Stream The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs Team Chandler on ESPN+ now! Coach Michael Chandler joins Din Thomas to …
foreign [Music] thank you and welcome to after talk I’m Dean Thomas episode one is officially in the books and we have a great show for you on deck coming up coach iron Michael Chandler joins us live and who knows maybe just maybe a quick Cameo from Conor McGregor episode one winner Roosevelt Roberts and team McGregor coach John Kavanaugh will also join the show plus we have a ton of exclusive bonus footage that you may haven’t that you haven’t seen on this episode but trust me you don’t want to miss it after each week on after tough I’ll be joined by some familiar faces from the previous season of The Ultimate Fighter to kick things off on this episode we went big The Ultimate Fighter season two winner coach in season 10 the former light heavyweight champion the UFC Hall of Famer the UFC’s original sugar but when I see them it’s my heart it’s my brother sugar Rashad Evans was gone my man let me get him looking at you boy let me look at you okay you got the cool shirt on you got me out here my grandmother’s sweater what’s up man how are you it’s nicely neat I’m good man I’m good it’s good to be here man it’s good to be back with all the excitement Conor McGregor’s back in the house so watching that season just watching that first episode what kind of traumatic memories does that bring for you you was the season whether you was a coach how do you feel about like just going back and watching it the first time I love it man because it’s a it’s a thing that you know I have a lot of fond memories of but I also have a lot of memories that you know I I became a fighter I became a man on that show you know having to face the adversity that I had to face on the show it pretty much got me ready for the rest of my career so I got so much respect for the show tough because it brought the best out of me I love it so every week we’re going to show you a lot of scenes that didn’t make it into each week’s episode and first up here’s some of you which you didn’t say of when Connor and Michael first met yes sir yes so [Music] yeah you called for it you got it yeah sometimes you got to be careful what you wish for all but you know you’re gonna go out you gotta fight there I love it I’m not here I’m looking forward to doing I look forward to having a knocking fair play with you yeah I’m happy I’m happy to be here with your mind yeah and do the thing with your food yeah this is a be ready stay ready at all times stay ready at all times you never know just be locked in Vegas together for four weeks let’s see do you ever find the Apex now if it lands yeah too late no too late you got something to improve but I don’t think you’re a machine gun in the face it’s the pressure today that you can’t deal with blood pressure on me the physical pressure the flight pressure not to fight spectacle pressure a technical work that I mean that I’ve been doing yeah left pull back straight left old school Connor I thought you said something it was amazing you didn’t say anything about it yeah but you don’t say a submission no yeah come on there with that nonsense that’s what I’ve said I’ve said uh everybody says red pain tonight everybody says dude it’s a good fight yeah yeah track records speak for themselves check the resume yeah for sure that’s it well look I’ve had Dana waiting on me long enough at the press conferences we’ll take this one on the chin but don’t be making it a habit for the rest of the job I’m telling me yeah for a shot how awkward was that oh it was so awkward man and it’s rare to see Connor ever a lot for words but I mean he he felt a little awkward he was just an awkward space it looked it looked very awkward for both of them but let’s welcome in this season’s coach iron Michael Chandler there he is he’s out there Mike what’s going on boy what’s up Chandler what’s up man thank you all so much for having me that was an awesome episode we finally season 31 is Among Us I’ve been waiting for it seems like a year for this thing but here we are so we just saw that little clip with you and him in the room was that your first interaction with him and why was it so awkward did he seem like he kept you on your toes the entire time yeah so uh honestly Conor and I had met because we shared a press conference before we shared a card before my dick uh was when he fought Poirier I fought uh Dan hooker so um but that was when they said hey go wait in the gym and we’ll let you know when we’re ready I’m like I stood there by myself for about 10 minutes and I realized okay wait a second they’re about to send Connor in here and then they left us in there for about 30 minutes like what do you do what do you do you just sit there you want to start talking trash you want to start insulting each other Connor and I have a ton of respect for each other uh so I think that’s kind of what you saw there you know it’s I think I’m gonna beat him he thinks he’s gonna beat me and that’s it Chandler going into the show how did you prepare to go for head to head with Connor because like you know he has a way to kind of bully you without even bullying you has wives with his words like what was your mindset going into the whole you know set up with Connor man yeah he’s uh he’s a Wordsmith man and he is so comfortable in that realm uh you know you guys said awkward I I don’t think I don’t think Connor wanted to come in spitting Venom like he normally did and it’s not because he’s afraid of me it’s not because I’m sitting here trying to act like I’m some tough guy and con and I made Connor outside of his realm I think Connor has a lot of respect for me I have a lot of respect for him what’s