The Ultimate Fighter Brasil 3 - Results and Updates

[Keithlewis]

[Keithlewis]

TUF Brasil 3: Episode 3 Recap

Courtesy of Dan Downes - UFC.com



The episode opens at the TUF gym, and the situation from last week still has not defused. Wanderlei continues to demand an apology from Chael Sonnen, but thugs don’t cry and the American Gangster doesn’t apologize. Eventually Wanderlei comes to the realization that the show is about the fighters and he doesn’t want to hurt them so he backs off his threat to quit taping. He also adds, “[Chael] will apologize in the worst way when I knock him out.” To summarize the whole Wanderlei situation, Chael simply says, “The guy’s not a thinker.”

It’s finally time to pick teams and they flip a coin. Wanderlei wins and elects to choose the first fight. That gives Team Sonnen the first pick and they take Lyoto. After going through all the middleweights, they start drafting the heavyweight fighters. This time Wanderlei has the first pick and he chooses current frontrunner for coolest nickname Cara de Sapato aka “Shoe Face.” The two coaches make their way through the heavyweights and the teams look like this:


TEAM SONNEN

Middleweights:

Marcio Alexandre Junior “Lyoto”
Joilton Santos “Peregrino”
Guilherme Vasconcelos “Bomba”
Warlley Alves

Heavyweights:

Marcos Rogerio de Lima “Pezao”
Vitor Miranda “Lex Luthor”
Edgar Castaldelli
Job Kleber


TEAM SILVA

Middleweights:

Ricardo Abreu “Demente
Paulo Costa
Wagner Gomes “Wagnao”
Ismael de Jesus “Marmota”

Heavyweights:

Antonio Carlos Junior “Cara de Sapato”
Jollyson Francisco
Richardson Moreira
Antonio Branjao


After they’re done choosing teams, Wanderlei starts to give a speech to the fighters about how the show is all about them and Chael interrupts. “Why don’t you call it what you think it is? Call it the Wanderlei Show stupid.” Not one to take the insult without retribution, Wanderlei walks over, throws out a few insults/expletives and aggressively shoves Chael back. The teams converge on their respective coaches, but no fight ensues. Later on the confession camera, Chael describes the experience as “the greatest moment of my day.” He’s not all smiles, though, when he adds, “Wanderlei Silva will not get within arm’s reach of me again.”

The fighters still have a variety of different opinions on the matter. Jollyson agrees with Wanderlei that Chael’s comments went too far. Peregrino doesn’t think that his coach is a bad guy and that all he was doing was trying to promote a fight. Marmota calls Sonnen “a chicken,” for not responding to Wanderlei’s aggression. We know this won’t be the last time the two coaches tussle, so we’ll have to see how the fighters’ opinions change.

After the excitement everyone head to the house. The next day their first order of business is to help choose the next Brazilian Octagon girl. They have a barbecue with the 16 hopefuls, rank them according to preference and the top eight will proceed. They’re all excited to be around such beautiful women, but Peregrino shows the right amount of savvy when he comments that, “None of them are prettier than my girlfriend.” Let’s hope he fights as smart as he thinks.

We’re then shown the different training sessions of the two teams. Team Sonnen drills wrestling and closes the session with Chael addressing each individual fighter and assessing their promise. Team Silva works a little bit of everything and the fighters comment on how intense the pace has been. It’s then time for the fight announcement and it will be Team Silva’s Wagner Silva taking on Team Sonnen’s Peregrino. Chael calls the choice to single out Peregrino “very bizarre” while Wanderlei says that they chose Peregrino because he’s undersized and Wagnao will be able to push him around.

We learn a little bit more about each fighter. Wagnao has been competing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu since he was 16 years old. Once an avid mountain biker, he always knew he wanted a career in sports. Peregrino (“Pilgrim”) earned his name because he identifies with the main character in a movie by the same name. The Pilgrim had to suffer through a lot of obstacles to reach his goals and Peregrino feels the same way. As he’s preparing for the fight, however, Chael and assistant coach Hortencia notice that he’s burning himself out and far too anxious. Hortencia sits down with him and tries to explain that he needs to calm down and not let the adrenaline take over. Weigh-ins go on without issues and then it’s fight time.

