Team Canada blog: Kajan Johnson on 'TUF Nations,' episode No. 7

So we return to “TUF Nations” drama central with your host The Ragin’ One. We left off last episode with the Aussies being upset because I apparently said that Dan Kelly was done and was celebrating his possibly career-ending injury. Now I know that I didn’t say that, and if it did come out of my mouth, it was meant in a different context.

We’re in the car on the way back from the fight and magic starts coming out of our mouths.

Sheldon: what do I do against a judo guy?

Me: Throw him on his head four times.

Oli: Really hard.

I don’t know what it is about Oli, but this kid just kills me. His accent and personality together are just way too funny. He definitely wins the award for most lovable cast member. Oh, and my “pit bull with a bunny rabbit” line also kills me. Sometimes I kill myself. Ragin one-liners for the win!

I’m really used to Brandon hating on me or being upset with me by now. He always seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. But Vik? That actually really upset me that he believed I would do or say such a thing. I really like Vik. He’s a straight-shooter and a super nice guy. I appreciate the fact that he will stand up for his people, but I wish he would have taken into consideration who it was that was giving him the info on exactly what I had said.

So we get back to the house after the fight, and our team is happy, obviously, but I think we were all expecting some blowback from the fight in some way. What happened next though, I did not expect.

I’m sitting at the table eating or something, and the Aussies are all in the kitchen, and Brandon (of course it’s Brandon) decides to take it upon himself once again to confront me, which didn’t bother me that much. What bothered me the most is that I was singled out. I wasn’t the only one celebrating the victory, not that there’s anything wrong with celebrating, but if you’re going to get mad at me for it, you should be mad at the rest of us, too. Vik also began expressing his displeasure at my celebration. I’m racking my brain to try to bring up the memory that will justify what they are saying, but I just cannot find it! I honest to god have no recollection of saying, “He’s done!” especially in regards to Dan being injured. I didn’t even know that Dan’s leg was hurt after the fight. I didn’t notice that he was limping until he was walking back to the dressing room, so there is no way that I made any comment about his injury because of my aforementioned lack of knowledge of said injury.

Brendan once again mentions how much he’d like to fight me, this time making jet lag excuses. Unfortunately for him, I don’t look back, I look forward. So unless he can somehow get ahead of me in this business, I can’t see how a rematch will ever happen. Sorry man, it’s just business. The only man I want a rematch with is Josh Thomson. But I digress, back to the subject at hand. Let it be known that I do not put on any sort of act for cameras. I’m just a big kid. I’m easily excited, I’m loud and I’m silly. I do and say weird, random things. Just ask my mom, I’ve been this way since birth. The only thing that has changed is now I can fight and people sometimes film me. I always am and will always be real. What you see is what you get.

One thing that I would’ve liked to have seen is some of my teammates sticking up for me. If the roles were reversed I definitely would’ve stood behind them. I understand though, nobody wants to be involved in drama. Looking back though, I remember feeling singled out by the Aussies and slightly abandoned by my team.

I just have to take a minute to thank the producers right now. Thank you!!! We see me in the room talking to Sheldon and Luke being really distraught about this whole situation. I unknowingly set it up perfectly by saying, “I want a f–king replay,” and they give me a replay! Yay! I’ve seriously been waiting for this since the incident first occurred. It cuts to Sheldon finishing his choke and me going nuts yelling, “Uuuunnnnhhh! Uuunnnhhhh! Thats f–king right! Thats f–king right!” not “He’s done, he’s done.” Wow. Revenge isn’t sweet, justice is sweet. Vindication is mine! (Stewie Griffin voice)

So Vik, being the great guy that he is, came into the room and we have a much more understanding, much less confrontational conversation that ends in a handshake and both parties leaving feeling good about squashing it. Thank you, Vik, you’re really an amazing human. Anyways, that ends the drama portion of todays episode. Now lets move on to the rest of our program.

Dan comes back in from his x-ray and is greeted at the door by Sheldon, Luke and myself. We were all really worried about him. Not just about whether or not his career was over but whether or not he’d be able to go back to running his gym. After all, this was all in order to provide for his family. This sport is so crazy because all we really have is our bodies to make money with. If you get injured in a fight, you are pretty much unable to make money because most of us teach on the side or work a door at a club, both of which are impossible to do when injured. I’ve gone through that struggle in the past and would not wish it on my worst enemy, let alone a fellow competitor.

