TUF Questions With Darrill Schoonover: "I Really Want To Fight Rampage"

Despite boasting a perfect 10-0 MMA record, former Shark Fight Heavyweight champion Darrill Schoonover was surprisingly overlooked by many heading into The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights .

Instead of being portrayed as the legitimate threat that he is, the only camera time Schoonover received in earlier episodes was when rival coach and former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson openly mocked him for his physique.

In the beginning Schoonover brushed Jackson’s comments off but once the name-calling became more constant Schoonover eventually snapped.

In this exclusive interview Schoonover discusses his ongoing feud with Rampage as well as his desire to eventually fight the former Light-Heavyweight champion, his preliminary bout with Zak Jensen, and other TUF related topics.


Mitch Ciccarelli: Early in this week’s episode they showed clips of you drinking alcohol a lot in the house. The first scene saw you drinking a beer at 8 AM in the morning and your teammates seemed a bit worried that it would affect your performance in practice. Was it a situation where you were just drinking out of boredom because there isn’t much to do in the house or did you have somewhat of a drinking issue before coming onto the show?

Darrill Schoonover: That was huge editing because the first two days I was drinking and basically the first day we chose teams. After that they told us that we weren’t going to be doing anything the next day and that we were just going to be doing a lot of pictures and what not so I drank that night and morning because we had nothing to do.

Mitch Ciccarelli: So you weren’t drinking the morning before a training session?

Darrill Schoonover: They made it seem like I was and then the other guys were like ‘are you going to be able to make it to practice tomorrow’ and I’m like ‘yeah of course’, you know? After that I stopped drinking altogether and I waited until after my fight so I could drink on my birthday but that’s the only time I drank again [on the show]. But no I wasn’t drinking everyday right before practice or anything.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Well they definitely made you out to look like a drunk but hey at least you were portrayed as a happy drunk unlike other TUF veterans such as Chris Leben and Junie Browning.

Darrill Schoonover: Yeah they edited it really bad and that’s why I wrote my blog about that and hopefully I can get as many people to know the truth as possible. When I drink I’m usually happy and just joke around.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Rashad brought in GSP’s striking coach Phil Nurse for a special workout, what was it like working with such an accomplished coach such as Nurse and what type of techniques did you learn from him?

Darrill Schoonover: Phil Nurse is a really great [stand-up coach] and he was working with me a lot with the super-man punch from the right hand and the jab-hand. He was showing us a lot of other stuff to but some of it was a little too flashy for me because I’m not up there yet to where I can do some of that stuff but honestly I learned a lot [from Nurse]. We worked a lot on the mitts and the super-man punches and stuff like that.

Mitch Ciccarelli: They showed a clip of you in a sparring session with Brendan Schaub and the coaches seemed a bit worried because your conditioning looked a bit off. This is when James McSweeney brought it to their attention that you were a "drunk" and at this point the coaches decided to have what appeared to be some sort of a heart to heart lecture with you. What was going through your mind during this whole procedure and did you agree with them that your drinking was an issue?

Darrill Schoonover: In that sparring session that they showed with McSweeney calling me a “drunk” [that] was actually the very first week and you have to understand I fought within the third or fourth week into the show. They just edited the hell out of it but yeah when the coaches brought me in there they were like ‘some of the guys have been saying that you’ve been drinking and we just want you to slow down with it so it doesn’t affect your training’ and I just said ‘ok, sounds good’.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Some of the guys on Team Rashad seem a bit nosy, am I right?

Darrill Schoonover: It’s not all of the guys it’s just James McSweeney and if you watch like every single episode whenever there is drama or something going on McSweeney is always right there. Have you ever noticed that? He’s always right there so I’d have to say he’s the [nosy] one.

Mitch Ciccarelli: There was a bonus video I saw on Spike.com just a few weeks ago involving yourself, McSweeney, and a bird? You were talking to Rashad about some incident at the house with a bird and suddenly you and McSweeney are in each other’s faces about to throw-down. What was that all about?

Darrill Schoonover: It was a dove, it wasn’t a baby dove and it was on the trampoline and Jon Madsen and I were in the Jacuzzi and everybody else was playing basketball. Jon and I are big-time hunters and he said ‘I bet you can’t catch that bird’ and I was just like ‘I bet you I can’.

I went over there and I jumped and grabbed it and it didn’t fly away because I guess it hurt its wing or whatever so I was holding it and I guess James is like this huge animal lover. He was like ‘don’t kill the bird, don’t kill the bird’ in his [expletive] accent so I let the bird go and they just made this big ordeal that I tried to kill the [expletive] bird.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Let’s move on to the focal point of the episode which featured your ongoing rivalry with rival coach and former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Rampage has been calling you “titties” ever since day one and it got to the point where you just snapped on him. Before we get into that, let’s first talk about the challenge you laid out to him. You told him you would come down to 205 and whip his ass, did you mean that as a joke or were you dead serious about wanting to fight him?