ROUND ONE

Both men start the round circling each other trying to find their range. Peregrino strikes first and avoids the counters. He utilizes a lot of straight punches while Wagnao tries to land power hooks. Despite not connecting on many of his strikes, Wagnao is still able to back his opponent against the fence. Peregrino tries to get some room by ripping a low kick, but Wagnao absorbs it and shoots. The initial takedown attempt doesn’t work, but he works an outside trip that brings the fight to the mat. Wagnao tries to pass the guard, but Peregrino’s defense holds. After holding position, Wagnao starts punching and dropping elbows. Peregrino uses the opening to reverse position and stand up. Both fighters return to their feet and clinch up. Peregrino takes the dominant position and closes out the round landing punches and elbows on the inside.

ROUND TWO

Both fighters trade kicks. Peregrino grabs a body kick and transitions to a takedown. Wagnao defends, reverses and puts Peregrino in a turtle position. Wagnao lands some punches, but Peregrino switches positions and answers with some ground and pound of his own. Wagnao makes it back to his feet, but Peregrino keeps the pressure right on and attacks from the clinch. One of the knees hits below the belt and the ref calls timeout. After the restart Wagnao lands another takedown and advances position. Peregrino tries to get to his feet, but the larger Wagnao is glued to him. Wagnao transitions to an arm triangle and it’s in tight. Peregrino survives, though, and is saved by the bell.

It’s tied on the judges’ scorecards and we’re moving to a sudden victory round.

ROUND THREE

Both fighters’ work rate has slowed down considerably and they open the third round pacing themselves. Peregrino lands the first flurry and it seems to wake Wagnao up. Wagnao shoots and immediately advances to referee’s position. He controls the majority of the round from there and batters Peregrino with short punches. Peregrino finally makes it to his feet, but only has 1:30 to try to take back the round. He fights for position against the cage and the ref breaks them up with 45 seconds remaining. Peregrino charges hard and lands a few more strikes, but the round ends with him fighting in the clinch.

The scorecards come back and Wagnao wins by split decision. Wanderlei, while impressed with Peregrino’s performance, credits his fighter for following the game plan perfectly. Chael is proud of Peregrino, too, but thinks that he made too many tactical errors that cost him the fight.

The episode closes out with a preview of the coming season. There are parties, the rivalry between Chael and Wanderlei grows and Dana White even kicks someone off the show saying, “You should probably be arrested.” Who’s involved? We’ll find out next week on The Ultimate Fighter!

[Keithlewis]

[Keithlewis]

TUF Brasil 3: Episode 4 Recap

Courtesy of Dan Downes - UFC.com



The episode begins in the immediate aftermath of Wagnao’s win last week over Peregrino. Instead of celebrating together, Team Wanderlei has a disagreement. Marmota is angry with the way Paulo Costa acted during the fight. He thought Costa was being far too critical of Wagnao and should have spent his time cheering their teammate instead of criticizing. Costa tries to explain he just thought that Wagnao lost the first round he wasn’t trying to insult him. He does, however, insults Marmota and questions his intelligence. Coach Wanderlei calls the whole thing a misunderstanding and tries to smooth things over. The two teammates shake hands, but they don’t come to an agreement.

We shift focus to this week’s heavyweight bout between Antonio Carlos Junior aka Cara de Sapato (“Shoe Face”) and Edgar Castaldelli. Edgar thinks his key to victory will be in the stand-up game. Ol’ Shoe Face is a world champion Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and Edgar wants to avoid bringing the fight to the ground. He describes himself as “cold and calculating,” and his tactics will bring a win to Team Sonnen. He also talks about how he considers himself different from other fighters and we get what has to be the first Protestant Reformation reference in TUF history. In addition to worrying about Martin Luther’s contributions to modern religion, he has some personal worries. His wife is currently pregnant with their first born and he stresses about not being able to support her. Assistant coach Hortencia sees the pressure he’s placing on himself and tries to calm him down. Edgar appreciates her taking time to talk to him and describes her as “a mother to us here.”

