It was great for Richard Walsh to keep the momentum in our team and also great for “Filthy” Rich to get the win for himself. He put in a great showing getting the win without showing all his weapons and leaving the Canadians guessing with what he may bring to the table in his next bout. Now with who was the question. With still one welterweight fight to come, could it even be Olivier Aubin-Mercier, or Jake Matthews even. But for now it, was Chad Laprise and Kajan Johnson both eyeing off Rich in an attempt, I guess, to get him on board with approval of their matchup together. But in previous seasons, it’s been up to Dana White usually. Would this season be different?
With Rich and I having the conversation in the kitchen near the fridge reviewing Chad’s drawn-up contract, we discussed that basically Kajan was a good fit for Rich’s gameplan to get the win and guarantee himself a place in the finale with possibly Chad or one of the other welterweights still to compete.
It was an interesting dynamic in the Canadian team, and it was clear what both Kajan and Chad had on their mind. That was a true reflection of the show really, in that although we are in teams, we are still there as individuals, here to win for ourselves. Would this be a possibility in our team, and how would it affect the mood in the team if this were to happen? It was still entertaining to see the competition for Rich.
Getting the UFC fights at this point was a reprieve and a welcomed treat, as we had been in the house for sometime (at least it felt that way for me) but with no real technology or knowledge of the outside world. So to get some form of entertainment was great, especially of the official UFC event that we all wanted to be a part of, dreamed of, was amazing. Watching it with some of the Tristar guys that actually train with guys on the card was interesting. To get up and support and cheer for the other guy makes it more fun and was a bit of added entertainment, even though I have been a big fan of “GSP” for a long time and still am. Oh and the food and treats were nice.
I was in a bittersweet position because I lost. I didn’t have to be so hard on myself to watch my weight, so I enjoyed the spread. The beaver tails were interesting. They had been raved about to us, so I was looking forward to trying those. We ate them cold, but they are meant to be eaten warm, we were told. Rookies.
Here’s a thought I had while watching the fights: We were watching the UFC, paid for by the UFC, while being on a show for the UFC. Pretty crazy.
The fight itself, what’s there to say, really? Sheldon Westcott came there to fight. Maybe he knew something Daniel Kelly didn’t. He overwhelmed Dan, along with Dan getting an injury in the bout, and was too much and got himself a quick arm-triangle submission victory.
What was with Mr. Canada Sheldon’s wolf pants? Interesting. Must be a Canadian thing. Regardless, he went in there and performed, injury or not, like a true professional and got the job done.
Everyone was very shocked, especially the Aussie team (and it appears everyone else, too) about the outcome and sheer dominance Sheldon showed. But the reaction of some of the Canadians, Elias Theodorou and Kajan notably, was very disrespectful. What was up with Elias? Not sure why he was so excited. Maybe he was sucking up to Sheldon just in case they meet later on to take it easy on him perhaps. Or a lack of oxygen to his brain from the so called “best hair in MMA.” And well, there was Kajan, too. Not much to be said there.
Dan is such a competitor. You don’t get to four Olympics without being one. And you hear all the guys talk of Dan training hard, that it is just him and his nature. He has one pace, which is “go,” so for him not to perform like the guy we had all trained with was hard. I have a lot of respect for Dan, and to see him lose and come away with a potential bad injury was tough. I didn’t feel good for the guy, knowing the pain of losing in the competition myself.
The next matchup is interesting. It’s a fight Jake actually wanted from the start of the show, and he got his wish. Jake is a young guy with loads of confidence and plenty of potential and Olivier is this very unassuming guy. He looks like a goof ball, bad hair like myself, except he has that whole Clark Kent thing going on. It should be a great matchup, so make sure you tune in.
Love Brendan O’Reilly campaigning for a fight with Kajan. Get in line, brother. Ha, ha!
Thank you to my sponsors: Round Table Roofing, Toys Collective, GOBsmacked sports mouthguards, Bodywork Integration sports and remedial massage, and Secret Harbour for you support and being a part of Team Indich. We have good things to come and are always looking to expand the team.
“TUF Nations” cast member Chris Indich (5-1) blogs each week exclusively for MMAjunkie. The Team Australia welterweight takes readers behind the scenes of the FOX Sports 1-broadcast series, which airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET. Australian fans can watch the show every Thursday on FX at 4:30 p.m. AEDT. Catch Johnson on Twitter at @IndichMMA, at his site www.chrisindich.com, or check out his Facebook fan page.
Filed under: MMA Rumors, News, Only on Junkie, UFC Tagged: Chad Laprise, Chris Indich, Daniel Kelly, Elias Theodorou, Jake Matthews, Kajan Johnson, Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Richard Walsh, Sheldon Westcott 