Ryan Loder Recounts TKO Finish That Made Him 'TUF' Champion | UFC on ESPN 62

congratulations on the win how are you feeling feel amazing man like uh dream come true since uh the beginning of starting a fight this is this is the goal and now I'm in the show and that's what it's about and I know during the show you made your message clear to all the people watching that maybe felt they were't enough or just things were going their way quite frankly so I guess how does it feel now knowing you're on the other side with a tough trophy in your hand absolutely I think I mean it's it's a TV show so they cut and Pace a bunch of stuff and uh there there's a part that a lot of people did reach out to me saying um there's a part I said that I wasn't smart enough and I definitely felt that way when I was younger and um it was tough growing up but I had so many great people around me that boosted me up and showed me like hey may maybe you do struggle in English and writing and grammar but you you're so much smarter in everything else and the harder I work at things the better you get at them so I I think as a young age I always had to work a lot harder than a lot of people especially in school and I just carried that through through um Sports and sports really saved my life in a lot of ways where yeah school was tough but I was I really excelled in sports so I can I can understand a lot lot more in that so it helped me one I had a lot of great people to um that struggles in the beginning made me better now for sure not only that I mean one of the most or the most International cast on the show ever so I guess how do feel to come out representing the US I mean with with all these countries that were in the house absolutely I mean United States That's Where It's At having I I come from Team Alpha Male and on a given day there's 30 different countries represented on our mat so um being around a lot of international Fighters it was cool I mean it fighting is an international language and I feel like we all bonded in that um that sense but representing United States I feel it's the best country in the world and I love it so I know your opponent uh Robert Valentine he he had a lot of hype going into this when a lot of people were fans of him from the show so do you feel like as if you kind of played party pooper today or how did how did you feel I mean I'm sure you saw all the stuff on social media of his his uh kind of Aura going into it and all that yeah I I mean since day one that's that's not how I play it I mean I I feel like the ego kind of takes you away from that and you know being the loudmouth and the the talker that's not my style I I like to my dad told me as a young age is uh be quiet and carry a big stick so being being that type of mentality and being the the The Quiet One and not not boasting about things and trying to show off that's not my style so I I feel like that's more of a in the armor when I start seeing that it's like they're they're trying to prove to themselves that they are big they are bad when I know I'm big and bad so now that we're here obviously with you with the trophy what was the what would you say is the biggest lesson you can take from the experience in the house I know it's a very tough one um I think just take it one step at a time um the the emotions will come and go um sometimes there there's a lot of Doubt especially when I was isolated from all my friends and family and my support group there was a lot of doubt that came in my head so I had to really dig deep into myself and um stay present um I I stay present through breath work and meditation and journaling and all the other stuff that kind of they don't really show a lot in in uh mental health it's it's back to that so it's staying present and I think believing in myself that was one thing that me and my mental health coach um we talked about a lot was when when those doubts start coming in I wrote in my journal I believe in myself so keep coming to having that mentality as I go that's awesome and last one for me UFC fighter so who would you like if it was up to you what would you like to debut and who would you like to face uh I take this from my boy fluffy it doesn't matter who I face uh it's going to be the same result no matter what so anyone they throw at me I'll be ready how do you think your life will change after today not much to be honest um is back right back to the Grind I have a amazing team I have an amazing support group and this is the start this is not like oh I made it this is like okay now your foot's in the door so now I have to go prove myself my my record goes back to zero and uh it starts all over so I I go right back to work you know Dana wasn't here tonight to give you guys your trophies I'm just wondering um was there any disappointment in that just seeing as you know he's the figurehead uh I I met Dana a couple times and uh you know he's a busy guy I I hope he puts a belt around my my waist someday so that's that's where I hope he's he's there for me uh Ryan yeah um so I know that you like to go just one fight at a time but considering that you're a little bit more experienced than other Fighters like let's say myON who also won tonight um what kind of timeline do you see for your UFC career before you do get into those ranked opponents um whatever you guys throw at me to be honest I mean I feel young I mean I don't really take punches this is the I think what 10th fight and I think I've only taken about like four or five punches so um my body's young I I stay up with my stretching I stay up with my Mobility um I I work a lot of recovery stuff so I I feel like maybe I am a little bit older coming into the UFC but I'm in my Prime right now and I I plan on staying there and uh