he gonna say man you know what am I going to say to him aside from the fact that I’m I’m gonna beat him I’ve watched all of his tape he’s watched all of my tape you know he’s making a little bit of fun of me but I’ll make a little fun to him um essentially I didn’t have any time to prepare but I was not going to go into the show thinking I was going to go out there and win the verbal Jiu Jitsu match with the word Smith that is Conor McGregor um so I was picking and choosing my time sometimes you gotta sometimes you gotta lead with uh humility just to just to show them that they’re not getting under your skin whatsoever and I think that was what a lot you’re going to see this season but also a little bit of uh back and forth all the verbal altercations as well now in terms of your team you got stuck with the first group of lightweight vets and then you chose the bantamweight vets and is that the way you preferred the situation to be or was it something that okay when it was said and done you said all right I’m gonna look for the positives in order to justify having these veterans man I will be completely honest with you and I sat right here in the studio because I’m doing a live uh a reaction show a full hour so I was able to go more in depth to it but I will tell you this right now my coach Jason strout one of my favorite people on the on the planet had a Sharpie and he wrote 55 you on his hand because we wanted the 55 up and comers but it was only because we didn’t think they were a better group I just wanted the group with Lee Hammond in it who we knew was Conor’s boy lo and behold we lose the toss he fixes the 55 up and comers and honestly it was a blessing in disguise I look back and think thank God that Connor won the toss and I got the veterans because my guys will forever hold a huge place in my heart I’m absolutely in love with the process that we just put together over these over this these next 12 weeks that you all are gonna see I love my dudes and I’m so happy I got all the veterans all right now you and Connor you’re set to fight sometime after the season wraps and I was just told I just heard that Conor McGregor has entered the usaider pool I repeat Conor McGregor has entered the usada pool and we actually have the footage let’s take a look I’m going to sever your head clean over your shoulders and you’ll do nothing you’ll do nothing you see me watch it costs more than your entire apartment I’ll see you at the end of the season Michael oh my gosh I hey thank God he’s finally in this he’s finally in the USANA testicle he had to be official did you see that sign yeah that’s what I’m saying you saw the sign it was official now after watching that how scared are you of Connor now hey man everybody knows you know Connor uh Connor is who he is man uh I love I haven’t seen the documentary yet but everybody I’ve talked to just talks about how this and he said it today with his uh interview with Megalo olivi that got released he thinks it’s the biggest comeback in sports history so the dude’s coming back for sure he’s fighting me there’s only one guy he’s going to fight it’s going to be later this year we don’t know if it’s going to be late fall uh winter time who knows but either way I’m training for him he’s training for me and we’re gonna get to see over the next 11 weeks how Connor and I uh navigate this whole relationship thing all right we got a question from a fan here and this one is from BMF Rodrigo he wants to know if you could pick the venue for your next fight where would you want to it to be oh man it’s got if if I had my choice it’s in Vegas I’ve signed with the I’ve been signed with USC now for almost three years and I haven’t fought in Vegas yet so I would like it to be Vegas I would love to do T-Mobile but I think we need to go big I I say my preference Allegiant Stadium in Vegas all right let’s uh check out some never before seen footage of you and Connor talking about which way you two May fight at do you know what weight it’s going to be if I told you what way it’s going to be 184.85. we’d love to do 185 because I’m not hunting for money you want to do 185 I’ll do 185 yeah I saw that that was good the UFC with the max but 185 you want the 185. see what happens stay ready yeah well I mean I’ll make 155. yeah but you’d make 154 of course yeah you’re a 145 or 55 I’m I’m super heavy super happy yeah you want to take a couple inches out on the suits you get to take a couple inches out on the suits all the weights yeah the Mac ‘s the weight now Michael 87 86. when you say 87 86 you say it in as in 187 186. okay yeah how many kilos is that uh yeah you haven’t looked at a scale in a minute we may do the premiere on this show yeah you’ll hear about what way it is yeah number three Cliffhanger yeah yeah Chandler you guys talked about the weight class and everything else like that now McGregor looks kind of big physically speaking what do you expect from McGregor as a fight gets kind of closer man I mean obviously he’s gonna slim down a little bit I’m sure you know he’s been out of a training camp you go into a training camp you’re going to lose you’re going to lose a little bit of excess Mass if you will um Conor’s you know definitely put on some size let’s be honest um but you know it’s funny I call it as Bluff it’s it’s not a you’ll deal with your total type of situation it’s I would love to fight at 185 I’d love to cut no way I’d cut I’d fight at 170. um the fight’s happening this is the fight that we’re doing obviously it doesn’t need to be a 155 so hey let’s do the 170 let’s do 185 but you know you notice uh Connor and I are about the same size you know he’s got he’s got some really good uh camera angles really good lighting and he picks the right photos