- Joined
- Jun 27, 2003
- Messages
- 19,998
- Reaction score
- 8,420
Right here. This is a career retrospective interview done by the Lytes Out Podcast.
My shitty cliffs
My shitty cliffs
-Big fan of Lytle
- Brother was an amateur boxer and got choked out by another boxer at a bar. He decided to go into bjj and TJ followed. There were only a few blue belts in his whole province.
-Worked 9-4 at a pizzeria while starting out. Slept on the bus to training
-For his mma debut, he fought on the first sanctioned card on Nova Scotia.
-Always been nervous and scared, like GSP. Never got easier.
- Loves GSP. Pegged Hendricks as a potentially bad matchup for GSP, but, after going back and forth with his scorecard, thinks Johny let the fight slip away in rd 5.
-Won money on Weidman/Silva 1
-Fight #3, ate a pint of ice cream before hand and felt like shit. Learned from it.
-Goes 6-0 with 5 armbars and 1 KO.
-Suffers first loss to Gary Wright, who replaced.... Rory MacDonald. DAMN! TJ fought too complacently and didn't counter-wrestle well enough. Had a deep armbar but couldn't t finish.
-TKO promotion never once gave him a ride to the airport.
-Fought Stephan Lemarche. They were friendly, and he liked him. He tapped Lemarche with 4 seconds left in the fight. Tristar fighters would call him "14:56" after that.
-Trained with Chris Horodecki
-Likes Sam Stout a lot. Got to train with him.
-Second loss is to Jesse Bongfelt. Lost via 3rd round armbar in a comeback. Says Jesse is tough as nails.
-Took a rebound fight against Matt Gates on short notice. Finished him by slam/armbar. Lost video.
-Kyle Sanford, his training partner, went 7-1 and had potential but injuries prevented him from moving forward.
- Takes out Chad Reiner, who had been in the UFC. That gave him confidence. Close fight.
- Beats Forrest Petz (another former UFC fighter). TJ drew from his Muay Thai training in this one and found success in the clinch.
-Not big on film. He'd watch his opponent's stuff once.
MAKES THE UFC
-Gets UFC call to fight Ryo Chonan. Was scared, of course. 3K/3K. Wins split decision.
-Gets hooked up with Michael Chandler through Ben Askren. Got to train with the two of them for practically nothing. They stayed with TJ and his mom would feed them.
-Chandler is just a good man who is exactly the way he seems.
- Did a lot of training in Ohio with Jorge Gurgel and Rich Franklin
-Never trained with Matt Brown, but loves him. They all spend a few minutes praising Matt Brown.
-Kevin Burns was a gigantic WW. Clipped TJ hard. Probably suffered a concussion
-Gray Maynard hit him the hardest. Made his ears ring. Hendricks hit hard, too, but he didn't connect as well.
-TJ considers himself an 8/10 everywhere. Thinks pressure is very important in fighting.
-Never really considered moving to a big gym.
-Thinks size played a big role in his losses to Stungun, Almeida, Johny.
-TJ wanted to cut to LW but took one last fight with Charlie Brennaman at WW. Wasn't feeling right and pulled out, leading to Brennaman getting that big win over Rick Story. TJ knew he'd be cut with a loss. Became friends with Charlie.
-Was a big opponent of Marijuana and TRT use, but he has softened his stance on marijuana. Appreciates the medicinal/therapeutic component of it now. Sympathizes with Riddle/Diaz.
-Cut to LW went well. TJ had power and felt more composed.
-Slept 3 hours a night all week before he fought Wiman. That's his best performance.
-Doesnt like talking shit.
-Ate some hard shots from Gray. Knew he couldn't out-wrestle him. Kinda snapped back into the fight after getting hit and went for it.
-Walking in to a fight feels surreal.
-After the Gray fight, he earned title shot. Returned to training after 8 days. Got hit in the head while rolling, and he felt fucked up. He knew he was dealing with a concussion. He felt fucked up for a long time.
-Was living fight to fight throughout his career.
-Lost at UFC 100 to Stungun. Got paid $5k. After taxes and extra medical expenses, he got a check for $2900. The UFC later cut a check for $5K.
-Joe Silva is outspoken for a "little guy" lol (everyone says the same shit about him). Joe said the Paulino fight sucked, but he was just bitter about the event (UFC 119)
-Lytle retells an excellent story of his that I'll include, at the risk of derailing the conversation. Some UFC guy gave him a check for $70K for his UFC 119 Fight with Matt Serra for FOTN. They asked him to return it the next day, so it could go to Mitrione/Beltran.
