411 MMA Interviews: Jamie Yager

Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 06.19.2010

The Ultimate Fighter contestant speaks with 411mania to talk about his time on the show, training under Tito Ortiz, his in-house rivalries, and much more.

MMA middleweight fighter, Jamie Yager (2-1, MMA), was one of this season's contestants on The Ultimate Fighter. On Team Punishment, Yager earned his way in the house by knocking out Ben Stark. Yager then advanced to the quarter-finals of the tournament by knocking out Charles Blanchard in the first round. Yager lost his bid to become the Ultimate Fighter when he went two rounds with Team Liddell's Josh Bryant. On the judges scorecards, Yager and Bryant each one a round and were set to go to a third, but Yager was unable to continue and Bryant was awarded the victory. Yager will be fighting again on this season's finale for TUF and will be facing Team Liddell member, Rich Attonito (7-3, MMA):

*Please note that this interview was recorded before Yager's quarter-final bout on the show last week.*



Jeffrey Harris: This season, you've been labeled with a reputation of being the bad boy of the house. From watching the show, you seem to make effort to get along with everyone even if they are not on your team. So how do you feel about the reputation you've been given?

Jamie Yager: I mean, I've said in the past I'm a product of the editing process and what not. But it's definitely been good. The fans and everybody at UFC Expo when I'm out there, everybody's been giving me a lot of love so I definitely appreciate that. And I think some noise is better than noise. This season has been one of the first seasons where pretty much the whole show has been about the fights. There's been a lot of 3 round fights, a lot of 2 round fights. A lot of fights going the distance, so most of the episodes has been just the fights. Not so much drama in the house and people drinking and causing problems in the house like previous seasons. For me to take up some of that spotlight or the majority of the spotlight, that's a good look for me.

Jeffrey Harris: You seem to be quite friendly with some of the other fighters like Kris McCray, Kyle Noke, and Brad Tavares. How did you feel about bonding with guys that weren't on Team Punishment?

Jamie Yager: For the guys that weren't on my team, it was kind of like before the teams were made, we already had like a little kliq and it seemed a lot of the other guys they were all following each other and doing the same thing that everybody else did. McCray, Tavares, and Noke and myself were guys that speak our mind. When we don't like something, we're going to stand up and say, "You know, we don't like this," or "Hey, this is how I'm feeling." Other people might not have said that. They might have just bit their lip or waited until cameras or waited until other people went around so they could talk **** behind people's backs. I'm the type of person that if you say something I don't like, I'm going to tell you to your face. I don't need to go tell other people that I don't like what you are doing or something like that. But I guess everybody doesn't operate the same way, I guess some people like to hide and go talk **** behind people's backs to make themselves feel better.

Jeffrey Harris: Getting into house you knocked out Ben Stark. In your opening round fight, you knocked out Charles Blanchard. Both of those were first round knockouts. Were those big confidence boosters to win your first 2 fights by knockout?

Jamie Yager: It was definitely a confidence booster because look at the way the cast of the show was kind of set up, there was a lot of guys that had extensive records, 10-0, 6-0. Kyacey Uscola is 18-15. So it's like here I am. I think UFC asked everybody to have a minimum of like 4 or 5 fights to even try out for the show. I had 3 fights, so to be thrown in the mix with those guys and all those guys got good winning records, it was definitely a good feeling.

Jeffrey Harris: There was one point where Nick Ring was annoyed with you when you were rooting for guys on the other team you were friendly with. Was there any problems with Nick Ring after that or was that it?

Jamie Yager: Well I mean the funny thing about it is like this. At the beginning of the show everybody was kind of pissed off that Tavares and Noke were on Liddell's team and McCray and myself were on Tito Ortiz's team and the 4 of us had a tight little clique. And we all watch out for one another. And so it was a problem for other people. Any time we did something it was a problem. So Tavares, when he fought Hammortee, I was like, "Leave it out there. Leave it on the line. Give it everything you got." I kind of wanted to make sure Tavares heard me say that. Every time I fought, my team and the other team were against me, so it was kind of like a double standard. The way things were in the house was like, everyone was just looking for something to have a problem with. What ever I was doing, they were looking to have a problem with me. Any little thing that I was doing, there was always a problem for everybody else. When it's like, don't even worry abou that like **** that shouldn't even be bothering you. You shouldn't let that bother you, I'm just doing my own thing . . . and so when Nick Ring had a problem . . . I let him vent. I let him say his little piece and get it off his chest, and regardless whether I agree or disagree with what he was saying, I let him have his time to stand. I gave him the time of day where other people don't do that.

Jeffrey Harris: He seemed more upset than anything that you didn't argue back with him and you didn't play his game.

Jamie Yager: Right and that's what it was. I think just because I may disagree with him and he may disagree with me, but at the end of the day we're all at work. And so you go to work, everybody goes to work. When you go to work, you're not going to fall in love and be best friends with all of your co-workers. You're at work. You're there to get your money. You're there to go home. So when you think about things like that and this is a show, you got to realize not everybody is always going to get along. Especially with the dynamic and stress of the situations we're put in being on the show.