uh for his Instagram feed but um he’s put definitely put on some Mass but is he gonna be able to carry that mass well is he going to be the same fast uh reactive Snappy slice econer that he has been in the past when he won two World titles it remains to be seen because he’s definitely a lot bigger Mike we appreciate you my friend we’ll see you next week and every week after that right here on after tough man we appreciate you have a good night yes sir I appreciate y’all see ya all right now we’ve shown you what it was like when coach McGregor and Coach Chandler first met on the show now it’s time to take you back and show you what it was like for two other coaches that most enjoy throwing around some very specific words treat me like a [ __ ] right now [ __ ] call me a [ __ ] right now treat me like a [ __ ] right now treat me like a [ __ ] right now like I said you a [ __ ] dream like a [ __ ] right now [ __ ] treat me like a [ __ ] right now you know your [ __ ] you make a [ __ ] right now you’re a [ __ ] you a coward ass you’re a [ __ ] you a [ __ ] you’re a coward ass [ __ ] back up dude back up dude dude I know you just didn’t do that yes I damn I know you just yes I did dude you know I did hey why you got one shoe on one shoes that’s why you said um please good shot okay look at me look at me no no no no no no no don’t make don’t make threats they’re gonna say we’ll get a chance I’m right here right now I’m here right now listen I’m here right now your mother face touch me please take both shoes off oh my God that’s felony Rashad like that’s the type of dude that I’m scared of in the street hey I had this happen to that savageness because you I had red Rampage trying to raise his leg on me on every episode man every single time I seen him it was always that kind of energy so I had to give it back man man that was scary but let me tell you something now let’s take a look at the team score card we just all witnessed the first fighter this season a lightweight veteran put up the team win in the column he put it on for his team so let’s bring in the winner of episode one representing team Chandler the man himself Roosevelt Roberts that the Nevada state Commission said that your fight was tied for the fastest knockout in tough history eight seconds start with Uriah Hall and Sam Cecilia how’s that make you feel man that makes you feel great man you know like I said it’s been a long journey so to come back in and do it like that it feels great so what was the vibe like like right after that knockout going into the house because you you knock a guy out then you got to go right back into the house with him like was you walking around peacocking like yo call me eight seconds for the next couple weeks you know what I’m saying like that’s my name what’s happening no man I mean yeah pardon me wanted to be like that but honestly I was trying to like it was hard for me to be around him a little bit because I felt kind of felt back I know we know we all chasing the same dream you know and um I know how it feels to be at the bottom so you know I felt bad but now I also understood you know we’re here to do a job and I got to get it done so you know my tests were poked out a little bit and I was just ready for the second round Roosevelt you came into this fight a lot different uh than I seen you in the last couple fights and your mindset seemed to be different what was that Valley like where you had to kind of you know get yourself together again to to Really uh get back out here and compete again what was that Valley like for you and um you know I was kind of I was kind of at the road of giving up man like I wasn’t able to get no fights uh the money wasn’t right you know so I was kind of to the point where I was losing faith in myself and just saw like you know maybe just this just ain’t for me anymore you know and uh I felt like this is just God’s timing man he put me in the right place at the right time I was mentally down mentally beating myself up and um you know he just put me in the right place man told me that you know like this this is what you meant to be doing you know that’s what you got to be doing I’ll put you on here to do this and uh you know don’t give up on yourself just keep going so you know it was a long it was a long hard journey man these last two years I was cut man it’s a roller coaster a roller coaster ride and um I’m just blessed to be able to keep doing this uh play this game that I love you know and uh you know just try to make it back to where I know I belong fellas I know y’all been in this situation before but y’all are messed up with your woman and you trying to apologize trying to get her back into the good graces this clip reminds me of exactly just that [Laughter] feel me you know but nah but you know I just let Dana know man that you know I made some mistakes you know I know I did um I didn’t do things the right way uh didn’t take things as soon as I should have took them and um you know I’m just thankful and blessed to have this opportunity and uh I definitely didn’t want to mess it up you know uh Michael Chandler he put He put me in the first the first fight for a reason he wanted me to go out there and make a statement so you know I want to go out there and leave it all with a bang yeah I seen that you had a journal that you wrote that you said after you uh got cut from the UFC are you still looking back and reading that journal to kind of remind yourself of every single step you you take along the way yeah I still I still got that journey to this day um and I go back and I read it and I’ve seen things out like my mindset I see how down I was uh I see how how I see how far down I was and I see how much I gave up on myself back then you know and