Darrill Schoonover: In the beginning, I was joking and Rampage and I were just messing around. It was getting to the point where I was kind of getting tired of it but not yet really serious [about it] and I was just trying to get him to stop. But now I am very serious and I really, really want to fight Rampage someday if he comes back.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Why wait until he comes back? Why not just hunt him down and attack him during the filming of the new A-Team movie while he’s dressed up like Mr. T in full B.A Baracus uniform?

Darrill Schoonover: Yeah just run down there and beat him up while he’s dressed up like B.A Baracus. That would be funny.

Mitch Ciccarelli: All hell broke loose during the fight selection; you were picked to fight Zak Jensen and sure enough Rampage starts up with his jokes again which caused you to finally snap. Do you blame this more on you being in a fighter’s mentality at the time or were you just fed up with Rampage’s nonsense?

Darrill Schoonover: I was just fed up with his nonsense and they didn’t show this but I almost got into a fight with Rampage before that about four or five times at least. One of the times I backed him all the way up to the cage because he actually grabbed me when we were all in the cage so I was ready to start going and that’s when everyone grabbed me again so yeah they don’t show everything [that happened].

Mitch Ciccarelli: Why exactly did the coaches decide to pair you up with Jensen rather than the other two fighters on Rampage’s team?

Darrill Schoonover: I don’t know but the coaches had already picked who they wanted us to fight from the get-go so that was basically it but of course the whole Matt Mitrione [snitching on us] changed things up a bit and I can’t say who he gets to fight now but basically the coaches already decided they wanted me to fight [Jensen].

Mitch Ciccarelli: Jensen nicknamed ‘Linderman’ by Kimbo Slice, seems to be an easy target for the other guys to pick on him considering the fact that he doesn’t seem to stand up for himself. It got to the point where Wes Sims actually set up a pool where everyone betted on the day Jensen would snap. What day did you pick?

Darrill Schoonover: I didn’t participate in any of that, man. I was just trying to avoid all that dumb drama and all of that stupid [expletive]. The whole time I was there I was telling Jensen to stick up for himself and I told him ‘those guys aren’t going to let up until you stick up for yourself’. They’re just that type of guys where they’ll keep picking and keep picking until you fess up and then they’ll stop but yeah I avoided all of the ragging on Jensen.

Mitch Ciccarelli: I think a lot of people will feel bad for Jensen when they watch this show because he seems like a very soft spoken guy and because he didn’t say very much on the show he was made out to be a joke and people won’t get the chance to know who he really is other than being “Linderman” from TUF 10. What do you think?

Darrill Schoonover: He’s a really nice guy with a good heart but he’s just a little socially awkward so you can’t just throw him [in the TUF house] with a bunch of guys and expect him to mingle because he’s just not that type. That’s why I avoided making fun of him because I know if I were in his shoes and everyone was making fun of me and doing that stupid [expletive] I would have been pissed off.


Mitch Ciccarelli: Another interesting topic that was featured on the episode was you’re pretty unique style of tattoos. You have one of a baby satan in a diaper and another of a clown cutting off a girl’s head, can you explain this craziness? Do they have a symbolic meaning behind them, did you lose a bet, or are you just generally insane?

Darrill Schoonover: The little devil baby is actually from one of my favorite cartoons called Metalocalypse and there’s one little scene where if the head singer of the band had a child with this one lady then that’s what the baby would have looked like so that’s why I got that tattoo. The other one, I always joke around and tell everyone that’s my girlfriend. My buddy that I was in the Army with used to always draw creepy [expletive] and he drew that and was like ‘hey man I’ll give you that one for free if you let me put it on you’ so he gave me that one. I also have a Japanese symbol of honor and then I have a tattoo on my leg that symbolizes one of my favorite bands.

Mitch Ciccarelli: During a Team Rampage practice session, coach Tiki Ghosn unveils a collage of caricatures depicting Team Rashad (a.k.a. "Team Cocky"). The most notable drawing was a picture of you with these big female breasts and a big ole’ smile on your face which most seemed to think was funny. What did you think of their little prank?

Darrill Schoonover: I actually didn’t see the picture until I watched the episode and honestly I thought that was one of the funniest things in the world, man. That was a good joke right there and I couldn’t stop laughing.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Do you think Rampage and his coaches are more worried about the next prank they are going to pull rather than making sure their fighters win their fights?

