Wayne Weems had received the smallest amount of MMA training (none) before coming onto The Ultimate Fighter 5 than any other contestant.  Despite Wayne's inexperience, he came out giving it his all, wanting to learn as much as he could, and his fight, while one-sided, was still a valiant display.  Wayne lost via TKO to Gray Maynard on last night's Ultimate Fighter episode.  He was angry after the loss, and you could see the passion he holds for MMA.  Wayne stopped by earlier today and discussed his experience on the show.

Below, you will find both the written transcript and the full mp3 audio.



Can you tell us how you got started in MMA?

A friend of mine came up to me, I was just out of college and didn't have much money, he just came in and said "You wanna make a couple hundred bucks?" And, I said “Sure, man. Doing what?” And he was like, “Getting beat up.”

I was like, "Ohh, I really don't want to get beat up,” but I figured I was a pretty tough kid, so I figured why not, and I ended up going to a local show and knocked the guy out in 28 seconds.  So, I made 500 bucks and I didn't get beat up, so I thought it'd be a good career choice for me.


From that point on, did you start training and how did it lead to you being on The Ultimate Fighter?

I never trained actually.  I just wrestled in high school and college.  I mean, I'd get in cardio shape, but I never actually went to the gym and sparred.   I figured I made it this far without doing that, so why should I start now?  And I went to some more local shows and beat up some guys, got some wins that I guess I wasn't supposed to win and I decided that I was going to start taking it serious and I contacted Monty Cox and he said, “Would you like to be on this Ultimate fighter?” and i said, “Well, do you think I have a shot, I've never trained or anything?” And he was like, “Yeah, you got a shot, your record's good and you've beat some tough guys.”  So I said, “Sure, why not?”  And then it all happened all at once.


Looking back, do you wish you had done some more training before the show started filming?

Oh yeah, of course.  I think I would have been a totally different fight, it would have been a totally different outcome if I had some more training.  But going into it I didn't know that. 


You didn't get a whole lot of screen time.  Was there anything that you wish they would have shown of you?

Not really.  I'm a pretty quiet guy.  I just think it's a little ridiculous that they give the air time to the people who don't make weight or to people who run their mouth about stuff that they don't know.  I'm not there to run my mouth or tell people how great I am.  I'm there to fight.  It's a fighting show and it's not The Real World.


What did you learn from your fight with Gray?

Just that I need to be better trained...just that I need some more experience.  Gray's a tough kid, but I definitely don't think that he got the best of me.   I just think that he was better prepared than I was.


Who most impressed you over your time on the show?

I probably would say Nate Diaz.  You know, he's not a real scary person.  He's not real intimidating, but he's a tough kid, a really tough kid.


What are you up to right now, and what are your plans for the future?

I'm training down at the Militech Camp, working down there with those guys.  With Jens and Corey Hill is down there with us right now working out, trying to learn, and being the best that I can and see if I can make a future out of this.


(Interview Conducted By Oscar Dahl)
(Image Courtesy of UFC.com)