um you know but it shows me how strong I am too you know it showed me that you know I’m never gonna give up and I’m always going to push for it no matter what happens I’m always gonna try to make myself better and you know I’m always keep that Journey always keep that journal I’m always going to look back on there read it and uh make sure that I’m never down at that space again hey Roosevelt let’s talk about your coach for a minute so during the episode you said you didn’t think that you would vibe but Connor and you was glad to be on team Chandler so what was it about Chandler that stood out or what was it about Conor that turned you off well honestly Chandler before I even met Chandler and you know just seeing him deal with people and like he just seemed like a Down to Earth dude you know and um when I met him it just it just made that it just clicked even even better you know uh the way he talked the way he coached everything was just like it was match made perfect for me you know uh definitely with Jason Strauss man I love Jason Strauss his striking folks um I love working with him love hitting past so you know those two are like definitely like people that helped me in that Journey when I was in a tough house um and Connor man you know Connor just you know he bipolar bipolar so I just felt like you know it’s either we gonna take her we’re not gonna play and uh you know I just felt like channel would be the best option for me I love it well Roosevelt impressive win for you uh good luck to you in the rest of the season and I hope to see you down in Florida uh but all eyes were on this first episode of tough and uh talking with a team McGregor and team Chandler but some big names were even tuned in to this episode since the very first season back when Forrest dump was the champion now 31 Seasons deep we have the notorious we’re Conor McGregor take it home Michael Chandler and I think Michael Chandler is a great fighter but I gotta be honest the boy has got no cardio I’ve seen Teslas with a better gas tank to them but I digress this very first episode was spectacular and shout out to Theodore Roosevelt for his flick submission victory over the very gang Nate gentlemen he fought masterfully it was a splinterous performance and I wouldn’t be surprised if it got him a title shot against the champion Jon Jones wow Stephen A Smith even out here that’s um for a minute I was impressive impressive but Rashad Connor won the coin toss and got the first pick and when you coached on season 10 you also wanted coin tell us like what was the strategy for having that first pick and what was it what would have been like for you if you were in Connor shoes Pros or vets what would you take I would have took the Vets man I took I would have took the Vats in and I would have took them just mainly for the fact that you know these are guys who got cut these are guys who had to feel that sting had to feel that burn and feeling that stealing stealing that burn and having a social uh aspect of it too of having people that you were close with no longer mess with you no more those are all things that help you you know bring out that thing that’s inside of you once again and these guys are focused and ready to go and I definitely would have sent the Vets man so something else you didn’t see on the first episode was a pep talk with Connor he had his team let’s take a look at this means nothing except in there you go you go for it in there against anyone any weight any time that’s what we’re after here so it got me to where like where I got you nothing else not to talk and anything just to walk in the commitment and the willingness if I will I always say if you’re willing you’re able it’s just okay willing to deal with you know you’re able to go all the way with it all the [ __ ] way so you know go for it let me see let’s see the young blood in in in in the business I’m excited for you guys it’s a huge platform ESPN is going to be the biggest of all right yeah you know like the Super Sunday football games and all the rest of it that’s going to be you the clips that you was getting is I knock out wins and these are victories and his speeches they’re going to be playing for the American public all over all over so it’s an incredible opportunity use that you use that forehead I just have we’re going to put a good system together for some good training again sharp energetic fresh if you need if you need something to speak you know what I’m saying you’re the narrator of your life of your journey this is your journey it’s not I’m not going to come in and drill so I just want to take over this I’m gonna I’m gonna land nice Foundation face like a wind you know keep sharp and get a sweat in it’s it’s four weeks we’re fighting in a couple of days less than a week of fighting so you know we keep shopping keep fresh and that’s it [Applause] obviously a very compelling speech from Connor to those guys what do you think they took away from that uh you know I took away being accountable accountability is what I think that Conor is really speaking about you know he’s been on the show before he understands the fact that there’s only so much time that you have with these Fighters so you’re really not going to remake that game you’re going to refine it and not trying to add too much to it not trying to over Coach is I felt like the perspective that he’s coming from and you know the accountability being sure that you do what you need to do individually to make sure that you’re able to show up on fight day and I think more than anything else like just coming from Connor like Connor is kind of their hero I mean you got this you got this figure this this mythical figure walking around this and he’s in a suit and we know