how difficult was it to kind of keep this news from not getting out too much that you were in the finals while you were preparing for the fight it was tough yeah I mean just my my little circle that we were working on all my friends and family were always bugging me telling me hey what's going on what's going on I was like oh we got to watch the show we got to watch the show so now they finally watch the show and they can see me and I've I looked at my phone it is blowing up right now so it'll be be fun to sit back and kind of answer all these questions coming from from all the fans thank you congrats on the win awesome performance it it got rough in there it was like a like good dog fight you know there's some crazy scrambles sub Mission attempts how close were some of those to where you're like man I think I just journaled about this I got to get through this storm so the first when I put him in the scarf hold I I heard his arm snap it went so I thought he was going to be done after that and he I mean he was really tough we knew he was going to be tough and he kept fighting through it so when he when he was putting on the submissions they weren't strong submissions cuz I think he only had one arm so when I was underneath I heard my coaches fight the hands fight the hands but to be honest they weren't tight on my neck so I'm like okay just breathe you're fine you're you're going to get through this just keep working here his legs are going to get tired and then sure enough I got on top and I think the judges gave me that first round because I got on top and land in some elbows and after that I saw my coach was like hey he's done now go go get him and I saw him kind of shake out his arm like uh oh and that was his right arm I'm like perfect so I I came right after him and took him down real fast and got where I I know I'm gonna be dominant for sure and you know you beat me to the to punch on the next question you see Fighters sometimes not mean to it's just that body language that they all do like the little bounce and you're like oh someone's tired or shake out something and I was wondering like man did they pick up on that so clear clearly you knew if I didn't hear those pops and I didn't just see you shake it out I I got you right I just got to stay alive and I'm I'm G put you away in this one I mean my coaches saw it too so I I have great Corners that tell me everything I need to know they're they're the eyes and ears that I don't have so they said go after them and that's exactly what I did that's awesome man how surreal is it if you could put into words and perspective and just once it's really just all dialed in this awesome Triumph for you that a guy who has been in the ultimate fighter has had his hand raised was able to go in the same weight class and get that Bel and you were just talking to Michael bising that's right well actually I mean I coach Michael bising son you know so it's a it's a cool thing I I recruited him at San Francisco full circle yeah full circle so and then I've been I've been constantly talking to him every time one of my teammates and um have a fight so I'm always in their Corner talking to bis like hey check out their wrestling because I'm the wrestling corner and he knows that I was callum's wrestling coach so now I get to step on stage and and show what I got that's awesome man that is so cool thank you for sharing that give me your overall assessment of the division we have a new king Dr has you know defended his belt uh a couple upand comers I mean tonight's main event is in your way class what's give me just like an opinion analysis which what are you thinking about it uh I think they're they're all tough man they're all they they should be here and they're all tough I think there is a lack of wrestlers so I I think that's where something that I see and I'm like okay maybe that's my my Avenue and I can stay in the middleweights and take over with my wrestling so I think a lot of people are going to have to make up for a lot of lost time on there's not a lot of D1 wrestlers coming through so you'll bring back that whole uh Matt Hughes George St Pierre esque approach to like man I'm I'm going to put you on this mat and I'm going to keep you there yeah I I think I'm going to build on my striking I have amazing strik coaches I have pretty much everyone I work with is world champions or have coached world champions so I I'm I'm in the best team in the world and my striking is just going to get better and then um my wrestling I have a group of guys from Sacramento they're they're from four different gyms that we all get together they're called we call ourselves the grappling boys led by Elliot Kelly and we're we're getting it we're we're we're just growing every every month is a different different fight so it's it's exciting to be a part of and I'm I'm excited to see where this group goes that's awesome man well I just seeing it in your face you could just you're just beaming with pride and that honor to continue traditions and just to bring it back and just put respect on your camp and everybody has worked to get you here and just pay them back that's fantastic you're in Vegas you know there's all kind of stuff going on how do you celebrate this big win well I got my whole family flew out here uh my extended family and everybody they got hotels and everything so I don't know what what the plan is um G to probably see Slava he he got a good win this this this uh tonight and uh just hang out with my family and friends you know I I don't I don't go out I don't party so I think being with my family and friends is is something amazing that we all get to celebrate together that's awesome man well congrats on that big win and welcome to the UFC thank you