Ryan Loder

Age: 33

Record: 6-1

Nickname: Man of Steel

Division: Middleweight

Opponent: Rob Valentin (10-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC)

First-round submission of Tom Theocharis, decision win over Omran Chaaban

On getting to the UFC

"I'm normally sitting on that side watching my teammates (get interviewed), so it's a dream come true to be on this side now. I've seen this over and over and over again, and I've played it over in my head and I've put myself in these shoes a lot of times before so. Being here on this side, it feels natural. It feels like I'm supposed to be here."

On his TUF experience

"It was tough, that's for sure. It was great. It put me out of my element, put me in a place that I can grow a lot. I think discomfort makes you grow a lot more and I feel like that that was where I was. (Coach) Valentina (Shevchenko) showed that she was going to do a fight camp like a real training camp and I grew a lot from it. Most of my stuff comes from more of a wrestling base, and hers was a lot of muay Thai style, getting out of my element, training with people that I might fight later on and then becoming friends with them and then learning a lot from them after that."

On opponent Rob Valentin

"I'm excited for it. Yeah, I feel I feel great for the matchup. They didn't show this either. I told Dana White (after my first win) when they were like, 'OK, who do you want to fight (in the second round)?' And I said Omran (Chaaban) for the first one, but all three of them are bad matchups for me, (so it doesn't matter). They're all strikers and I'm a wrestler. I've got to dictate where the fight goes (against Valentin)."

On Shevchenko's no-water incident on 'TUF'

"Normally, I don't really drink water during practice. It's not a big thing for me. I normally drink a lot of water before practice, anyway. There was only one time that (Shevchenko) said it. If people wanted water, they could get it. She never was like, 'Oh, no – you can't get water.' Most of the people just listened. I didn't get water – it just made you a little bit more mentally tough."

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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Get to know TUF finalist Ryan Loder, who defends Valentina Shevchenko's no water incident