Jeffrey Harris: Another teammate you had tension with was Kyacey Uscola. He complained Tito Ortiz was overtraining you guys. Did you get that feeling at all?

Jamie Yager: No not at all. Tito pushed us and it was pretty tough. Tito pushed us hard. Going on the show, you got to understand, there's two coaches and you got to do things the way -- whatever coach, whatever team you're on, you got to do things the way they would do it. It's not everybody else's show. This is the show about the coaches helping us fighters become the best we can be. And even one person at the end of the show, Ultimate Fighter. So you have to put yourself aside and push yourself as hard as you can do it. If Tito makes a ****-up or he's doing something wrong, the whole world is going to see that. It shouldn't be for one person to sit there and try and tell the whole team that, "he's doing this wrong, he's doing that wrong . . ." It's like one bad apple spoils the bunch, you know what I'm saying?

Jeffrey Harris: Tito Ortiz despite being a very polarizing personality appeared to be a good coach and was really invested in helping and working with the team. Did you like Tito as a coach?

Jamie Yager: Yeah, I mean Tito is a funny guy. Razor Rob [McCullough] is a funny guy. They brought in a good group of guys and in general cares a lot about us. He generally puts his heart into his work, the same as we do. We put our hearts into our work. He's a good role model for us and how to be and stuff like that.

Jeffrey Harris: You also appeared on the BET series Iron Ring. What was it like going from that show to The Ultimate Fighter?

Jamie Yager: It's a world of difference. I think [Iron Ring] was a good idea. They were trying to bring more of the hip hop culture into MMA and fighting and what not not, but it was not to educate the crowd or the community about exactly what MMA was. You had these coaches, prospective individuals who were team owners so to speak or managers and they were yelling random **** out and they don't even know what they are talking about. It made it look not so authentic. It kind of took away from it, like these guys are just trying to get in, just trying to build a show versus actually educating people. If I had a team, I would make sure the team knew exactly what was going on. Like I'm down for these fights. I'll watch them. I'll manage them versus not even knowing what I'm talking about. So I think that's kind of what ended up happening. These guys came in and were invested in it but they didn't know exactly what was going on.

Jeffrey Harris: On a recent episode of TUF, Brad Tavares won his fight by DQ when he got a soccer kick in the head by Seth Bacyznski. Tito got upset and thought it wasn't a kick to the head. I was curious what you saw and what happened there?

Jamie Yager: It was clear he got kicked in the face, but when it happened in real time, there's no instant replay. It happened so damn fast, nobody really -- only a couple people had a good shot of what had happened. I think what had happened, one of the judges around the cage said, "oh he got kicked in the armpit." So Tito heard that and, "He got kicked in the armpit?! What?" He kind of blew up because yet again here Tito is losing a match. He was a little pissed about that.

Jeffrey Harris: So fans are wondering, what kind of product do you use for your awesome 'fro?

Jamie Yager: I comb it out everyday. I take a shower. I comb it out. But I think my product of choice, I like to use -- this is product placement right here I guess, I like to use Garnier fruit tea conditioner. It keeps my hair nice and hydrated because I train a lot and I do sweat a lot. And I like to be able to wash my hair and keep it looking nice.

Jeffrey Harris: Has being on TV helped you with the ladies and get you a lot of digits from the ladies?

Jamie Yager: You know what, I'm not in the sport for that. I'm not in the sport for the chicks and all that. It's not why I fight. I don't fight for any other reason other than to lay the foundation for my son and to make money. My heart is invested in working hard and I don't do it for the small perks, the party scene, and the chicks.

Jeffrey Harris: So where are you training right now?

Jamie Yager: I train at Huntington Beach with Rafael Cordeira at Kings MMA and also I have a gym in Pasadena, CA called Fight Academy.

Jeffrey Harris: Any sponsors or people

Jamie Yager: Yeah for sure. Savante Young, definitely want to give a big shoutout to him. Rafael Cordeira down at Kings MMA, Huntington Beach. Fabricio Werdum and Wanderlei Silva, they're also my sparring partners. I've got a strength and conditioning coach, Rudy Aguilar at Pasadena City College. Most definitely got to give it up to the man upstairs, our savior the Lord. I've got my son, Andrew Alexander. I love him very much and I fight hard for him. I thank Dana White, the Fertita Brothers, and Spike TV for giving me this opportunity.

I always want to make sure to thank those around me who are helping make this dream come true: Iridium Sports Agency, Kings MMA, Fight Academy, Savant Young, Rafael Cordeira, Dethrone, Adaptx, Knockout Wear and Toe2Toe.

Jeffrey Harris: Thank you so much for your time. Good luck with the training and I hope we'll see you in the UFC really soon.

Jamie Yager: Thanks, really appreciate the love.

The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale will be broadcast live on Spike TV on January 19. Remember to check 411mania.com for the best and quickest live play-by-play coverage of the event. Be sure to also bookmark us to your favorite places.