Dos Santos is carried off the field in victory by his team

Written by

Jude Thaddeus L. Bautista

What happens in The Ultimate Fighter reality show is already very familiar to a lot of MMA fans. There’s the drafting of fighters for each team, the training, the ‘wild card’ etc. One of my favorites is when coaches get to compete in a sport other than cage fighting. In Rashad Evans vs Rampage Jackson it was volleyball. There’s a lot of humor and name calling as it is. Rashad and his assistant Tiki used his superior athleticism to win over the livid Rampage. Rashad did win over Rampage in their fight via multiple takedowns throughout the 3 rounds. When the coaches go at it, the competition becomes fiercer.

Brock tried out for the Minnesota Vikings

So when UFC Pres. Dana White presented the next challenge as a football test between coaches Junior Dos Santos and Brock Lesnar, the winner seemed obvious. Lesnar tried out for the Minnesota Vikings before becoming a famous wrestler for the WWF. Brazilian Dos Santos had never even played American football in his life. The venue was Bishop Gorman high school that White attended along with UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertita. The Fertita’s last names were emblazoned at the entrance as donors of a spanking new football field.

Dos Santos was a more accurate passer, in spite of not having played American Football in his life

White was not any less generous with the cash prizes for the coaches: 10 grand for the winning coach plus $1,500.00 for each team member. They were very motivated to win the challenge. It was neck to neck as each of them went through the high knee drill and other courses. Near the end they had to kick a foot ball through the field goal. This was where Dos Santos beat Brock, as well as in the passing test through a target.

Brock goes through the sled drill

After winning the prize Dos Santos thought of giving an extra $100 for fighters and $500 for coaches of the opposing team. Usually opposing coaches in TUF are bitter rivals that can’t and won’t get along. Although he didn’t give Brock a tip, they did have a congratulatory hug at the end of the challenge. Brock may be trying to change his image ever since the trash talking he did against Frank Mir gave him a bad rep.

Brock wasn't much of a passer

While this may all be in good fun, the football test was a great indication of quickness, speed and agility. All of these elements are important for the octagon. These athletic skills and abilities by themselves wouldn’t be a determining factor for a fight. Except that Junior Dos Santos is a fierce knock out artist who is also a black belt in jiu jitsu. The one realm Brock has an advantage is supposed to be the wrestling aspect and the take downs. Guess what, that’s where speed, timing, agility and strength are used for successful takedowns.

Brock Lesnar should be a little bit worried that Dos Santos beat him in a test that was supposed to be his advantage. He should be training triple time on his wrestling and takedowns or find out a solid can’t miss strategy to beat Dos Santos. This batch of fighters is not bad. I just wish they got either heavyweights or light heavy weights which would highlight the advantage of getting these two coaches.

tale of the tape for the fight on Episode 7 of TUF season 13

Chuck O’Neil ( Team Lesnar) also won against Javier Torres (Team Dos Santos) by D’arce choke in the second round. The win qualifies him for the quarterfinals:

Clay Harvison (Lesnar) vs. Ramsey Nijem (Dos Santos)

Chris Cope (Lesnar) vs. Shamar Bailey (Dos Santos)

Chuck O’Neil (Lesnar) vs. Zach Davis (Dos Santos)

Tony Ferguson (Lesnar) vs. Ryan McGillivray (Dos Santos)

Chuck O Neil locks in the D'Arce choke and taps out Javier Torres clinching a quarterfinal fight.