The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos

The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team Dos Santos
Genre	Reality, Sports
Created by	Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White
Starring	Dana White, Brock Lesnar, Junior dos Santos
Country of origin	United States
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Spike
Original airing	March 30, 2011
Chronology
Preceded by	The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck
Followed by	The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller

The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos is the thirteenth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter.

The UFC and Spike TV held open tryouts on November 4, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The casting call went out for Welterweight and Middleweight fighters, however, all fighters will be in the welterweight division.^[1] All fighters applying and trying out for the show must have at least three professional fights and be at least 21 years of age.^[2] Notables who turned up to the tryouts included Strikeforce veterans Karl Amoussou, Andre Galvao, and Zak Cummings, and former TUF contestants Frank Lester & Jeremiah Riggs.^[3]

It was confirmed during the Fight For The Troops 2 conference call that Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos would be the coaches for this season.^[4]

This season did not feature an elimination round like the two seasons before it, however, the "wild card" selections introduced in season 11 were still featured. The initial cast was 14 fighters rather than the usual 16, 28 or 32 in recent seasons.^[5]

On May 12, 2011, midway through the airing of the season, Dana White announced that Brock Lesnar pulled out of the coaches' fight due to the return of diverticulitis, forcing Lesnar to withdraw from the bout.^[6]

Cast

Coaches

     Team Lesnar

• Brock Lesnar
• Marty Morgan
• Erik Paulson
• Rodrigo Medeiros
• Greg Nelson
• Chris Manos
• Matt Hughes (guest coach)

     Team dos Santos

• Junior dos Santos
• Antonio Peinado (Batista)
• Billy Scheibe^[7]
• Lew Polley
• Luiz Dorea^[7]

Fighters

(In order in which they were picked)

• Team Lesnar

• Len Bentley, Charlie Rader, Tony Ferguson, Clay Harvison, Chris Cope, Nordin Asrih, Chuck O'Neil (replaced Myles Jury who left in episode 1 with torn ACL)

• Team dos Santos

• Shamar Bailey, Ryan McGillivray, Javier Torres, Ramsey Nijem, Zach Davis, Mick Bowman, Justin Edwards (replaced Keon Caldwell who left in episode 2 for family reasons )

Episodes

Episode 1: Something to Prove

• Dana White welcomed 14 fighters to the UFC training facility and announced that all 14 would automatically get into the house. He also announced the return of the wildcard format.
• The coaches for the season were introduced. They then went on to evaluate the fighters.
• During the evaluations, Myles Jury got injured and was checked out by a doctor, who said that nothing was broken but wanted to do an MRI.
• Both coaches met in Dana White's office to go through the fighter picks. The coin toss was won by Brock Lesnar, who chose to pick the first fighter leaving dos Santos with first choice of match-ups.
• Myles Jury was told he had a torn ACL & was forced off the show. Dana White promised that he would get a second shot into the UFC after he heals up.
• Dos Santos announced that Shamar Bailey will face Nordin Asrih.
• Shamar Bailey defeated Nordin Asrih via unanimous decision after 2 rounds.^[8]

Episode 2: Suck It Up

• Keon Caldwell struggled during an intense Team dos Santos training session and vomited. He told dos Santos that it was hard for him to be away from his family.
• Brock Lesnar admitted that he expected to lose the first fight between his sixth pick, Nordin Asrih and Team dos Santos' top pick, Shamar Bailey.
• Caldwell told dos Santos the next day that he wanted to go home. Dos Santos and later Dana White encourage to him to keep going. After initially agreeing to continue, Caldwell later changed his mind and left the show.
• Dos Santos announced that Javier Torres would face Chris Cope.
• Chris Cope defeated Javier Torres via unanimous decision after 3 rounds.^[9]

