With a last name like “King” you have to expect that there are going to high expectations for you in life. Mike “The Man” King is well on the way to achieving that greatness in the world of mixed martial arts. After grinding it out for only a few years now on the underground circuit, this American Top Team prospect has found himself deep in the mix of that famous springboard into the UFC – The Ultimate Fighter.
Mike King recently took some time to sit down and talk with us here at Last Word on Sports to help us understand some of the ins and outs of his road onto the show.
A question I think a lot of our readers have is – how did you get approached to go on the show in the first place?
So, the way that it works is that you get like a “casting call” and what they will do is call local or big name managers. I got contacted through my management company, and then you show up for try-outs, and the try-outs will be somewhere like Vegas, and once you’ve prepared for tyy-outs they’ll have you go and grapple for like 2-3 minutes with a couple of different people. Joe Silva is there, matchmaker for the UFC, and there is a bunch of different people there evaluating what you’re doing.
So, what they’ll do is they wills start making cuts after the first grappling session. It went from the first group of people that I grappled with, which I think was about 500-600 people, and then based on the grappling they’ll cut half of them – 300 guys gone. Then you’ll do some pad work with their trainer, so it’s not someone you’re comfortable with. You’ll set-up routines (with the trainer), and you kind of hit pads and then they cut another half. So, it went from 600 to 300 to 150.
Then you do a personality interview. There were like 5 or 6 guys in there from The Ultimate Fighter, and they’re basically looking for personalities – you know, certain traits that you’re good at. Then at that point, they cut half of those people, so it’s down to 75 and only 32 make it. Then they take you and do medicals, they do drug testing, they do stuff like that and they make the final decision.
Was there anyone in particular who pushed you or motivated you to really try out for the show?
Well for me, I started in MMA kind of late. Most people start in their early 20s, for me I had already graduated college – I was 2 or 3 years out of college already and I decided to go professional. So, I was 26 or 27 by the time I decided that this might be a legit career path. So my managers, were thinking that this would be the route for me to get into the UFC as soon as possible. You’re athletic enough, you’ve got enough talent to get through for The Ultimate Fighter and that way it will set you up for a career in the UFC instead of fighting 6 or 8 fights and being thrown to the wolves basically. This will be a way to build a brand and kind of get you into the UFC and get you a big fan base without having to spend a whole lot of time.
I went from being an amateur to fighting in The Ultimate Fighter in 3.5 years. You look at some guys, and it takes them 6 to 8 years to get to the UFC, for me it was 3.5 years and I was already there – well, at least fighting on The Ultimate Fighter, because technically you’re not in the UFC until you win or sign a contract. So, we were just looking for the quickest route because of my age.
Your first fight on the show versus Nordine Taleb got a lot of attention. How did you feel about everything after all was said and done?
Nordine and I are actually managed by the same management company. When I drew Nordine’s name, I was like ‘man, that’s like one of the only people I didn’t want to fight’, because we’re managed by the same guy we already kind of have a relationship built… so, I didn’t want to fight the guy for personal reasons, but once you get to a certain level it’s business and I just kind of got over it.
However, drawing someone that already has some notoriety in the MMA world, I was thinking ‘you know, it’s not that bad’. I actually thought Lyman Good was someone that I would want to fight, Dhiego Lima, you know those were two guys I really wanted to fight because they already had really big names in the MMA world. To be able to beat one of them just to get into the house, that would be HUGE for you in terms of your career. However, for me you know – that type of fight to get into the house, you know looking back on it, makes the process quite a bit harder because of the tournament-style bracket. Then you’re coming off of a war and you’re going to have things – injuries and problems – that typically you’ll have 3 or 4 months in-between fights, possibly 6, and you’re fully healed, you’re adrenal glands have re-filled. It’s not only a physical thing, but also an emotional thing.
It was a weird experience. It definitely draws out the toughest guys.
That’s a good lead into my next question… psychologically you’re being hit with a lot of factors that you’re likely not very used to when you’re part of TUF. Outside of the more regular intervals between fights, you’re also faced with a very different environment inside the TUF House. How do you prepare yourself for all of those pressures?
In my mind, you try to get yourself mentally prepared – but, there really is absolutely no way you can for that situation. You know, a lot of us have already had 5 or 6 fights, and you already have a certain way that you’re used to getting prepared for that – making sure you’re peaking your body and mind at the right time for an upcoming fight. A lot of us are used to that, especially since mixed martial arts has changed so much. Guys, are training, dieting and preparing constantly as professionals when they’re at that level.
When The Ultimate Fighter started, it wasn’t nearly at that stage as a legit professional career that you could make money and a living doing. Nowadays the situation is much different. For me specifically, maybe the best route would have been fighting at 205lbs, so I didn’t have to cut weight while I was there – I typically walk around at 220-225lbs. So for me, having to keep my weight at 200-205lbs for 6 weeks, that was very very difficult for me.
Now a couple of questions outside of TUF, just to get your take on some big events as an MMA fan –
1) Do you think Dan Henderson has a legit chance to hold a title again?
I am interested to see his NEXT fight. Right now with the TRT ban in Nevada and a lot of other states following suit, I am interested to see what he’ll do without Testosterone Replacement Therapy. You know, he’s 40+ years old… like my Dad. My Dad was a wrestling coach for a really long time – 30+ years – and he was wrestling with high school level and college level athletes until he was 40 years old and then suddenly it seemed like he couldn’t keep up anymore. So, for me I am curious to see how Dan will respond once the TRT is gone.
If you asked me if TRT wasn’t banned, I would say that he has legit chance at making a title run again – but, you know I think this might be the end of his career, you know?
2) What do you think about the Middleweight title picture in terms of who is the biggest threat coming up right now? The picture in that weight class really looks wide-open right now for the first time in years.
You know, I’ve been watching Yoel Romero a lot lately and he’s kind of an animal dude. He’s also a little bit older, but he’s an animal – he’s an olympic wrestler, so he’s got the wrestling. I watched him fight Derek Brunson and he tore Derek apart standing up. So this guy is a boxer with Olympic wrestling – tell me there’s not a better combination? How are you going to beat a guy like that?
Other than that, I think the division is kind of open right now.
For those of you who have not yet seen Mike’s fight from the first episode of TUF, or any of his previous matches for that matter, I strongly recommend you take a look. This man has victory on his mind, and that’s it.
We do want to thank Mike “The Man” King for sitting down and talking with us, and are looking forward to staying in touch with him throughout his journey on Season 19 of The Ultimate Fighter.
You can follow Mike on twitter @MikethemanKing
We want to thank Jay at Fresh Start Entertainment (@jayfreshstart) for continuing to support Last Word on Sports.
For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
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