TUF 12 Sherblog: Iron Mike and the Fog of War

It was time to get back to drinking after my fight with Jeff Lentz, and, apparently, I spent all night reminding him how I had beaten him. I can’t personally recall doing any of this due to the fact that I was super drunk. I guess I let my words run loose all over Jeff, just letting him and everyone else know how I felt.

But enough about me. It was Michael Johnson’s turn to fight. The following morning, our team gathered after practice to decide who among us would fight next. Michael, one of our toughest fighters, stepped up to the plate and, after consulting with coaches Georges St. Pierre and John Danaher, finally decided to take on Aaron Wilkinson.

I thought it would be a good fight, considering the way English guys compete, but I felt that Michael had it in the bag if he could hold down Wilkinson and lay down some of that ground-and-pound we all saw in his first appearance on the show.

When fight day came, Michael was as ready as he would ever be. We all piled into the vans to go to the gym and help him warm up in the locker room. To our surprise, Mike Tyson walked through the door. It was indeed a good day. Apparently, GSP had asked UFC President Dana White, who is friends with Tyson, to have the former heavyweight boxing champion stop by for a visit and give us some moral support.

I mean, what could be better than Mike Tyson coming into your locker room to wish you luck in your fight? It was awesome.

Michael and Aaron entered the cage ready for battle. They traded some nice combinations, but Michael scored with a big takedown. Aaron got back to his feet, scored with a takedown of his own, delivered some serious ground-and-pound and took the first round. The second was pretty even, but Michael secured a takedown that won him the round, and, with that, the fight headed to round three.

Now, I don’t know if it had anything to do with Tyson’s presence or not, but in the third round, Michael came out like a bat out of hell and swung for the fences. He dropped Aaron with a barrage of punches, immediately jumped on top, landed some ground-and-pound and locked on a rear-naked choke that finished the fight. Everybody went crazy. It was such a close fight and very exciting to watch. Suddenly, we were 2-0. Good start for Team GSP.

Back at the house, we could feel the tension rising, at least I could. It seemed that all Team Koscheck’s firepower was directed at me, as if I was the reason for their struggles.

I understood what was going on. They needed an outlet, and who better to take aim at than “Bruce Leroy” -- the man who gave them their first taste of defeat. I got into it with plenty of guys from the other team, but that’s a chapter for another story.