UFC foes Ricci, Smith differ on ‘TUF’ experience

Few contestants on "The Ultimate Fighter" have ever left the Las Vegas house and raved about the experience of being sequestered with 15 other aspiring fighters for six weeks.

Mike Ricci seems to have despised the time more than most, however.

The 26-year-old welterweight has said in recent interviews that filming the show was an "absolute nightmare" that caused him to feel "institutionalized" by the constant scrutiny of cameras and isolation from the outside world.

Imagine how the 26-year-old Canadian will feel about the experience should he not defeat Colton Smith on Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel and come away with the lucrative Ultimate Fighting Championship contract that goes to the season champion.

"I didn't like the experience regardless, win or lose," he said. "Obviously (getting to this point) made it a little easier to deal with and cope with. I felt like I at least gained something from what I went through. But I have been vocal about not enjoying the situation there. And I really didn't, and I stand by that comment.

"I didn't enjoy it one bit."

The experience is all about perspective.

Smith, an active-duty staff sergeant in the Army Rangers who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, scoffed at Ricci's claims about life in the "TUF" house.

"I wouldn't say it was a joke, but it was relatively easy. I went in there with a mindset of 'I'm staying in a $5 million mansion in Vegas, I'm getting world class training, I'm getting any food I want and the best nutrition you could possibly get,' " said Smith, a 24-year-old married father of two who is stationed at Fort Hood in Texas. "No distractions, no bills coming in the mail. Just training. My wife and kids weren't there, and that kind of sucked, but I had to do what I needed to do to become a UFC fighter. The whole experience was very positive.

"I heard what Mike Ricci said about being in the house, but it beats being in Iraq or Afghanistan getting rounds down range."

It all plays into the narrative that Ricci himself has fed into at times that he is a well-to-do kid who hasn't faced much adversity.

Heavyweight Pat Barry, who spent time coaching on the show, does an impression of Ricci that is essentially Thurston Howell talking about sipping red wine.

Ricci entered the house with an outstanding pedigree in his fight career, training at Tristar in Montreal with Georges St. Pierre and Rory MacDonald.

Jumping back into that competitive environment after leaving the house was a bit of a shock to Ricci.

Re-entering real life after six weeks of no cellphones, no Internet and little interaction with the world was even more of a jolt to his system.

"I came back, and I have a large circle of friends and a big family. So coming back into the city definitely took some adjusting," he said. "I was used to being in a hostile situation where I was constantly sizing people up or being sized up, waiting to fight on one-day notice. Coming back into the real world, being able to use a phone and a computer and people being nice to you and showing you affection and whatnot definitely took some getting used to. So I definitely had some readjusting to do."

The card includes a heavyweight fight between Matt Mitrione and Roy Nelson, who were contestants on Season 10 of the show. Nelson was supposed to fight his rival coach, Shane Carwin, but Carwin was injured during training and forced to pull out.

Barry and Shane del Rosario will meet in another heavyweight bout, and Jamie Varner takes on Melvin Guillard in a lightweight fight.

■ NOTE - UFC on FX 6, with a main event bout between lightweights Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos, will air live tonight from Australia at 6 p.m. on FX (Cable 24).

The card will serve as the finale to "The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes," which pitted a team of Australian fighters against a team from the United Kingdom.

A middleweight bout between Hector Lombard and Rousimar Palhares also will be featured.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.