Next we hear from Antonio and his life story. He considers himself unlike many of the other fighters because he wasn’t born poor and he has a strong family structure. He doesn’t need to fight, but it’s his dream to compete. His life hasn’t been all privilege, though. In 2011 a close friend of his was murdered and it hit him very hard. Soon afterward he started having panic attacks and a constant fear of death enveloped him. He even stopped training completely. Over time he overcame these fears and returned to martial arts. To beat Edgar, he plans on striking at a distance and being cautious. After pacing himself on the feet, he’ll shoot in for the takedown and finish with some ground and pound.

The assistant coaches then put the teams through exercises that you probably saw at your company’s last retreat. Isabel runs though Team Wanderlei through a communication drill and Hortencia utilizes her basketball background to break up the monotony of training. No word on if Chael and Wanderlei will do trust falls next week.

Besides the assistant coaches, the head coaches seem to be making strong impressions on their fighters. Wanderlei comes over to the house for Wagnao’s victory barbecue and “ate and drank like a beast,” as Marmota elegantly describes. We also learn that the “Axe Murderer” can add world class foosball player to his list of accomplishments. Chael Sonnen’s attention to his team and strong coaching has also converted some people to the “dark side.” Slowly but surely, Chael is starting to make some friends in Brazil.

We catch a brief glimpse into each team’s training, weigh-ins go off without a hitch and it’s fight time!

ROUND ONE

Antonio throws a right hook and you can hear it echo throughout the gym. Edgar drops, Antonio jumps on him and moves to a beatdown position. He lands a couple more follow up shots and the referee jumps in to call off the fight. Shoe Face moves to the second round with one punch.

Chael has the understatement of the season when he remarks. “Antonio has a very dangerous skill set.” Most of all, he feels bad that Edgar didn’t have the chance to showcase his skills. Wanderlei revels in his second straight team victory. He believes that Edgar was so worried about going to the ground with Antonio that it left the perfect opening for the punch to land.

The two coaches shake hands, but Wanderlei warns us not to read too much into it. He doesn’t forget an insult and he’ll make sure Chael Sonnen pays for his transgressions. Chael seems more annoyed than anything else. As he puts it, he has two battles to fight. Not only does he have to be there for his fighter, but he also has to, “Pat Wanderlei on the head,” so he’ll come back tomorrow and not quit the show.

Despite losing the fight, Team Sonnen has a second chance at redemption. Normally the winning team chooses the next fight, but this time it will be decided by a physical challenge. Pezao and Jollyson square off in a mud pit with a giant soccer ball. Whoever pushes the ball into the opposing goal wins. It’s a tough back and forth battle and the two stalemate for the majority of the match. Jollyson ultimately wins and Team Wanderlei maintains control.

We quickly move to the fight announcement and it will be Team Wanderlei’s Ricardo Abreu aka “Demente and Team Sonnen’s Guilherme Vasconcelos aka “Bomba.” Chael thinks Bomba could win the entire tournament. Wanderlei knows that it will be a tough fight because both men are BJJ champions, but believes that Ricardo’s physical strength will be the difference maker.

We close with a sneak peek into next week’s show. Can Team Sonnen get their first win? Do the assistant coaches start feuding? Will they have to have an intervention for Wanderlei? Find out this and more next week on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil!

[Keithlewis]

TUF Brasil 3: Episode 5 Recap

Courtesy of Dan Downes - UFC.com


We start this week’s episode with a quick recap. After winning their second straight fight, Team Wanderlei chooses Ricardo Abreu aka “Demente” to square off against Guilherme Vasconcelos aka “Bomba.” Coach Sonnen realizes that Demente is a strong competitor, but he believes that Bomba could win the entire tournament. Wanderlei knows that both competitors are high level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners, but chose the fight because of Demente’s physical superiority.

From there we move to another physical challenge. This week it’s the “Ferry Game.” Both teams will have to construct a sea-worthy vehicle out of some strong, rubber tubes and bamboo. After that, they’ll have to paddle their ferry out and around a buoy and return to shore. Last week, the winning team earned the right to pick the next fight. This time around the victors will receive a fancy dinner prepared and served to them by the losing team. Once the racing portion begins, Team Sonnen creeps out to an early lead. Team Wanderlei soon pulls ahead and by the time the race ends they have a commanding lead. It may seem only a game, but frustration starts to set in with Team Sonnen. Whether it’s the fight game or a ferry game, nobody likes to lose.

