Ultimate Fighter Season 10 Q&A with Justin Wren

By Dave Carpinello

The Ultimate Fighter Season 10's Justin Wren (Team Evans) will be doing a Weekly Q&A for the Readers of PDG. Justin will give his answers to your questions weekly beginning on Oct. 8th. Thanks Again to Justin for taking the time. Make sure you catch this week’s episode on SpikeTV Wednesday Night!

Here is some background information on Justin Wren:

Record (10-1) 6’3”, 22 years old. Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas where he trained with Travis Lutter. Justin was a two-time national wrestling champ in high school and he turned down a full scholarship at Iowa State University to pursue MMA. His first two MMA fights were as a fill-in for a sick friend. Raised in a conservative family, Wren hid his UFC tapes from his parents as he got into the sport. Has fought and trained full-time for the last three years.

Questions regarding shows through Episode 4:

1. Why did you decide to leave Travis Lutter’s gym in Texas and go to Denver?

Justin Wren – I wanted to be with a more well rounded camp. I am very thankful to Travis Lutter for getting me where I am but I felt that I was ready for the next level in my training. I honestly believe that the Greg Jackson affiliate camp in Denver is the best in the world. I get to spar with guys like Shane Carwin, Nate Marquardt, Brendan Schaub, Eliot Marshall, Duane “Bang” Ludwig and lots of other incredible fighters in the gym. Everything just made sense for me to make the move.

2. How has dealing with the Kimbo Slice situation/circus been so far?

Justin Wren – In the house Kimbo was very humble and he was generally a good guy. I didn’t have a whole lot of interaction with him because he was on the other team but when ever I did he was cooking up some mean steaks. I was excited that he was a part of the show because that meant that he was bringing in those millions of internet fans to watch the show. It gave more exposure to all of the fighters in house so I was glad they brought him in.

3. What did you think of the house when you first arrived?

Justin Wren – The house was awesome when I first got there but after the first couple of weeks of not having one single TV, radio, magazine, bible or anything it got old but the house was amazing. We could write down anything that we wanted to eat and if we couldn’t get it, we would write it down on Kimbo’s list because he got whatever he wanted. The paintings in the house were something else; upstairs was Heaven and downstairs was Hell. I didn’t realize that at first and I chose the creepiest room in the house with Scott Junk and I had this Medusa mural staring at me the whole time.

4. What did you think of your Team after the selection process?

Justin Wren – Speaking for our entire Team, we had the best team possible and we have the potential to go 8-0 if we get the right match-ups. The coaches that Rashad Evans brought with him were some of the best trainers in the world. I was very fortunate to be a part of that team. I think that the fans are going to be shocked with how the rest of this season goes.

5. What did you think about the training sessions and Rashad Evans as a coach?

Justin Wren – Rashad was an excellent coach and when he is done fighting I think he could have a very successful coaching career if he chooses to. He was excellent at pre-fight motivation and he was able to get inside the fighter’s head and make sure they were mentally prepared to fight. Being a well rounded fighter, Rashad was able to work all aspects of mixed martial arts with us in the training sessions.

6. What did your Team think about Dana White talking shit about Roy Nelson after his win and praising Kimbo?

Justin Wren – We didn’t know about that until it was on SpikeTV because it was a private interview when we not there. Dana was doing what he was supposed to be doing and promoting the show. Honestly he had a good point; Roy should have been more aggressive and landed more convincing blows to Kimbo.  I understand why the ref stopped the fight but I think the fans deserved to see some harder punches from that dominating position. Roy stuck to his own gameplan and got the victory so I can’t really take anything away from him but I think the 6.1 million viewers wanted to see a decisive finish one way or another. It is our job to entertain the fans so I can see why Dana was pissed off.

7. What was your favorite part about the actual training on the show, and what was it like working with the guys from Greg Jackson's?

Justin Wren – The best part was having access to world class striking, grapping and wrestling instructors. It was an incredible experience being on the show and I was very fortunate to be able to train then and now with the guys from Jackson’s. The training was world class and that was my favorite part about being on the show.

8. Friends are friends but I would think if you and Scott Junk were in the finals....you wouldn't have a problem fighting him right?

Justin Wren – Absolutely I would fight Scott if we were both finalists. I have no problem fighting Scott, I just didn’t want to fight him round 1 of the competition. No matter who I fight, I am going out there to dominate and win and if I have the option I didn’t want to fight my roommate first and then have to live with him the rest of the time we were there. I wasn’t trying to be a pussy but I wanted to convey my opinion to the coaches and the coaches respected that.

You can submit your questions for Justin Wren HERE and he will answer them each Thursday following the next show on Spike TV!