he’s the biggest star in the sport and he’s giving these guys a pep talk I really feel like it should have motivated those guys absolutely I I like the fact that Connor walked that line really good of being that that Brash guy you know kind of wearing this to fancy cars but then he has the aspect of being able to go in there and Jim sweat with guys going there and bleed with the guys that really gains respect so Connor and Michael had two completely different coaching Styles Connor was like balls to the wall he even hopped in and sparred with the guys and Michael Chandler he kind of eased his team in with some drills now Rashad you had experience with season two as a competitor and you had Rich Franklin as a coach and he had a style similar to Chandler right but Matt Hughes was pretty ruthless in which which style do you prefer if you were in a situation uh you know I like the drill aspect of it to be honest I mean you know it’s from a point of view where you’re just kind of touching up on some of the things that you really need to do you know I feel like if you bang too hard in sparring and that tends to happen on those shows because people coming in with a lot to prove you can get hurt and not make it to the big fight so drilling making sure you’re working on your timing and working on different technique can go a big long way for these guys well I’ll tell you what I know Matt Hughes was kind of hard on you but there’s been 31 seasons of The Ultimate Fighter and at the Apex there’s been an entire there’s an entire wall that pays homage to each season and we caught Connor taking a stroll down memory lane you got the LG one team Liddell team Couture and you know there can be a lot of everything after it like as you see only one OG in the team you know what I mean there’s a lot of a couple of times not that many there’s only one OG Cham Cham pullover and pan was probably one of my favorite ones it was the lightweight one obviously it was a light a guy looking at how am I going to get in here am I like that I’m only I’m only one 145 I I best at that time and I’m looking at the 170s thinking well he can’t get the group into me so when we got pulled over and painting and uh a whole load of lightweight Nate was on this one wasn’t he look there’s they won they won it yeah Nate was on this one so I was like really I’ll catch you soon yeah then they started on this USA UK I remembered that was a good one that was a very good one air he ripped the doll off he ripped the door off the wall there you go there’s the mic Daddy it’s getting my G I know it’s super legit Jam drive across the oil fresh out of the catch and I have the Jersey over there and then we go Abner Stephen He’s Still rocking friends siloa my sin Martin’s Vincent Medi Baghdad Sasha Saul Rogers and the love of her fellow in hell and then obviously you got your lawyer it was a bit of banter a bit of fun and he’s a good little team Billy you’re my billion and Chris James Jason Julie and Reinhold great for later tan Lee he was a good little fighter as well him he was already Tom galatio there solid Johnny they’re all it was a good good show great experience whatever the name you know yourself well that was Eric stanowski he was my Jiu-Jitsu coach you know what’s crazy about Connor is that no matter you know he’s got a billion dollars he’s Rich he flies around he does all this crazy stuff but yet at the core of it all he’s still one of us like he still follows the sport and knows all about the sport which is kind of like I don’t care what you’re doing out here dog I still know what’s going on inside here yeah and I think that’s one of the most interesting Parts about him is because he’s had all this wild success outside of the Octagon but he truly still resonates as a fighter and I feel like that’s why he’s gonna be around for at least a few more fights you know what I’m saying he he he’s gonna try to remake himself in so many different ways and he’s got that mindset and as you get older your mindset gets sharper it’s just a matter if you have the physical skill sets to keep up now I don’t know if you caught this but in that whole little charade he was like yo this season will Rashad and Rampage was good like did you catch that I caught it what I’m saying like how’d that make you feel it felt good man it feels good man it feels good to be recognized for uh what a great season that we had you know it was just a lot of back and forth action but but at the end of it the fans got to walk away truly getting ready for a fight you know really understanding that we didn’t like each other and that’s what really makes people want to tune in when they know the coaches don’t like each other when they know they’re getting a fight that’s going to produce some kind of Venom I mean that was crazy like just watching you guys in the little back and forth it got to the point Dean where they had to pull us aside and like look man I know you guys don’t like each other but we got to be able to film something crazy well it’s no secret that Connor does everything in extravagant style so if Salas was a person well this Connor and this exclusive bonus clip would be exactly just that they wanted to do something where they drive you around or you drive around I thought we thought we were coming in like a Lambo or something [Laughter] [Music] play yo why Connor always gotta walk like he bad a man cause he got a lamb I think he got the lambo but I’m telling like he got to walk like his he got like yoga pants on like his his pants be so tight and his thighs be popping out man why why you gotta be so flashy that’s that’s the that’s the walk right that’s the Walk of success you know what I’m saying I’ll tell you what but another clip that didn’t make it