The Marcus Jones/Mike Wessel Situation

[Sublime7SD]

EDIT: I've talked with Mike Wessel since posting this, and my opinion of him has changed pretty drastically. He and Marcus were good friends on the show and it wasn't meant to provoke Marcus at all, it was just taken the wrong way, probably because of the elevated stress levels around fight time.

Also, for those wondering, Mike found out his wife had cancer 2 days before the show and wanted to opt out, but she insisted that he went for it. She had surgery while he was on the show and is currently clear.

He's a really nice guy honestly, and Spike really paints some fucked up pictures of the fighters to create drama and ratings.


In addition to the situation that occurred between these two tonight on episode 8, I also have a few thoughts/questions about Marcus at both the beginning and the end. Marcus Jones comes across as a really nice guy who tries to avoid confrontation and appears to treat everyone in the house as nicely as possible. In fact, while watching this episode, I was actually thinking that Marcus may be one of, if not THE nicest guy to ever spend 6 weeks in the Ultimate Fighter house.

He doesn't give anyone trouble from what they've shown us, and he can take a joke if it doesn't cross the line. This was evident right at the beginning of the episode where Wren was messing around with the spider and scaring Marcus, but he was still laughing/screaming it off. Even when someone off camera threw it at him and he just barely got out of the way, he laughed about it.

Wessel may be a fantastic husband, and it really is tragic that his wife has cancer. The way he described making sure she got a card from him every day and he made sure she got flowers on her birthday, even though he was locked up in that house. That's at least how I interpreted what he was saying. That is great if it's true, and I respect that he takes proper care of his wife. Being a good husband doesn't mean you can do no wrongs in other areas of life, though.

The pictures that were drawn of Marcus were funny, and I'm positive that they would've been laughed off if Wessel hadn't added the "Sucks balls" caption to one of them. There is a difference between ribbing an innocent guy and calling him Big Baby (as was written on the pictures) and saying they suck balls. As a man, I would've taken that personally, too. I wouldn't have brooded on it, but I wouldn't have treated the culprit kindly afterwards, that's for damn sure. This immature outburst from Wessel changed my mind about wanting Rashad to sweep Rampage 8-0, something I've been hoping for since the third or forth episode. I haven't rooted for a Team Rampage fighter until this episode. I just thought that provoking a guy who goes out of his way to be nice to every single person in the house was out of line.

The reason Wessel did this, of course, was insecurity and fear, possibly with a side of nerves. Hell, I can't blame the guy for being a bit afraid of a 6'8" (?) monster like Marcus, but what was said about him being a gentle giant was absolutely true. Maybe I'm wrong and Marcus is a really mean guy, and it's just the editing making me think otherwise, but I somehow doubt it. The fact that Wessel apparently didn't even man up and tell Marcus it was him and issue an apology for going out of bounds on national television that Jones' wife and children will be viewing makes it even worse in my eyes. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but as a man, if you want to talk shit about someone, you let them know it was you and that's how you feel. The drawings were fine, a good little joke, but writing "sucks balls" under his nickname is obviously trying to stir up shit, and it reflects very poorly on the maturity level of the fighters in the sport for any first time viewers that happened to be watching.

As for the fight itself, Marcus looked a bit lost on the feet trying to initiate the clinch, but fortunately for him, Wessel was just tucking his head and flailing his arms around. Once he got into the clinch, the trip reversal was pretty smooth, even if it was primarily due to Marcus' unreal strength. Once the fight hit the ground, that is when Marcus became a very interesting fighter to me. He immediately tried to lock up an Americana that Wessel rolled out of and before he had even finished rolling, Marcus was sinking his hooks in. He started fishing for a choke, but Wessel managed to reverse the back mount and slip into Marcus' guard. Rashad said it best right there on the episode, that armbar Marcus hit came very quickly. Not the quickest I've ever seen, but quickly, especially for someone that big. Marcus was very satisfyingly aggressive and swift with his submission attempts, and that just makes things so exciting on the ground. I absolutely love when submission attempts come rapidly one after the other, and while Marcus wasn't quite chaining submissions, he wasn't giving Wessel any time to think about anything but defending the next submission. It was very, very nice. Also, it did look like Wessel's radius was popped out of place to me, but the doctors obviously have far more knowledge on the subject, and a better look at the arm to boot.

That's more or less all I need to say about Mike Wessel, karma is a bitch, and that bitch can throw up a quick armbar. Everything else I have to say is about Marcus, and it's not much. I'm first of all curious as to how his cardio will hold up if he doesn't get a stoppage within the first minute or two. Especially at the rate he's throwing submissions up combined with his massive body that his heart has to pump blood around, I can see cardio definitely being an issue. Also, his stand up looked like it needs a ton of work. I don't think he actually threw a punch, and against even C level fighters you generally can't just, well, zombie walk into them to initiate a clinch. If he can learn to set up the clinch with strikes coming in a bit better, he could have some success in the UFC at heavyweight with more training, I think. Finally, how long has Marcus been training MMA, and what belt rank is he in BJJ? I took a look at his record and saw that his first professional fight was in October of 2007, so the worst case scenario is that he's only been training a little more than two years. If anyone knows the answer to those, I'd really appreciate a response. He looked very comfortable on the ground for only having two years of experience, and the rate that he was looking for submissions is rarely matched even at the top levels of mma.

