The final two episodes of Spike TV’s breakthrough reality show “The Ultimate Fighter” aired Wednesday night revealing the four finalists, who, in the December 13 finale will battle to determine who will be left standing in the pursuit of a coveted six-figure contract with the UFC. More importantly, the finals will determine who will garner the recognition previous winners like Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping, and Rashad Evans currently enjoy since being crowned winners during their respective seasons.

Season eight resident prankster and Team Mir first pick, Krzysztof Soszynski, was 100% positive he would be the one left holding the trophy above his head when it was all over and once the coaches had picked their teams, the seasons consensus favorite wasn’t the only one who believed he’d be competing in the finals.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com asked this season’s most experienced and most intimidating contestant to discuss the experiences he’ll be taking away from living in the TUF house, his future with the UFC, and just what exactly happened that resulted in his disappointing loss to former Team Quest training partner and now TUF finalist, Vinny Magalhaes.

Gary Ibarra: Your game plan coming into your fight with Vinny was pretty obvious, keep the fight standing up and don’t go to the ground with him, it looked to be really effective until he managed to pull guard on you and take you down. Can you take us through what happened?

Krzysztof Soszynski: Well I thought I was controlling the fight pretty well, he knows that my strength is in my striking so I could see his game plan was to stay out of my range, that’s why you saw so many leg kicks, it was because I couldn’t reach him. I was trying to soften him up with the kicks and slow him down so I could get him into the range of my punches but I was completely surprised when he rushed in and pulled guard on me. I’ve trained with Vinny for a long time, both before and during the show and not once had he ever pulled guard on me, not once. I was shocked! But I guess that was why he did it, he knew I wasn’t expecting it since I hadn’t seen it from him in all the time we’d spent training together.

Gary Ibarra: You and Ryan Bader were the first picks for your teams and were the consensus favorites this season before the prelims had even begun, do you think that maybe caused you to look past Vinny a little?

Krzysztof Soszynski: A little bit, I never had any doubt that I could fight any of the guys in the house and win. I wouldn’t say I was looking past anyone, but I definitely had the confidence in my own ability. You cant argue with the outcome though, Vinny beat me straight up and I have to give him the respect for being able to do that and I’ll be pulling for him in the finals.

Gary Ibarra: One of the reasons experts had designated you the favorite was because of your extensive experience before the show, 24 professional fights, but your experience extends much further than that, is that fair to say?

Krzysztof Soszynski: Absolutely, I was a bodybuilder, I had tried to get into professional wrestling for a while before I became a member of the L.A. Anacondas in the IFL, my wife and I even owned and operated our own fight promotion in Canada for a while before moving to California.

Gary Ibarra: During the show, your friend and training partner at Team Quest, Dan Henderson, was on hand to help out with the training, how does having a guy like Dan to train with and to be in your corner help you as a fighter?

Krzysztof Soszynski: It definitely gave me a confidence boost, having a familiar face like Dan around during the training; it really made me more comfortable. I had only been training with Dan for less than a year at the time but we have become pretty good friends. I’ve helped corner him in his recent fights and I’ve really tried to take the things he teaches me and input them to better my wrestling. He had come to the training facility for Vinny’s fight and he ended up staying and training with us until I fought, which was great. He’s one of the best; it can’t hurt to have him in your corner.

Gary Ibarra: Your next bout is during the finale show and your slated to fight fellow cast member Shane Primm, you’ve seen him in action both in training and in his fight with Eliot Marshall. Some people say Primm is a different fighter when he trains then when he fights, is that something you noticed? And will that effect the way you approach the fight once you’re in the ring?

Krzysztof Soszynski: I think I’ve learned that you can’t really overlook anyone, whatever the issues a fighter has, he’s obviously fighting in the UFC for a reason, so no I won’t change the way I prepare for this fight. I will definitely try to raise my focus on my Jiu Jitsu training since that’s Shane’s background, but that’s what I do in all the time in every aspect of my game, I continually try and get better. The level of talent we have at Team Quest really helps elevate my game.

Gary Ibarra: The show is known for playing up rivalries between fighters and the antics of some of the more interesting characters in the house mostly for ratings, but you managed to become a popular personality in the house with your pranks and not by displaying any dysfunction, how did that happen?

Krzysztof Soszynski: I have a great life, a great wife, and a great son, everyone has issues in their life, but my family has kept me on an even keel so I don’t really have that many and especially not the kind that would make me act like a nut on TV. My whole idea was to come into the house and just be myself and what you saw on the show, that’s me. I like to joke around; I think the pranks are still hilarious even now when I see them replayed, but you get some guys who need to be the center of attention and don’t care how they do it or how it makes them look. I can say that from this experience I see that it’s mostly just an act.

Gary Ibarra: So you spent six weeks in a house with no TV, no radio, no magazines, no books, no phone, they wouldn’t even let you have writing pen’s or markers to draw with! Why do you think the UFC and Spike keep you guys cut off from the world so much?

Krzysztof Soszynski: That’s easy, the ratings. If this show was just about the training and the fights, the only people who’d watch it would be your hardcore fans. You put 16 guys in a house, guys whose normal outlet is training to fight and tell them they can only train for 2 hours a day and the rest of the time they have to interact with each other in a house full of alcohol? There you go; you’ve got your ratings.

Gary Ibarra: What do you think about the finals, any predictions?

Krzysztof Soszynski: I like Phillipe, he’s a freak, and he’s one of the only people I’ve ever met that are genuinely nice except for when you get them in the cage. He must have a mental switch that he flips because he almost becomes a completely different person before he steps in the ring, it’s weird. That’s not to say Efrain isn’t a good competitor or a great fighter, I just think Phillipe is going to be too much for him.

Gary Ibarra: And the fight between Vinny and Bader?

Krzysztof Soszynski: Vinny is the best Jiu Jitsu guy I’ve ever seen, I am definitely going to be pulling for him in the finals because contrary to what people have heard, we are not at odd’s. Bader though, is a great wrestler, I mean the guy was a two-time All American. As much faith as I have in Vinny’s Jiu Jitsu I still have to give Bader the edge. I can say that if Vinny has done his part to better the aspects of his game that needed work, like his wrestling and his stand up, I would give him a better chance but I think Bader is going to come out on top.

Gary Ibarra: Are there any pranks that you’ll remember that maybe didn’t make it into the final cut of the show?

Krzysztof Soszynski: Oh yeah, a few. The Polakowski prank, the one where Dave Kaplan was taking the marsh mellows out of his Lucky Charms, what they didn’t show was that he had been taking them out for weeks. Kaplan had done it a few times before Polakowski finally got pissed. But my favorite will always be the night Bader and I after a few drinks tried to climb up this wall in the house to get to this ledge that was up the stair case, it wasn’t a place that was accessible from the floor and it barely had room for one person to sit in. While Bader was trying to climb up the wall to get to it he accidentally kicked a huge hole in the drywall! He got a piece of paper and taped it to the wall next to the hole and wrote “Please UFC don’t kick me off the show, it was an accident, I’ll pay for the damages just please don’t kick me off the show” It was funnier at the time, not just because what had happened, but because watching him try to write that letter while he was drunk made it even funnier.

Gary Ibarra: People just assumed you’d be fighting Bader in the finals, is that something you’d like to still see happen in the near future?

Krzysztof Soszynski: I’d love to fight Bader; I would love to fight anyone the UFC gives me the opportunity to fight. I just want the chance to prove myself to the fans and the UFC management. I like to fight, it’s what I do. I’ve come a long way from never even being punched in the face a few years ago to having an opportunity to fight for the premier fighting promotion in the world. This experience has opened a lot of doors for me and not just opportunities to fight, in January Sokoudjou and I are going to be in an episode of CSI, it’s crazy.

Gary Ibarra: You had a year long stretch where you lost three times in a row, had a draw, then were TKO’d by Ben Rothwell, a stretch like that would make most fighters question weather they were in the right field, what made you stick to it?

Krzysztof Soszynski: I wasn’t ready for those fights, some of them I took last minute, some I took to see where I was in my training, but regardless of the outcome, every one of those losses taught me something and have become more important to my career then the wins because they made me the fighter I am today, I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Tempe, Az. – When asked where the elite combatants originate from in today’s world of mixed martial arts, fighters and fans alike generally cast their eyes towards the Southwest, and the state of New Mexico home of Greg Jackson’s famous mixed martial arts gym. But in recent years it has become increasingly difficult for Jackson to lay claim to all the accolades the southwest has garnered, thanks mostly to training duo of brothers Todd and Trevor Lally and the fighters produced at Arizona Combat Sports in Tempe.

While Jackson has enjoyed most of the media and publicity, the Lally’s have quietly produced some of the best and most well known fighters in the world of professional mixed martial arts. WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner, current TUF contestant Ryan Bader, TUF 3 semi-finalist Jesse Forbes and TUF 7’s C.B. Dollaway and Matthew Riddle are all results of a prolific training environment created by formerly professional kickboxing brothers and their partner, world champion Brazilian jiu-jitsu Coach Gustavo Dantes.

With all the success ACS has enjoyed over the past several years it still manages to be one of the best kept secret in the MMA training world, when asked why he thought the gym was still in relative obscurity, brother Todd Lally had plenty of thoughts on the subject.

“My brother and I are not headliners and none of our guys are either, at least not yet,” said Lally. “Maybe it’s because we don’t have that huge star at our gym. I couldn’t tell you what it is but it doesn’t matter to us. Recognition is not what drives us, it’s not why we do this.”

While some would discount statements like this as false modesty, rest assured, the trainers at ACS use their training environment to instill the idea that only through hard work, determination and more importantly results can anyone expect to gain the respect of their peer’s, hardly an idea that breeds big ego’s or fighters with a chip on their shoulder.

The creation of a family-like environment inside and out of the gym is something the coaches attribute much of their success to, building their fighters as a team rather than focusing on building them as individuals is a philosophy whose results are hard to ignore. Nowhere was this more evident then ringside Saturday when Ray Steinbeiss of ACS took on former UFC veteran Steve Berger in the main event of EVO MMA’s inaugural promotion, the first legally sanctioned MMA event in Arizona.

Though accompanied to the ring by the two Lally’s, anyone watching would have thought Steinbeiss had more like 6 men in his corner. The entire team could be heard shouting instructions and calling out possible submission openings to their teammate from the front row, each as engrossed in the battle as if it were they themselves in the ring.

While the environment perpetuated by the coaches is a big reason for the success of the fighters on the team, a good share of the praise has got to be attributed to their ability to judge talent while still in its raw form. Bader, Dollaway, and Cain Velasquez were all members of the same ASU wrestling team and all were All-Americans, but according to some of the more recognizable talent scouts who make a living judging fighters and their potential, Velasquez was the only one thought to have a real shot at a future in MMA. ACS, disagreed and noticed the unrefined ability in Bader and Dollaway. They approached the two, offering the opportunity to train with them in the hopes of becoming professional mixed martial artists. While Velasquez is a rising star and currently 4 – 0 in his professional career, the transformation from raw talent to refined fighter with championship potential has garnered Dollaway and Bader much more publicity throughout their foray into the world of mixed martial arts.

The coach’s belief that no two fighters journey’s to becoming a complete fighter is the same has led them away from trying to refine them in similar fashion.

“No two fighters are the same so we don’t try and develop them the same,” Lally said. “We really try to concentrate on instilling solid fundamentals, you cant build on a weak foundation so that’s a big focus in our training regimen, they’re all great athletes already so their ability to respond to training is there, what we do is find what they have a natural talent for and build a complete fighter by adding to those talents the tools they need to become a champion”

When asked how it would feel to finally receive that validation from the others in the sport they’ve enjoyed so much success in, the answer would come in the same manner in which the brothers train their fighters.

“Everyone wants recognition from their peers,” he responded. “But we don’t need to hyped up or anything like that, we’ll prove (our ability) through our guys”

Why the training philosophy embraced at Arizona Combat Sports has yet to catch the attention or the accolades it deserves from the rest of the MMA world is still unknown, but one thing that has made itself abundantly clear, the results they produce won’t allow them to stay out of the spotlight much longer.

Lemoore, Calif. – Flamboyant UFC Veteran and self-proclaimed “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni was far from home in California’s Central Valley Saturday night taking on WEC and PRIDE veteran Olaf Alfonso in the main event of the Palace Fighting Championship’s 10th installment “Explosive.”

The fight, which had been building buzz ever since the PFC’s last event which had Baroni and Alfonso nose to crooked nose in the center of the ring locked in a five-minute stare down.

Baroni, ever the showman, did his part to keep the fans on edge for this bout by informing them he would add a broken jaw to compliment Olaf’s famously broken nose. Judging from the pre-fight hype the two combatants were creating, fight fans were not going to be in for a let down.

Or were they?

The obvious dislike between Olaf and Baroni was no secret. From the pre-fight banter up to point the fighters met in the center of the ring to receive their instructions “Touch gloves and come out fighting” Baroni dropped his gloves so hard on top of Olaf’s outstretched hands that the impact was audible causing an unison “oooh” from the crowd.

Unfortunately the pre-fight antics were more entertaining then the fight, Baroni would win unanimously after pressing the unorthodox Alfonso the entire fight. Olaf’s fruitless attempts at spinning back fists and wild haymakers that would miss wildly didn’t help his case in the eyes of the judges either.

In a few other notable fights, the bout between flyweights David Suarez and David “Bubby” Mitchell would end with one of the stranger knock out’s of the evening, one that saw Mitchell fully engaged in a rear naked choke on the back of a standing Suarez. Suarez would then drop on to his back slamming Mitchell’s head against the canvas knocking him out.

After being lead to the ring by the Chuck Liddell and John Hackleman, Antonio Banuelos of the famous Pit Fight Crew scored a convincing second round knock out with a sweeping overhand right to the temple of Bryan Goldsby.

In what had to be considered the fight of the night, Bryan Travers defeated Jeremiah Metcalf in a 5 round slugfest for the vacant PFC Welterweight title.