OK, I just had an OMG moment. OMG, Brendon’s rapping! Wow! Don’t quit your day job, brah!! Anyways, we get to see Jake training a bit here, and I’m pretty impressed. Jake’s got some hands, boy! Solid left hook, right hand. Good power, good technique. I knew this kid was good. I had been watching him since before the show as the Aussie to beat. I knew he’d be a good test for anyone in the house. It’s really crazy that he’s only 19 and he trains in his back yard with his dad. Imagine what he’ll do if he gets to a big-name gym and spends a couple years there? Scary! Don’t know about that left kick he’s practicing for a southpaw, though. That ain’t going to hit the liver and leaves you open for a dirty left hand. Whatev, though. Maybe they know something I don’t.

Unh, Baws (Rick Ross voice)! Now we get to see that beastmode training. I was so on smash at this point. Peak physical condition, peak mental focus, straight murder business. You see how long Matt’s arms are in this shot. I throw a straight shot and he still lands a hook right to the face. Not the face! Now everyone knows that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so if I’m in range to hit him with a straight shot and he can still land a hook? Matt, you have some serious monkey arms.

You see me and Chad sparring together, and as I say in my confessional, things are getting intense. I’ve never been in this situation before, training with a guy that I may be fighting in a few short weeks or even days. I could tell that we both knew what it was. We never really spoke about it, but I could definitely feel a competitive tension growing between us.

Nobody wanted to fight Oli. Not just because he’s a great guy, but he’s super dangerous on the ground. In training, neither me or Chad were able to stop his takedown. I might have been able to hang with him on the ground, but the odds were in his favur that he would end up being on top because of his wrestling and judo capabilities. Also, I was a little closer to Oli then I was to Chad. I understood his energy better. He has an amazing heart, is 100 percent real and never has an ulterior motive. Chad was a really good guy, but I could feel he was somewhat calculated with his actions and did not always show all his cards. Not that that’s a bad thing but definitely a reason I felt closer to Oli. It’s funny because coming into the house I thought that Nordine was going to be the one to hurt people in training with his crazy striking style, but I was definitely mistaken. Our entire team got bumps and bruises from Oli. He only has one speed, it’s either stop or 100 percent. There’s no middle ground.

Oli looks so young and seems so innocent that it’s easy to forget that he has a 2-year-old daughter. I have never met her, but I’ve seen pictures, and she is absolutely adorable! Hearing him talk about her and describe her, you can really tell that he as a wonderful and devoted father. You can’t help but love this guy.

We’re at the gym getting ready to train and we hear this crazy loud engine revving up. It sounded like a race car or a crotch rocket or something. Obviously, I’m Curious George, the first one to run out and see what is going on. I just have to say one thing: Why did I think it was OK to wear that shirt with spandex shorts? Somebody give this guy a mirror please….not a good look. Anyways, we turn the corner and see a ‘Rarri sitting in the middle of the kitchen! I instantly get excited, hoping that it’s a prize of some sort but am slightly disappointed when I’m told that we have to play a video game in order to win a ride in it. Me and video games don’t really get a long. I think the last game I played was Mortal Kombat for Sega Genesis when I was like 14, and even then I sucked at it. I instantly kiss goodbye any idea of me ever riding in that beautiful car. C’est la vie.

So The Xbox guys set up the game, and everyone is all excited to play it. I, of course, am nowhere to be seen, unless of course you look way in the background to the kitchen. I still played my turn but didn’t come first obviously. I also didn’t come last, though, which is more important because the last guy had to do a nudie run. Of course it’s Brendan, the king of the nudie run, and he happily completes his lap after just enough protest to make you think he doesn’t want to.

Were at the weigh-in, and both Jake and Oli make weight easily. I don’t think either had that much to cut. It looks like a pretty uneventful weigh-in until Kru Ash hands Oli a picture in the middle of the staredown. He unravels it, and it’s a picture of Jake’s long lost twin, Justin Bieber! It’s incredible just how much he actually looks like JB. Im sure a million 13-year-old girls’ hearts just melted. Way to help him increase his fan base, Oli. Definitely the best joke so far.

So Oli, in order to be able to feed himself on the show, took a cooking class to learn the basics. Nordine took it upon himself to continue his learning while on the show. He taught Oli how to make crepes, and Oli actually made some really great crepes. Unfortunately for him they did not show his successful attempts, they showed his failed one. What you see on his plate here looks like a cross between scrambled eggs and crepes. He may actually be on to something though, scrambled crepes! Anyway, I’m sure they were delicious, and I know that he did much better then that both before and after. Chef Oli killin’ it.

