When this third episode begins, Team Lesnar is in control and his overused motto of “make chicken salad out of chicken shit” is starting to make his fighters feel uneasy and bothered. This is especially true for Lesnar’s first pick Len Bentley, as Brock feels Len should fight next due to being anxious and uninterested. Brock decides to have a sit down with his team and explain his expression of “make chicken salad out of chicken shit” to clear the air. He explains that there are many fighters in the world want to be on the TUF show, in the house and in the UFC. Each one of them (meaning his team) is “just another 170 pounder — chicken shit — you need to train hard and fight well. Win the show and turn into chicken salad.”
On Team dos Santos side, the team welcomed new teammate Justin Edwards with open arms. Meanwhile, their wrestling coach Lew Polley decided to change up the team’s training, to make it less “nice,” and more realistic for a battle in the cage. However Lew became, as he later admits, overzealous, and pushed the training hard. The training was so intense that Shamar Bailey received a deep cut during a rough grappling session. JDS decided to talk with Lew and his trainers to remind them that they were a team, and that the team’s coaching and training decisions should be done together and on mutual ground.
Team Lesnar controlled the next fight pick and chose Len Bentley (9-4-0) to take on Team dos Santos representative Bryan McGillivray (11-4-1). But all was not well for Team Lesnar. Chris Cope, after his last win for the team, began spending more time with Team dos Santos than with his own team, leading his teammates to question his loyalty. This uncertainty became an issue for Bentley as he trained for his upcoming fight, when he notices Cope silently and intensely watching his entire training session from the side. Bentley began to wonder if Cope would tell dos Santos’ side his game plan, and decided to approach Lesnar and explain his concerns about Cope. Brock advises Bentley not to worry about Cope, and to just concentrate on training and fighting hard, without getting caught up in any drama.
On fight day, the two fighters were already pumped up and looking forward to the fight when they were joined by former Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who made a guest appearance to wish them both well. Then Len Bentley and Ryan McGillivray had an exciting fight! Round 1 saw both fighters throwing strikes, including single shots, combinations and kicks. Both successfully scored knockdowns and secured takedowns, grappling well in pursuit of submissions,and demonstrating solid BJJ skills. This round was basically evenly scored with both fighters actively participating in the fight.
In Round 2 both fighters again executed strong and skillful striking. Bentley did look just slightly more tired than McGillivray. McGillivray’s striking was in greater quantity and landed on target, while Bentley also threw some punches, but not as precise. McGillivray had a nice takedown try against the cage, as he attempted to pull Bentley’s legs out to get him on the ground, but Bentley wanted no part of it, fighting off McGillivray, and ending up standing against the cage. Both fighters then made their way to the center of the Octagon, where they threw more striking combinations. In the end, McGillivray showed a little more heart and stamina, as he won by decision.
This fight made Dana White quite thrilled and happy since it was exciting, clearly the best fight of the season so far. Mr. White explained to Bentley that he had nothing to be ashamed of; he fought a great fight. However, with McGillivray winning, the tables turned back to Team dos Santos in control.
To generate some enthusiasm for his team, Brock Lesnar invited UFC Hall Of Famer Matt Hughes to the camp to provide pointers and training. Will this be enough to get Team Lesnar the next victory, or will Team dos Santos remain in charge? Next Wednesday night at 9 we’ll find out, when The Ultimate Fighter returns to Spike.
