With a majority decision victory over Greg Rebello, Josh Bryant earned a spot on Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter, and in an interview with MMAFighting.com, he said he thinks he showed that he came onto the show as well prepared as any of the fighters trying to earn a UFC contract.
Bryant also talked about Tito Ortiz's critique of his fight, and why he wasn't satisfied with his victory over Rebello. The interview is below.
Michael David Smith: You said on the show that "It wasn't my best fight ever, but I still got the win." Why wasn't it your best fight ever?
Josh Bryant: I hurt my foot right at the beginning of the fight, but I felt like I was able to get in great position and use my wrestling, hit him a lot and punch him hard. It wasn't quite as clean as I'd like it to be, though.
Did you know anything about Greg?
I had no idea who he was, no.
Were you nervous?
I was a little nervous but I felt like I was well prepared. I had 10 pro fights before that, lots of ring time, and I was ready to perform. I think having a 10-0 record is great, although it's actually more a compliment to the people I train with than it is to myself. There were other guys on the show who had good records but they weren't very good and that tells me something about their training. I have great training at Extreme Gym, with the Absolute Combat Alliance in Oklahoma.
Nine of my 10 pro fights are with Freestyle Cage Fighting, and then I did one more up in Canada. I thought Freestyle Cage Fighting was great -- the matchmaker there didn't throw me to the wolves in my first fight but he also didn't give me any easy fights.
Tito Ortiz said on the show that you were the better wrestler but that Greg hit you with some good shots. Do you agree with that assessment?
That's what Tito said to me, but honestly, I didn't think much of what Greg threw at me landed. I felt like Tito was kind of being a d**k about it.
Is that something you experienced a lot? Tito being a d**k?
Actually, not really -- usually only when he was on camera. He was usually very respectful to us. When the cameras come on, he tries to put on a show.
Bryant also talked about Tito Ortiz's critique of his fight, and why he wasn't satisfied with his victory over Rebello. The interview is below.
Michael David Smith: You said on the show that "It wasn't my best fight ever, but I still got the win." Why wasn't it your best fight ever?
Josh Bryant: I hurt my foot right at the beginning of the fight, but I felt like I was able to get in great position and use my wrestling, hit him a lot and punch him hard. It wasn't quite as clean as I'd like it to be, though.
Did you know anything about Greg?
I had no idea who he was, no.
Were you nervous?
I was a little nervous but I felt like I was well prepared. I had 10 pro fights before that, lots of ring time, and I was ready to perform. I think having a 10-0 record is great, although it's actually more a compliment to the people I train with than it is to myself. There were other guys on the show who had good records but they weren't very good and that tells me something about their training. I have great training at Extreme Gym, with the Absolute Combat Alliance in Oklahoma.
Nine of my 10 pro fights are with Freestyle Cage Fighting, and then I did one more up in Canada. I thought Freestyle Cage Fighting was great -- the matchmaker there didn't throw me to the wolves in my first fight but he also didn't give me any easy fights.
Tito Ortiz said on the show that you were the better wrestler but that Greg hit you with some good shots. Do you agree with that assessment?
That's what Tito said to me, but honestly, I didn't think much of what Greg threw at me landed. I felt like Tito was kind of being a d**k about it.
Is that something you experienced a lot? Tito being a d**k?
Actually, not really -- usually only when he was on camera. He was usually very respectful to us. When the cameras come on, he tries to put on a show.
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