TUF 11 Sherblog: The Build to the Finale

Kris McCray vs. Kyle Noke -- they train out of the same gym outside of the show and you could tell it was awkward for them. It’s definitely different when you’re fighting someone you train with and know really well, but everyone knew that was a possibility coming into the house. My personal opinion was that Kyle seemed more bothered than Kris about fighting. Kris was definitely the underdog.

They ended up banging out a three-round decision and Kris won, which was an impressive win. After their fight, there didn’t seem to be any tension in the house. Kyle’s a pretty humble, levelheaded guy.

Not much really happened in the house between the fights. Everybody just practiced once in the morning, and Seth and Tavares made weight. Everyone knew it was going to be an exciting fight because both of them like to stand and bang. There wasn’t really a favorite to win the fight, it seemed like a pretty even match.

At the end of the first round, Seth accidentally kicked Tavares in the face in a scramble. He was really apologetic. As a matter of fact, Seth felt so bad, that he wrote an apology letter to Brad’s mom. Seth’s a really good dude and just got carried away. That’s when the fireworks happened. For some reason Tito thought Tavares got kicked in the chest. His coaches were saying Tavares was faking it and that he should’ve kept fighting even after the decision was made. Joe Henle was just saying, “Just let it go,” and Tito yelled at Joe. I was standing right next to Joe when that happened. Chuck came flying out of nowhere and told Tito not to yell at his guys. It seemed like it went from 20 people in the gym to around a hundred in less than five seconds. Good thing Jake Shields and Chuck Liddell had about 50 people in between them and Tito. I have a feeling that his neck would’ve been even more damaged than it already was. Soon after that, Tito withdrew from his fight with Liddell.

Everybody got back to the house and there was a lot of talk. Tito’s team was disappointed that he withdrew and some guys didn’t know what to think because there was word that Tito knew before the show started that he had to have neck surgery. Chuck was livid. He kept saying that he knew Tito was going to do this and that he was just on the show to get exposure and didn’t really want to fight. It is unfortunate that Tito’s neck is injured because I think the fans of both teams wanted to see the fight happen.

After all of the drama, it was really quiet in the house. There was literally only five days left. Everybody seemed really uneasy, not to mention we had been there for over 30 days. Everybody was missing their friends and family, but there were only three fights left: Jamie Yager vs. Josh Bryant and the two semi-final fights. Some of the guys in the house were physically and mentally broke. It really came down to who had the will to win and stay focused. I really had to try hard to relax and focus on one more fight. I tried to stay calm and not get caught up in the drama so that I could be 100% there, mentally and physically ready to battle, just five days later.

I’ll tell you what, though. Throughout this whole ordeal of being away from family and friends and an overall comfortable environment, with new coaches, new training partners, surrounded with unnecessary drama: it puts you into the hardest position to compete at your best. The two guys who make it to the finale will have definitely earned their spot.

Tune in next week,

Court “Gnarly Ass” McGee

To find out more information about Court McGee, visit his Web site at www.courtmcgee.net and follow him on Twitter at court_mcgee