Episode 3: Chicken Salad

• Brock Lesnar's "making chicken salad out of chickens**t" comment confused his team, but he recovered by telling his fighters they became chicken salad once they had made it onto the show, and he also told them to stay motivated.
• Justin Edwards, a former Bellator fighter and 6-0 in his MMA career, arrived to replace Keon Caldwell on Team dos Santos.
• Dos Santos' wrestling coach, Lew Polley, ran an intense training session that eventually resulted in Shamar Bailey being cut above the eye.
• Lesnar announced that Len Bentley would face Ryan McGillivray.
• Chris Cope was seen hanging out with Team dos Santos a lot, making the rest of Team Lesnar wonder what his motives were. Bentley seemed especially suspicious and asked Lesnar to talk to Cope, who told Bentley to calm down and fight.
• Dissatisfied with Polley's training sessions, dos Santos reminded him that the competition is a team effort, not his own.
• Four hours prior to weigh-in, McGillivray weighed 180 lb, so he cut the weight in 45 minutes with Polley and dos Santos in an Epsom salt bath. Both fighters weighed in at 170 lb.
• Maurício "Shogun" Rua paid a visit to dos Santos in support of his team and to watch the fight cageside.
• Lesnar was absent from the fight due to personal reasons.
• Ryan McGillivray defeated Len Bentley via majority decision after 2 rounds.^[10]

Episode 4: A Bad Dream

• Lesnar returned after leaving before the Len Bentley - Ryan McGillivray fight and congratulated Bentley on his efforts. Lesnar showed a commitment to getting wins from his four remaining fighters yet to compete: Charlie Rader, Tony Ferguson, Clay Harvison, and Chuck O'Neil.
• Lesnar removed Harvison from a training session momentarily for looking distracted and not committed. He also was angry with Rader for the same reasons.
• Dos Santos announced that Ramsey Nijem would face Charlie Rader.
• Lesnar invited Matt Hughes as a guest instructor for wrestling techniques.
• Ramsey Nijem defeated Charlie Rader via rear-naked choke at 3:31 of round 2.^[11]
• Lesnar and O'Neil were visibly upset. Inside the dressing room, Lesnar began to scold the team, prompting Bentley to storm out of the room.^[12]

Episode 5: Wow Me

• As Lesnar continued to scold his team after Charlie Rader's loss to Ramsey Nijem, Len Bentley came back into the room, and Lesnar questioned his toughness. He said that Chris Cope (the only Team Lesnar fighter to win his bout through four prelimary fights) is the only one that has impressed him so far.
• Back at the house, Bentley continued to vent his frustration and showed his dislike of Lesnar.
• Dos Santos announced that Mick Bowman would face Clay Harvison.
• At a Team dos Santos training session, dos Santos was drilling boxing techniques when wrestling coach Lew Polley took over, leaving dos Santos unhappy with him.
• As Harvison trained for his upcoming bout, he was annoyed that Cope was watching him. Harvison said in a confessional he knew "a shady person" when he saw one.
• Someone wrote "Chris Cope Double Agent" in the sand in the zen garden. Cope asked his team whether they thought he was a spy or not, and most of the team said they had "suspicions". Later that night, Cope entered the team bedroom and blamed Tony Ferguson for the message in the sand, based on handwriting similarities. Things got heated and everyone was paranoid.
• Bowman confessed to a few of his teammates that he wrote the message, saying "it was only meant to be a bit of fun". Ironically, his motive was that he sometimes thought that Cope was hanging around his team to bring information back to Team Lesnar.
• Clay Harvison defeated Mick Bowman via unanimous decision after 2 rounds.
• During the fight, Harvison had blocked a switch kick with his hand, breaking his pinky finger with the bone sticking out of the skin. His TUF stint was in jeopardy.^[13]

Episode 6: Mean Streak

• During a sparring session, Len Bentley collapsed in pain holding his knee. Lesnar was bothered by the injuries his team was sustaining.
• Harvison and Bentley were both at the hospital where they found that both their respective injuries were nothing too serious.
• dos Santos discovered that Lew Polley tried to visit the fighters' house on his own which made him feel like Polley was overstepping his boundaries once again. Dos Santos asked fellow coach, Luiz Dorea, for advice. Following Dorea's advice, dos Santos decides to send Polley home.
• Brock Lesnar announces the match-ups: Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Edwards and Chuck O'Neil vs. Zach Davis.
• Tony Ferguson defeated Justin Edwards via knockout (up-kick) at 3:56 of round 1.
• Zach Davis defeated Chuck O'Neil via submission (triangle choke) at 3:20 of round 1.
• The wildcard match-ups are decided. Justin Edwards was picked, but was told that he cannot compete due to being suspended by the athletic commission.
• The wildcard match-ups are announced: Javier Torres vs. Chuck O'Neil. ^[14]

Episode 7: It's Just Good To Win

• Len Bentley of Team Lesnar was confused about why he wasn't chosen for the wildcard match-up. He confronted Dana White about it but instead, asked for a rematch with Ryan McGillivray at the finale.
• Shamar Bailey and Chris Cope got into a confrontation. Bailey stated that he was annoyed with Cope yelling "woo" and that he wanted to fight him.
• Junior dos Santos defeats Brock Lesnar in the Coaches' Challenge which involved football drills. After winning, dos Santos gave his share of the cash prize with members of Team Lesnar excluding Brock himself.
• Chuck O'Neil defeats Javier Torres via submission (d'arce choke) in round 2.
• The quarter-finals matches are announced:

• Ramsey Nijem vs. Clay Harvison
• Shamar Bailey vs. Chris Cope
• Zach Davis vs. Chuck O'Neil
• Ryan McGillivray vs. Tony Ferguson

Episode 8: Shut Him Up

• Shamar Bailey confided to his teammate about a back injury he had.
• UFC middleweight, Brian Stann, arrived at the gym to give a pep-talk to the fighters.
• Ramsey Nijem defeated Clay Harvison via submission (rear-naked choke) in round 1.
• Chris Cope asked his teammate, Nordin Asrih, for advice on fighting Shamar Bailey.
• Chris Cope defeated Shamar Bailey via unanimous decision after two rounds.

Episode 9: Then It Turned Ugly

• Chuck O'Neil tried to share the $5000 he earned in his finish bonus, with his friend, Charlie Rader. It is revealed that Rader owes child support and hadn't seen his child in over a year.
• Chuck O'Neil defeated Zach Davis via unanimous decision after two rounds.
• Zach Davis returned to the house and reveals that he had suffered torn retinas in both his eyes. He said that the doctors have told him that he could no longer fight and that he would have to retire.
• Tony Ferguson defeated Ryan McGillivray via TKO (punches) 0:46 in round 1
• The semi-finals matches were announced:

• Ramsey Nijem vs. Chris Cope
• Tony Ferguson vs. Chuck O'Neil

• Both teams joined together to party after the fights. Charlie Rader poured alcohol on Tony Ferguson as a joke, but Ferguson reacted badly. Both got into a heated confrontation which lead to Tony Ferguson mentioning Rader's problems involving his son. Members of both teams tried to break-up the fight. Ferguson left to cool off in the pool while the others comforted Rader inside, but when Ferguson came back, he started where he left off. The argument was finally settled but both teams were angered and disgusted by Ferguson's actions.

Episode 10: The Biggest Test

• Tony Ferguson apologized to his team about his actions, but his team did not believe that his apology was sincere.
• Ramsey Nijem defeated Chris Cope via TKO (punches) in round 2
• Tony Ferguson defeated Chuck O'Neil via TKO (punches) in round 3
• Following the conclusion of the episode, Brock Lesnar phoned Dana White to tell him that he had to pull out of his bout with Junior dos Santos at UFC 131. Dana went on to say that Lesnar would be replaced by Shane Carwin.

Finale

Main article: The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale

The finale was held on June 4, 2011, at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[15]

• Welterweight bout: Ramsey Nijem vs. Tony Ferguson

Ferguson defeated Nijem via KO (punches) at 3:54 of round 1 to become the Season 13 Welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter.

Tournament bracket

Preliminary Round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Finale

Nordin Asrih

2

Shamar Bailey

UD

Shamar Bailey

2

Chris Cope

UD

Chris Cope

UD

Javier Torres

3

Chris Cope

2

Ramsey Nijem

TKO

Clay Harvison

UD

Mick Bowman

2

Clay Harvison

1

Ramsey Nijem

SUB

Charlie Rader

2

Ramsey Nijem

SUB

Ramsey Nijem

1

Tony Ferguson

KO

Len Bentley

2

Ryan McGillivray

MD

Ryan McGillivray

1

Tony Ferguson

TKO

Tony Ferguson

KO

Justin Edwards

1

Tony Ferguson

TKO

Chuck O'Neil

3

Chuck O'Neil

1

Zach Davis

SUB

Zach Davis

2

Chuck O'Neil

UD

Chuck O'Neil

SUB

Javier Torres

2

Coaches Fight

Main article: UFC 131

UFC 131: Lesnar vs. Dos Santos was scheduled to be held on June 11, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for the UFC Heavyweight title eliminator.