into this first episode was Conor talking strategy with his coaching team they want to do something where they drive you around or you drive around I thought we thought we were coming in like a Lambo or something [Laughter] yeah this is this would be a force click I’d imagine yeah yeah that is the man himself yeah oh yeah that’s when I look through it is Young Guns in the 155 pound division that’s the first choice to get League yeah I know back back on the river but I mean if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen you know the lads have to go deal with himself you can’t be like a drill martial or something now there’s four weeks here these guys it’s it’s their life it’s their dream it’s their aspirations show us if you have shows show me how much you want it and that’s it so whoever we end up with and however we end up we will regroup and we’ll gather the golden there we got the old blue these are the vegetables we know Brad also yeah we know Brad also um yeah he’d be a he’d be the best 125 and the young Lord 150 for his VR pick yeah okay right take one down yeah obviously we’re not we want the younger about 54 hours I mean what is this Minstrel all them handy as well there’s a huge box snacks we know what we want anyway in time we’ll get our team uh we will assess once we have our teams yeah and that’s it we go from there McGregor let’s go let’s go welcome to the set of after The Ultimate Fighter Team McGregor versus Team Chandler I’m Dean Thomas with the winner of tough season 2 and former UFC champion Rashad Evans if you missed the debut of episode one Tuesday night on ESPN be sure to catch it on ESPN plus but for now take a look at this bonus footage you didn’t see in this week’s premiere dogs welcome forward are you a dog and I’m saying you’re gonna take it I’m at the wall you’re gonna go and get it that’s what we’re looking for here nothing else means nothing except in there you know you go for it in there against anyone any weight any time that’s what I have to hear in this country so it got me to where like where I got you nothing else not to talk and anything just to walk in the commitment and the willingness if I will I always say if you’re willing you’re able but since if you’re willing to deal with you know you know you’re able to go all the way with it all [ __ ] way let’s take your way to the black Ford in in Dublin Ireland Where We Are by team McGregor coach John Kavanaugh John as a long time coach I want to talk to you coach to Coach man the man now Conor was very adamant about getting that first group of 155 pound prospects then he was given the second group of prospects was this something that was discussed as a team and also were you hoping to get the Vets at 135 because now you had to coach against Brad Katona yeah what’s up coach first of all a pleasure to be speaking with you and um we just finished watching episode one there it’s it’s looking great I know it’s going to be a great season a lot of drama a lot of action but uh yeah on the team picks we wanted to get Lee Hammond on our team he’s um quite new to the Pro game he’s been with us a long time Korean wins a long time but he’s only been a pro for about a year now and Connor wanted to get him under the wing in contrast to that Brad Caton has been around the game a long time he’s won The Ultimate Fighter before he’s been with me for a long long time so the way it worked out was we knew that if we picked uh lee we probably weren’t we’re not going to get Brad just the way they broke it up that we knew we got the the uh the new blood they were going to get the veterans in the 55 and then we knew they were going to pick the veterans in the 35 but Brad Cantona like I said he’s he’s a veteran he’s been around the game a long time and we just felt Lee would maybe do better being under or direct contact and hey to have Brad over the other side in learning a few new things from different coaches he’s probably sick and tired of hearing my voice so good for him to get something new from uh Chandler and those guys that’s a very smart move on you guys as part of Veteran move I applaud you for that now initially during the first training you guys had sparring right away Connor jumped right into the sparring what was your first thoughts on the team after that first sparring session yeah I’ll be honest I was uh hesitant with uh with Connor’s decision to have them spurring her right away because uh you know not not to ruin the magic of TV but we’re only with the guys for a few days before we had their first fight but and actually I thought it turned out to be a really smart move that I sort of got the nerves out they were put right into a pressurized situation and you you know what it’s like then when you’re facing somebody in aspiring situation that you don’t know who’s not a teammate it can be quite competitive early on so although we did have them Sparrow right away it was under control we had a lot of coaches on the map to make sure that things got a bit spicy we could cool it down but I thought it was a great move to get the guys settled in and um you know by the end where you can see that although the guys were we had the new blows we had a lot of guys with with good skills on the map and uh yeah it got everybody I thought a little bit settled for what was going to come that’s all Conor jumped into that sparring session I’m sure he had a lot of fun how has coaching this season rejuvenated his love for the game yeah I mean uh for me the Love of the Game with Conor is always there uh Khan has a lot going on in his life different businesses different things he’s evolved in but every time I talk to him there’s only one topic on and that’s mixed martial arts we’re talking about it we’re doing it and