There’s no time to pout, though, and the teams are back in the gym training. Chael Sonnen is running his team through more wrestling techniques and defense from the front headlock position. As that goes on we hear more from Bomba. He reveals that he and Demente are old training partners. Because of this, he believes that Demente specifically asked for this match. Regardless of the motivations, Bomba plans on making this a standup fight. Chael Sonnen continues his high praise when he calls Bomba’s skills “outstanding,” and doesn’t really see any weaknesses in his game.

Next, Team Sonnen dutifully performs their punishment task. They even get dressed up in white shirts and black ties to complete the experience. Despite the four star appearances, Team Wanderlei isn’t too impressed. Marmota calls the salmon dish “salty.” You just can’t please some people...

Unconcerned with a lackluster dinner, Demente is focused on his fight. He opens up a bit more about his childhood and shares his path to fighting. As a young kid he was very hyperactive and couldn’t concentrate. He was also quite combative and got into many fights. Once he found jiu jitsu, though, that all changed. He was able to focus and it gave him a purpose. As for strategy, he doesn’t really have one. He’s content to let Bomba dictate where the fight goes and will adapt from there. The only thing he thinks about is finishing. He’s always looking for submissions and/or knockouts. He calls it his trademark.

After weigh-ins and some final preparations, it’s fight time!

ROUND ONE

Bomba is the first to strike with heavy-handed punches. Demente answers back with a cross, hook combo of his own and Bomba retreats back to the fence. Demente continues to charge forward and secures the takedown. He tries to advance, but Bomba shuts him down and makes it back to his feet. The two exchange a few more punches and Bomba counters with a takedown. He tries to move to back mount, but Demente escapes back to his feet. The fighters continue their back and forth and Demente finishes another takedown. This time he’s able to works some ground and pound, but Bomba finds another way to slide out back to his feet. At the ten second warning, Bomba rushes in for a last minute takedown, but the round ends before he can finish.

ROUND TWO

Bomba begins the second round with a flurry. Demente responds with some heavy punches of his own. Bomba comes back with a wild right hand, but Demente ducks under it and gets inside for a takedown. Just like the first round, Bomba isn’t held down for long, slides out and returns to his feet. Demente earns another takedown, and Bomba quickly rises to his feet once more. Charging forward, Bomba starts whipping heavy hooks and uppercuts at his opponent. He keeps charging forward and finishes a takedown with less than two minutes remaining. Demente makes it back to his feet and counters with a takedown of his own. Working from half guard, he’s not able to create much offense, but he’s able to keep Bomba flat on his back. The round ends with Demente in the dominant position.

The judges’ scorecards come back and Demente takes the unanimous decision. Chael isn’t disappointed. He knows it was an extremely high level competition worthy of an UFC fight card. Wanderlei is much less gracious. He wonders if he should start charging Sonnen a seminar fee for schooling him so much. Even though he hasn’t won a fight this season, the American Gangster isn’t worried. “[We have] some real racehorses left in the barn waiting for their turn at the gate.”

We close with a preview for next week’s episode. Will Chael and Wanderlei finally throw down? What will be the repercussions? How will this affect the fighters at the house? Find out this and more next week on The Ultimate Fighter!

[Keithlewis]

TUF Brasil 3: Episode 6 Recap

Courtesy of Dan Downes - UFC.com



This season of TUF Brazil has featured a lot of fun games, but this week kicks off with something slightly less enjoyable -- the waiting game. Both teams are waiting for the next fight announcement, but Coach Wanderlei Silva is nowhere to be found. When the Axe Murderer finally shows up, an already annoyed Chael Sonnen becomes even more perturbed. From his point of view, “[Wanderlei] looked like he just woke up. I stood next to him and he smelled like he was drunk.” Wanderlei says that he was late because of a doctor’s appointment and that the Sao Paulo traffic slowed him down. When informed of Chael’s allegations, Wanderlei dismisses them and calls Chael a liar. He does realize, though, that there will be little he can do to convince people of this fact. “Unfortunately there are a lot of people at home who don’t know me and will believe his lies.”

