Issue 017

September 2006

Viewers worldwide were treated to more than one source of English charm on the third series of The Ultimate Fighter. While Mike Bisping rolled on to the finals and beyond, quietly proving his worth was ‘The Gladiator’, Ross Pointon. 

A member of Team Shamrock, Pointon went out in the first round of fights, but came back in a bizarre twist to fight none other than Bisping. He displayed a sense of courage and true fighting spirit that saw him get no end of praise from UFC president Dana White, and even though he did not progress to the finals, he made his mark as a ‘never say die’ kind of guy. 

Ross is currently training over in the States, but found time to speak to our reporter Andrew Garvey in the following interview. 

You got onto Ultimate Fighter by impressing Zuffa at the trials in London last December. What do you think earned you a spot on the show?

They just gave us all a number and had us rolling against somebody else. Then it was a bit of padwork. Then they interviewed us. They asked about your day-to-day life, see what kind of a person you are, bring out your personality. Then it was more of the same in the trials in Las Vegas and they picked me.

The show was actually filmed over a period of around six weeks. What was the hardest part of being out there in the house for so long?

It was hard at first. I live on my own so being in a house with all those guys was definitely strange at first. A lot of egos and testosterone but it was alright after a while man

Some of the fighters have since complained about things being changed and edited. Do you think they showed the real Ross?

In some parts I think they made it look as though I was being a bit stubborn when I wasn’t. Like I didn’t listen but I did. When I was there in the house and Mike Nickels was telling me stuff I was just letting it go over my head y’ know. But I was happy how they portrayed me really because that’s how it was. They showed everything how it was.

What did you think when you saw they’d subtitled a lot of what you said?

(Laughs) It’s still like that now. I’m in the States at the moment and they’re all like “what did he say?” It didn’t bother me.

The first really funny thing on the show was the night you showed the Americans how to properly get drunk. Was there anything they didn’t show?

No, I think that was it. They showed all the main stuff. (Laughs)

How did you initially feel about being on Ken Shamrock’s team?

I was titsed off man. I wanted to be on Tito’s team. Tito was an inspiration for me, I liked his style, I watched him fighting in UFC and wanted to learn from him. Plus Mike was on his team so it would have been nice to train with him as well. I went out there to learn stuff but I learnt fuck all from Ken. It sucked man. Later Sol phoned me up and invited me out to Texas to train with him ‘cause he thought I got the short end being on Shamrock’s team. The training regime I do at home was harder. We did no cardio. When I’m at home I run about five times a week but out there we never ran at all. My cardio decreased while I was there and that was part of why I lost to Kendall. By the time I fought I had no cardio. It was that and cutting down to 185. That was the first time I had to cut that much weight and I did it on my own. This time [Rory Singer fight] it was easy. I felt awesome. I only had to cut about 6-7 pounds and I felt great. I’m learning all the time. Actually for my next fight I’ll be dropping down to welterweight.

Tell me about the Rory Singer fight.

Did you see the fight I had with Mike in Coventry? It was a bit like that. I was throwing punches and got caught with a submission. I hit Rory and thought I had him, I thought he was out so I went down on the ground to finish him. I stood up out of the first triangle but went back down to finish him off and just got caught with the triangle. I should have just stepped back and made him get up and then just kept knocking him down. For my next fight I’m going stay on my feet. Just not go down on the ground. I mean, this is how silly I am. We were doing armbar escape drills and triangle escape drills and the plan was not to go down no matter what but as soon as I floored him I just got too aggressive and wanted to smash him. Then when I was in the triangle I could have escaped but I just kept smashing him in the face ‘til I ran out of oxygen. My training for that fight was really good. I was in Texas for 6 weeks with Sol. I was training with some great guys from Texas and with Mark Coleman and Wes Sims

What’s Wes Sims like in real life?

I lived with Wes for a couple of weeks and he’s a nice guy, man. Wes is fucking awesome.

Have you had plenty of offers since the Rory fight?

Yeah, loads. I’ve had offers from a show in Texas, from Cage Warriors in England and some others as well. I want to fight and I’m focused on getting back into UFC, getting another UFC fight.

What did UFC say to you afterwards?

Joe Silva said they’d definitely bring me back. That’s when I told him I was going to fight at welterweight. I’ll have a lot more strength and I’ll be faster. I can be more dominant down there.

Going back to the series, your return to the show was amazing television. As you were walking down the corridor to meet with Dana, Tito and Shamrock, did you have any idea what they were going to ask you?

I knew really. They called all the light heavyweight guys down to the gym and I knew what was going to happen. I knew Matt was hurt and I’d said to a couple of guys I’d move up to light heavyweight and fight if they asked, so yeah, I had an inkling they were going to ask me back.

You said “yes” immediately. Were you even listening to anything they said?

I was and I wasn’t, man. I was just so happy, like a little kid in a sweetshop. Dana gave me this awesome long speech about what a fighter was. I was gutted when I saw they cut it out ‘cause it was just awesome. I can’t remember it all but he talked about what a fighter was and said “that’s what you are.”

How long did you have to actually prepare for the Bisping semi-final fight?

Two days. Two days after sitting around in the loser house for three weeks doing nothing but sitting on my arse, eating fried chicken and drinking beer. It was a real downer in there because you’re on lockdown. You can’t go out anywhere and you’re off the show. You’ve lost and there’s nothing to do so after being on the show and training it’s a real let down and I got a bit down so it was great to get back on there.

Any thoughts about the fight itself?

Mike had six weeks with one of the best trainers in the world, Saul. With the right training I think I could beat Mike. He’s an amazing fighter but if he hadn’t caught me with that flying knee it might have been different. It was a perfect knee though. I thought it dropped me. I didn’t know until I watched the fight that I stayed on my feet after that and carried on defending. I was trying to be careful, not get into a scrap with him because I didn’t have the cardio. I was relaxed and taking my time, waiting to hit him with another overhand right. That was the gameplan but he caught me and won the fight.

What are your plans now?

I’m moving out to California. I met a girl at the finals. Her name’s Brittany Skye and she’s an ex-porn star. (Laughs) She watched my fight and she liked me and everything, and I’m moving out here and I’ll be opening up a gym out here. You see, the place I’m moving to, there’s no MMA gyms, its all fitness so there’s a gap in the market and I’m going to take a risk y’ know. I’ll still have my gym in England [Gladiator Gym, Stoke-on-Trent] and I’ve got a couple of guys who can run that for me. I’ll be coming back over here from time to time and bringing back stuff I learn in America. I’ll benefit from that and I’ll be training with Saul, and hopefully with Tito in Huntington Beach as well.

Judging by reaction to the show and to you at the live final weigh-ins you’re obviously got a lot of American fans. Why do you think they’ve taken to you so much?

Everywhere I go people just stop me and people know who I am. Obviously its just, they like my attitude. Like me as a person they’ve seen on TV. It’s like I’ve got a fighter’s attitude and they like that. They come up to me and they all just say “you’re a fucking badass.”