uh for me I hadn’t actually been around Conor in a while and then we we went up to kind of get things started on this season of the team in there and we had a really good sperm partner as part of the team and the team being in there and and being able to go kind of Full Tilt early on it was It was kind of exciting for what’s to come coach the last time we spoke you did the dean Diaries out in Abu Dhabi with me and you were coaching Connor to fight Poirier now for this whole season of The Ultimate Fighter you were coaching alongside of Conor can you tell me which Connor you like better um yeah I missed out on the uh the previous season that Connor was evolved in I just had too much going on with the gym and I couldn’t be away for that long but for this season I made a kind of a bit of a pact with my wife I said look I’m going to be gone for a while but this is something important that’s you I don’t have to tell it to you but for everybody to be part of an Ultimate Fighter season it’s it’s a huge box to take for me as somebody you know in love with the sport so I made the commitment to go out and and for me uh Connor used to coach my boxing class uh before he was a you know a UFC star he was part he was part of the coaching team for SVG way back in the day and I always enjoyed sitting in on his classes he was a really passionate a very technical coach and I actually picked up a lot of things working alongside him this this season so I don’t think it’s any secret to say that Conor and I have quite different personalities and how we approach things but just from it from a technical point of view I actually learned quite a lot just listening to him so I really enjoyed it well coach I truly appreciate your time cheers to you in Ireland and best of luck to all that you’ve got going on and all that you got coming up and I can’t wait to see the rest of the season well I’ll say to you cilantro now I know we have some technical difficulties with the video clip look I can’t even match my socks to my outfit how do you expect me to get the clips right but I will say this about John Kavanaugh what a stand-up guy and for him to have his reservations about sparring that early I mean do you think that was a good decision for those guys yeah I like it the way they said it you know they broke it down from the aspect of getting the fighters comfortable getting them a chance to kind of blow out some of those nerves and get more relaxed but when I was coaching on the show um it was kind of something that I had to watch because it’s so easy for these guys to get hurt and I would feel awful if a guy’s opportunity got ruined because of a sparring session another thing that I thought stood out was the fact that he was talking about Conor McGregor you said coach’s Boxing class and so he’s watched Connors come up from the beginning and watch us you know watched his rise and to stardom I mean that’s just phenomenal to watch and then he I mean he always knew and had faith in Conor’s ability to coach but let’s check out this last bonus clip of the night diving into the mind of Connor on sparring and shooting the movie Roadhouse he had some very interesting things to say shall we give these kids a go dig out with you a few sessions with them school and drills I actually want to do slow motions rooms yeah for me placement is everything for you yeah see if we’re doing pads right like I’m hitting the pads the pads isn’t your body the parts is injection even if you’re doing school and like with the way we do school and the way we do we do like fast-paced skill and let me slip on the inside or you want to or you want to build up from from slow-mo like literally stepping in and exactly where we want the punch to land I’m cracking people on the jar now like I can take the oil actually have a blue bottle do you know what I mean with the accuracy so I think I’m almost too accurate I want to hit the skull a lot of time versus the chin if you’re not insane at all just I feel like let’s say I’m fighting a six foot or a certainly oh yeah well you know when you’re fighting a coin let me finish it I know you’re fighting the glory League you’re fighting in order to dock six foot or whatever you get the order of six footer in the gym yeah and you you know that that the prayer for it has a set a style of fighting or whatever way he does and you’re hoping your partner can replicate that and you’ll experience it in the gym but it’s a hope it’s a hope that happens in the spa rather than actually getting the stance or getting the the mechanics of the person you’re competing against whatever The Stance is hide everything all them all the all the mechanics changes everything you know what I mean and then and they’re on the exact sure that you want yeah almost and even evenly not like even like the person got me thinking I was like if I’m pointing this out part I got to sell for rent if he’s five foot ten I got a five for ten billion if he chose a check who called upon you know I’m hoping my God can throw a check up yeah and I can get that feeling of what the fight is going to be like instead of actually getting it what it is and slowing it all right down getting the connection where you want to get it feeling that in your soul where you’re where you’re gonna stroke them to end it and then building up the speed because we were doing this to me and Jillian Holly because what they do it is they speed it up then so he was like he was cracking me on the shots well he was going like that no I don’t mean and then they put it together in Italy they replace his head with a tire on his team so because I do hit I was getting head put them if you thought I had Bruno so I had the head with a pad like the head but the side of them and then