Christian Strong wasn’t going to let a little injury stop him from the biggest opportunity of his career.
The second episode of The Ultimate Fighter 34 saw Strong earn a dominant decision win over Marlon Jones to advance to the semifinals of the season’s bantamweight tournament, but the road to fight day was almost as arduous as the fight itself. Strong told MMA Fighting that he injured both ankles at the start of the season, a storyline that didn’t make the final cut.
“I also got injured right before the show as well and they didn’t show that in the beginning—I kind of wish they would have—which kind of affected me trying to get my weight down going into the show, so I was definitely one of the heavier guys,” Strong said. “I’m a bigger ‘35er for sure, so the weight was definitely still kind of hard to make, especially in the beginning, and then making it twice, man, it’s a daunting task in the house. I think people don’t realize what it truly takes.”
Strong’s injuries might not have been dramatic enough for Paramount+, but they were serious enough that producers asked if he would even be able to continue. He confidently told them nothing was going to get in the way of his TUF opportunity.
“At one point, production kind of pulled me aside,” Strong said. “They were not necessarily threatening to pull me off the show, but they seemed really concerned and they were kind of like, ‘We need to know right now whether you’re able to perform or not.’
“I told them, ‘If I have to, I’ll hobble in there with one f*cking leg.’ So I was going to make it happen regardless.”
Even after Strong was cleared to participate, the surprises kept on coming as the cast found out they would be trying out to not only be selected to Team Daniel Cormier or Team Michael Bisping, but to earn a spot on the show with only 16 of the 20 invited fighters being picked by the coaches and the remaining four being sent home.
Strong was left to sweat it out until the last moment as he ended up being the very last pick, ending up on Team Cormier.
“I didn’t even know that we were really doing tryouts until that morning, so that was extremely nerve-racking, so I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know,’” Strong said. “Obviously, I was not really prepared mentally. Then as the picks were going along, I’m like, it’s getting more and more hairy, the numbers are dwindling down.
“I was definitely extremely nervous, but I had an inkling in the back of my mind, me being from my wrestling background, I feel like at least I’m going to get picked by ‘DC.’ I’d be very surprised if I didn’t, and it just so happened I did, so it all worked out.”
Team Cormier’s coaches unsurprisingly told Strong to lean heavily on his wrestling in his quarterfinal matchup with the striking-minded Jones, with an emphasis on resetting and shooting takedowns in volume as opposed to going all out for offense on the ground. It worked and Strong left the Apex with a decision win.
However, UFC CEO Dana White was cageside for the contest and had this to say afterwards:
“The problem is wrestling without a finish does not make for exciting fights. So Christian is moving on, he didn’t take much damage, but if that guy wants to stand out in this tournament, he needs to be more aggressive in the semifinals.”
According to Strong, he was aware his grinding style might not wow the boss right out of the gates.
“You know, I’m not going to lie, I knew that was a possibility looming in my mind,” Strong said. “I even talked about this with the coaches when we were talking about the game plan for the fight. I’m like, ‘I’m just a little worried that this could affect me getting fights obviously later, not even after the show.’
“They were like, ‘It doesn’t matter. Just follow the game plan, you make it to the next round. Then in the semifinals, it’s your last fight, you can really go to war and then you’re done and you can heal up for a long time. So even if you are in the finale, you have a long time to heal up. So this first fight was kind of, you’ve just got to get through it, and the second one we can maybe show more of what you can really do.’”
Strong, who has previously competed for Fury FC and won a bantamweight title in Canada’s Battlefield Fight League promotion in his most recent fight, understands the need to entertain if he’s going to have a long UFC career, whether he wins the TUF 34 bantamweight tournament or not. He wasn’t distracted by White’s presence in his first fight, but was determined to make his mark in the semifinals before leaving the TUF house.
“It was tough because I didn’t see Dana White there, but just knowing that he’s watching, it gives you a little bit more pressure in knowing you have to perform and you have to be aggressive, you have to show up,” Strong said. “I think that was always looming in my mind, whether I knew what he said or not, and I knew that going into the next fight, honestly.”
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