UFC
TUF 13's Tony Ferguson regrets his drunken tirade in the house, apologizes for his actions in new blog
May 26, 2011 - 5:10:09 PM TUF 13's Tony Ferguson regrets his drunken tirade in the house, apologizes for his actions in new blog

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Wednesday's ninth episode of The Ultimate Fighter 13 saw one of the season's seemingly most level-headed competitors in semifinalist Tony Ferguson fly off the handle in a drunken stupor, going completely away from character and alienating himself from the rest of the competitors.

After spending the season alcohol-free, Ferguson imbibed far more than he should have, and after Charlie Rader jokingly poured some water over his head, that's when things went overboard. Ferguson dove at him over a couch, putting his hand through the coffee table, and then bringing things to a more violent head by shoving his forearm in Rader's throat.

Then, things escalated further as Ferguson tried to egg Rader on with some harsh personal attacks. For some background, it was revealed during the season that Rader had lost a custody battle over his son, and he hadn't seen him in some time. So Ferguson proceeded to berate Rader by saying "where's your son?" over and over again, nearly leading to the two fighters to come to blows. It was an unacceptable attack regardless of his level of intoxication, but Ferguson has taken to his weekly blog on the show at SBNation.com to give his side of what happened.

Here's his explanation, in his own words:

"Now, let me talk about what happened in the house.

You first have to understand we started drinking not long after we had just got done fighting. We had also done the semi-final picks. I think part of me brought the fight home since my real fight with Ryan ended so fast. When you bring alcohol into the mix, it was just bad from there.

We all drank a lot. It started out with shots of Patron and moved to Jim Beam. Miller Lites were mixed in the entire time. We weren't just drinking to relax. We were going hard core. Everyone was drinking, too, although maybe not as much as some of us.

Things got out of hand fast. My adrenaline was still going. Things were beginning to escalate around me. They didn't show this, but Shamar Bailey got pissed after Ramsey started dancing on him. That helped to set things in motion.

Throughout the show, I tried to keep calm and poised. I excused myself from a lot of conversations or just insane bulls--t. I was trying to stay focused.

That all went away fast. Charlie Rader poured water on my head, but at the time I thought it was beer. I couldn't understand why he would do something like that, even as minor as it may seem now. I had a short fuse. I'm usually not like that. When I saw myself, it was honestly kind of creepy.

Unfortunately, everyone saw The Boogeyman came out. That's a side of my personality I usually only see in the cage, but somehow Charlie brought it out in real life. Something just snapped and I thought "This guy is your enemy now". Rather than try to bring people close to me, I was pushing everyone away.

Why did I bring up Charlie's son? I have no idea, but I have a guess. My birth father wasn't there for me growing up. Somehow Charlie's situation mixed in with my adrenaline from fighting and the booze all worked together to bring up my own issues. I learned a lot about myself watching that on tape and how I felt about certain things in my life. I was under a lot of pressure, I was trying to bottle up frustration and it didn't work. Well, it worked for a while, but ultimately did not.

I said some things I shouldn't have said. I was in a weird place. I was having crazy dreams in that house. The entire experience took me out of my own independence and removed all of my release valves.

I really regret saying what I said to Charlie and we've talked about it since the incident. I've spoke to Clay Harvison and Chuck, too. We are in a better place now than we were that night.

Part of me feels like this is what the producers wanted. Every season there is someone who cracks. It sucks it had to be me, but I've never lived in a house full of fighters competing against each other. That alcohol is also there for a reason. Maybe subconsciously I needed that to happen so I could fight Charlie and Chuck who were my friends in the house at the time.

The really weird part was how drunk I got. When I woke up the next morning, I didn't remember much. I had a scar on my left arm, didn't know where it came from. I started cleaning up and was basically none the wiser. But no one wanted to talk to me and who can blame them?

The last I will say is maybe all of this is related to me growing up angry. I only met my father two years ago. But I never wanted to bore anyone with my stories. My attitude was that no one cares about my problems, so I'll just keep them to myself. That didn't work, but that's what I was working with when I was in the house at that time.

I'm sorry to all who I disappointed, but I want you all to know I haven't had a drink at all during this camp. I'm training hard and staying on track. I'm living a healthy life, physically and emotionally. Thanks for all of the support over these past few weeks and watching me fight."

Ferguson takes on Team Lesnar teammate Chuck O'Neill in the semifinals, airing next Wednesday on Spike TV.

Penick's Analysis: It's good that he made amends with those he offended with his actions on the show, but he definitely damaged the image he had built up during the season. He was becoming someone a lot of fans were seeing as a favorite for the show, but after Wednesday's tirade he may have a lot of people turning on him by the time he enters the Octagon live in Las Vegas. But I'll give him credit for manning up to his mistakes here and giving a true apology to Rader and realizing how wrong he was in that situation.



Reader Question: Have your opinions changed on Ferguson following the tirade and this apology and explanation heading into next week's semifinals and Finale event? Web visitors, comment below in our new Reader Comment Area (linked to Facebook). App users, send us your thoughts at mmatorch@gmail.com or visit our desktop website to comment.