TUF Nations: Luke Harris Fighter Blog, Episode 6
By: Riley Kontek February 19, 2014
Follow Luke onTwitter @HayabusaHarris
This episode was eventful and starts with a conversation between Matt Desroches and Richard Walsh discussing their fight. Got to love the mutual respect of these guys. You don’t really know someone until you fight them. These guys are both class acts, good people and have great sportsmanship.
Nudie runs also started becoming more frequent. I never really understood why, but I guess it gets a bit boring in a house with 16 guys. Pretty much if you lost a pool game, you needed to strip down and run around the house naked while getting snowballs thrown at you. Some guys were all too eager to strip down and run. I’m not saying any names.
Chad Laprise writing that contract for Richard was both funny and smart. We had a lot of confidence in Olivier Aubin-Mercier beating Jake Matthews, so Chad wanted to ensure that he wasn’t matched up with one of his training partners in the semifinals. Not only are KajanJohnson, Olivier and Chad on Team Canada, but they all do their fight camps at Tristar. Kajan caught wind of Chad’s strategy and looked to fight Richard as well.
It might look like they’re taking Richard lightly, but it’s more a strategic approach to not fighting teammates. Richard seems like he’s getting hassled, but ultimately, the choice lies in his hands. Just wait until you see how this escalates.
Lots of talk of injuries this season, which is always a huge factor in this competition. I’ve got to tell you, I don’t think there's a guy in the house who isn’t injured. Some try to hide it, and some play it up a bit. I knowKajan probably had one of the more serious knee injuries in the house, and you could tell by the way that Dan Kelly was hobbling around the house that he had some injuries. He was still very eager to fight as a result.
It was really cool to see a bit more on training in this episode. We spent the bulk of our time at the gym, so it’s nice to see what the other team was doing. Izzy seems like a great coach. He’s got great wrestling skills, and I like how he motivates his guys and pushes them to work hard. In this sport, it's a war of attrition and hard work will always prevail over talent.
The dynamics have changed in our practices a bit with pretty much Elias Theodorou and I mainly training together, as Nordine Taleb has an injured foot and Sheldon’s knee is banged up. Welterweights are also in an interesting position, and I sense that Chad and Kajan don’t really want to train together. Olivier is indifferent and will train with anyone. Same with coach Patrick Cote, as he’s always a great training partner, but I think the coaches are struggling with how to deal with the imminent welterweight situation.
This week's fight is Sheldon vs. Dan. I’ve got to say that although I’m on Team Canada, I have a huge deal of respect for Dan.
To read more, go to my Team Canada blog on www.Bleacherreport.com