The fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter reality television show was not immune to the numerous upsets that have taken place in MMA this year. Coming into the show, Matt Wiman, Joe Lauzon, Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard were considered the fighters likely to win the lightweight tournament and a contract to fight for the UFC.
But Manny Gamburyan proved to be a pit bull and knocked off both Wiman and Lauzon on his way to the finals, much to the surprised of everyone, including UFC president Dana White.
Gamburyan will have a chance to knock off another one of the show's favorites, Nate Diaz, as he attempts to take first place during the show's live season finale this Saturday at 9 p.m. on Spike TV.
Despite preparing hard for the fight, Gamburyan was kind enough to take time out of his schedule to speak with CBS SportsLine.com.
CBS SportsLine.com: You're going to be facing Nate Diaz in the final. You guys aren't just in the fight game yourselves, but you have relatives who fight as well. How well did you know Nate before the show started?
Manny Gamburyan: To be honest with you, I had never met him in my life. I saw him when he was cornering his brother, Nick Diaz, when he was fighting Karo Parisyan (Gamburyan's cousin). So I was aware of Nate, but I never knew he was a fighter until I saw him in the show.
Q: It appeared that the two of you became friends during the course of the show. But after last week's episode, it appears there might have been some tension after Nate and Karo got into an argument. Did that incident affect your friendship at all?
MG: No, not at all. That's between Karo and Nate. I have nothing against Nate. He's my next opponent, and I'm going to try to take care of business. It's nothing against me or Karo.
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| Manny Gamburyan is ready for Nate Diaz. (UFC) |
Q: Karo was able to corner you during your last couple of fights on the show. Were you completely surprised when he showed up, or did the producers tip you off at all beforehand?
MG: I was completely surprised. I was on a treadmill getting ready for my second fight against Matt Wiman when all of a sudden, I turned around and saw Karo. It was like second life. I was missing my family, missing my friends, this and that. When I saw him, I was like "Oh my God, thanks for coming, bro. You saved me!"
Q: Will he be cornering you this Saturday during the lightweight final?
MG: Unfortunately, no. He and my instructor don't get along. I'm pretty sure he's not going to be in my corner. He's going to be there for sure, but he's not going to corner me.
Q: Do you know if the UFC has contacted Karo about his next opponent?
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?
MG: It was pretty crazy. Besides him being a good coach, he was a really nice guy. Really nice guy. He was there all the time. Besides that, he was a little unhappy before my second fight with a little stomach problem. I came up to him and went "Dude, what's going on with you, Jens? You look a little unhappy." And he goes, "I'm just having a little problem. I'll let you know later." And I hugged him and I was like "Dude, I'm winning this just fight for you!" He got really happy and after the fight he hugged me and goes, "Thanks Manny for doing this for me."
He was a real coach. When I got ready to fight Joe Lauzon, everyone on my team said they thought I was going to win. Plus, Jens talked to me and he goes, "Manny, forget the fact that he beat me, that he knocked me out. You're 10 times better than me and you're 10 times stronger than me." And I was like "Dude, look at the confidence he has in me!" So I was like "There's no way I'm going to lose."
Q: You and Nate both fought for Jens, and you trained together extensively. Did you go out of your way in training for the final to maybe learn a few new things in order to trip him up a bit?
MG: I never change styles for a fighter. This is the way I am, this is the way that I fight. For Nate, I'm not going to change my style. I know what he's capable of, and he knows what I can do. Basically, he got my number and I got his number. The thing is can you stop it?
I'm training really hard, I'm preparing for my fight. He's a dog and I'm a dog because we're both fighters. It's going to a huge, crazy fight.
Sam Caplan is a Philadelphia-based sports talk show host and freelance sportswriter. He can be reached via e-mail at SCaplan8@comcast.net. You can also check out Sam's blog at: http://www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com or on MySpace, at MySpace.com/FiveOuncesOfPain.