MSUM All-American returns to Octagon this Saturday

Former Minnesota State University, Moorhead two-time Division II All-American wrestler Chris "The Crowbar" Tuchscherer is looking to rebound from an emotionally stinging loss in his UFC debut last August when he steps into the the Octagon this Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Tuchscherer, 34, and originally from Rigby North Dakota, was floor early in the first round of his debut against Gabriel Gonzaga when Gonzaga nailed him with one of the nastiest looking low blows in MMA history, the kind of kick right between the uprights which could send you to the Superbowl.

The kick was so bad, when Tuchscherer's training partner, UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, came to cage side to check on him, Tuchscherer told Lesnar ""My [testicle] is up inside my body."

He was in so much pain, even after the five minute recovery period, he was not sure he could continue. Unfortunately though, inexperienced officials from the Oregon Athletic Commission could not answer his questions about what would happen should he be unable to continue.

"No one knew what was going on...between the doctor and the referee. No one could tell me a straight answer on if I couldn't finish what would be the result. So I was out there and didn't know what to do," Tuchscherer told MMA Junkie after the fight. "I asked the doctor many times what would happen if I can't continue. 'Is it a no-contest? What happens here?' And the doctor and the ref couldn't tell me. They kept passing the buck on to each other out there, so no one could tell me what was going on."

"So I'm sitting there thinking the worst. I don't want to take a loss because I can't continue, and you've got all these emotions going on, and it's your first UFC [event]. I'm a tough guy, and I have a stubborn head, but with it being my UFC debut, I didn't want to go out like that. So basically, I got pissed off and said, 'Let's just do it.'"

Tuchscherer never fully recovered from the low blow, and a couple of minutes later he ate a high kick to the head that ended the fight.

Under the unified rules, if Tuchscherer had said he could not continue, or if the doctor had stopped the fight, the fight would have been declared a no contest, since the fight was stopped due to an inadvertent foul.

The 6'1 260 pound heavyweight, now with a record of 17-2 with 1 NC, will look to rebound on the undercard of UFC 109 when he takes on Tim Hague (10-2). Hague, fighting out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is also looking to rebound from a newsworthy loss from the August event. Hague was the victim of the fastest KO in UFC history when he was knocked out by Todd Duffee in just seven seconds.

Tuchscherer told UFC.com's Thomas Gerbasi he's not worried about Hague's 6'4 size advantage.

"I train with some of the biggest guys in MMA with Brock and Cole Konrad. "Brock walks around at about 285 and Konrad's around 300, and I roll and train with these guys every day."

Tuchscherer, who fights out of Oak Grove Minnesota now and trains at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, though mostly at Lesnar's private facility in Alexandria. He was a two-time North Dakota State high school wrestling champion at Bowman High School in Bowman, North Dakota. He wrestled for three years at North Dakota State University before transfering to MSUM. His only other loss came at the hands of former UFC Vetern, Minnesota's Travis Wuiff in his third fight of the night during a one-night tournament at the YAMMA promotions debut event

http://www.christuchscherer.com

Cole Konrad debut video and next fight:

The video from former University of Minnesota wrestler Cole Konrad's debut fight is up on youtube

Konrad, the two-time NCAA heavyweight champion, will be having his second fight on February 27 in Philadelphia, PA for the brand new Matrix Fights promotion.

Konrad will be fighting Richmond, Virginia native Joel Wyatt (5-2).

If my updates just aren't enough for you, Ben Pherson of the Rochester Post-Bulletin has launched a new website MinnesotaMMAnews.com.

Pherson does a great job of covering MMA events in the Rochester area and I'm sure he'll carry it over to the website as well.

Events this weekend:

If you are looking to get in on the action this weekend, there are two fight shows on Friday night and one on Saturday.

I'll be at the Brutaal Genesis all-amateur show in Faribault, MN on Friday night. The event is at the Faribault National Guard Armory at 2831 Park Ave NW, right off of 35 and Hw 21, doors open at 6 p.m. with the fights starting at 7 p.m.