- Brother was an amateur boxer and got choked out by another boxer at a bar. He decided to go into bjj and TJ followed. There were only a few blue belts in his whole province.
-Worked 9-4 at a pizzeria while starting out. Slept on the bus to training
-For his mma debut, he fought on the first sanctioned card on Nova Scotia.
-Always been nervous and scared, like GSP. Never got easier.
- Loves GSP. Pegged Hendricks as a potentially bad matchup for GSP, but, after going back and forth with his scorecard, thinks Johny let the fight slip away in rd 5.
-Won money on Weidman/Silva 1
-Fight #3, ate a pint of ice cream before hand and felt like shit. Learned from it.
-Goes 6-0 with 5 armbars and 1 KO.
-Suffers first loss to Gary Wright, who replaced.... Rory MacDonald. DAMN! TJ fought too complacently and didn't counter-wrestle well enough. Had a deep armbar but couldn't t finish.
-TKO promotion never once gave him a ride to the airport.
-Fought Stephan Lemarche. They were friendly, and he liked him. He tapped Lemarche with 4 seconds left in the fight. Tristar fighters would call him "14:56" after that.
-Trained with Chris Horodecki
-Likes Sam Stout a lot. Got to train with him.
-Second loss is to Jesse Bongfelt. Lost via 3rd round armbar in a comeback. Says Jesse is tough as nails.
-Took a rebound fight against Matt Gates on short notice. Finished him by slam/armbar. Lost video.
-Kyle Sanford, his training partner, went 7-1 and had potential but injuries prevented him from moving forward.
- Takes out Chad Reiner, who had been in the UFC. That gave him confidence. Close fight.
- Beats Forrest Petz (another former UFC fighter). TJ drew from his Muay Thai training in this one and found success in the clinch.
-Not big on film. He'd watch his opponent's stuff once.
MAKES THE UFC
-Gets UFC call to fight Ryo Chonan. Was scared, of course. 3K/3K. Wins split decision.
-Gets hooked up with Michael Chandler through Ben Askren. Got to train with the two of them for practically nothing. They stayed with TJ and his mom would feed them.
-Chandler is just a good man who is exactly the way he seems.
- Did a lot of training in Ohio with Jorge Gurgel and Rich Franklin
-Never trained with Matt Brown, but loves him. They all spend a few minutes praising Matt Brown.
-Kevin Burns was a gigantic WW. Clipped TJ hard. Probably suffered a concussion
-Gray Maynard hit him the hardest. Made his ears ring. Hendricks hit hard, too, but he didn't connect as well.
-TJ considers himself an 8/10 everywhere. Thinks pressure is very important in fighting.
-Never really considered moving to a big gym.
-Thinks size played a big role in his losses to Stungun, Almeida, Johny.
-TJ wanted to cut to LW but took one last fight with Charlie Brennaman at WW. Wasn't feeling right and pulled out, leading to Brennaman getting that big win over Rick Story. TJ knew he'd be cut with a loss. Became friends with Charlie.
-Was a big opponent of Marijuana and TRT use, but he has softened his stance on marijuana. Appreciates the medicinal/therapeutic component of it now. Sympathizes with Riddle/Diaz.
-Cut to LW went well. TJ had power and felt more composed.
-Slept 3 hours a night all week before he fought Wiman. That's his best performance.
-Doesnt like talking shit.
-Ate some hard shots from Gray. Knew he couldn't out-wrestle him. Kinda snapped back into the fight after getting hit and went for it.
-Walking in to a fight feels surreal.
-After the Gray fight, he earned title shot. Returned to training after 8 days. Got hit in the head while rolling, and he felt fucked up. He knew he was dealing with a concussion. He felt fucked up for a long time.
-Was living fight to fight throughout his career.
-Lost at UFC 100 to Stungun. Got paid $5k. After taxes and extra medical expenses, he got a check for $2900. The UFC later cut a check for $5K.
-Joe Silva is outspoken for a "little guy" lol (everyone says the same shit about him). Joe said the Paulino fight sucked, but he was just bitter about the event (UFC 119)
-Lytle retells an excellent story of his that I'll include, at the risk of derailing the conversation. Some UFC guy gave him a check for $70K for his UFC 119 Fight with Matt Serra for FOTN. They asked him to return it the next day, so it could go to Mitrione/Beltran.
Last edited:
