As in 'Dumb and Dumber,' Jesse Taylor thinks he's 'totally redeemed' himself

LAS VEGAS – As far as redemption stories go, Jesse Taylor’s will be one for the MMA storybooks.

To say Taylor (31-15 MMA, 1-1 UFC) had a good night is an understatement. Not only did he conquer “The Ultimate Fighter” crown over Dhiego Lima (12-6 MMA, 1-4 UFC) on Friday, he did so in decisive fashion – more precisely, with a second-round submission over the fellow “TUF 25” finalist. With that victory came a not-too-shabby $290,000 payday that no other season winner had earned.

Before reaching “TUF” glory at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, however, Taylor was the protagonist of one of its most remarkably low moments in series history. After making it all the way to the tournament final of Season 7 back in 2008, Taylor got himself kicked out of the house due to unruly drunken behavior during a night out in Las Vegas.

Taylor did get a UFC shot after the incident, but when a first-round Peruvian necktie by C.B. Dollaway put an end to that, it took Taylor some work – and 36 professional MMA bouts – to make his way back.

Yet, at 34, here he is.

“Maybe they’ll make a movie about it one day,” Taylor said after the FS1-televised co-headliner at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Friday. “It’s not about the money. Don’t get me wrong – it’s going to change my life and my kids’ life. But it wasn’t really about the money. It was about the story. About redemption. That’s what it was about. I just wanted to show my kids, to be a good role model.

“Like, ‘Hey, you mess up in life, but you fix it, and you keep going.’ A lot of people mess up in life. I think I relate with people in that sense. I’m a pretty regular guy. Nothing too special about me. I just keep going.”

Taylor is neither happy nor excited about the “foolish” behavior that led to the embarrassing end to his first “TUF” journey. In fact, not a day has gone by since in which he hasn’t thought about it. But he doesn’t regret it either. At the end of the day, it fueled him. It made him hungry. And it got him where he needed to be.

“Who knows? If I’d won back then, I might have been in and out and done with the UFC,” Taylor said. “And I just kept grinding, and kept plugging away, and fighting anyone, anywhere, anytime. And I think in the end, it got me a lot better. It made a better fighter and person.”

Taylor admitted there were moments in his career in which he got discouraged – particularly, when he went on long seven- or eight-fight winning streaks and saw people he’d beaten getting their own octagon calls. But even then, giving up was just not an option.

“I told myself, if it takes me until I’m 60, I’m going to get back in the UFC,” he said. “And once they told me about this show, through Tom – Tom Gallichio (fellow castmate) was actually the first to tell me. I was like, ‘Man, that’s about me.’ Like Jim Carrey said in ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ I totally redeemed myself.”

For full accuracy: It was actually Jeff Daniels’ character, Harry, who said that to Lloyd, played by Jim Carrey, in the 1994 movie. But in any case, Taylor made his point.

And the patience throughout the “crazy long journey” paid off big. But, riveting narrative aside, it was Taylor’s skill set that got the job done against Lima. From the start, the vet made it clear that he wasn’t about to take any unnecessary risks, using a pressure game to take him down and pretty much just keep him there.

The game plan helped Taylor breeze through a dominant Round 1. But, as soon as the bout restarted for Round 2, he saw himself on the unfortunate end of a left hook that sent him straight to the mat.

So, about that one dangerous minute there?

“Well, I did the strategy of taking a punch to the head,” Taylor said jokingly. “And he came on me, and I created a scramble. So I guess the punch in the head worked because he just jumped on me, and that’s kind of what I wanted. I knew I could out scramble him, from training with him on the show. And they say it’s an old trick, but I’m a rear-naked-choke artist.

“I think my jiu-jitsu is a little underestimated. I’ve been submitted a lot, but I think that’s life. I learned slowly but surely from my mistakes. I knew what it takes to win, and I trust in my jiu-jitsu.”

Taylor has certainly crashed the UFC’s 170-pound scene with a bang. But is it enough to make a quick rise through one of the promotion’s most stacked divisions, currently ruled by champ Tyron Woodley? On one hand, Taylor understands he’s surrounded by sharks. But, on the other, he said they might be lacking on star power.

Enter this vet with a really great backstory who has also happened to have fought “the best of the best” around the world throughout stints on Strikeforce, Dream, WSOF, ACB and Cage Warriors (to name a few).

“Then I come out of nowhere to take it all,” Taylor said. “I want to make a run for this. Maybe a fight or two, but I want to get contender status, and I want to go get that belt.”

Clearly, Taylor has had quite the learning curve in the nine years since he’s been trying to make his way back to the octagon. But some things may never change.

“That $250,000 was the icing on the ice cream – I don’t know if I’m saying that right,” Taylor said. “I think I messed that up on ‘TUF 7’ too, actually.”

To hear from Taylor on his remarkable journey – and the plans for his paycheck – check out the video above.

And for more on The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.