TUF 11 Sherblog: 4,000 Hours of Pain Pay Off
Court McGee Jun 9, 2010
This episode, the majority of the taping was done on the last day.
However, they showed some of the pranks that happened throughout
the season. Damn near everybody in the house was ready to go home
and be done. We had been there for 41 days, and there was just four
guys left.
Right after my fight with Hammortree, it was announced that I would be fighting Brad Tavares. I had four days until fight day. That meant one day of practice, one day of rest, one day to cut weight, weigh in and the next day fight. I was pretty beat up and my body was wore out, but I knew the other guys were feeling the same way.
Just after the fight announcement, we all went back to the house.
Everybody decided to gang up on the Minority Report. We figured it
would be early enough that it wouldn’t interrupt their sleep and
mess up their fight day. We got ‘em bright-ass early in the
morning. Man, Yager and Tavares were MAD. Tavares was mad and Yager
went on a rampage. I think he got into it with everybody in the
house, except me, in a matter of two days.
Every time I cut weight, it got a little harder. This time it was pretty hard, but Chuck made it a little easier for me. Dana White had an interview at 11 o’clock and weigh-ins were at noon. They didn’t want us in the gym. Chuck made it happen. He got me into the gym so that I could use the sauna to cut and make weight. I have a ritual that I do: 10 minutes of boxing drilling, 10 minutes of wrestling drilling, 10 minutes of jiu-jitsu drilling and 10 minutes of kickboxing drilling in a sauna suit. I sweat out for about 10 minutes with a light walk. Then do a 15- to 20-minute sauna session until I’m down to weight. If Chuck wouldn’t have got me into the gym, it would’ve been hard to do my usual warm-up. He’s the man. Thanks, Chuck.
Bryant and McCray fought first. I warmed up by myself while they were fighting. Howard came back into the room and told me that Bryant had lost to a close decision. I tried not to think about it much and just focus on what I needed to do, and that was beat Brad Tavares.
They staged me and I went out. I knew I had the ability to beat Brad, and it weighed heavy on my mind that he had beaten Jordan Smith, a training partner of mine, to get into the house. I think Jordan’s record is 17-0-1 with his only loss to Tavares. I knew if I was patient that I could get him. Sure as s--t, I hit him with a three-hit combination -- the most basic combination in boxing. I caught him with a lead hook and dropped him. I rushed in for the kill, threw a one-two, ducked under one of his punches, hit him with a cross, rocked him again, double-legged him, took his back and finished with the rear-naked.
It was a sweet victory. Four thousand hours of pain, sweat and work paid off. I was so excited, I did some wild-ass cartwheel and threw a big right hand. I don’t usually freak out like that, but I was so excited that I had pulled it off.
Reflecting on my fight, I wasn’t following up with that second or third punch. Basically, I wasn’t fully committing. Commitment is a big thing. It reminds me of a story Howard Davis Jr. told me about a boxer who was in a title fight. He was losing the fight bad. His corner wasn’t screaming at him, he wasn’t yelling. He calmly walked in during the one-minute rest period and said, “You’re blowing it, son.” He walked out in the 11th round, committed to a three-hit combination, caught him with a lead hook and knocked him out.
That story stuck in my mind. In the third round of my fight against Brad, Howard kept repeating “One-two! One-two-three! Commit, commit, commit! Pressure him!”
Something clicked. The story of the boxer, my trust in Howard and being born with the ear of the fighter. I let my hands go -- one, two, three. The third punch landed, and the fight changed right then. Brad Tavares was in my cage. It was my time to win, and the good Lord saw fit that I show up ready to fight that day.
To find out more information about Court McGee, visit his Web site at www.courtmcgee.net and follow him on Twitter at court_mcgee
Right after my fight with Hammortree, it was announced that I would be fighting Brad Tavares. I had four days until fight day. That meant one day of practice, one day of rest, one day to cut weight, weigh in and the next day fight. I was pretty beat up and my body was wore out, but I knew the other guys were feeling the same way.
Advertisement
Every time I cut weight, it got a little harder. This time it was pretty hard, but Chuck made it a little easier for me. Dana White had an interview at 11 o’clock and weigh-ins were at noon. They didn’t want us in the gym. Chuck made it happen. He got me into the gym so that I could use the sauna to cut and make weight. I have a ritual that I do: 10 minutes of boxing drilling, 10 minutes of wrestling drilling, 10 minutes of jiu-jitsu drilling and 10 minutes of kickboxing drilling in a sauna suit. I sweat out for about 10 minutes with a light walk. Then do a 15- to 20-minute sauna session until I’m down to weight. If Chuck wouldn’t have got me into the gym, it would’ve been hard to do my usual warm-up. He’s the man. Thanks, Chuck.
After I made weight, I did a lot of meditation. I made sure to eat
right and rest properly. Those are the two most important things
for me right before I fight. After the weigh-in, I don’t gorge; I
eat the same proportion size, the same type of food that I had been
eating prior to the fight.
Bryant and McCray fought first. I warmed up by myself while they were fighting. Howard came back into the room and told me that Bryant had lost to a close decision. I tried not to think about it much and just focus on what I needed to do, and that was beat Brad Tavares.
They staged me and I went out. I knew I had the ability to beat Brad, and it weighed heavy on my mind that he had beaten Jordan Smith, a training partner of mine, to get into the house. I think Jordan’s record is 17-0-1 with his only loss to Tavares. I knew if I was patient that I could get him. Sure as s--t, I hit him with a three-hit combination -- the most basic combination in boxing. I caught him with a lead hook and dropped him. I rushed in for the kill, threw a one-two, ducked under one of his punches, hit him with a cross, rocked him again, double-legged him, took his back and finished with the rear-naked.
It was a sweet victory. Four thousand hours of pain, sweat and work paid off. I was so excited, I did some wild-ass cartwheel and threw a big right hand. I don’t usually freak out like that, but I was so excited that I had pulled it off.
Reflecting on my fight, I wasn’t following up with that second or third punch. Basically, I wasn’t fully committing. Commitment is a big thing. It reminds me of a story Howard Davis Jr. told me about a boxer who was in a title fight. He was losing the fight bad. His corner wasn’t screaming at him, he wasn’t yelling. He calmly walked in during the one-minute rest period and said, “You’re blowing it, son.” He walked out in the 11th round, committed to a three-hit combination, caught him with a lead hook and knocked him out.
That story stuck in my mind. In the third round of my fight against Brad, Howard kept repeating “One-two! One-two-three! Commit, commit, commit! Pressure him!”
Something clicked. The story of the boxer, my trust in Howard and being born with the ear of the fighter. I let my hands go -- one, two, three. The third punch landed, and the fight changed right then. Brad Tavares was in my cage. It was my time to win, and the good Lord saw fit that I show up ready to fight that day.
To find out more information about Court McGee, visit his Web site at www.courtmcgee.net and follow him on Twitter at court_mcgee
Related Articles
