The following interview with Tommy Speer - finalist on The Ultimate Fighter - was conducted by Between the Ropes on December 5th, three days before Speer's fight against fellow TUF competitor Mac Danzig for a UFC contract.

Speer shared his feelings about having to stay at the TUF house for the duration of the show. “(It was) kind of frustrating. Just real tough to be put under house arrest like that. The days are really routine and you just have to get through it day by day.”

Speer found it difficult to have cameras documenting his everyday life during TUF. “With the cameras following me around … I mean, there’s no locks on any doors, so they can follow you or go wherever you are. And the weird part was if you were just by yourself and they were walking around recording you and you’re acting like they’re not even there … it’s one thing if you’re with a group of guys and you’re all talking together. But when you’re by yourself, it’s kind of weird. It would have to be about a month and a half before The Ultimate Fighter, I fought in WEC and I got a little taste of what it was like to be in front of the cameras. So, that helped me prepare for The Ultimate Fighter.”

The TUF finalist spoke about having to leave his family and lifestyle behind for the chance at a UFC contract. “It was really tough. At first, it was like, ‘I have the opportunity of a lifetime. I have a shot to be on it. I actually made it.’ Before I was going to leave for it, I wasn’t too gung-ho about taking off and leaving - leaving behind a farm and family, them picking up my slack and everything. And knowing that I’m not going to be able to speak to them for six weeks - they take away our cell phones right when we get out there and we’re not allowed any calls. It was just really tough to do, without being able to speak to them and know how things are going.”

Despite Matt Serra’s team dominating the TUF competition earlier in the season, it is two fighters under Team Hughes that will compete in The Ultimate Fighter finals. “It is kind of crazy,” Speer said. “I knew after the first round, after I won and it was Mac and I in the quarters, I knew there was a pretty good shot that it was going to end up like that. I knew coming into the quarters that if they were going to have someone to beat me, it would have had to have been Ben (Saunders). Ben, he’s the only other guy with size on that team that could have done something to me.”

In regard to his semifinal fight with George Sotiropoulos, Speer stated, “I knew that if I just kept the pressure up, pressed the action, if he got too close to me - I have pretty heavy hands - I could throw and he’d back off. He ran away from me most of that fight … because I actually wanted to tie up with him and put him up against the cage. I didn’t want to take him down … if I did take him down, I wanted him to be close to the cage so he didn’t have a lot of movement. From him trying to run away from me, it resulted in me accidentally poking him in the eye, because I was trying to grab the back of his head. If he kind have would have fought me in the clinch instead of just running away, that wouldn’t have happened.”

Despite the criticism directed toward Matt Hughes by many TUF viewers, Speer says he enjoyed being a part of Hughes’ team. “I think I fight a lot like Matt Hughes. I think we were both brought up in a similar way - both of us being farmers and having a wrestling background, and we’re both from small areas. It was very easy. I like the way he coaches and I like him as a person, too. Since the recording of the T.V. show, I’ve been down in Hillsboro with him training and getting ready for the finale. So, I really wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m really glad I met him and have the connections I do with him now.”

Speer addressed his TUF final showdown with Mac Danzig on December 8th. “Going into this fight, I know that I’m a lot bigger than him, I’m a lot stronger than him. I’m thinking go in there and impose my will on him. Show him how strong I am. Don’t let him sit back and try and counter me or anything like that. So that’s pretty much what I have to do right there.”

Speer says he and Danzig have not become close during TUF’s sixth season. “I can’t say that we got to be close friends at all. We spoke to each other here and there out there. We have quite a bit of differences. Mac … I mean, I really didn’t like it out there but I’m still a nice guy. I’m not saying Mac’s a bad person, but Mac kind of … he was out there to help his career out, and he didn’t like it out there at all. So he was grumpy at times, most of the time. So … I mean, I shared a room with him and we talked and that kind of stuff, but as for hitting it off as big buddies, no.”

You can hear this interview in its entirety, as well as the complete archived edition of Between the Ropes - including Speer's thoughts on his other TUF fights, Dana White’s comments about him, a day in the life of Tommy Speer, and more - at www.Betweentheropes.com. Between the Ropes can be heard Wednesday nights at 10:00pm ET on WQTM 740 The Team in Orlando, Florida and archived at BetweenTheRopes.com. {plug}