Zak Wood / Colorado Daily

Eliot "Fire" Marshall

Local mixed martial artist Eliot "The Fire" Marshall has learned a few things about reality television.

Marshall appears on the current season of Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir" -- and he's found out that appearing on a reality show can be an eye-opening experience.

Try living in a house where the cameras follow you around 24/7, or where the show supplies the fighters with non-stop alcohol to stir up trouble.

Despite the inconveniences, Marshall's hoping his reality TV experience will pay off.

"'The Ultimate Fighter' is a show where they divide you into two teams and you live with 16 other fighters," Marshall said. "You get filmed in the house, and they film your training and fights.

"It wasn't fun doing it, but the rewards and experience were great."

The classic movie "The Karate Kid" inspired Marshall to explore martial arts.

"I've been studying martial arts since I was 6," Marshall said. "Later on, I discovered Brazilian jiu-jitsu and thought it was something I could do.

"I graduated from CU with a degree in mathematics, but this is what I really want to do."

Marshall worked as a bartender at the Foundry and taught martial arts to feed his passion for the spin-off sport Easton Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Those jobs allowed the local fighter to compete all over the world and become a four-time Pan American Game winner.

"In 2006 I decided I wanted to fight professionally, so a friend called me about 'Ultimate Fighter,'" Marshall said. "There's not a lot of money in this sport, so I figured that 'The Ultimate Fighter' was the biggest way to get your name out there."

The premise of "The Ultimate Fighter" is to bring together mixed martial arts fighters from all over the globe and pit them against each other. Each contestant had to fight his way into "The Ultimate Fight House" by winning a preliminary bout -- and Marshall made the cut.

"They film you fighting, training and living in the house," Marshall said. "I had insomnia a few nights and they followed me around! They also give out a lot of alcohol to create drama.

"We couldn't even have TV, radio or books."

Every Wednesday at 8 p.m., the Foundry airs the current episode of "The Ultimate Fighter." Marshall shows up to raffle off prizes and share inside scoops about the reality show.

Last week, the fighter revealed how a cameraman would let them "sneak" the radio on when they were in his car.

"It did suck living in that house," Marshall said. "I'm not a broke college kid, and I wasn't happy with people getting drunk and breaking things in the house.

"The show forces you to be uncomfortable."

Marshall can't reveal the winner of this season's "Ultimate Fighter," but there will be a live finale on Spike TV on Dec. 13.

Locals can cheer Marshall on this Wednesday. This week, the martial-arts pro will be a featured fighter on the show.

"I don't think I'd do another reality show unless someone paid me a lot of money," Marshall said. "I did learn from this experience that you can do anything, if you keep your mind focused."