On May 12, 2011, Dana White announced that Brock Lesnar had to pull out of the fight due a second bout of diverticulitis. Shane Carwin replaced him.^[16]

References

1. ^ ""The Ultimate Fighter 13" cast shifts to all welterweights, coaches named this week". MMAJunkie.com. January 10, 2011. http://mmajunkie.com/news/22040/the-ultimate-fighter-13-cast-shifts-to-all-welterweights-coaches-named-this-week.mma. 
2. ^ "The Ultimate Fighter (TUF 13) open casting call from Spike TV and UFC". mmamania.com. October 13, 2010. http://www.MMAMania.com/2010/10/13/1748732/the-ultimate-fighter-tuf-13-open-casting-call-from-spike-tv-and-ufc. 
3. ^ "The Ultimate Fighter 13 tryouts draw several notables". MMAJunkie.com. November 5, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/21283/the-ultimate-fighter-13-tryouts-draw-several-notables-including-galvao-amoussou-toney.mma. 
4. ^ "TUF 13 Coaches Announced". ufc.com. January 11, 2011. http://www.ufc.com/news/tuf-13-coaching-announcement. 
5. ^ ""The Ultimate Fighter 13" eliminates elimination round, initial cast down to 14". MMAJunkie.com. January 24, 2011. http://mmajunkie.com/news/22203/the-ultimate-fighter-13-eliminates-elimination-round-initial-cast-down-to-14.mma. 
6. ^ "Brock Lesnar Fighting Diverticulitus Again; Shane Carwin Steps Up". MMAWeekly.com. 2011-05-12. http://mmaweekly.com/brock-lesnar-fighting-diverticulitus-again-shane-carwin-steps-up. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "Junior Dos Santos Makes His Choices for TUF 13 Assistant Coaches". MMAWeekly.com. January 20, 2011. http://mmaweekly.com/junior-dos-santos-makes-his-choices-for-tuf-13-assistant-coaches/. 
8. ^ "Episode No. 1 recap". MMAJunkie.com. March 30, 2011. http://mmajunkie.com/news/23043/episode-no-1-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-13-team-lesnar-vs-team-dos-santos.mma. 
9. ^ "Episode No. 2 recap". MMAJunkie.com. April 6, 2011. http://mmajunkie.com/news/23119/episode-no-2-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-13-team-lesnar-vs-team-dos-santos.mma. 
10. ^ "Episode No. 3 recap". MMAJunkie.com. April 13, 2011. http://mmajunkie.com/news/23224/episode-no-3-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-13-team-lesnar-vs-team-dos-santos.mma. 
11. ^ "Brock Lesnar vs. JDS: TUF 13 on Spike TV - Ramsey Nijem Defeats Charlie Rader". Bleacher Report. April 20, 2011. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/672166-brock-lesnar-vs-junior-dos-santos-tuf-13-live-results-and-analysis-episode-4/entry/67051-brock-lesnar-vs-jds-tuf-13-on-spike-tv-ramsey-nijem-defeats-charlie-rader. 
12. ^ "Episode No. 4 recap". MMAJunkie.com. April 20, 2011. http://mmajunkie.com/news/23304/episode-no-4-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-13-team-lesnar-vs-team-dos-santos.mma. 
13. ^ "Episode No. 5 recap". MMAJunkie.com. April 27, 2011. http://mmajunkie.com/news/23377/episode-no-5-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-13-team-lesnar-vs-team-dos-santos.mma. 
14. ^ "Episode No. 6 recap". MMAJunkie.com. May 5, 2011. http://mmajunkie.com/news/23481/episode-no-6-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-13-team-lesnar-vs-team-dos-santos.mma. 
15. ^ "The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale is June 4". MMAJunkie.com. http://mmajunkie.com/news/22051/the-ultimate-fighter-13-finale-is-june-4-door-opened-for-edgar-maynard-coaches.mma. Retrieved January 11, 2011. 
16. ^ "Brock Lesnar Fighting Diverticulitus Again; Shane Carwin Steps Up". MMAWeekly.com. 2011-05-12. http://mmaweekly.com/brock-lesnar-fighting-diverticulitus-again-shane-carwin-steps-up.