MIXED MARTIAL ARTS: Poway's Taylor has sights on winning UFC contract

By LOREN NELSON - Staff Writer | Sunday, May 11, 2008 8:22 AM PDT ∞

There's a chance, someday soon, he might be crowned the ultimate of ultimate fighters. "Stay tuned," Jesse Taylor said. But on a recent afternoon there were more pressing concerns. Taylor, the former Poway High and Palomar College wrestler who makes his living throwing haymakers and applying submission holds as a mixed martial artist, was on pooch patrol.

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"My ex's dog got out," Taylor said about the missing poodle.

A cast member on the current season of Spike TV's wildly popular "The Ultimate Fighter" series, Taylor, 25, lives in 4S Ranch and trains in Murrieta when he isn't assigned to doggie duty.

"This is crazy," Taylor said while on his search and rescue mission, "I should be working out right now."

There were no such distractions for Taylor during the six weeks of taping of "The Ultimate Fighter." The reality show isolated 16 young, hungry and mostly unknown professional mixed martial arts fighters in a house outside of Las Vegas starting in January and ending in early March.

Viewers (the show, in its seventh season, airs Wednesday nights and gets boffo ratings in the 18-24 demographic ---- 2.5 million or so people typically tune in) get to see the toughs jostle over tubes of toothpaste and the last Pop Tart before beating each other senseless in the ring.

Taylor said he thrived in the no-iPod, no-cell phone, no-television, no-distractions environment.

"There was no outside anything," Taylor said. "We didn't even get to watch the Super Bowl. Basically, it was a fantasy fight camp. All I did was train, eat and fight."

So far, six of the 13 episodes in the latest season have aired. Taylor has won both his fights using submission holds and has been depicted as something of a party animal. The show's producers also chose to air footage of Taylor's humorous run-ins with a troublesome dishwasher and stubborn set of blinds.

"I'm not as dumb as they make me look," said Taylor, who is three classes short of getting his bachelor's degree from Cal State Fullerton.

Taylor, who makes appearances at Rancho Bernardo's McKees Tavern on nights "The Ultimate Fighter" airs, has been writing a blog about his experiences on the show.

"On the show I did have some fun; however, I worked my ass off ---- harder than other people and drank on the show only three times," Taylor writes. "Those three times were wild times, but I am curious to see if they're going to make me seem like a drunk."

Ultimate Fighting Championship awards a six-figure contract to the fighter who outlasts the rest of the cast and wins the season-ending title fight.

Taylor said he isn't allowed to reveal the show's ---- or his ---- ending.

"Let's just say I'm undefeated so far," he said coyly.

A 2001 graduate of Poway, Taylor briefly attended San Francisco State University before his two standout seasons of wrestling at Palomar. He finished his college career at Cal State Fullerton. He said he hopes to finish school in the fall, earning his degree in kinesiology.

At Poway, which boasts one of the nation's most successful high school wrestling programs, Taylor didn't become a force until his senior year, when he won CIF San Diego Section and Masters championships and just missed finishing among the top eight in the state.

"This was his training ground right here," longtime Poway coach Wayne Branstetter said about Taylor, who visited the Titans' wrestling room last week. "He likes work, he likes hard work. He likes training and getting physical. He likes that combative stuff.

"He's becoming a little folk hero here."

On his MySpace.com page, titled JTmoney$$$$, Taylor introduces himself thusly: "Money. You know I'm money, always come through, always roll through, there when you need me."

On the same page, named first among his interests, is his 3-year-old son, Alexander.

"My son was so motivational to me," Taylor said about his six weeks of isolation from friends and family while he was in Las Vegas. "I thought about him daily."

Taylor is unmarried but says he and his son's mother are "actually trying to work things out right now."

The only listing under the books category on Taylor's MySpace page is "How Big Kids Go Potty." The rest of Taylor's world is all fists and fury. He trains regularly at Team Quest, a mixed martial arts facility that features Dan Henderson, a former PRIDE Fighting Championships title holder and current UFC superstar.

"He's a guy I look up to," said Taylor, who has a 6-2 pro record. "He's my No. 1 training partner. The guy hits like a sack of bricks. This guy hits holes in people."

Taylor is the second San Diego County resident to appear on "The Ultimate Fighter" in as many years. Jon "War Machine" Koppenhaver, who lives and trains in North Park, was a cast member on the show's sixth season and now finds himself being stopped on the street by fans.

"Millions of people see your face every week," said Koppenhaver, who will be fighting in UFC 84 in Las Vegas on May 24. "It opens the door to a lot of sponsors and opens the door to a lot of fans."

Taylor says his life already has changed well beyond being recognized in the grocery store.

"I went from a struggling, pretty much, fighter to being able to make some money," said Taylor, who worked part-time as a personal trainer and in construction, among other jobs, before trying to make a living in mixed martial arts. "Full-time fighting ... I was barely making it by, barely supporting my kid. Then I got my big break."

Now?

"I've made some good money off the show," he said. "Hopefully it keeps getting better."

The live finale of this season's "The Ultimate Fighter" is June 21 in Las Vegas. It's possible, likely even ---- if you believe the rumors ---- Taylor will be there, fighting for that six-figure contract.

Taylor dodged questions about upcoming fights, saying only that "big things are in my future."

He wasn't talking about poodles.

Stay tuned.

Contact sports editor Loren Nelson at (760) 740-3551 or lnelson@nctimes.com.

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