Darrill Schoonover: Yes, they probably figured that since they were getting their asses kicked that they may as well start pulling pranks. They worked them hard in practice but they should have been more worried about getting their fighters ready to fight.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Your fight actually took place on your birthday and they didn’t show anything but I’m sure the guys must have given you some sort of celebration after the fight? Were there any crazy clowns popping out of cakes with chainsaws or anything nuts like that?

Darrill Schoonover: No, it wasn’t like other seasons where they got me a cake or anything like that. All I did was, after my fight, me and some of the guys just started drinking.

Mitch Ciccarelli: In the fight against Jensen you displayed lightening quick hand speed landing shot after shot on Jensen’s face but he managed to hang in there long enough to take you down. Were you surprised with the amount of damage he was able to withstand?

Darrill Schoonover: Yes I was, I was very surprised and during the fight I thought ‘any time now and one of these shots are going to drop him’ so I just kept telling myself ‘faster, faster’. I kept going and then all of a sudden he just shot and took me down so I just switched to that triangle [choke] and didn’t want to let go for nothing.

Mitch Ciccarelli: At first the choke didn’t appear to be that tight but he kept trying to hammer fist his way out of it which only made the hold tighter and tighter and eventually you passed him out with it. What was running through your mind after the fight and were you happy with your performance?

Darrill Schoonover: I was happy with my performance, yeah. But I just would have rather finished with a knockout because that’s what I was going for but honestly I followed the exact game-plan that Rashad and I put together. Rashad basically told me that when he starts swinging wild to hold him up against the cage and that’s what we were going over, holding him there and throwing knees and what not. I pretty much did everything and it worked.

Mitch Ciccarelli: At this point you’ve advanced into the quarter-final round and due to Team Rashad’s dominance in this competition you’re more often than not going to have to end up fighting one of your teammates. Out of the five other guys already advanced, which one did you most have interest in fighting against? I’m guessing McSweeney?

Darrill Schoonover: Yeah, I guess… yeah. I guess I would have to say that I would have rather have fought him.

Mitch Ciccarelli: On the show it seems like you and McSweeney get along well with each other but—going back to that Spike.com video—it looked like you guys wanted to kill each other. Was there a lot of tension between the two of you?

Darrill Schoonover: Nah there wasn’t a lot of tension but like I said I tried to avoid him because he was just one of those guys. We played it cool just because we were at the house but other than that, I mean I really don’t have a problem with him but he’s just one of those guys that I wouldn’t go out of my way to go watch a movie with, you know?

Mitch Ciccarelli: I recently saw a video interview with UFC President Dana White and he called the cast of TUF 10 “A bunch of cry-babies” and referred to Roy Nelson as an “idiot” and a “moron”. Does this have anything to do with something that happened during the show or is that all after the show?

Darrill Schoonover: Um, I think Dana White was pissed at Roy Nelson just for the fact that Roy basically treated him like he was a [expletive] waiter asking for a double whopper with cheese with no pickle. I think that was the main reason why Dana was pissed at Roy.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Next week’s episode is being dubbed as ‘the most explosive of the season’. They show clips of the coaches going at it pretty heavily and then a clip of your teammate Matt Mitrione losing his cool and screaming at another teammate. Obviously you cannot tell us a whole lot until it airs but can you give us some clues here and there to preview what’s to come?

Darrill Schoonover: I can’t remember which fight it is but one of the fights is going to be quick and one of the fights is going to be really, really good. All I can say is stay tuned because you’re going to like the next fight.

Mitch Ciccarelli: Alright Darrill, I appreciate you taking the time out to talk to me today. Really looking forward to watching the rest of your fights on the show, you bring forth a very exciting fighting style and I’m sure you will develop a huge name for yourself in your UFC career. If there is anything else you’d like to say speak now or forever hold your peace.

Darrill Schoonover: I just want to say thanks for having me, man.

Let's take a look at the standings for B/R Ultimate Fighter 10 Fantasy Game:

Matt Randall: 12 points
Jon Madsen
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

Flying Knee: 10 points
Jon Madsen
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

Aoife O’Connor: 10 points
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

Peta Waller: 10 points
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

Alysha Diaz: 10 points
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

Melanie Wray: 10 points
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

Cameron Mumford: 10 points
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

Lynn Donegan: 10 points
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

Sinaed Marie O’Hara: 10 points
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

E. Spencer Kyte: 10 points
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

Jessy Morris: 10 points
James McSweeney
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

Ken Foss: 10 points
Jon Madsen
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Justin Wren
Darrill Schoonover

Mitch Ciccarelli: 8 points
Jon Madsen
Roy Nelson
Brendan Scaub
Darrill Schoonover

The Truth Turcott: 2 points
Justin Wren

Stoker Mac: 2 points
Justin Wren