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Q: Do you know if the UFC has contacted Karo about his next opponent?
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MG: I think he's going to fight Jon Fitch next, if I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure, but he might.
Q: Was there a fighter you knew of coming into the show that didn't live up to expectations?
MG: No, but I knew Wiman was tough. I knew Lauzon was tough, because he beat the coach. Beating Lauzon was like beating the tournament favorite. So, I'm pretty happy with that.
Q: Did you know of Gabe Ruediger before the show?
MG: No, I never knew Gabe Ruediger. And trust me, I don't want to know him, that's for sure.
Q: Was he as bad as it seemed on camera, or was he worse? Were there things that weren't shown?
MG: He was just disrespectful. He was there for TV; he wasn't there to win a championship. He wasn't there for the contract. He was just there to be on the show. If he had wanted to make weight, he could have made weight. Trust me, he had done it before. He thought that was an issue for him, but no. He could have made weight, that's for sure. He just didn't want to make weight. He got scared.
Q: Did you have to try out for the show or did the UFC or Spike TV initiate contact with you?
MG: No, this is what happened! I was talking to Joe Silva; he called me before the UFC in December. He said "Manny, are you interested in doing The Ultimate Fighter?" I was like, "Hell no." Right off the bat. I was like, "I'll never do that s---, for sure." I thought it was just crazy. Watching those first episodes, I remember thinking "This is crazy." I knew it was going to be really hard to deal with those people inside the house. It was really hard, trust me. It was one of the craziest experiences of my life.
Q: So you initially said "no," but then you changed your mind. How come you changed your mind?
MG: Because Joe said "Manny, you don't know how big this is. This is really big, it's huge. People are going to notice you after the TV show. You're going to be famous if you win." So then I was like "Let me just try it. Let me give it a shot."
So I met them for an interview but then I didn't go for tryouts. They called me to Vegas to get tested for steroids, other drugs, and all that. And they called me and went "Manny, congratulations, you're on the show!" And I was like, "OK."
Q: Joe Lauzon wrote in his blog last week that Dana White came over and apologized to you after the semifinals to say he was sorry for doubting you. What did it feel like to have the president of the UFC come over to you and say he's sorry?
MG: That was the biggest thing. I was about to have tears coming down from my eyes. Dana White is a great man besides being the president of the UFC. He's very humble, very polite, very nice guy. He came over and said he underestimated me because he didn't know me. He didn't know how strong I was. Obviously I was the underdog to him because he had seen Wiman fight and he had seen Lauzon fight. So he thought I was going to lose, but I was there to win.
Q: Throughout the airing of the show, Dana said that he felt like you were too short. Would you ever consider dropping to 145 pounds and fighting for the WEC, or are you pretty much committed to 155 pounds and the UFC?
MG: To be honest with you, I am very comfortable at 155. If I had to make 145, I am pretty sure I can do it. But first I want to see what I can do at 155 because I feel really good being in this weight class and I feel strong. I don't know how I'm going to feel at 145. If I feel really good at 145, then I'm sure I'll drop down to 145.
Q: At the start of the show, B.J. Penn came out just before fighter selections and asked everyone to raise their hands if they wanted to be on his team instead of Jens Pulver's team. I don't remember if you were one of the 10 who had raised their hand, but what were your impressions of Jens during the show, and did they change during the course of filming?
MG: I knew Jens Pulver before starting the show and I knew B.J. before starting the show. But the reason why I raised my hand, and some of the other guys had raised their hand, was just to respect the coach, that's all. So to be honest with you, I didn't care whether I ended up on Jens Pulver's team or B.J. Penn's team. Either way, I was going to work out hard, I was going to train hard, and I was going to fight hard. I was going to give 110 percent.
When B.J. said "Who wants to be on my team," I raised my hand. Not to say I didn't want to be on Jens' team, but just to say I wouldn't mind being on B.J.'s team. It was just to respect the coaches. I thought Jens was going to go next and say "Who wants to be on my team?" I was still going to raise my hand. It didn't go down like that and I looked a little silly because I ended up on Jens' team when I had raised my for B.J.
Q: Was what training with Jens like?