I just saw you know what I mean Rashad I know your boy is reckless he’s he’d be talking out of pocket sometimes but I gotta say man he’s got a very underrated mindset for fighting I mean his ability to read and understand fighting is underrated absolutely and even training for it I mean what he’s talking about there is something that we experience a lot of when you got to fight a certain guy you’re bringing a certain kind of guy who’s going to mimic that person but what usually happens is you start sparring you crack him a few good times the next you know your partner that’s supposed to be fighting a certain way starts fighting the way that he fights and you don’t really get the look that you need but going with the drill Pace going really really slow making you get a thousand repetitions or whatever that number is over and over again so you build that muscle memory so you can’t mess it up if you tried well I mean and that’s what I was saying about his his mindset for fighting it’s almost as if he’s practicing cheat codes and when he was fighting and he was at the top of his game he was beating guys with these cheat codes exactly what he was just talking about yeah I mean sometimes you got to slow it down and uh you know he gave a really good example of why you need to do that and how it can benefit every episode will be hitting you with the GIF of the week we pulled this one straight from the face-offs when all the fights were announced Rashad has your mama ever caught you doing something and you know damn well you shouldn’t have been doing it look at him he like a puppy they don’t they knew he did something wrong yeah my man is man terrified oh man look at him man oh man look at him he already lost yeah already lost uh speaking of face-offs your face off with Brad Iams in the finale of tough two I mean look at this this fool was six foot seven he got you out there looking like black house below I’m a [ __ ] but that at that moment I realized that you know what this might be a real tough fight for me man like he he was monstrous I don’t remember him being that big on the season it’s like he grew I don’t know were you guys not in the house together yeah but I didn’t remember him being that big I don’t know what it was maybe because I was around other Giants he didn’t seem that big but man oh my goodness and what was it like when you when you actually had to fight him uh it felt all good until he grabbed me when he grabbed the hold of me I remember specifically thinking like dang I made a mistake man because I didn’t train much of my wrestling and he just ragged on me for a second it was painful but you put them hands on them all right but next week on The Ultimate Fighter Team McGregor’s number two bantamweight Prospect Trevor Wells takes on team Chandler’s number three a dude from Dagestan t-more value of so you know this is going to be a good matchup but the season has just begun y’all there’s a lot more to expect on tough 31. on this season of The Ultimate Fighter it’s the hardest tournament in sports and it’s killer be killed yeah it’s over there while we sleeping thing to run your mouth I’m trying to win don’t be trying to come in on some fight that’s not you at all don’t let him breathe or take these one off your man yeah I’ll take these over here [Music] [Applause] this is our chance this is time for Redemption so it’s a grade two MCL tear hey put me in there with you foreign [Music] [Music] get out of my way this is going to be a wild season but Rashad thank you for coming we ain’t getting out of here just yet we gotta at least see something from season four I mean you show me all day you gotta show wait a minute Thomas he is very skillful it’s good everywhere 167 and a half [Applause] they both can bang they both go down the ground it’s gonna be a good fight [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Laughter] wow that I mean I mean that brings back memories is kind of traumatizing but I don’t know I love it major sweat maybe I know look at me I’m moving well listen you down to come back or what man you’re gonna come back kick it with me one of these weeks man I’ll love to well I hope so but make sure you check out the next episode of The Ultimate Fighter Team McGregor versus Team Chandler Tuesday at 10 p.m Eastern on ESPN and ESPN plus then stick around for after tough with me and tough season winner 15 winner Michael quiesa as we break down episode two live on ESPN plus YouTube Facebook and Twitter now it’s time for some tough love life is all about opportunity and I’ve always said in my life that I’m always doing one of two things I’m either taking advantage of an opportunity or I’m preparing for one this season the tough is presenting the greatest opportunity that a fighter can ask for in their career no matter if you’re a veteran or a prospect all you’ve ever wanted for resources exposure and a chance to display your skills now I love the fact that Conor McGregor’s coaching the prospects Connor has the greatest Prospect story we’ve ever seen in MMA took advantage of every opportunity that was given to him and he became the biggest star in all of MMA but let’s face it some of us have lost faith in the notorious I mean we can forgive you for back-to-back losses to Dustin Poirier I lose to the point too but all the outside incidents of the octagon come on dog you are not being that model show artist that you claim to be so this is an opportunity for Connor this is an opportunity for Connor to show the MMA community that he’s still one of us or is he for the streets that will only be seen on this season of tough until we meet again I’m Dean Thomas and I’m not here to give you problems I’m just here to give you some tough love have a good night [Music]