Shayna Baszler – The Queen of Spades Ultimate Fighter 18 Weekly Q&A Episode 12
By Dave Carpinello
One of women’s mixed martial arts true pioneers with an extensive fan following, “The Queen of Spades” Shayna Baszler is a member of Team Rousey on The Ultimate Fighter 18 Team Rousey vs. Team Tate. Baszler has been fighting professionally since 2003 and has amassed a record of 15-8-0 with notable wins over Julie Kedzie, Sarah D’Alelio, Alexis Davis, Roxanne Modafferi and Keiko Tamai. The victory over Tamai was groundbreaking for the sport as Baszler became the first fighter to win a fight with the daunted “Twister” submission. Training under “The Warmaster” and catch-submission specialist, Josh Barnett, Baszler was definitely one of the favorites on this season. In her fight to get into the TUF house, Baszler faced Colleen Schneider and won via an armbar submission in the first round. On Episode 2, she faced Julianna Pena and in a shocking upset was submitted in the second round. Shayna will be giving her answers to your questions weekly every Monday throughout the season!
Here are some of your questions and Shayna’s answers from TUF 18 Episode 12:
1. What did you think of the Coaches Challenge, pocketing an extra $1500.00 and Ronda Rousey’s “Fuck You Bitch” to Miesha Tate?
Shayna Baszler – First of all people need to know that the way it was portrayed on TV was not how that whole situation took place. You saw that after Anthony Gutierrez missed weight, Ronda went in and told Dana White that she was going to cut weight down to 135. Right after that she got into the sauna and cut 10 pounds, then she had to go do the Coaches Challenge, and then she was coming back to finish cutting the weight. She was one around 152 to start, cut down to about 142, did the Coaches Challenge, went back in the sauna and made 135lbs the next day. So it was pretty badass that she was able to do that, cutting weight sucks, and she still won the challenge. As far as Ronda disrespecting Miesha, I have said all season that Ronda doesn’t hold anything back just because there are cameras. Like when Miesha was like “Really Classy”, Ronda replied “At least I am upfront about it”. It was like that all season long and Miesha was just better at putting on the good girl face in front of the camera. And yeah the extra cash was great!
2. What the hell was Ronda doing cutting weight? What point does that prove?
Shayna Baszler – She was proving a point, plain and simple. Sure Anthony was bad about his diet but he still could have made weight. As much as everyone made fun of him for the way he was eating while in the house, he still could have made the weight if he didn’t give up and if you remember when Cody Bollinger missed weight, Ronda made a point that Miesha and her coaches should have been held partly responsible. I think that was what she was trying to show us, that if she could cut 17 pounds in 24 hours, none of us should have any issue making weight when we know well before hand what is at stake. It was statement for our team that there is no excuse, there would be no way Anthony could say “I couldn’t do it” after Ronda proved it was possible with discipline.
3. Another weight issue, really? What was your reaction to Anthony’s weight cut, or lack there of, him getting the boot and Dana’s reaction?
Shayna Baszler – I think that for some people it can be easy to mentally break when you are cutting weight and he when it started getting tough, he started cheating. He was drinking water and you heard me say on the show that he was drinking Nos Energy drinks the morning of the weigh-ins. All of that stuff he was doing was making him retain water, further complicating the weight cut. I don’t think that there is any reason that he should not have made weight, cutting weight is horrible but it is also a huge part of being a fighter. I fucking hate cutting weight…. but I do it and for reasons unknown to anyone besides Anthony, he didn’t have what it took to cut weight. As far as Dana’s reaction to it, you could tell he was so upset about it happening again that he didn’t even have another speech to give and he was just like get out of here and go find a job that doesn’t involve fighting. I mean think about it, Anthony was on the show the whole time up until there was like three days left and he never fought again after getting into the TUF house.
4. Leading up to the “non-fight” between Anthony and David Grant was there any tension amongst the team members since two teammates were slated to fight?
Shayna Baszler – No, there was not any tension or animosity because we all trained together everyday and there was zero favoritism from the coaching staff. The coaches let Anthony and David know right away that they were not going to be cornering either one of them and that they would need to recruit teammates for that (I was going to be in Anthony’s corner). The two of them may have gone at it a little harder in practice when the other one was watching but they still hung out at the house together and it was all cool. It was completely opposite from what you saw happen with Team Tate.
5. They didn’t show it on the episode last week, so what was the story with the top hat and the cape?
Shayna Baszler – Jessamyn Duke’s birthday happened while we were living in the house, it was that same day that our coaches came over and we had that Armenian barbeque. For weeks I had been planning this big surprise for her, especially since they occasionally let us order things to be sent to the TUF house. So I secretly ordered the top hat, the cape and some speedos. We played it like a big fake magic trick and after her blindfold came off….. just watch the video below! That confetti was all over the house and the yard for weeks and after that I decided to customize the hat with a green spade and the infamous queen of spades card from the playing card deck and just roll with it.
Everybody loves birthday strippers, right?
Keep your horns up and don’t miss this week’s all new episode, Wednesday on FOX Sports 1! It is the last one of the season so next week I will be doing a season recap, so if you have any questions about this season that haven’t been answered send them in! – The Queen of Spades
Send in your questions following this week’s episode. You can submit your questions for Shayna by sending them to ad***@*************er.com or you can post them below and she will answer them each week following the next show on FOX Sports 1! You can also follow Shayna on her Twitter page and Facebook Fan page.