Wanderlei announces the fight and it will be Team Sonnen’s Job Kleber against Richardson Moreira aka “Rick Monstro.” Wanderlie calls Job the easiest fight in the house and feels that Rick will cruise to victory. Chael thinks that people shouldn’t so easily dismiss Job. In terms of sheer physical strength, Job is the best on the team. He may have been the last fighter chosen, but he’ll surprise people.

We cut to Team Silva’s training session and they’re maintaining their usual blistering pace. All the fighters are training hard, but Borrachinha and Marmota appear to be taking it up another notch when they go against one another. Assistant coach Isabel knows about their rivalry and says that she gets “tense” whenever they train together. Worried that someone will get hurt, she asks Wanderlei if practices will always be this intense. Wandy doesn’t hesitate at all and responds “always.” Isabel’s concerns aren’t totally unfounded. As Jollyson grapples, a scramble ensues and he ends up getting kneed in the face. A deep cut opens over his eye and he’ll need to get stitches.

As Jollyson tries to calm himself down, we shift to the team challenge. Not as physical as previous contests, this week’s contest is “The Typewriter Game.” A calligraphy pen is suspended over a piece of paper and controlled by eight different straps. Each team member controls one of the straps simultaneously and they’ll have to coordinate with their teammates to write out “TUF Brasil” legibly. Team Sonnen breezes through the challenge and earns their first victory in anything all season. Wanderlei isn’t bothered by the defeat and casually remarks, “At least they won something.” Besides a little confidence, the bad guys actually do win a prize. They have a “slumber party” with the Octagon girls. Get your mind out of the gutter. It just means that they have the girls over and everyone hangs out in their pajamas.

Besides missing out on the champagne and pizza, Team Silva has a more serious problem developing between Cara de Sapato and Borrachinha. Cara has been hearing that Borrachinha is bragging about how he always beats Cara during practice. The two were training partners before the show and Cara de Sapato takes this as a huge insult. Borrachinha denies the allegations, but he doesn’t seem to convince many people. Cara tells us that Borrachinha is a lot different from the man he used to call friend. “He used to be a really nice guy. I don’t know what happened to him.” If Borrachinha keeps alienating people at his current rate, he might not have to start practicing alone.

We cut to Team Sonnen and learn more about Job Kleber. He always wanted to fight, but never had many opportunities growing up to pursue it. His parent couldn’t afford the lessons and there weren’t any community facilities near him. Once he joined the police force, though, he was given the means to pursue martial arts. He views fighting as a way to achieve his dreams and give chances to his children that he was never afforded growing up. Chael admits that Job’s skills are still developing, but he repeatedly praises Job’s heart and determination. He calls Job the hardest working guy on the team. His opponent Rick Monstro is an engineer. He discusses finding the balance between his professional career at a multinational corporation and his career as a fighter. He says that his coworkers like to tease him and give him a hard time, but he’s probably a good guy to have on their side when dealing with those pushy IT guys. He holds an undefeated 9-0 record and has finished eight of those opponents in the first round.

Next it’s time for weigh-ins. You know how these usually go. A couple guys take their shirts off, and stare at one another for a little bit. Well...not this time. The two coaches are mean mugging each other from the start, and then start to trashtalk. Wanderlei makes a few threats and even spits in Chael’s direction. Chael doesn’t bat an eye, and keeps asking Wanderlei when he’ll sign the contract to fight him. He’s also lays on some of that thick, West Linn sarcasm. Wanderlei gets in Chael’s face, and Chael keeps good on his promise from a few episodes ago to never let Wanderlei in that close again. They shove each other and then a fist fight ensues. Wanderlei throws a few punches; Chael ducks under and finishes a double leg takedown. People rush in and try to break the fight up, but not everyone. Team Silva assistant coach Dida is seen punching Chael while he’s tussling with Wanderlei. He even brags about it to the camera afterwards.