Enter Dexter. Oli is such a happy-go-lucky, funny guy, you would never expect him to have any darkness in him. He’s a good finisher though, and that usually goes hand in hand with some sort of darkness. We got to the gym on fight day and everything was very normal. We get to the locker room, and Oli laughs at the JB poster that has been signed and pinned there. We all shake hands and greet the coaches and Oli begins to change into his fight gear. Then something really strange happens that I was not ready for at all! As soon as Oli changes into his gear, he starts pacing around the room in circles with this incredibly intense look on his face. His eyes seem to go black, and his face shows zero emotion. Though he remains emotionless, I can feel a very dark intensity bubbling, ready to explode, like a river of lava just below the surface of a volcano. It really took me aback.

I had never seen Oli’s zone before but now I could feel it right in the pit of my stomach. It was actually too much for me to take. When I am cornering or helping a fighter in the back, I can sense their energy and change mine to match theirs so as not to disrupt their zone. Because I was so caught off-guard by Oli’s, energy I had to leave the change room to gather myself and prepare to be on his level with him. I actually told the other guys that were chillin’ in the kitchen that if they came to the change room not to joke around because Dexter is in the building. I then returned to the change room able to match Oli’s energy and intensity and hold him down.

Oli asked us for something that I have never heard in my life. He asked us not to cheer for him when he walked out. Thats why when Jake walks out, everybody is cheering and when Oli walks out there is only clapping. You can see a little bit of Dexter as Oli walks out to the cage, but right when he gets there, a little smile crept across his face. He loved that we didn’t cheer. I think next time, we won’t even clap. Silent walkout. Gangster.

This fight almost gave me a heart attack. Well, at least the first round did. The ref calls fight, and Oli just saunters out to the middle of the cage with one hand out to touch gloves. What if the guy pulled a dick move and just attacked him? That scared me. Luckily, Jake was an honorable opponent, and they touch gloves and shape up. They feel each other out for a few seconds, and then Jake sends a couple hard straight shots at Oli while moving forward. Oli gives up ground and doesn’t answer back. I’m like, “It’s OK, now he will mount his own attack.” He doesn’t.

Jake lands a nice right hand and throws a front kick, still no answer. Oli feints a right hook and Jake bites, backing up. Thank god because Oli was a little too close to the fence for my liking. Jake throws a couple more shots, and though he’s missing, Oli looks asleep at the wheel. Where is the fire that I always see in training? Come on Oli, wake up!

I’m screaming in my head, although I don’t think the words ever made it to my lips. Finally Oli lands a jab. “Thank you. More of that now please,” I say to myself. Jake bombs with a right hook. Oli blocks it but no counter. Jake throws it again, missing this time but still no counter from Oli. I’m starting to panic now. Oli may be letting the nerves get to him and looks like he’s freezing in there. Jake, smelling the fear, moves forward with hard shots, all of which are blocked by Oli or miss him, but he’s still winning this fight right now and gaining some serious momentum.

Jake lands a hard body kick as Oli tries to circle off the fence. Jake continues to bomb with hooks, and Oli continues to block and not counter. Then a miracle happens: Jake throws a right hand, left hook, and Oli blocks and hits him back with a right hook of his own. Yes! That’s what I’m talking about. Oli starts pressing now, his energy changed, his intent now focused, as it should be. He throws a hard double left hand, rushing in like the train he is, smashing jake into the fence. Jake, being the strong young lad that he is, grabs an underhook and turns Oli, putting his back on the fence. Jake makes a mistake here though. He should have listened to his corner and disengaged.

Oli in the clinch is almost unstoppable. He has been doing judo for like 10 years, and he’s upper-body strong like no other. Not the guy to try and clinch with. Oli turns him back and starts to deliver knees to the body and the legs. Jake realizes his mistake and makes the right decision. He spins off, breaking free from Oli’s death grip, and attempts to sway the momentum back into his favor. Unfortunately for him though, Oli is wide awake now. You can tell by the bounce in his step and the look on his face. Oli steps back and lands a hard liver kick. Jake pushes forward, but now Oli pushes back with a playful smile on his face. This is the Oli that I know. Oli lands a hard break-right uppercut and clinches. He hits some judo trip that I do not know the proper name of but I’m sure sounds like ugochi uru or something. Anyway, he gets it and lands on top of Jake in his guard. Jake starts climbing his guard up and grabbing his leg attempting to lock up some garbage rubber guard technique. Let it be known that I despise rubber guard. Oli breaks it off and stands over him, ready to throw some heavy shots. He lands some clean shots, and Jake tries to snatch a knee bar. Oli defends by triangling his legs and staying heavy, so Jake attempts to transfer to a triangle. This is a pretty high-level transition that impressed me a lot, even though Jake wasn’t able to secure either submission. I was also very impressed by how calm Oli stayed on top. His face was stone cold, no emotion and he continued his assault on jake in a very calculated, strategic manner, not unlike that of a seasoned MMA veteran.

