Team Tate blog: Chris Holdsworth on ‘The Ultimate Fighter 18,’ episode No. 12

It was pretty obvious throughout the whole season that Anthony Gutierrez wasn’t eating the best he possibly could, but he just said he knows his body and that’s the way he always eats. I just think that when you weigh-in and know you’re going to be fighting a week later, I wouldn’t suggest eating all the stuff he was eating that week. It was just a road to his own demise: the Armenian BBQ and all the other stuff that he ate. He ate a lot of other things they didn’t show, as well. He just made a lot of bad choices.

All of this stuff with Anthony actually took place before my fight. As it was all unfolding, I was focused more on my fight, but I did see Davey Grant get his free pass into the finals. Ultimately, it didn’t anger me. I mean, it’s up to the UFC and the show staff to figure out what’s going to happen, and that’s just the way things fell into place. It does suck a little. People are going to say, “But he didn’t have to fight three times,” and this and that, but it’s not his fault. But for me, I said this on the show and I’ll say it again: The champion’s road is the hardest road. I fought three times, and I earned my way into the finale. No one can take that from me. I’m not saying he didn’t earn it, but that’s just the way things happened.

I definitely respect Davey. What happened isn’t his fault, and he truly wanted to fight. It just sucks that he didn’t get to fight and prove to people that he deserved to be in the finale. You never what could have happened if they did fight, but he was pretty confident. I would have liked to see how it would have played out.

Davey is a super-cool guy. We got along really well. I respect him as a family man, and he’s a hard-working dude. He’s got some skills. It’s going to be a good fight between us. Before the semifinal matchups, they asked us who we wanted, and you heard me say I thought Dave and I would be a good final, and that’s the way it turned out. I’ve been training my butt off and working really hard to make sure I come out the winner.

I know Davey is going to bring it. He’s no slouch. It will probably be the toughest fight of my career so far, but I embrace things like that. I look forward to challenges and testing myself. I think it’s going to be a great matchup. Sure, he had one less fight than me, but you never know what would’ve happened there. It’s been a while since we wrapped up the taping, but I do still feel a few small issues from the show. But we’re never 100 percent. I’m sure he still stings, too. You never know what will happen in a fight, but you’re always a little banged up from training, but we never talk about it as fighters because it’s a potential weakness. So I don’t think he really ends up with any kind of advantage by having one less fight.

As for Anthony, I think skill-wise he’s got what it takes to make it back to the UFC, but I think he probably lost a lot of cred with Dana White, so it’s going to be tough to make it back. He’s going to have to work his way back somehow. I’m not really sure what he has planned. I talked to him last week, but I don’t know exactly where his head is at. He was just waiting for this to air. He said he’d been hiding under a rock, waiting to come out and for the storm to start. He knew he messed up and made mistakes. This is going to be a big hurdle for him, but I’m sure he’s happy to finally get it off his chest and get the secret out and move on with his life.

The coaches challenge was a pretty crazy scene. One we showed up and saw it was a rock-climbing wall, I had faith in Miesha Tate, but I knew that played totally into Ronda Rousey‘s judo grip strength, pulling herself up. I knew it was going to be tough for Miesha. And as you saw from what happened, it was.

Ronda has received a lot of criticism for her attitude and her actions, but that’s just who she is. Personally, I probably wouldn’t have been flipping Miesha off that way, but Ronda has a way of getting under her opponents’ skin, and it was great TV. Ronda is actually a cool chick. I had the pleasure of hanging out with her a bit and talking to her, and I’ve been a fan of hers for a while. A lot of people are getting a different look at her and maybe hopping on Miesha’s side now, but Ronda is Ronda. She’s going to do what she does, and she’s the champ.

I’m excited to get to the finale. It’s been a long six months for me, getting ready for the tryouts, trying out, getting ready for the fights on the show, and now getting ready for the finale and keeping the secrets from the show. It’s just a lot of weight off my chest, and it’s nice to let the world know and to let everybody know the matchup. I just have to wait another week, and it will be going down at Mandalay Bay!

“The Ultimate Fighter 18? cast member Chris Holdsworth (4-0) blogs each Thursday exclusively for MMAjunkie.com. The bantamweight prospect takes readers behind the scenes of the FOX Sports 1-broadcast series, which airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET. Catch Holdsworth on Twitter at @holdsworth135.