UFC welterweight Tommy Speer talks about his experience on The Ultimate Fighter and the differences in his skills between then and now as he gets set to face Anthony Johnson at UFC Fight Night 13 on April 2nd. Check out what he had to say about training with H.I.T. Squad, his thoughts on his upcoming fight and much more.
PC: How are you doing Tommy?
TS: It's going pretty good. I just got down to Illinois. I've been down here at H.I.T. Squad for about a week.
PC: That eliminates my next question of did you keep in touch with Matt Hughes.
TS: I've been staying in touch with Hughes, but even more, the other coaches with H.I.T. Squad: Matt Pena, Marc Fiore and Robbie Lawler and all of those guys. I've been in more contact with Marc Fiore because when I'm down here, I stay with him.
PC: How was the whole experience for you going on The Ultimate Fighter?
TS: I knew what I was getting into with how hard it was living in the house, but it's even worse when it starts. As I look back on it, I'm surprised I'm not traumatized from the whole thing. It was so much downtime. We were only practicing up to 5 hours a day and it's the downtime that gets to you. I really wish we could've worked out 8 hours a day just to make the day go by a lot faster.
PC: Was that the toughest part of being on the show for you or was it being away from your family?
TS: For people that get on the show, I have to say, what makes it tough is what you left behind because you're not able to talk to them. I left my farm and my family and I wasn't able to speak with them for 6 weeks and it was just in the back of my mind hoping everything was alright back home. That was the toughest part for me, but in my opinion, some guys get on that show and they're probably living a better life there than they are in their average life.
PC: What was the most rewarding part of being on the show?
TS: I think for 6 weeks, I was able to see what it was like to be a professional athlete; getting up every day and working out and that's your only thing. That's the only thing you have to do and in my everyday life back at home, when I'm trying to train, I'm getting up every day at 4 a.m. milking cows and trying to fit everything in all together. It gave us a chance to see that this is the life of a serious fighter.
PC: What did it mean to you to make it all the way to the finals?
TS: It meant a lot to me. I've had a lot of athletic accomplishments in my life and a lot of it was team stuff and this individual effort that I put out to get in was just something that I really thought didn't have a chance of happening, but hard work paid off.
PC: Do you think Mac's experience was just too much for you at that time?
TS: I went into that fight and I really think I was prepared and Mac really does have a lot of experience, but I'm not going to say his experience in the fight skill is what beat me. He's been in front of the bigger crowds than me and that kind of stuff. I really don't like to make excuses; showing up is a part of the fight game. I just came out flat and I think that night, regardless of whoever I fought, I think it just wasn't my night to win.
PC: You will be fighting Anthony Johnson on April 2nd. He's a huge welterweight. Are you rolling with some big guys to prepare for his size?
TS: I've been rolling with bigger guys and even guys that ain't that big, but are real strong, down here at H.I.T. Squad. I definitely got some guys down here with his frame. He definitely has a good frame. He's like 6'2" and walks around at 193 or 195, something like that, but I'm 5'10" and I walk around at 200 so we're both very big guys. I think he has the reach on me, but it doesn't bother me.
PC: How are preparations going so far?
TS: It's going good. When I was back home in Rochester, Minnesota, I tried to get in as much as I could because if I didn't, it would be real rough times when I got down here. I'm a little less than a month out and I don't think I'm completely ready for the fight, but I don't have to be this far out, but we're getting there and we're trimming the weight off. I'm getting into fight shape and I need to balloon my lungs as much as possible because a big factor is the fight is in Denver and the air is much thinner up there.
PC: What do you think of Anthony as a fighter?
TS: I think he has very good wrestling and he's a hard hitter. I just don't think he can go the distance with me. I think his weight cut really gets to him with his 6'2" frame. I think the longer the fight goes on, it's really going to wear on him. I think he's a big strong guy and he's 4-1, so I have more experience than he does finally. I have the experience advantage, but he has fought in the UFC one more time than I have so it's definitely going to be an interesting fight.
PC: You drew comparisons to Matt Hughes when you were on the show. Did that make you uncomfortable with that kind of pressure?
TS: When we were recording the show, I had the feeling that they were going to compare Matt and I because we had similar backgrounds. We both came from farming and wrestling and to tell you the truth, I wrestled one year in high school and two years in junior college so that comparison of me being a dominant wrestler isn't really a comparison at all. I just picked up on it fast. It didn't make me nervous; it made me proud if anything.
PC: One of the things on the show that everyone felt you needed work on was your striking. I know H.I.T. Squad has excellent boxing coaches. How much have you been working on your striking?
TS: When I'm down here with Matt Pena, I work it out a lot. I'm hoping that my striking game is developing because I enjoy learning it and getting better at it and it has come a long way because my weapon in the striking game is that I'm a heavy-handed guy. It's coming along. I really don't get to work on it too much when I go back to Rochester, but I do a lot of shadowboxing, hitting the bag and working on a lot of what Pena has shown me. I really enjoy coming down here and letting him show me different things while I hit the mitts. It's come a long way.
PC: Three hours on Spike TV. How does it feel to be a part of this historic card?
TS: I didn't expect the card to be this huge and now it's like, "Wow!" The show was sold out a couple of weeks ago. Even the preliminary fights are good. They could put those on and there really isn't a weak fight all the way through so it's going to be exciting. I'm the first fight of the night and hopefully I can come through with a win and sit back and watch the rest of the fights.
PC: Thanks for the interview. I look forward to speaking with you after your fight. Good luck. Is there anything you would like to say in closing?
TS: I'd like to thank my family back in Rochester, Minnesota for letting me get off the farm and come down here to train and focus on my fight and I hope they're doing alright out there and that they're keeping up and everything is okay.
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