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.
Tim Credeur's Ultimate Fighter 7 Journal
Episode 6
I would like to apologize to everyone for my lateness in turning in my Blog. I was in a panic because I could not locate my journal which by the way contains the show's contents and if found and released would violate my 5 Million dollar gag order and get me pretty much skinned alive and massacred at the hands of Dana White himself. The cause of the problem goes back to my life long struggle with an extreme case of ADHD and my ability to lose everything that I put my hands on. I have to this day lost 4 wedding rings in 3 years. I found the journal just slightly to the left of where I usually leave it and I guess that was just out of eye site for old Timmy. Well without further ado,
Day 16
I had a pretty restless night of sleep that I would sort have to attribute to our team's extremely hard training that takes place each and every day. I am not an expert and I do not know if we are overtraining or not but one thing I do know is that we are working as hard as we can possibly work. Forrest says "Control the variables", we are controlling all of them and we are really controlling them if you know what I mean. Just about every practice is a ball buster but I feel myself getting better and stronger every day. I woke up really early and made breakfast and got ready for our day. For the am practice we really worked hard on our Muay Thai training w3ith our coach Kru Mark Beecher leading us through a blistering Thai style practice. Beecher's nickname is the Hyena for a reason, he is tough and no nonsense in the gym. He laughs a lot but expects you to be doing work and he never stops yelling and bitching at you to make sure you're putting forth your best effort with every strike and technique you deliver. He has about 60 Muay Thai fights and 5 MMA fights plus he also has earned a legit purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu so he has a well rounded fight game and coaching style. His practices are really intense and very motivating for fighters. We came home after and eat and then had to go right back to the gym for the weigh-in's between Matt Brown and Jeremy May. The stare down was brutal and I can actually see the fear all over Jeremy May. That kid really insulted Matt again last night by staying up all night and drinking. We heard he was just drinking water trying to play his games but it is just sad that the kid does not realize how ridiculous he is going to look. Many fighters have worked for years to erase the stereotypes that guys like Jeremy May bring to the sport, it is sad to see that after all that work this douche bag just ruins it with his pathetic and childish attempts to get attention and acceptance. Mentally Jeremy May is a small child and Matt Brown is about to do some spanking. He needs to learn a lesson and I could think of no one better to teach him than the one and only Matt "the Man" Brown. When we got home we rested until the pm practice because Forrest told us it would be brutal once again. We did a 15 min warm-up and then 5/ 5min rounds of hard sparring in the small MMA gloves. When we finished that we went over some Jiu-Jitsu Techniques and drilled for about an hour and then did a 25 min ground and pound drill on the floor dummies. We were all having a pretty difficult time standing up after the practice was over but it felt good to be training so hard like real warriors. No matter what happens I know I gave this thing my 100% effort everyday and honestly that is all I can do.