All in all, great showing for Marcus Jones and karma. To Mike Wessel, I don't know what sort of cancer your wife has, but I definitely hope it's not terminal. I sincerely hope that, at the very least, it goes into remission. Keep taking good care of her.

[TheMirth]

Marcus admits he "looks like a rock'em sock'em robot out there" and that's he working on that every day during an interview on the Inside the Ultimate Fighter. Joe Rogan Goes Inside The Ultimate Fighter | SPIKE

Also let on that he didn't know Wessel wrote 'sucks balls' until just before he taped The Aftermath earlier today. Didn't realize how close he was to taking wessel's arm home with him.

As for your training questions, he started BJJ 6 months before his first fight, his bio and his training camp don't have his belt listed.
Marcus Jones MMA – Ultimate Fighter Gracie Tampa

[!SavageHenry]

I didnt most of your post but let me tell you if u think Wessel is anything less then a selfish piece of shit u are mistaken.


I know youre all gonna think well he wanted a better life for his wife and him, no the guy took 6 weeks off work, off taking care of his sick wife to take a VERY UNREALISTIC shot at making his dream come true.


No chance in hell that guy was gonna win it and he probably knew but he left his wife anyway because there is a chance.

he shouldve worked some shitty job and stood by his wife, fuck ur dreams life is more important

[spid3yo]

Did you forget about the "when will matt snap" chart that was hung up last week? Or how about the huge picture that rampage had commissioned of the entire other team? If team rampage wants to dish it out they better take it as well.

[Ghog]

Thanks for the essay, Sublime.

[Nip]

Originally Posted by TheMirth

Marcus admits he "looks like a rock'em sock'em robot out there" and that's he working on that every day during an interview on the Inside the Ultimate Fighter. Joe Rogan Goes Inside The Ultimate Fighter | SPIKE

Also let on that he didn't know Wessel wrote 'sucks balls' until just before he taped The Aftermath earlier today. Didn't realize how close he was to taking wessel's arm home with him.

As for your training questions, he started BJJ 6 months before his first fight, his bio and his training camp don't have his belt listed.
Marcus Jones MMA – Ultimate Fighter Gracie Tampa

[LilSovietz]

thats a really tuf story ya go there

[Sublime7SD]

As for your training questions, he started BJJ 6 months before his first fight, his bio and his training camp don't have his belt listed.

Yeah, I actually just talked to his trainer, Rob Kahn. He said:

marcus has been training with me about two years and he is a blue belt. he is by far the most gifted big guy i have ever worked with. also the strongest i HAVE EVER FELT.

punchin power beyond belief

He looked fantastic for a blue belt.

I didnt most of your post but let me tell you if u think Wessel is anything less then a selfish piece of shit u are mistaken.

I can tell you didn't read it, because the only nice thing I say about Wessel is hoping that a recovery is possible for his wife. I thought he acted like a child here, motivated primarily by fear and insecurity. Furthermore, he didn't have the sack to man up and tell Marcus that he wrote it. I have nothing positive to say about Wessel at all, except that he does at least seem to treat his wife nicely. Then again, that could all be a front for the cameras and completely untrue. Based on what he showed of his character tonight, it would fit his profile reasonably well.

Did you forget about the "when will matt snap" chart that was hung up last week? Or how about the huge picture that rampage had commissioned of the entire other team? If team rampage wants to dish it out they better take it as well.

I didn't forget this, but the situation is slightly different. Mitrione generally acts pretty brash and obnoxious, and is disliked by the majority of the house, his own team included. His attitude and demeanor is just begging people to mess with him.

Marcus, on the other hand, has been nice to everyone so far, from what we've seen. It was completely unprovoked, and would've been fine if it was just the picture and the nickname that he hates. That would've been on par with the mural that Team Rampage put up of Team Rashad, though I think calling Schoonover 'Titties' all the time is unnecessary and stupid as well. It was adding "sucks balls" and then not even being man enough to admit that he did it that made me think less of Wessel.

Note: There is an incident later in the season, I believe, where Marcus gets into Mitrione's face in the gym, but I'll have to reserve judgment on that until I see what caused that situation to escalate.

[Sublime7SD]

Thanks for the essay, Sublime.

Thanks for spending your first post in my thread and bumping it.

The quote from Rob Kahn in my previous post is exactly as he wrote it, by the way. Saying I "spoke" with him is a little inaccurate, I guess. I asked the questions and he responded by way of the internets.

[Tbonetron2.0]

Personally I think Jones is a bit of a phony. I don't think he can take a joke. He's probably used to people making light jokes at him here and there (spider thing), but as soon as someone straight up makes a "burn" on him, he can't take it. Honestly, he's probably not used to it, his whole life I'm sure people have been afraid of him due to his massive build and athleticism. Seriously, if you can't handle someone saying you "Suck Balls" then you've got some serious rage (or maturity) issues or something. I mean, when you think about what Darril's being going through with Rampage, or how much Mitrione and Jensen were getting shit on by everyone, it makes you think that if they did it to Jones he'd fucking murder someone or commit suicide based on how he responded to that piece of paper. "I'm a 35 your old man, my kids shouldn't have to see that!" Well sorry Marcus, but your kids also got to see a 10 minute lecture by Sims on Jensen masturbating in the shower. Maybe you'd better go freak out on Wes and Zak for not keeping it clean for the camera.