Official Results:

* Omar Sandoval def. Mike Craddock via Unanimous Decision
* Joey Cabesas def. Billy Terry via KO (Knee) – Round 1, .54 Sec.
* Chris Botelho def. Anthony Bivins via Split Decision
* Xavier Foupa-Pokam def. Richard Montoya via Submission (Arm Bar) – Round 1, 1:13 sec.
* David Suarez def. David “Bubby” Mitchell via KO (Slam) – Round 1, 1:15 sec.
* Lavar Johnson def. Vince Lucero via TKO (Strikes) – Round 1, 1:16 sec.
* Poppies Martinez def. Sergio Cortez via Unanimous Decision
* Luis “Speedy” Gonzalez def. Elbert Randle via TKO (Strikes) – Round 1, 2:24 sec.
* Chad Mendes def. Geovanny Encarnacion via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) – Round 1, 2:24 sec.
* Dustin Akbari def. Bill Theofanopoulos via TKO (Strikes) – Round 1, 1:35 sec.
* Antonio Banuelos def. Bryan Goldsby via KO (Strikes) – Round 2, .59 sec
* Bryan Travers def. Jeremiah Metcalf via Majority Decision
* Joe Soto def. Brandon Jinnies via TKO (Strikes) – Round 1, .59 sec.
* Brian Cobb def. David Gardner via Unanimous Decision
* Shawn Klarcyk def. Brandon Miller via Submission (Arm Bar) – Round 2, 2:19 sec.
* Phil Baroni def. Olaf Alfonso via Unanimous Decision

Los Angeles, Calif. - The UFC’s breakthrough reality show “The Ultimate Fighter” gears up once again for its eighth season premiering tonight on Spike TV. Current interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will both be featured as coaches this season and after completing an interview last week with Nogueira, FiveOuncesOfPain.com was also afforded the opportunity to speak with Mir.

While Mir was made available in order to promote TUF, he was more than willing to discuss everything and anything MMA in what proved to be an intriguing interview. During the course of the conversation we asked Mir to share his thoughts on the recent return of Randy Couture, the surprise upset win of Rashad Evans over Chuck Liddell, his experiences being on the show and the motorcycle accident that nearly ended his career.

As any regular fan of the UFC, WEC, or ESPN’s “MMA Live” knows, Mir’s ability to convey his thought and opinions is second to none and in this one-on-one interview with 5 Oz.’s he was never at a loss for words.

Gary Ibarra: The publisher of FiveOuncesOfPain.com recently wrote a piece about ESPN’s reaction to UFC 88 the upset victory of Rashad Evans over Chuck Liddell. He said that he was all set to write a piece chastising ESPN for its lack of coverage but was pleasantly surprised when SportsCenter aired a ringside satellite segment with Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg breaking down the fight and discussing the outcomes. How much effect do you think a show like TUF has on the perception of MMA to the mainstream sports media and the public in general who watch the show?

Frank Mir: I think the show goes a long way towards humanizing the sport and the guys. By having the cameras in the house it acts as sort of a window into the real lives of the people who take the sport seriously, and how they really are when they are not in the ring, they’re mostly just regular kids. I mean let’s face it, the public’s perception of MMA is not exactly fantastic. Every time guys like Tank Abbot or Krazy Horse (Charles Bennett) fought or even now with Kimbo Slice; every time Kimbo fights it sets the sport back. Guys like that just reinforce the idea in the public’s eye that we are all blood thirsty barbarians who just want to pummel each other and that there is no skill required. Guys like them do the sport a disservice.

Read more

While Rousimar Palhares has yet to gain much traction with casual UFC fans, his outstanding Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu credentials have caught the eyes of many hardcore fans. When it comes to Palhares and his recent entry in the UFC, there is a certain buzz going around as it pertains to him.

Palhares made his UFC debut at UFC 84 this past May thanks in large part to his impressive 3-0 record while competing for Brazil’s Fury Fighting Championships. Facing veteran Ivan Salaverry in his Octagon debut, Palhares did not disappoint after he notched a first round armbar submission.

While the fight with Salaverry was not featured during the live portion of the PPV broadcast, the performance was still strong enough to spark some fans to suggest that Palhares could be an eventual challenger for current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Based on the UFC’s decision to match Palhares against former PRIDE middleweight and welterweight champion Dan Henderson in just his second UFC match during tonight’s UFC 88 event, it’s safe to say that the promotion things highly of him as well.

In spite of Palhares’ upside potential, there is relatively little know about him. We decided to touch base with him for an exclusive e-mail interivew that was translated by former UFC middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante.

Gary Ibarra: How old were you when you began training?

Rousimar Palhares: I started when I was 15 in Karate and then later started jiu-jitsu when I was 18.

Gary Ibarra: When did you know that this was something you wanted to pursue as a career?

Read more