TUF 11 Sherblog: The Most Overlooked Guy

It was getting down to the wire. The top two guys picked to win the show are out and two of the most overlooked guys were in the semifinals. You never know what will happen in the cage.

I was stoked to see Josh Bryant beat Jamie Yager, mainly because Bryant was my sparring partner most of the time and I knew how good he really was. Although that meant I would most likely have to fight one of my teammates, that was something I was prepared for in the beginning and felt good about. I never forgot what I was here for.

With the quarterfinals all wrapped up, we had less than a week to fight again. The semifinalists were Brad Tavares, Kris McCray, Josh Bryant, and me. I had a feeling it would be Brad Tavares and me. As I said before, it didn’t bother me at all to fight my teammate, so when they announced the fight I wasn’t surprised. I was happy with the pick. Tavares was the dude who knocked out my friend, Jordan Smith, in the fight to get into the house. So I kind of looked at it as a way to avenge my buddy’s first loss.

I felt confident in beating him -- he was young, only 22 and wild. I am more focused. I have the tools to beat him, and I know he can be submitted. I’d push the pace and set up the takedown. First though, I’d try not to worry about it. The fight was six or seven days away, so all I could do was focus on my mental and physical health, and be sure to make weight.

We found out about Tito getting kicked off the show. We were shocked that this happened just days before the whole thing was over, but really curious who they were going to have replace him. Of course, Chuck was disappointed that he wouldn’t get to fight him at the end, but maybe a little happy that he would be gone.

Everyone in the house was getting antsy and short-tempered. We were almost done and just wanted to go home to our families and normal lives. Charlie Blanchard and Rich Attonito would play chess and Charlie would beat Attonito every time. Apparently he’s really good. Knowing this, as soon as Rich would realize that he was going to lose he would push all the pieces off the table and storm off in a rage. It got to where if you heard Rich yelling obscenities throughout the house, you knew exactly what had just happened.

We also liked to play pool to pass the time, but by now almost all the pool sticks were broken so that was out the door. I found solace in reading, ice bathing, and just sitting around talking with the guys, sharing stories about our families.

I tried really hard not to lose my focus. I didn’t want to forget what I was here for. I feel that I deserve to be where I am, and all I want to do is fight -- fight for the love of MMA, my sobriety, my friends, and my family.

Signing out, MM-Abe

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