WIKI: You stumbled into Mixed Martial Arts on accident after a friend convinced you to do it for fun, and that you needed the money.
Harris: (True) "Yeah, I was walking to the gym and my boy Jake Nicholson, he goes what are you doing man? I said, man, I need to do some roofing, or cut some grass, my car broke down. I don't have a car. And I was walking a couple miles to work out. He said why don't you fight? I was like nah, man, I don't like to fight, I haven't had a fight since sixth grade. He said I'll give you $600. I said sign me up! And that was it. But he didn't tell me it was three and three! I didn't know I had to win the other $300. So he tricked me."
WIKI: That was the second thing, it says, "He took an exhibition fight for $200." So that was incorrect.
Harris: (False) "No, that price is wrong. It was three and three. And I made $600 that night and bought a Mustang with that $600."
WIKI: After the Ultimate Fighter, you were close to signing with Bellator and taking part in their first middleweight tournament.
Harris: (True) "Yeah, I was negotiating with them. I didn't like the negotiations. I think Bellator is a great organization, but I was a UFC guy. I did Ultimate Fighter, I did the UFC, and I just didn't want to bounce around from organization to organization. I did always want to fight in Japan, I fulfilled that dream, but other than that, in America, I just wanted to stick with the UFC. I didn't want to go ... I don't want to be in Bellator, wanting to get into UFC. That's not what type of organization they are. If you go there, you need to stay there, because they're establishing their own name. I just wasn't a Bellator guy. In my heart, I wanted to be in the UFC."
WIKI: You used the money from your first fight to buy a ragged Mustang to get around town.
Harris: (True) "That's 'raggedy' Mustang. It was raggedy as hell. One door didn't open, the windows didn't roll down, the heat didn't work, the AC didn't work, the windshield wipers didn't work. My door was the only door that worked, if you pulled up on it with pliers. But it drove. So it got me to work and back."
WIKI: You got your shot in the UFC after calling into MMAjunkie Radio when Dana White was on there, and you changed your voice, praising yourself in the third person before id'ing yourself.
Harris: (True) "Well, what I did was I called and said, 'hello there Mike, this is so-and-so from England, and I think that you should bring that Gerald Harris guy back, he was awesome.' And he goes, yeah that Gerald Harris guy, I remember him! And I said 'this IS Gerald, man.' And the whole studio just busted out laughing. Now mind you, I called about fifty times in a row to get through, and I got through and it's ringing and we got to hold and I said, what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do? I do prank calls, like Ricky. I was like, I can't just call and beg to get back in. So the prank stuck with him, he texts me, and you know what, a week later he said ... I'll never forget, he texts me a week later and said, 'I'm on it bro.'
"First of all I was like bro, why are you calling me bro? And then a week after that, I was signed. I had just knocked out Nissen Osterneck and I took a last second fight on like six day notice, man. And that was it. I was supposed to fight Mike Massenzio and he dropped out, and I fought a guy named John Salter. He was really tough. Two time NCAA champion. And we had no ... people thought the fight was slow, but hell. Lemme tell you something about my UFC career that people don't understand. This is a top level. This is like playing an NBA game against a team that you've never seen play before. I have no video! I have nothing to prepare for. All I knew is John Saucer was a wrestler, Mario Miranda was like 10 and 0, and David Branch was a boxer and a black belt. I had no video. Then I get Maiquel Falcao who's like 22 and 3 with 21 knockouts. With no video. There was no video on Falcao. None. And I'm like, I gotta fight these guys blind! But they've got video on me. So that was why I was so hesitant when I fought. I didn't know if Falcao was a southpaw, orthodox, strong right hand, good kicks, good technique. Nothing. That's hard, man!!"
Fightful: Salter, very underrated.
WIKI: After The Ultimate Fighter, you went to train with Rampage for five weeks in Liverpool, England.
Harris: (True) "Yeah, man, Rampage is ... I'm going to tell you something about Rampage, man. They probably won't ever hear this interview. Rampage is literally like a big brother to me. Especially after I lost my oldest brother. Rampage is probably six months older than me, but he took me under his wing and the guy took care of me. And he knew I was never using him, I was always there for the guy. If he needed me, I called him. We still talk to this day. We text, we Facebook. That's my friend, man. I consider him a brother for real. Not because of what he did for me, because of the way he treated me. He saw a lot of him in me, you know? And I've always been there for him. And he's a funny dude. He's been through a lot. I just stay in touch. I don't ask him for anything. He's just a great guy, man. Rampage is probably one of the realest friends I got and I do thank that guy for everything he's done for me. I used to help him with his wrestling, you know? As far as takedown defense. And I was a southpaw. And he was ... he had a fight, a couple people that were possibly southpaws. And he just always took care of me. He took me under his wing -- he didn't have to. After the show he could have said peace out."
Fightful: I remember him publicly putting on Twitter a tweet to you where he asked you to come and train with one of his teammates a few years ago. I thought that was really cool.
Harris: "I went to Liverpool, and then I went to Big Bear and helped him train. He hired me as an assistant. I washed his clothes, I folded up his ... every time he went to practice, I had his bag ready. I mean, I worked my ass off and I didn't ask him to pay me. I said, don't pay me, just ... I owe the guy, man. He flew me to England, you know what I'm saying? So I said can I do something? Let me be your assistant. Kind of like the wingman, you know."
