Polley had a different take on the firing. He believes he was fired to free up room for another coach to come in.
If you watch the discussion between Junior and me, you will notice I asked, "Did I do everything you asked of me?" And Junior said "Yes." His said his reasoning was, "It was confusing and the vibe was bad." But he did not offer much in terms of reasons ... Back in the hotel room, I called my manager, and he told me he would reach out to Ed and the producers to see what if anything could be done. But Junior and his guys were telling me they needed my room and that I had to go.
Luiz Dorea, the coach who advised dos Santos to fire Polley, is Junior's longtime boxing coach and mentor. It's not surprising that dos Santos would follow his advice to relieve the tension. The room issue is surprising, because coaches come and go on TUF all the time. Also, they're staying in Las Vegas, the center of the MMA world. Was there really nowhere else for Polley to stay? Or did dos Santos want to show that he was the head coach?
Team dos Santos members are divided. Ramsey Nijem was happy to see Polley go.
I was glad -- that was a long time coming. I didn't have too many personal run-ins with Lew but he's just kind of an arrogant jerk. He thinks his way is the best way and I also thought he didn't give us the best advice for fighting. Lew said something about how Junior didn't like him because he's not Brazilian but that's not true. Junior is one of the nicest guys ever. None of us are Brazilian and he treated all of us fine because we're not jerks.
While Shamar Bailey, Nijem's roommate, said that he thought Polley was a good coach.
Lew was always making sure we were ready for our fights, mentally and physically. He always told us what we needed to work on to get better instead of just saying, "good job". He was a real dude through and through. Everybody is gonna act a little different while they get used to cameras being everywhere, including Ramsey. But to say Lew was just there for the cameras and disregard everything be did for us is pretty errant in my humble opinion.
The editing involved in pulling together a reality show means that viewers will never have the true story between dos Santos and Polley, but as head coach and the star of the show, dos Santos gets to do as he pleases in coaching. Polley may not like it, but in the process, he has picked up some notoriety. That's not too bad for a regional fighter with a 10-4 record.
Don Barr Pat Barry Vitor Belfort Robert Berry David Bielkheden
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