Kick [bleep] and entertain

Felice Herrig is anything but camera shy.

With more than 55,000 likes on her Facebook page and nearly 41,000 Twitter follows, she's a focal point for MMA fans. She's also known for wearing superhero costumes to fight weigh-ins. Starting Wednesday, she stars in Season 20 of "The Ultimate Fighter"-the first season featuring all female competitors-with a title on the line.

She and 15 other athletes recently lived in the same house in Las Vegas for six weeks and trained with and competed against each other. The Buffalo Grove native sparred (verbally) with RedEye on reality show politics, unplugging from social media and putting on a show for fans.

You could not use social media in the "Ultimate Fighter" house. With that being a big part of your career, how difficult was it to leave it behind?

Not using social media was fine for the most part. A lot of people don't realize that I love doing it and it's a part of my job and my personality. I don't need it, though, to self-promote and build myself up. I do it to connect with my fans and keep them connected. It's something I enjoy doing but in the grand scheme of things I missed the people I really had close relationships with. I really did miss music, though, because that's a huge part of my MMA career. At times I needed a pick-me-up and music did that. I had no outlet to escape and I needed it.

Sometimes during the show I wanted to take a picture and then realize I don't have my phone. When I was on the treadmill I was reaching for my headphones but they weren't there. It really was a test on how mentally tough you are.

Entering the "TUF" house you have seen a few of your opponents before. How were the interactions with the fighters with whom you have had disagreements?

You know, mentally it kind of sucked. In the beginning you are with these people and you don't want to be there. But I think [it] prepared us for things that happen in the future away from the show. The UFC expects a lot from you and you will have to be with the person you are fighting, no matter the dislike. You are there for six weeks and four days and mentally it was draining, but you just get used to it.

During the show you could have been matched up with one of your former opponents. Do you see that as an advantage?

Well, back home you have your own team and your own training camp, but with the show you are on somebody else's routine. With the fights you have a quick turnaround and the weight cut factor. The main issue was working with the girls that are your training partners, but they really don't care about you. The whole dynamic was very different.

Staying focused has always been a strong attribute for fighters on a reality show. How did you keep a level head dealing with the cameras and other distractions?

I think I was in a very unique position. I went into the show with my best friend Carla Esparza. Outside of fighting we are still very good friends so we relied on each other mentally. We knew that we had each other and when either of us needed something, the other would be there.

With this being your second reality show, what were the differences between the first one, "Fight Girls," and a show entering its 20th year?

I think a lot of it had to do with ["Fight Girls"] being Muay Thai. MMA has grown over the years and Muay Thai hasn't really taken off like MMA. I didn't really speak with the producers and the network on their goals [the first time around]. I enjoyed the show and it prepared me for this. With the UFC and MMA there's a lot more focus on the sport and the biggest company in the world. None of this reality aspect is new to me because I have been doing combat sports for 13 years.

When this show was announced that it would be all women show, many had high expectations about this season being a breath of fresh air. What were your expectations going in and how did they change after the filming finished?

I went into the show expecting nothing and prepared for anything. In the beginning it worked out well, but there is no way to prepare for the unexpected. Towards the end of the show I was just at my breaking point and saw mentally it was coming. When you watch the show you probably think I was strong in front of the camera, but inside I was struggling.

The earlier years of "TUF" was the ground floor for the UFC to become popular. With the likes of Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar putting their marks on MMA, many still clamor for that in 2014. Did you watch any previous seasons of the show to try to pick up any pointers?

Oh yes, I used to watch them all the time. I watched the "TUF" shows consistently through about Season 8. But after that it kind of was the same thing over and over again. I think as a fan it's great but when you are in the sport, you kind of lose interest. I think changing the entire dynamic with all women fighters, adding our division to the UFC and putting a title on the line is going to draw viewers. Something had to change and I think doing this is going to open some eyes to a lot of new and old MMA fans.

Fighting could be a little bit of both in terms of politics and being talented, in any company. How much of is it politics and how much is it just focusing on winning?

I think you have to have both. One usually outweighs the other but you can't be a bad fighter but market yourself well. I'm an entertainer. I put on entertaining fights and I know how to market myself as well. People might say I don't care about fighting because I do all this other stuff, but I 100 percent do care. You need to have a great balance of both and I realized that since day one I have to pack the seats. I need to show that I'm not only entertaining inside the cage but out as well.

I understand the business side as well. If you aren't willing to help the company make money and become a valuable asset, what is the point?

Ted Gruber is a RedEye special contributor.

'The Ultimate Fighter'

9 p.m. Wednesdays, Fox Sports 1