Day 17
This morning I woke up to a very sore back, extremely bruised body, possible broken nose, shin splints and no skin on any of my knuckles due to our very tough training sessions. I just love it but I am really overtraining myself at this point. It is not in any way, shape or form Forrest's fault or any of the other coaches on our team for that matter. They tell us to take as much time off as we need too. They never pressure us to train or imply anything derogatory if we do not. They just provide tough quality training sessions twice a day that make you better. It is really up to you what you want to do with the trainings they are providing. I am extremely impressed with the situation and in this type of environment I can see myself getting a whole lot better at my overall MMA game. For the am practice we did a long warm-up and then we did 6 5 min. rounds through a variety of different MMA scenario stations. We covered some Jiu-Jitsu techniques after with Cameron Diffley aka Peter Parker and then did a warm down stretch. I decided not to train for the pm practice later tonight to let my body heal and rest from what it has already been through. In the van we almost died laughing at JT Money and his insane poetry. I just hope America gets to be privy to this guys amazing lyrical talent. Our whole team returned to the gym at 4pm for the Matt Brown and Jeremy May bloodletting. It is really weird fighting there in the gym in front of only 20 or 30 people. It feels more like a sparring session than anything to be honest. We all encourage Matt Brown and told him not to let the emotion get the best of him and to stay focused through the anger. He seemed very very relaxed in the cage. Jeremy came out acting like a douche bag as always. The fight started with Jeremy throwing wild uneducated Hail Mary bombs that had Matt Brown defending and slipping easily but not countering much. The fight went to the ground with both getting on top at different times and throwing heavy ground and pound. Then at about 2 min into the fight it seemed like Jeremy May was done, he was like that kid with the shiny new toy who gets his feelings hurt and then takes his game home with him so no one can play. Matt caught him with a hard knee and some hands to follow it up and as Jeremy fell Matt connected with a picture perfect head kick or face kick that knocked Jeremy completely out and sent him to the canvas in a heap. I felt as though it was a reckoning for Jeremy May and I truly hoped he was humbled and would now learn his lesson. I for one was going to give him a second chance. After the fight Jeremy was taken directly to the hospital and the doctor told Matt Brown that he would also need to go and get an X-Ray on his foot and leg just to make sure he was ok and it was not broken. In the locker room we all congratulated Matt and were really proud as a team to be 4-0 against team Rampage especially since 3 of the 4 were finishes. We were dominating those guys and our hard work and training were really beginning to show and pay off. 3 of us had 10G's to show for it and Dante had 5G's. At the pm practice that night Forrest told us that he was really proud of us but he was concerned that we were not fighting up to our full potential. He said we are all 10 times better than what we were showing in our fights and that he wanted us to think more about transferring what we do in practice to the ring more seamlessly and more efficiently. I could actually not agree with him more. We are winning but we should be destroying. I am going to really start working on being the fighter I am in practice in the ring. I sat during the pm practice and just really worked hard on mentally preparing myself for my next bout. I already had 10G's but another 10 or 20 would really help Mamie and me out a great deal right now. I am ready to fight anyone at all even my teammates if need be. I am prepared to do whatever it takes and endure and hardship no matter how great it is for Mamie. After practice we were hanging out in the living room listening to JT Money's poetry when Jeremy returned from the doctor. Right away he ruined his 2nd chance with me. He started talking about how he was actually dominating Matt Brown the whole fight until he realized he was fighting in the UFC (by the way, no he was not, it is just a reality show to get an opportunity to fight in the UFC and you are only fighting in front of 20-30 people not 20,000 screaming fans and cameras so it is not even close to the same thing at all) and it just kind of freaked him out and he accidentally dropped his hands and got caught with Matt's one lucky shot. This guy is delusional. Matt Brown let him throw and defended everything and then just destroyed him that is what happened. At least when you lose be a man and admit it, you douche bag. I just can't wait till he disappears back into whatever white trash hole he came out of in Florida. He is a stain on MMA in my opinion and if even a broken face knock-out does not teach him his lesson he is just a lost cause. Tomorrow is fight announcement and I think our last pick Luke Zachrich is going to challenge Dan Cramer from ATT. I call Luke the dark horse because I think he is a sleeper. The guy is Rich Franklin's #1 training partner and he is really a beast to be honest. I am positive that I can beat him by submission but he can be really tough to takedown. I think if you use the fence on him that is your only real option. I think the fight might go the distance but I think Luke will beat Dan up pretty bad in the fight. We only have 3 weeks left until we go home. I can do 3 weeks anywhere standing on my head. I just really miss my wife. I can't stop thinking about her and about her smile and her face. Being here has really given me a new outlook on how much I truly love her. I have been blessed with such a wonderful person in my life and I can never allow myself to take her for granted. She is truly one in a million.
Day 18
This morning Forrest told us we could have the am practice off. It was awesome and really something that we all needed. We still had to go to the UFC training center at noon for the fight announcement. Dana was there and had a really nice normal conversation with us. He is really a cool down to earth guy that just loves the sport with his whole heart. I have so much respect and admiration for the man and for what he has done for the sport I love so much. I just hope to continue to impress him and have a successful career with his company. For the announcement we had control once again and our last pick Luke "the Dark horse" Zachrich called out Dan Cramer. Dan is hands down the hottest guy on the show. He looks like he just walked out of an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog. I know he is from ATT and made friends with my good friend Yves Edwards down there. I swore to Yves to watch out for him if we made it on the same team but we did not and he is going to have his hands full with Luke for sure. Luke is a tough dude from the Ohio camp of Gurgel and Franklin. Luke played linebacker in college for Bowling Green. He is one of the guys from the gym that gives me lots of problems in the gym. On the ground I do well with him but standing up we battle pretty good and he is very hard to take down and keep down. Cramer does not have very good stand up but he throws and his wrestling is also not very good either but he battles through it and gets it done somehow. Cramer is just very mentally tough and he does not give up an inch. I see the fight going a ways in because Cramer is so tough but I just see Luke getting the W in some fashion eventually. For our pm practice we did one hour of jiu-jitsu rolling non-stop. It was so much fun to get back on the mat and do some good old jiu-jitsu. I think I am going to send Nick Kline a purple belt in the mail when I get home. He is really good and slick on the ground. He caught me in a triangle the other day clean. I did pretty well with Matt Brown he is just a tough SOB. Dante and I mauled each other and I think we both tapped a couple times but we just love rolling with each other really. Dante has a really good foot lock he keeps catching me with and he is powerful enough to break it off if he needs too. Forrest and I went crazy on each other as usual but it was a great roll. Finally I rolled with Amir"TNT"Saddollah and I was trying to help coach him and help him along with some techniques and what not but he was having none of that. He looked at me and said "Just tap me as many times as you can and that's it OK!!!" So I rolled as hard as I could roll with him and I was catching him early on pretty good but he kind of got better during the roll and I was starting to have trouble with him. That guy is very resilient and learns quickly he even began to counter correctly and get me in some bad positions. As always I am very impressed with Amir, the kid is intense and a quick learner, I envy his drive and determination. He is an awesome training partner to work out with. He keeps shit real, no bullshit rolling or sparring with Amir only 100% or you're getting an earful, I love it. When we got home I made diner and a bunch of guys eat my leftovers as always and then me, Dante, Matt Brown and Amir played spades for about 2 hours. Dante and I killed them this time. The nightly hot tub ritual keeps us all in one piece and it helped me again tonight. The barbers also came today and I felt bad having someone else do my hair but Mamie. I had a great barber clean me up real nice; I might be hooked on their style now.
Day 19
I feel much better now in my body with the soreness and fatigue. I think physically and mentally I got over the hump and my body has accepted and adjusted to the conditions. Our morning practice was called "light sparring". We did some technique and then proceeded to completely beat the crap out of each other for at least 6 5 min. rounds. My nose as always was busted open and spewing blood all over me and all my training partners. Matt Brown and I pretty much go 110% power and speed every time we spar. It is like being in the middle of a war the whole round. We are getting better because of it though. I sparred with Forrest again and he is just huge and strong. I got a couple in but only a couple at best. After practice Luke Zachrich and Dan Cramer did their weigh-in and Cramer was really giving Luke the evil eye. I think Luke has his number and is going to knock him out. For our pm practice we did the kick for a minute then grapple for two minutes from bad positions drill. With your partner switching it is a 6 minute drill and we did about 8 rounds of this. Then Norn our strength and conditioning coach came in and set up 8 brutal stations for us. We were to do one minute per station and Forrest made us do the rotation 3 times in a row. That is 24 minutes of non-stop plyometric exercises. It was rough. We were all crushed after the practice was over. I only weighed 190 after 202 the very same morning. When we got home I went straight to the supplement shelf, food and then right to bed. Training like this is really no joke. This is some real professional athlete type of training going on here.
