TUF Talk:
Fans Ask Rob MacDonald
You asked, and we got your answers. 27-year-old Canadian Rob MacDonald, the first heavyweight eliminated from The Ultimate Fighter 2, fields the questions readers sent in following last night's episode on Spike TV. Mac Donald was ejected from the show after tapping from a first round triangle choke to fellow competitor Brad Imes. Here, he answers your questions.
- Have you ever fought anywhere else?
RM: Yeah. Absolutely. I've had three pro fights before the UFC's TUF 2. I was undefeated in those three pro fights, two in Canada and one in the United States. In addition to those fights, I've also had numerous fights in kickboxing and Muay Thai. I've been involved in martial arts and mixed martial arts my entire life. I started wrestling when I was 15 years old. I wrestled four years in high school and was nationally ranked as an All-Canadian, and then I wrestled for five years for the University of Western Ontario and with Lakeside University and that was in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. The time I really started training for a professional career as a fighter was when I was 22 years old. I train at Team Tompkins in London, Ontario.
- Please tell me what went down with you and Matt Hughes wasn't as harsh as it seemed.
RM: As far as everything that happened on television, people have to realize that it is a television show, first of all, and there are parts of that story that weren't shown on TV, that the TV show is edited and there's only a handful of people that actually know what happened in that household. That being said, I'm not the type of person that bad mouths people behind their back, so anything that has happened between Matt Hughes and myself, good or bad, is something I'll deal exclusively with Matt Hughes about.
- (From FCF) Was there some positive interaction between you and Matt Hughes that was not shown during the episode last night?
RM: There was some positive, yes. Like I said, I'm the type of person that if I really don't have anything to nice to say, I'm not gonna say anything at all. Let's just say I respect Matt Hughes as a fighter and for what he's done in the Octagon, and if I could take anything positive from it, I suppose it would be some of the training techniques he taught us during the training sessions. But as far as personal interaction between me and him, that's just something I'm not prepared to comment on at this time.
- Was it [the experience] a lot harder then you expected?
RM: It was very difficult. I knew they were going to put us through all the rigors of physical testing, and training, and fighting. I think the thing that was harder than I expected was being locked up in a house and not having access to your family and friends, not being able to use the telephone, not being able to watch television, not being able to listen to the radio. Being cooped up in that house sequestered from the rest of society, that was the toughest thing.
- (From FCF) What were the harder aspects of the training itself?
RM: The most difficult part of the training was that it was their training and not your own. Every fighter has their own training regimen in order to not only train to become a better fighter, but to train for a specific fight. When you're adhering to someone else's schedule, I found it difficult to prepare physically and mentally for a fight.
- When exactly were you injured?
RM: I had had pre-existing conditions with my shoulder, but the actual injury to that shoulder occurred in the first couple of days on the show.
- What happened with your shoulder after you left the show?
RM: I was sent to a sequestered house, and also sent for medical treatment [in Las Vegas]. What happened that was in addition to the original shoulder injury, which was the torn labrum, my bicep tendon had also torn from the bone and my bicep muscled had rolled down my arm into my elbow. In addition to that, I also had a damaged rotator cuff. I was given surgery on June 23rd, approximately a week and a half after I was eliminated form the series. The labrum was so badly damaged in the shoulder that it couldn't be repaired, so parts of it were removed and shaved down to the bone. There was orthoscopic surgery done on my rotator cuff and as far as the bicep goes, two holes were drilled into my arm bone and the tendon weaved through to make a new anchor and then the muscle grafted back up my bone. It was a fairly serious surgery.
- What are your plans for the future? Will we see you fight on the TUF Finale?
RM: The first issue is if I am invited back to fight on the TUF Finale, I would definitely welcome that opportunity. At the current time, due to the status of my arm and shoulder, I'm unable to answer on that. The doctor told me he will know for sure by October 1st whether or not I can fight. Right now, because I obviously had major surgery after the show, I'm just focusing on kicks. I can't do any training with my upper body, but I'm doing as much training as I can.
- In the Imes fight, was the 30-pound weight difference a factor? Did your shoulder hurt during the fight?
RM: I'm not gonna say that the weight factor was a difference. I mean, weight is a difference in any fight, but in that fight in particular, I didn't think it was much a difference with the injury I had. My shoulder did hurt a lot in the fight, especially when I applied the second guillotine to Brad. That's specifically when my bicep tendon completely ripped away. If you rewatch the fight, you'll see that I completely let go of him so my arm could go over my head and it was excruciating.
- In the selection process, were you surprised that you were the one picked to fight? Why do you think you were selected?
RM: I wasn't surprised that I was selected at all. I asked to fight. The situation with my injury was that it wasn't going to get any better and it was very difficult for me to train, so I wanted to fight as soon as possible while I was in the best condition.
- (From FCF) With regards to your injury and your conversations with the other fighters, do you believe the footage was an accurate representation of what transpired prior to the fight?
RM: No, I think actually it was misrepresented. I think this was an attempt to make good television. I personally feel a little disillusioned and a little disheartened at how everything that was portrayed because it was certainly not how it happened. A lot of the clips on the show that came about from me claiming about my injury, those were generally because people asked me. People asked, 'Rob, how's you shoulder?' 'Rob, what's wrong with your shoulder?' If people asked I would answer the question, and what they did is put all of those captions together to make a montage where it looked like I was complaining all the time. Did I tell people my shoulder hurt? Absolutely. Did I tell people that I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it through the whole thing? Absolutely. I had a serious injury and I knew that fighting could jeopardize that and being in a fight could make it worse. But, definitely in no way, shape, or form did I feel I whined about my injury.
- Why would you let anyone know you were injured, especially if you're fighting them?
RM: When you live with people 24/7, it's almost impossible to hide an injury you have unless it's a real minor one. If you're training with 18 people you're competing against, it's almost impossible to hide an injury. For anybody that's a fighter, I go to my gym, I train with people I trust, people that aren't gonna go on the Internet or television or newspaper and talk about the injury. It can be kept very secret. Certainly, your opponent from a thousand miles away is not going to know.
- (From FCF) Your coach's assessment of your performance, particularly with what he described as a "slow" triangle choke that caught you, denoted some disappointment. Do you agree with his assessment?
RM: I agree with his assessment that it was a slow triangle, but that triangle was applied just after my bicep had completely ripped from my shoulder. Just the condition I found my shoulder in, I definitely tried to get out of it but wasn't able to. That was due just to the injury and the position I found myself in. I didn't have the strength or leverage in that part of my body to escape it.
- (From FCF) After all is said and one, are you glad you took this opportunity to appear on TUF 2?
RM: I'm happy, and I feel honored that I was selected to be on The Ultimate Fighter 2. I am very fortunate to have met a lot of good people on the show, some of the other contestants that I feel I'll be friends with for the rest of my life. I was disappointed with how not only myself, but with how some of the other contestants have been portrayed on the show at the expense of TV drama. I also feel that I had a negative experience with Matt Hughes. He used to be one of my idols in mixed martial arts, which was also disappointing to me. To Brad, definitely I'm not going to blame the loss of that fight on an injury. I think that would belittle his accomplishments. I think that Brad's a great fighter and also a very good, kindhearted person and I wish him the best. He's going to have an amazing career.
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