Fight! Mag blog: Abe Wagner doesn’t get Rampage

Abe Wagner’s Ultimate Fighter Blog: My Wrestling Needed Work

I was Rampage’s second pick overall after evaluations. Right after our team was formed, Rampage asked who wanted to fight right away, and me and one or two other guys raised their hands. Nothing really further was decided at that time, but about a half hour before the first fight announcement (and incidentally before we even had our first team practice) he approached me and told me he wanted me to fight first. I told him I was game and asked who he had in mind.

He told me John Madsen. I told him that while my stand up was good and my jiu jitsu was decent, my wrestling needed work and sometimes I’ll have trouble with a good wrestler. He told me he thought Madsen was only an average wrestler and not to worry about it. It turns out he’s a two-time national champion wrestler and that’s possibly the understatement of the year for me. I still didn’t think it was a good match up for me, but at some point, you just have to say that you’re there to fight and fight whoever is chosen for you. I just didn’t get why if we had control, he wouldn’t have picked someone I matched up better with. I didn’t think it was a very good strategic move for me or Team Rampage.

On to the fight: First off, any one that knows me or has been involved with me in organized athletics knows that I throw up before every competition. This goes all the way back to high school and through college, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary for me there. I had the foresight to warn Rampage in advance, otherwise who knows what he’d have done.

Round 1: We both came out and touched gloves (something I’d later regret in round 2)

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