Justin Frazier is ready to prove all the doubters wrong.<\/p>\n
On The Ultimate Fighter 28\u00a0<\/em>(TUF),\u00a0<\/em>Justin Frazier left tryouts not knowing if he would be on the show. Ultimately, the UFC saw enough potential in him and decided to put him on the show. However, before competing on TUF, Frazier didn’t take his fighting career seriously. The heavyweight was overweight, and his cardio was not very good. Then, to top it off, Frazier was the last heavyweight taken when coaches Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum picked their teams.<\/p>\n Since then, Frazier has looked unstoppable. He defeated Whittaker’s first overall pick, Anderson Da Silva, in the first round. Then he went on to defeat Michel Batista to advance to the finals.\u00a0Frazier is now one win away from getting a UFC contract.<\/p>\n The last overall pick has proven everyone wrong.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s satisfying. It just shows you can\u2019t judge a book by its cover. At some times it is good to play the underdog role,” Frazier said to BJPENN.com recently. “If everyone expects you to win you have nothing to gain, it is just a letdown if you lose. If you lose and everyone expects you to lose you aren\u2019t really breaking anyone\u2019s heart. You just did what everyone expects you to do. That is why I like playing the underdog role. <\/span><\/p>\n “I feel like there is less pressure on the guy everyone expects to lose. I\u2019ve been used to that my career, 10-2 in bouts and 2-0 in the house. Fixing to be 3-0 on the show,” Frazier continued. “I don\u2019t mind being the last pick, playing that role, because at that point in time they didn\u2019t have the ability to judge me or judge my character. They couldn\u2019t judge my training ability, my coach-ability or my skill level. We had 45 minutes with each coach and it didn\u2019t give them a chance to judge me. I guarantee I wouldn\u2019t be the last pick now if they had to do it over again.”<\/span><\/p>\n While Frazier was able to gain the respect he deserves, it wasn’t an easy journey. Frazier’s cardio was a major problem. Along with that, Frazier had to cut weight to reach the 265-pound limit. Since competing on TUF, that is no longer a problem as Gastelum and his coaches helped put him in shape and become a better fighter all around.<\/p>\n “I wasn\u2019t taking my fight career really seriously when I got there,” Frazier said. “I wasn\u2019t even aware that I was going to be on the show so I wasn\u2019t training like I needed to be. Then after being in the house, they whipped my a*s into shape pretty good. I\u2019ve maintained that and have gotten in better shape since the house going into this finale.”<\/span><\/p>\n A big reason why Frazier has gotten in better shape since the show is because he switched gyms. Before TUF, he was training at a smaller gym, but decided to switch gyms and train with Gastelum and the coaches of TUF.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m in Yuma, Arizona, with coach Terrell Hunsinger who works with coach Kelvin, and Chance Farrar. He is one of Kelvin\u2019s wrestling coaches, basically his family in Yuma,” Frazier said. “I will be training with Kelvin in the next week or two, I have several guys who are calling for wrestlers, upper-level wrestlers. I got a couple professional boxers they have brought in for me to work with. Then, of course, I am busting my a*s doing strength and conditioning, and cardio for the next 20 days.”<\/span><\/p>\n Frazier is confident no matter who he fights in the finals, and that is because of his wrestling. In the heavyweight division, anyone can win by knockout at any given time. Being able to take the fight to the ground is huge, and that’s a big reason why Frazier went undefeated inside the house. But now the focus is on his all-around game and becoming the TUF 28 champion.<\/p>\n “I’m looking forward to just the experience and doing what Kelvin did and being the underdog and winning this whole thing,” he said. “I look forward to potentially winning the final Ultimate Fighter series.”<\/span><\/p>\n Even though Frazier is fighting in the finals, if he had the choice to do it all over again, shockingly, he wouldn’t. Although he has found success on the show, Frazier has his reasons to why he wouldn’t repeat the experience.<\/p>\n