I personally attended the TUF 12 tryouts in Charllotte, NC, and here are some of the things that I saw:
Rhadi Ferguson, a former olympian, attended the tryouts as a potential 205. I met him, and he was a very respectful man, calling me sir, and standing to shake my hand when I walked up to him. Knowing his qualifications, I told him he was a shoo-in. Immediately after this, Dana White walked past, and Rhadi introduced himself by full name to Dana. Dana didn't even seem to know who he was. Anyways, Rhadi's group was called in, and I fully expected him to be one of the guys selected for the interview. However, he wasn't even selected after the grappling to continue to the striking test. Apparently during the grappling (which started from the knees, go figure), his partner proceded to lay on him in the half guard, squeezing his head so that nothing could happen for the 2 minute duration. Rhadi Ferguson a black belt in BJJ and Judo, a former Olympian and ADCC competitor, was cut after the grappling portion. I was simply shocked. And anyone who has attended the tryouts will tell you that the grappling for the 205s was subpar at best.
Other notes:
Jason Guida attended the tryouts for 205. I don't know if he was successful or not. Clay was also there, likely to support his brother. He also watched some of the tryouts. Clay was easily the most recognized fighter there. Everyone wanted pictures with him, and he was happy to oblige. A very nice guy from what I saw. He was also wearing a Pride shirt.
Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett also attended the tryouts. He is (obviously) very likely to make the show, as he easily made it to the interview portion.
Takanori Gomi was there, and two of his friends/students (whatever they were), attended the tryouts, but were unsuccessful. There were no leg attacks allowed during the grappling, which apparently shocked them.
Darrill Schoonover was at the tryouts, supporting some of his army buddies. James Tomko, a pro fighter in the army, was with him, and made it to the interview portion.
Some guy was there dressed like T.I. (or at least looking like T.I.), carrying a bullhorn and a stereo. I told my buddies that he was going to make a scene to get noticed. Sure enough, after checking in with his application, he hit the siren on the bullhorn, and did a backflip off the wall when he had everyone's attention. Mind you, no one of real importance was actually around. When his group went in for the test, he turned his stereo on(and was told by Dana to turn it off). He was selected to go to the interview portion. Go figure.
Also, some guys showed up as Bruce Leroy and Neo from the Matrix. I believe Bruce Leroy made it to the interviews. I don't know how Neo did.
Joe Lauzon was there all day. I am not sure if he was just there to hang out, or to support a friend attending.
The grappling test seemed to reward people who stayed more active, and not so much the people who were deliberate and technical. Some guys dominated the grappling part and were not picked, and some high level grapplers who were paired with equally high level guys saw there numbers not called as well.
When the interviews were beginning, the guy that was organizing most of the events told us that they didn't care about, "how you can knock everyone out, or submitted this many guys," but how much personality you had, and how interesting you were going to be. A lot of the guys waiting to be interviewed began drinking, as soon as their striking test was done (to loosen up for the interviews).
I will say this about Dana, he is very involved, and very motivated. He sat in on the tests all day, which took quite a long time, from about 10 am to 6 pm. He is also a bigger guy than I expected him to be.
Most of my information from the inside came from a buddy that was inside watching the tests, so you can take it how you want. He is a purple belt though, so he does know what he is looking at, when it comes to grappling. I was in the waiting lobby for most of the proceedings with the rest of the guys that were waiting to be tested, and there guys from everywhere, even other countries. There were a ton of lightweights, but only about forty light heavyweights. I was just soaking it in, and making mental notes of what I saw and heard. I didn't make it past the grappling part, but that's not too disappointing. I had a good experience, and learned a lot.
