun for me because I had a simple answer, "Whoever you want to give me." Dana said I was being cocky, but the way I looked at it they were going to give me whoever they wanted to see me fight anyway. So I tried to use a little reverse psychology and pick the only two people I didn't want to fight, they were Justin and Darrill. These guys became my good friends and training partners in the house. They were the last people I wanted to fight because you never want to ruin your friend’s dream. Just like Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans. They won't fight each other because they are friends and it's just bad business.