Order is restored, and the weigh-in finally happens. Wanderlei then tries to sow some seeds of dissent with Team Sonnen. He tells them in Portuguese that Chael is bad mouthing them behind they’re back. A confused Warrelly isn’t sure what to think. If it turns out to be true, he thinks Chael belongs in Hollywood because “he tricked us perfectly.”

Back at the house, the fighters discuss the brawl between the two coaches. Some side with Wanderlei and say that Chael got what he deserved. Sonnen knew what he was doing when by insulting Wanderlei, and shouldn’t be surprised by the results. As Jim Croce once opined, you don’t tug on Superman’s cape, and you don’t wisecrack an axe murderer. Job, on the other hand, thinks that Wanderlei was out of line and that, “It makes me want to win this fight even more.” We’ll see if that extra boost helps him because it’s fight time!

ROUND ONE

Rick strikes first with a huge, clubbing right hand. It doesn’t connect, but it allows him to move inside and get the takedown. He starts in side mount, but Job locks up his half guard. Rick stalls for a while and is unable to mount much offense. Slowly, though, he works his legs free and moves to full mount. When he postures up to punch, Job explodes his hips and rolls his opponent over. He can’t capitalize on the move, though. Rick immediately throws up an armbar and earns the tap for another first round finish for Team Wanderlei. We later learn that Job broke his finger some time during the fight. He says he was unable to make a fist or grip with his left hand, and that’s what gave away the armbar.

Wanderlei gloats more and we wrap up with a sneak peek into next week’s fights. How will Dana White discipline the coaches? Can Team Sonnen find a way to win? Does Borrachinha make another enemy? Find out this and more next week on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil!

[Keithlewis]

TUF Brasil 3: Episode 7 Recap

Courtesy of Dan Downes - UFC.com



We open with Wanderlei Silva at the doctor’s office. His hand has been bothering him since last week’s scuffle with Chael Sonnen, and he wants to find out if anything is seriously wrong. The doctor tells him that he pulled a muscle in his hand and puts him up in a soft cast. We cut to the TUF gym and Job Kleber has his hand in a cast. Unlike Wanderlei, his injury came inside the Octagon. If the injury weren’t bad enough, Chael Sonnen has to deliver more bad news. Because Job cannot continue training, he must leave the show. Chael tells him that he’s very proud of his performance, and he will miss him. Job walks back into the locker room to tell his teammates and delivers a moving speech. It stirs up some powerful emotions, and Chael walks out of the room because he starts to tear up. Thugs cry and so do American Gangsters.

Later, Dana White appears via video conference and he delivers a speech of a different sort. First, he kicks Team Silva assistant coach off the show for sucker punching Chael during last week’s brawl. He calls Dida a “disgrace,” and even suggests that he should be arrested. Once Dida walks out, Dana then turns his attention to Wanderlei and Chael. “We’ve been flying around the world for years trying to get this sport regulated...people thought this sport was filled with thugs and that’s what you looked like.” He derides them for their unprofessionalism and calls them poor mentors to the young fighters on the show. Both coaches know they’re on thin ice, but neither seems to show much remorse. Chael points the finger at Wanderlei and Wanderlei praises Dida. He calls a team huddle to give the assistant coach a sendoff, and lauds Dida’s actions as something any Brazilian would do.

We shift our focus to this week’s fight between Borrachinha and Lyoto. Chael predicts that this fight will be the closest matchup we’ve seen all season. A classic striker vs. grappler matchup, Team Wanderlei drills takedowns while Team Sonnen focuses on solid striking stance. We then learn more about the first combatant Borrachinha. He readily admits that he’s “very vain,” and we witness his grooming habits. Coach Silva has a lot of good thing to say about the 22 year old and not just because he has impeccable eyebrows. Wandy calls him strong, powerful, explosive and good looking (ok maybe the eyebrows do have something to do with it). He believes that Borrachinha is ready for the UFC and should be offered a contract right here and now.

Lyoto, on the other hand, doesn’t have much to say about hair product. He characterizes himself as a strategic fighter, and plans on using his wits and striking to earn Team Sonnen their first victory. He knows that Borrachinha has dangerous ground and pound, and plans on moving a lot and using distance to minimize the amount of grappling. You can’t take down what you can’t touch. Don’t expect him to be a slow, plodding fighter, though. His current record sits at 12-0 and he’s finished every single opponent in the first round.

