TUF Contestant Nam Phan: "Next week it Gets Even Crazier"

WEC, K-1, Sengoku, and KOTC vet Nam Phan has succumbed to my advances and agreed to lend some of his personal comments on various episodes of "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 12.

I'm shooting to get input from Nam Phan and also Kyle Watson, but they were both unable to outright commit to weekly sessions; because they are basically important people, and we are not.  I will gladly feature these two anytime they are available, which works well for me personally, as the pair are my favorites to win the show (OMG that's not objective journalism!).

My Q&A with Nam Phan on the "behind the scenes" haps from Episode Dos are after the break.

What did you think of last night’s episode and fight?

Nam Phan:  The fight was one of the better fights for sure.  It was a great fight.  I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

That was a pretty mild mannered episode; as we get deeper into the season, it gets freakin’ nuts.  It gets worse for me, and it turns to chaos… like we’re getting closer to the apocalypse.  The closer to the end of the season, the worse it gets for me.  It’s like 2012 [Mayan calendar reference].

Without revealing more than you should, can you hint at why it gets worse for you?

Nam Phan:  Oh man, I can’t really.  All I’ll say is -- everything is koscher for everyone right now, and I’m the nicest guy in the house, and everyone wants to pick on the nice guy.

So the drama is more related to the personalities in the house rather than fighting?

Nam Phan:  No one has any problems with fighting.  All the problems were in the house and with training:  people not getting along, red versus yellow, Koscheck versus GSP, the team not cooperating with each other on both sides, etc.

Was there anything of interest that happened behind the scenes that wasn’t included on the broadcast?

Nam Phan:  Yes, two things.

Mike Tyson!  If you watch the first episode, you see GSP’s team, they all have their uniforms, so they’re all dressed in red and black and looking great.  We’re all mismatched up; no one’s in their team uniforms.  Everything got handed to GSP’s team a week earlier.  They got their boxing gear early and their uniforms early.

And before the fight between Johnson and English, Mike Tyson is in line with the red team and they’re ahead of us in the hallway.  When the yellow team came out in the hallway, I immediately went up to shake his hand.

What was it like meeting “Iron” Mike Tyson?

Nam Phan:  I got to shake his hand, I went right up to him and told him, “I’m such a big fan!”  I took it easy though, because I didn’t want to die.”  (laughs)

Did you get a chance to meet GSP’s other guest, Olympic wrestler Gia Sissaouri?

Nam Phan:  The other guy, he came by to visit the house and he was a super-nice guy.  I think we were watching one of the UFC’s in the house, and GSP sat down, and we were all talking.  There were three chairs, like Lazy Boys in the theater room where we watched the UFC, and [Team GSP coach] John Danaher and GSP got two of the three open seats, and then Marc Stevens sat in the third one, and I asked if Gia should be allowed to sit there. “Yo, Marc,” I asked.  “Why don’t you let the other coach sit there?”  And he looked at me like an idiot, and just said, “No.”

I thought, okay, that’s fine.  I can’t tell a man what to do, but if that were me, I would give up my seat.  What a douchebag.  This guy’s a multi-time wrestling champion!  Have some respect.

Sissaouri looked like unbelievable in the few short clips they showed of him in practice.  Did you get a chance to roll with him?

Nam Phan:  No, unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to roll with him. Part of the focus early in the show was Coach Koscheck being unhappy with the team during the first half of practice and motivating you guys with a little pep talk.

Were things a little slow in that practice?

Nam Phan:  It was!  Let me explain.  We were lollygagging because the week before, I was sparring with some guys and some them got hurt, so they said, “Hey man, slow down.”  So I did, but then Coach Cormier noticed and told me, “Hey, you gotta pick it up a little.”  Then my shoulder got hurt, so I had to have Coach Cormier rub it out for me.  Then Koscheck got pissed that we were slacking off, but then right when he gave the pep talk, it worked.  Everyone decided to pick it up.

Before the teams were picked, did you have a preference for one coach over another?

Nam Phan:  For sure!  Of course, I didn’t know GSP or Koscheck very well before the show, but I thought my personality would click better with GSP.  He’s a cool guy, where Koscheck is kind of an intense person.  Once I was picked for Team Koscheck, I got to know him and realized he’s a genuine guy … a really nice person. The media portrays him as this super-egotistical bad guy, but he wasn’t like that at all.  When you see him, he’s always mocking GSP, but he’s just really competitive and wants to win.  He does what it takes, from both the physical and mental aspect.

You’ve had some fights at featherweight, and there are some big boys on this season.  What is your normal walking weight?

Nam Phan:  I weigh 155.  Everybody else weighs like 175.

Who were the biggest guys?

Nam Phan:  Kyle Watson was big.  He’s probably the biggest guy – he and Michael Johnson.

Did you feel like you had a disadvantage being one of the smaller fighters?

Nam Phan:  No!  I am THE smallest guy, by a long shot.  I’m 5’6”, and the closest guy was 5’9” I think; Marc Stevens.

Did that affect your mentality?

Nam Phan:  Nah, I never care.  You can live life complaining, or shut up and do your thing.  I never look at obstacles; I just look for a way through them.  I mean, some people are totally like, “Wow, you’re a 145’er but these guys are big!   Why try out?”  They’re probably one of those guys that never try. You know what?  Just go for it, and who cares if you fail?  You never know unless you try.  Don’t think about it too much, just let it motivate you.

At this point, were there 2-3 guys that stood out as better, and favored amongst the cast to win the show?

Nam Phan:  Hmmmm.  It sounds funny, but I think… this question never really came up.  I got the feeling that everyone thought they were the head honcho, you know?  Everyone said “this guy’s got this, he’s got that”, but I got the feeling that everyone thought they could beat everyone else – which is the type of mentality you need to have in this type of competition.

Did you have anyone in mind that you wanted to fight first?

Nam Phan:  At the time, the only two guys I saw fight were Sevak (but he was on my team), plus Brookins and Spencer Paige.

So it was pretty much an open book?

Nam Phan:  Yes, but I also didn’t want to focus too much in my mind.  I couldn’t tell who was the weakest guy out of the bunch.  I didn’t get a chance to watch all their fights.

That’s all I’ve got for you today.  Is there anything you can reveal about next week’s episode?

Nam Phan:  Next week, it gets crazier.  I’ll have a lot of details.