Day 20
I woke up sore but ready to train again. We got to do a lot of technical Muay Thai training at the am practice with Mark. It really helped me out a lot with some things I do in my game. We did a burn out cardio deal after and I felt great. I eat at home and then it was back to the gym for the Zachrich and Cramer fight. From the beginning of the fight Luke just did not look like himself. It was like Cramer was just really throwing off his rhythm somehow. At the end of the first round Luke took him down and mounted him and began punishing him. Cramer gave his back and I thought it was going to be over but the round ended. Luke looked really tired in the corner and from the beginning he was taking shots that he should have not been taking. His hands were down a couple times but he was throwing back a little. Kramer got a takedown to side mount and then immediately went to the mount. From there it was all Cramer till the ref stepped in to stop the fight. Our team had suffered its first loss and we were all pretty devastated but none so much as Luke. I watched him sit alone outside with tears in his eyes and it broke my heart because I know that road and you go down it alone and it is tough. I think BJ Penn said it best "Winning is not that great, it is just losing that sucks so bad". I immediately asked Forrest if I could fight Cramer in the next round. He said that it was up to Dana and not up to him. I asked for Cramer from the beginning when he beat my friend Jeremiah Riggs but the team thought he was too easy of a fight for me. I bet they don't think that now. I just want to try and avenge my friends Jeremiah and Luke, nothing personal ?. Well maybe a little personal. On the van ride home none of us said a single word. We were in shock and the loss was hard for us to swallow even though we knew this day would was inevitable. The pm practice was really cool because Forrest brought in one of his training partners and my brother-in-law Ross' favorite fighter Mike "Quicksand" Pyle. Mike had just returned from a victorious fight in Canada for the Hardcore Fighting Championship organization. We warmed up hard then wrestled and did jits for an hour and a half. We trained non-stop and it was awesome. It took Mike about 10 min. to finally pass my guard and then he caught me in a head and arm choke. I was just so impressed with his ground game. He is really smooth and very knowledgeable. After practice Forrest offered to give my wife Mamie a call on Valentine's Day and tell her I love her. That is a really cool offer and I plan on taking him up on the offer. I am sure she has no idea that Forrest Griffin is going to call her for Valentine's Day. That will be pretty funny I guess. I miss her so much. It is only 3 weeks left and I got the most important fights of my young life ahead of me. I can't believe I even made it to the 32 much less the final 8 now but I am here to win this thing and I am giving it my all in practice and in controlling the variables. I will not fail. I will fight to my last breadth because I have promised someone the world and she deserves it so I see to deliver no matter what the cost to myself.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of my sponsors for all of their help, support and hard work in my career. Third Coast Combat is definitely reping the Deep South (www.thirdcoastcombat.com). Assassin Athletics is a new and enterprising company down here supporting local fighters and myself as well (www.assassinathletics.com). Rocky and Kevin Miller from Xtreme Nutrition of Lafayette at both locations have gone above and beyond to really help my career in terms of suppliments and diet thanks a ton guys (www.xnonline.net). John Ouano at Ouano Kimonos has been sponsoring me with GI's and supplies for the last ten years plus he has been a jiu-jitsu teacher and mentor all of my jiu-jitsu career, John you will never be forgotten (www.ouano.com). Scotty, Gumby and all the guys at On the Mat have been brother's in arms for many years and have always supported me thanks a million guys (www.onthemat.com). All the guys at Manto Fight have been amazing with their sponsorship and their interests in my career thanks guys (www.mantofight.com) . Courtesy Mazda of Lafayette is a new sponsor that has come on board and really taken a chance with me I promise you won't regret it Paul Stroderd. City Bar in Downtown Lafayette thanks for all of the support and love. I would also like to thank Barczyk Chiropractor Group and Dr. Barczyk for all his help. Dr. Thomas Montgomery and all his staff have been amazing thank you as well. I would never be here without my mentor and master Rodrigo Medeiros who has been a real life Mr. Miyagi to me in my life, your work with me has changed my life and I thank you (www.bjjrevolutionteam.com). Last but not least I would like to thank everyone out there who has believed in me and made my career possible there are just too many to name. To all my students never stop training and remember the secret is in the journey not the destination.
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.
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