Weigh-ins go on without a problem this week (thankfully), and former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua shows up to lend some support to Team Wanderlei, and Borrachinha seems genuinely starstruck. Let’s hope he has his wits about him because it’s fight time!

ROUND ONE

Borrachinha wastes no time bringing the fight. Lyoto dodges the initial charge, but inexplicably engages the clinch first. They move against the fence, Borrachinha throws a hard elbow and scores a takedown. He tries to advance, but Lyoto locks him down in half guard. Borrachinha may not be able to generate much offense, but Lyoto can’t rise to his feet either. Lyoto finally causes some separation, but Borrachinha responds with a massive overhand right. It partially connects, but Lyoto still manages to make it back to his feet. Borrachinha glues himself right to the karateka, and winds up taking his back. The powerful middleweight moves for the rear naked choke and starts wrenching Lyoto’s jaw. Lyoto fights off his hands, but Borrachinha stays in place and continues to work for the submission. After stalling his attack, Borrachinha unwinds his legs and switches to a guillotine. Lyoto gets his head out, but he’s back on the mat absorbing punches. Lyoto returns to his feet as time expires, but Borrachinha controlled the majority of the round.

ROUND TWO

Lyoto finds his range in the early portion of the second round and connects with repeated low kicks. After ripping up Borrachinha’s leg, he starts kicking to the body and scores with those as well. Borrachinha tries to clinch up, but Lyoto breaks free. Again, Lyoto appears to be winning the striking exchanges, but he forces the takedown. Borrachinha defends and pushes him against the fence. They jockey for position in the clinch, and neither gains the advantage. Borrachinha moves for a high crotch takedown, but Lyoto defends. They break apart, and Lyoto goes back to attacking with his kicks. Borrachinha spends the rest of the round fighting to bring the fight back to the ground, but he can’t finish. Lyoto sprawls and brawls his way to win the second round. We’re headed to “sudden victory!”

ROUND THREE

Both fighters are fatigued and it shows. Lyoto goes back to chopping away with the low kicks, and Borrachinha has little to no defense. At one point, he even stands with his hands on his hips gasping for air. Lyoto pounces on this opportunity and drops him with a left hand. Borrachinha recovers and immediately shoots for the takedown. Lyoto quickly returns to his feet and tries an outside trip, but can’t get separation. They stall against the fence and the ref breaks them up. After the restart Borrachinha dives for a desperation takedown and misses. He lays on his back and Lyoto milks the clock with some standing kicks. The ref stands them up with less than a minutes remaining, and it is a sprint to the finish line. The two fight in the clinch and Borrachinha’s takedowns continue to be denied. Lyoto hits a takedown of his own and finishes the round in top position.

The judges’ scorecards come back and Lyoto wins by split decision. Wanderlei gives credit to Lyoto for a tremendous performance, but says that Borrachinha didn’t pace himself well. He used too much energy in the first round and couldn’t recover. He’s sad for his fighter, but knows that Borrachinha is only 22 and has a long future ahead of him. Chael credits Lyoto for digging deep and committing to his strikes. The victory is bittersweet, however, since one of Lyoto’s kicks was checked hard and he can barely walk on it. We don’t hear any more about his condition.

The episode closes with the “Wrapped Up Challenge.” Four members of each team are covered in plastic wrap with their arms pinned to their body. The fighters will then have to scramble in any method possible to get back to their feet and ring the bell. The first team to get all four of their participants to ring the bell wins. Team Wanderlei cruises to victory and all of its members get to their feet before Team Sonnen even has one. This gives Team Wanderlei control to choose next week’s fight. Who is it? You’ll just have to wait until next week and watch the Ultimate Fighter Brazil!

[Keithlewis]

TUF Brasil 3: Episode 8 Recap

Courtesy of Dan Downes - UFC.com



The first thing we se this episode is Lyoto limping around the house. He injured his foot during his fight against Borrachinha, and still can’t put any weight on it. Luckily, the doctors say that it doesn’t appear too serious. Things should improve if he stays off it for a couple days. We then move to this week’s fight announcement. Team Wanderlei has control and they choose their heavy hitter Montanha to face Team Sonnen’s Vitor Miranda. The two are former training partners, and Vitor isn’t happy that he has to square off against a former friend. Montanha doesn’t like it either, but tells us that he didn’t have a choice. It was “an order from the boss.”

