Tim Credeur's 'The Ultimate Fighter 7' Journal - Episode 3

"Crazy" Tim Credeur's The Ultimate Fighter 7 Journal - Episode 3

This blog is going to be very different than any of the other blog's from the show. During the show I kept a day to day personal journey about my experiences on the show. It is very personal but will give you insight into the mind and feelings of a fighter going through this very difficult process that we have come to know and love as the Ultimate Fighter.

Day 5

I woke up pretty early and eat breakfast and got myself ready for the day. We left the house at about 10:30am. At the gym we were lined up and then informed that the coaches were going to be picking the teams. Dana [White] again thanked us all for our first fights and seamed really happy about the season so far. He flipped a coin and Rampage's color came up. Rampage chose to get first pick so Forrest was going to get the first fight. Rampage's first pick was not surprising in being CB Dollaway, who I think will be a very fun fight for me eventually. He is a great wrestler with 2-time All American status to his record but he also has great stand-up, I really am impressed with the kid and one way or another he is going to do some amazing things in the sport.

The next pick was Forrest's and he picked me. I was in shock pretty much. There are some amazingly talented guys here that I honestly think may be a little better than me. The fact that I was chosen so high is a huge honor from one of my heroes and all I can do is bust my butt to train like an animal to show I am worthy of that. Forrest and I seem to have a great connection and his coaching staff is second to none. I am truly blessed and honored to be on their team at all. We had a training scheduled for 2pm so we left the gym and hung out at the house for a minute. When we got back to the gym Forrest said we were going "light." 3 hours and 10 minutes later we were done. We did some really great stuff and honestly I can see my game getting better every day with this routine. At the house I am cooking and giving my leftovers to some of the younger guys. I like doing that. I am just really happy to be here.

Day 6

Today we did what they lovingly refer to as media day. We got to the gym at 8am and did not get to leave until 6pm. We took pictures all day long in so many poses it was making me crazy. We also did live action shots and they even had Dante and I do about 10 minutes of Jiu-Jitsu rolling for the Spike TV intro. We did multiple interviews with various publications including Spike TV, Grappling Magazine and ESPN. It was really cool but very tiring. I think this is something I am going to have to get used to as my career just continues to advance and move to the next level. I am really missing my wife but doing the dishes and keeping the kitchen clean is keeping me grounded and helping keep me sane.

Day 7

I woke up at 10am and I felt great. The supplements, food, and healthy living really do make all the difference in the world. Team Rampage lost a cast member the night before media day. It was Paul Bradley, a really good wrestler from Iowa. We had been been seeing a skin rash or skin irritation on his neck but we did not know what it was. That is until he started asking for Valtrex on the request list. He actually had a variation of skin Herpes on his neck and face. That is just something you have for the rest of your life. It was really sad to see him go, I know how much sacrifice it takes to get here and I really felt for Paul. It crushed me to see that guy leaving with tears in his eyes knowing he did nothing wrong; it was just unlucky. His first fight was a pretty boring two-round decision victory over Millennia Jiu-Jitsu standout Reggie Orr. I felt for the kid, but honestly I would never have trained with him after hearing about his condition so it was for the best. They have not even mentioned anything about his replacement or about the situation at all.

Anyway, today we did a very hard 3-hour practice focusing on stand-up training this morning and it was really amazing working with Mark and Cameron. I am working really hard at the gym with these coaches and training partners. I cannot help but get a whole lot better every day. After the morning practice Forrest gave us a piece of paper with his thoughts on us written on it. I almost cried when I read it. I have worker and toiled all of my life to gain the respect of my peers and idols in mixed martial arts who are some of the best in the world and to be given those compliments he gave me really validated a lot of hard work and helped me crush a lot of the demons of self doubt that I tend to battle with sometimes. Evening training was a wrestling practice run by TUF 5 Alumni Gray "The Bully" Maynard. It was just brutal. We wrestled and drilled for a good 3 hours straight and then did about 30 minutes of hard plyometrics. I don't see Team Rampage training like this at all and I know I can beat any one of those guys.

I am getting close to everyone and I am especially getting close to Dante Rivera. He is a really good Brown Belt under Ricardo Almeida and Renzo Gracie. We just like each other and we train well together. I like all of my training partners on my team very much and I hope I can help them as much as they are helping me every day. It really does not seem like Rampage's team is working very hard and Rampage is always talking about how much the coaches and him are partying every night. I am just glad I am on Forrest's team. Fight announcement was also today and we picked Jesse "JT Money" Taylor, our monster wrestler to knock off the headhunter Mike Dolce. I think it is an easier fight for Jesse just based on styles. Jesse is my bunkmate and he makes me laugh 24/7 non-stop. I wanted to fight Dan Kramer first because he beat up my boy Jeremiah Riggs from Mississippi but the team seems to want me to get a tougher match-up. I don't really care at all; I am just ready to fight again. We get to watch the UFC on Saturday night and Forrest is going to bring us sushi. He is what I would call ultra-cool, even if I do sound like a kid in a candy store.

Day 8

Today was another pretty brutal day of training. I am really so thankful to Xtreme Nutrition, Kevin and Rocky for all the supplements that have kept me in one piece. My bunkmate Jesse Taylor or "JT Money" as he likes to be called, made weight no problem today and is fighting Mike Dolce tomorrow at high noon in the desert. If and when Jesse wins, I am going to be calling out Matt Riddle to fight me. There is just no way that kid is ready for me at all. I am going to crush him and get my five thousand dollars.

