Tim Hague.

BY JAMES BRYDON
sportsnet.ca

It would be understatement to say Tim (The Thrashing Machine) Hague was surprised when the Bruce Buffer announced Chris Tuchscherer’s name as the winner in their UFC 109 fight in Las Vegas earlier this month.

“I think ‘shocked’ is a better word,” Hague told sportsnet.ca a week after he lost his second straight in the Octagon, and was subsequently released as record in the organization dropped to 1-2.

The heavyweight from Edmonton thought he had earned at least a draw, if not a win, as did the majority of the crowd on hand at the Mandalay Bay Events Center for the undercard bout. A chorus of boos was heard after those in attendance witnessed a dominant round by the Canadian over his American counterpart.

Unfortunately for Hague, all three judges gave the first two rounds to his opponent, scoring them 10-9, and only one of the judges scored the third 10-8 in his favour. The other two gave him the final round by only a 10-9 margin, and thus the fight to Tuchscherer, which resulted in a loss by majority decision. Hague was beside himself.

“My logic for the fight was the guy is a Division II All-American wrestler ... and he couldn’t take me down,” Hague said. “He got one takedown in the second round but I popped right back up. I totally negated his game plan and in the third round I absolutely dominated him.

“So if they score the first two rounds 10-9 for (him), how can they not score the third 10-8 for me? I know if that fight took place in Japan (where fights are scored as a whole, not by round), I was the clear-cut winner.”

Then came the even bigger blow -- his manager told him the UFC had decided to exercise the option to release him from my contract. While he might not use the word “shocked” when he heard those words, it still wasn’t what he expected. But he doesn’t plan on dwelling on the disappointment.

“I was just a little (surprised) given the circumstances under which I lost that fight. Anyone you talk to says it was clearly a win for me. But it doesn’t matter, the judges scored it for Tuchscherer, I lost two in a row, I’ve got to go rebuild.”

The former kindergarten teacher isn’t going to waste any time in his rebuilding process; he has already signed a deal with hometown promotion The Fight Club, where he will fight on March 19 against an opponent yet to be named. He joins fellow Edmonton fighters Victor Valimaki, the light-heavyweight champion, and Ryan Ford, the welterweight title-holder, in the organization.

The bright side of getting cut by the UFC? Whereas his last fight was on the un-televised undercard, his next one will be on pay-per-view -- the first for TFC -- so any fans who can’t make it to Alberta will have the opportunity to see him fight live.

Of course, his ultimate goal is still to get back to the big show. He said he’d love to fight three or four times in the next three or four months and “get back to the UFC as soon as possible.”

But in the meantime, he’s ready to give back to the people who make it all worthwhile.

“I’ve always had great fan support here (in Edmonton) and it’s something that I really appreciate,” Hague said in a video on the TFC website. “Because the fans support me that much, they deserve to see me fight again in Edmonton, so that had a big part in making my decision (to sign with TFC).”

He believes the quick turnaround from his last fight on Feb. 6 to his next one at TFC 10: High Octane will actually help him, because it won’t allow him to get out of shape at all like he did prior to UFC 109.

“I was a little more tired in this fight than others, and I think that’s due to the fact that I let myself get too heavy before training camp, because I was working full-time, I wasn’t in the gym at all.

“I definitely could have been in better shape.”

Staying in the best shape for his upcoming bout will give him a better chance at finishing the fight, something he was not quite able to do against Tuchscherer once he started to gas.

“In this one the ref’s definitely going to have to stop the fight, because I’m not stopping.”