Jake again rolls for the kneebar and doesn’t get it, but it gives him the space to be able to stand up. Oli grabs a single-leg, and before he can attempt a takedown, Jake (showing a lot of guts and a bit of inexperience) jumps for a flying triangle. Unfortunately for him, he does not get it and spends the last 30 seconds back on the bottom in full guard losing the round.

Round two starts, and Jake comes out on fire, throwing hard shots again. Oli throws a liver kick that Jake catches and shoots for a double-leg. Big mistake by Jake. Oli grabs a kimura and reefs it behind Jake’s back, forcing him to the ground. Thirty seconds in, and Oli is already back on top of Jake, inside his full guard. Oli lands a hard elbow! This is possibly the best strike of the fight. Jake’s face must be made of alligator skin because that should have cut him wide open. Jake gets his feet in front of Oli and pushes him off. Oli throws his legs to the side and punches down the middle. Jake turns away from him, the cardinal sin, exposing his back. Oli latches on like a serpent, wrapping himself around Jake, securing the dreaded body triangle. Jake goes belly down in an attempt to get up, but Oli hits his favorite move, the power nelson, forcing Jake to roll again, landing back in the belly-up position. Oli immediately grabs a rear-naked choke, and even though Jake has his chin down begins to squeeze. This is where and how I predicted this fight would end.

Oli is extremely strong from the back position, and it really speaks to Jake’s heart and strength how me manages to fight off Oli’s choke attempt. Jake again rolls over to belly down and is fed with a hard shot from Oli. He again goes belly up and continues to fight off Oli’s choke attempts. Listening to his corner, Jake rolls on top of Oli’s body triangle to put pressure on his ankle. Lucky for us, Oli has skinny little legs and this does not affect him. Oli grabs a palm-to-palm choke and arches his hips, extending Jake’s back and putting enormous pressure on the neck and lower spine. Still, Jake, like a beast, pushes Oli’s arms off and stays alive a little longer. Oli looks over at the corner here and starts a full conversation about how much time is left in the round. Wow Oli, seriously? You on that Floyd Mayweather swag already, huh?

The last minute of the round is more of the same: Jake handfighting, Oli attempting to choke and hitting him when he goes belly down. Oli wins two rounds to nothing and our team keeps control of the fight pick. Not that it matters, there’s only one fight left to go in the quarterfinals.

So Oli apparently wanted to feel what it was like to get punched with four-ounce gloves on because he’s never actually been hit in an MMA fight. Well thanks a lot Oli! You could’ve told me. I almost had a heart attack! So this is what I thought would happen: Three Tristar fighters in the welterweight semifinals. Now there is a 66 percent chance that I will fight a fellow team mate. I knew this would happen, but it still really sucks.

Oli, even though he won the fight, was really upset that he didn’t finish. That is until he remembered that the winner of the fight got an Xbox One. Then he got up off the couch and did a little dance and started smiling again. Good ol’ video games, always making kids smile.

Jake took the loss really hard. I don’t think he had ever experienced defeat before, and having your first loss in the biggest opportunity of your career is a tough pill to swallow. I know he’ll be back though, much better and more experienced than before. I always say that in this sport sometimes you have to lose to win. There are certain lessons that you cannot learn unless you lose, and they are some of the most important lessons in MMA. I know this kid will be back. I know it.

The last middleweight fight is announced and it’s going to be Space Jam vs. Sparta, Luke vs Vik. The Aussies had started calling Luke Space Jam because he looks like the big blue guy off the movie, and I have to agree. Probably the best nickname of the whole season. Even better then Buzz Lightyear (Elias) and Twilight (Sheldon). So Luke is looking to feed him. “He’s going to get fed but probably not in the way he wants.” Amazing!

Luke is super skilled on the mat and super huge. Definitely the biggest guy in the house. Also, he’s the guy that cuts the most weight. Poor dude ends up the last fight, too. Had to starve for weeks on end, but now it’s his time.

Oh, I can’t wait for next week to see Luke twist this guy into a pretzel and then eat the entire fridge! Until then, this is Ragin’ Kajan signing off. Shout outs to http://www.eon4life.com and Tristar Gym!

“TUF Nations” cast member “Ragin” Kajan Johnson (19-10-1) blogs each week exclusively for MMAjunkie. The Team Canada welterweight takes readers behind the scenes of the FOX Sports 1-broadcast series, which airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET. Catch Johnson on Twitter at @iamragin and check out his official website at www.raginmma.com.