When Team Sonnen assistant coach Vinny Magalhaes hears this, he calls out Wanderlei. Specifically, Vinny calls Wandy a hypocrite for making two teammates fight when he made such a deal about a similar instance on the first season of TUF Brazil. We’re then treated to a flashback, and sure enough, Wanderlei is on camera criticizing the opposing team for making two former teammates fight one another. When asked about this contradiction, Wanderlei claims that the two situations are totally different. “[Montanha and Vitor] know each other, but they don’t train or live together.”

Back at the house, the kitchen looks about as bad as any fraternity. There are so many dirty dishes that all of them can’t even fit in the sink. Cara de Sapato has had a enough of it and channels his anger toward Joilton. He yells that someone should do something about the mess and start cleaning. Upset at being yelled at, Joilton also has a problem because Cara makes this big commotion and doesn’t do anything about it. Sick of hearing everyone complain, Demente starts cleaning so everyone will shut up.

The fighters may be at each other’s throats inside the house, but the battles are even more intense at the gym. Chael Sonnen brings former UFC middleweight Yushin Okami in to help set an example for the other guys. Worried that the team has fallen into a bit of the rut, Yushin comes in and ratchets up the intensity level. The sparring rounds we see are definitely not done at a cruising speed. They’re going at each other like it were a UFC title fight.

From there we move to this week’s physical challenge. Simply titled “The Bridge,” members of each team work together to create a bridge using narrow have to create a bridge using narrow sticks that can support the one of the Octagon girls. The team then has to guide four different Octagon girls across their makeshift structures. Team Wanderlei takes the early lead and they don’t look back. They cruise to another easy win and earn an all day spa treatment.

We then learn more about each of this week’s combatants. Vitor’s first love was basketball. After a teammate took him to a Muay Thai class, though, he gave it up to dedicate himself to martial arts. He moved to the US to train, but tragedy struck when his four year old drowned in a swimming pool. It’s greatly affected him, but he tries to turn all the sadness in his heart to motivation. Not only is Montanha a former teammate of Vitor, the 25 year old is also a former fat kid. He admits that the other kids picked on him a lot, but they’re probably not interested in teasing him now. The 25 year old describes himself as “stubborn” and “competitive.” We’ll see if that carries him to victory because it’s fight time!

ROUND ONE

Montanha uses his distinct size advantage early. Vitor throws some kicks, but the big man walks right through them. The two clinch against the fence and Montanha moves for the takedown. Vitor defends, and the two exchange knees. Montanha wears Vitor down from this position then moves in for a single leg. Vitor defends, circles away and reverses position. They break apart, and Montanha loses his balance. Vitor tries to kick, but can’t garner much offense. The referee stands them up and there’s less than a minute to go. Vitor has found his groove and he starts landing solid low kicks. He scores another low kick then adds some punches behind them. Montanha is reeling and rests against the cage. Vitor continues to pressure and connects with a thunderous body shot. He follows up with an overhand right hand that Montanha crashes to the ground. Vitor jumps on the injured man and grounds and pounds his way to a win only 23 seconds remaining.

Both coaches are impressed with each fighter’s performances. Chael praises Montanha’s strategy, but once Vitor found his range he knew that it was all over. “You don’t want to stand and trade with Vitor Miranda.” Wanderlei says that the low kicks had a big effect on Montanha. They gradually wore him down and ultimately lead to the knockout. The former teammates turned opponents walk out to the locker room arm and arm, and we’re able to pick up their conversation. Montanha says, “You know I never wanted this fight,” Vitor hugs him and responds, “We did what we had to do. You’ll have another chance.” A proud coach Sonnen smiles and the episode closes with “The tides are turning around here, and there’s a storm coming.”

We have a sneak peek into next week’s episode. Can Team Sonnen keep the momentum going? How does Team Wanderlei respond? Who wins the coach’s challenge? Find out this and more next week on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil!