TUF Talks: "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 13 Episode 4

That’s a very good write up on the episode, Oliver. I have nothing to add of that sort, but I had two salient take aways from the episode that I’m suspecting you might intentionally have excluded (in which case sorry if I cross a line).

Brock Lesnar made both one of the worst comments I’ve ever heard anywhere and one of the best comments I heard on the show.

There was a scene during the fighter weigh-ins in which Brock looked at Ramsey’s bright, sparkley purple toe polish, and you know his gears started churning. Later, he said to his team with utmost solemnity, “I just realized something. If you don’t beat this guy, it’ll be a disgrace. Did you know he paints his toe nails?”

That is hands down one of the most hillbilly, ignorant, hidebound, insecure, collectivist, xenophobic comments I’ve ever heard on television outside historical fiction. What world exactly did Brock grow up in that he’s never seen people behave as individuals outside the phony rules of machismo dictated by popular culture.

I remember back in the late 1980′s and and early 1990′s I enjoyed going to punk-rock style bars where the bounds of cultural acceptance were always pushed hard. Some guys decided to periodically go out in dresses, but those guys were usually the ones known by all to have forgotten more about fighting than most people learned and to be some of the toughest people on the scene (you’ve gotta be tough if you’re a guy and wear dresses).

Me, I usually was less overt on pushing the rules. Aside from normal punk-style clothes, I often made a point of ordering milk or gingerale in the toughest bars. I always made sure people saw what I was drinking hoping somebody would say something offensive about it, but nobody ever did (punk rockers being more accepting, of course).

Anyway, Ramsey is simply pushing the bounds of mainstream machismo, and that’s something all men should do. Conformity is weakness; it’s unmasculine. It means being more concerned about other people’s opinions than your own.

But later Brock Lesner did say one of the sagest things I’ve heard in any UFC broadcast. He said his guy lost the fight before it started, and he mentioned seeing it in their eyes. That at least told me Brock really is a warrior in his heart. He’s ignorant in his head, but he’s fighter deep down. I won’t judge him too harshly for his ignorance, but I will hope he manages to wake up for his own sake.

Brock does have a team of twits, though. Poor guy. And the reason I think they’re twits is they care more about what Brock thinks than they do about their own opinions and self esteem. Their (especially Len’s) reaction where they don’t even want to fight on the team anymore because of Brock’s disapproval means that they are NOT warriors in their hearts. They are the worst kind of conformists: followers.

Great recap. Except you failed to mention Matt Hughes!!

Guillermo, just as we must all (apparently) listen to tales of your curious past-times and remain powerless to comment , we must all accept that Brock is a middle-american, country-boy who rarely ventures outside the farm. He has never pretened to be anything else. He is about as likely to change as you are.

I’d love to see more of Erik Paulson on the show (Team Lesnar). I’ve always been impressed with everything I’ve ever heard from him. As a fighter in shooto he was 10 years ahead of his time.

@jt

Hearing about Guillermo’s past-times never bores me, personally. There’s always something new and fascinating on a comment-by-comment basis. And I definitely mentioned Hughes, bro. Re-read the part starting with “Back at the TUF gym, Coach Lesnar looks to reinvigorate his Welterweight troops by bring in Matt Hughes.”

Hi, JT. I sure hope I don’t make you feel powerless. I think there are two methods to opine. The first is simply to state what you think, and that’s no more than a poll (i.e., 85% of viewers like XYZ movie). The second is to give concrete correlations that form the reason for the opinion and make an effort to persuade.

I’ve never been a fan of dial polling (I feel it’s a tool of oppressive mass media that tries to turn viewers into brainless zombies).

(And thanks, Oliver, including for your good articles.)

Sorry Oliver, missed the Hughes mention! I stand corrected.

You’re definately no ”dial poller” Guillermo – and I may have taken a little more tone than I intended. I just thought Brock was being Brock and little more. By extension he does seem to be struggling socially on the show and his reliance on the ”chicken shit/salad” type comments appear to be doing little for his team morale.

Junior appears more ”enlightened” and Team Dos Santos seem to be having fun and winning.

Interestingly, I have a recent UFC magazine in which Chuck Liddell can be clearly be seen lounging at home with black nail polish on his toes. No one’s calling him out!?

Hi, JT. Although your tone was indeed a little challenging, your words were righteous. Remember this thread if ever I act offended to you. I defined a twit as someone whose esteem by others is more important than their self esteem, and were I to be offended so easily I would be by definition a twit

But the real reason for my follow up post is I’d forgotten to elaborate on my comment on Brock having the heart of a warrior by seeing in his pupil’s eyes the loss before the fight. Miyamoto Musashi’s most famous quote is, “The readiness is all.”

This alluded to his observation that before the fight, the warrior with the most mental readiness to fight will be the winner. So Brock was thinking like a samurai.