After the fight Joe Stevenson came to the gym to do our workout and teach us some tricks. I know Joe is a hard charger and practice will be intense for sure but I am starting to like that vibe a lot actually. Evening practice we are going to spar a little, then do a run or something like that. I can really tell that the other team's practices are nothing like ours. When we get to the gym they are jovial and playing around. After our practices we are completely spent and are having a hard time even drinking water or anything else. We did a monster a Jiu-Jitsu and grappling training today working from bad positions. Forrest's Jiu-Jitsu coach is a very recent Sergio Pires/ Ricardo Pires Brown Belt who is really sensational. I would go so far as too say that he is as good or better than I am at straight Jiu-Jitsu and he has been training half as long as I have. The coaching staff and training sessions we have are just invaluable and it is something I am going to use for the rest of my life in training and coaching. I really miss my wife again and my dogs.

It is easy to stay here though and make these sacrifices for them most of all. Forrest said, "There are only 2 ways for a man to lose: he dies or he quits." I have quit a few times and I am understanding more about that and more about myself, I am going to do this thing until my last breath. I will fight in every fight I get to the death. I will never tap or quit in a fight again like I did against Chael. It pains me to know I disgraced myself by quitting in that match instead of fighting through it. If I am faced with the possibility of death or quitting in a fight I will never choose the later again. I carry the hope and dreams of my family, my community of Breaux Bridge and my students on my back. I carry that burden with pride. The burden pushes me to excel so far past what Tim is capable of on his own. I have never felt this before. It is like an invisible momentum just carrying me along this path. I can only thank God for his strength and courage and thank all those family members and friends whose shoulders I stand on to be here. Especially my beautiful angel who has sacrificed everything for my dreams?Mamie.

Day 9

Everyone on our team is really sore and really fatigued because I don't think anyone on the planet trains as hard as Forrest Griffin and that is now evident to all of us, not to mention he is chipper and jovial everyday as he continues to train right alongside with us at his break neck pace and intensity, I love it. This morning before we went to practice I got to stretch and roll around a little bit on the carpet to loosen myself up for the day's activities. We left the house really early at about 10:30 to get Jesse there for his fight and I was going help him get ready to win. Luke Zachrich also came with us to help Jesse get ready for the battle. I was excited for Jesse but very nervous at the same time because I knew Jesse had a son named Alexander and that for Jesse, fighting was his sole income and he needed the money. He warmed up really hard and just went out there like a warrior to get his job done. Dolce showed up in the ring looking really intense and pissed off.

"JT Money" followed the game plan to a T. He shot early and wrestled and really just out-hustled Dolce in the wrestling department. He had his back for most of the first round trying to finish with his patented one submission in his Submission Artistry repertoire known as the "Bicep" Choke. You must do lots of curl and have great power to get this one so it works well for Jesse obviously. He only went for the technique 60 times in his fight so it had to land eventually. From Dolce's back, Jesse did some good damage going for the choke and pounding away. In the second round it was more of the same with Jesse getting the takedown and then working for that bicep choke again. Eventually Jesse sunk it in for the victory and submission.

After the fight Dana came to our dressing room to tell Jesse that he won five grand for the victory and another five grand for the finish. Jesse was in tears and I understand, the sacrifices we make are monumental and the payback is small for the most part, but to be on this stage and to win so decisively against a worthy opponent like Dolce and with 10 grand in the bank, Jesse was more than happy and the world now knew who "JT Money" was.

After the fight we did a 3-hour instructional class with Joe "Daddy" Stevenson. It was just amazing. We learned all kinds of great stuff from Joe from so many different and useful positions. We only went home for a couple hours and were right back in the gym training again and Forrest told us we were going to be hard sparring. We all warmed up for 30 minute and then did five five-minute rounds of really hard all out sparring.

I went with Dante Rivera first and Dante really impressed me with his bully style. He is really aggressive and keeps good distance once he is inside. His inside tie up and neck control is amazing and very powerful. He throws decent punches from far away and clinches quickly and works a great game of wrestling with good knees. It is a great style for him no doubt and very frustrating to compete against.

Next I went with Amir Sadollah and we kind of Thai kicked the crap out of each other for the entire round. We both landed a lot of good stuff on one another to both the head and body. It was a good time.

I went with Luke Zachrich for the third round. Luke is Rich Franklin's main training partner and has great hand speed and power; he is very elusive standing up. He got pretty dangerous on me a few times during the round. It was very enlightening.

For the fourth round I was with Matt "The Man" Brown. This guy is a real banger and a real beast in the ring. He goes hard all the time so you need to keep your hands up, your chin down and your mouth shut. He is a great training partner for a fighter. He can bring the best out in you and he never lets you off the hook. On our team he was worth his weight in gold, I just loved the guy and it was an honor training with him everyday.

For my last round I went with Dante again and it was great as before although we were tired and just beating on each other at this point. I felt like I was a little off my game today but you have those days sometimes. We finished with a really killer 20-minute AirDyne workout that just crushes you to death.

Tomorrow I will be challenging Matt Riddle to our fight. I know it will be a tough one but I am more than confident and more than ready. I know I can knock this kid out of the ballpark and win my ten grand. I just believe.

Tapping out the Competition,
"Crazy" Tim Credeur

This blog is my personal opinions and personal experience from the show. I cannot speak for anyone else but this is how Tim Credeur see's it so enjoy it. If you have any questions concerns of comments please hit me up on www.myspace.com/crazytimbjj or crazytimbjj@yahoo.com.

Don't miss the party every Wednesday night at City Bar Downtown. Please attend if you can it will be a great time to support your local UFC fighter and I am down to earth and cool so feel free to come introduce yourself and ask me any questions you have or discuss fights. I am the guy that looks like a wilder beast. I will also be selling the new "Crazy" Tim T-shirts that you can view on my myspace page. Until next week keep on fighting.