Jesse Taylor, the fighter kicked out of the house in the final episode of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is blaming the show itself for his booze fueled rampage. Taylor, who lost a spot in the TUF Final that eventually went to CB Dollaway, told the Winnipeg Sun that his punishment was a little harsh:

The 25-year-old mixed martial arts middleweight from California had advanced to the final of Season 7 of the show but was dismissed after a boozy night out two days after the taped portion of the series had ended some two months ago. He was captured on tape kicking out the window of a limo and the UFC says he harassed patrons in a Las Vegas casino.

UFC president Dana White booted him off the show, saying he wasn’t ready.

“I think the punishment was a little bit harsh, to tell you the truth. … I definitely messed up and I deserve some kind of punishment,” Taylor said. “This punishment was harsh.

Actually, it looks like Dana made a good call here and particularly in light of Taylor’s attempt to deflect responsibility for his actions:

“I’m not going to sit here and make excuses but you’ve got to remember we were locked in a house for six weeks,” he said. “We were kind of forced to do something, not forced but you know like ‘Go get wild, do your thing in the house.’ Let a bunch of caged animals out for two nights and something happened. And I was that guinea pig.”

Taylor was due to meet Amir Sadollah for the Season 7 crown — and a contract to fight in the UFC. Instead losing semifinalists Tim Credeur and C.B. Dollaway faced off, with Dollaway winning by decision to replace Taylor in yesterday’s final.

Taylor had other problems with alcohol during the show. In one episode, he was shown urinating on himself — and the carpet in the rented house that was home to the 16 fighters, who were denied TV, telephone, books or any other distractions other than training and fighting.

In addition to being the #1 source for MMA and mayhem, we here at THE SAVAGE SCIENCE value our responsibility as an educational tool. Here’s the lesson for today: whenever you read or hear in an interview that the subject ‘isn’t going to make excuses’ that’s a red flag that he’s about to do just that.

Taylor is a good fighter and seems like a nice enough kid when sober but he’s got some growing up to do. More importantly, he’s got a lot to learn about carrying himself as a professional and taking responsibility for his actions. Dana looks to have made the right call here–both the eventual winner of the TUF final, Amir Sadollah, and Taylor’s replacement Dollaway come off as classy guys. Sadollah, in particular, has something of a Forrest Griffin type air about him which the UFC did everything they could on the TUF finale to emphasize. Dollaway didn’t distinguish himself by complaining that he didn’t tap to end last night’s fight after the TV replays showed he did, but that’s a far cry from urinating on carpets and drunkenly rampaging through a casino.

Disgraced Taylor blames show for booze troubles