Author: By Martins Denis / Translation Munique Bohnke

If the eighth episode of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil had some changes compared to the previous ones, such as Team Wand choosing this week’s fight, it also revisited some issues from last week, where Anistavio Gasparzinho was submitted by Rony Jason, sparking some controversy about the idea of matches between friends.

The tense atmosphere between the two coaches is back. Vitor Belfort fired back about what Wanderlei Silva said about the last featherweight bout in the quarterfinals, and the differing views of the two coaches still yields much discussion.

For the first time on the reality show, Wanderlei would hold the hammer, choosing the fights in the middleweight division and opting for his fighter, the hard working “people’s champ”, Francisco Massaranduba, to face the quiet warrior Tiago Perpétuo,  also known as Bodão.

Despite their distinct life stories, Bodão and Massaranduba both teach lessons about overcoming adversity in their lives. The fighter from Team Wanderlei comes from Amarantes, in Piauí, where he worked hard since he was a child and started late in mixed martial arts. Bodão from Team Vitor overcame a malignant tumor in his childhood, surprising all the doctors in search of his dream.

In the house, Gasparzinho kept his good mood intact, but faced another critic, Serginho Moraes, and both he and Rodrigo Damm tried to stop his jokes.

When it comes to breaking down the fight, Serginho thinks size will be a factor, as Bodão was already in the light heavyweight division (205lbs) and Massaranduba is a lightweight (155lbs). But on the team of the former PRIDE champion, they believe Massaranduba’s will and speed will be vital in earning the second win for Team Wanderlei.

FRANCISCO “MASSARANDUBA” DRINALDO VS. TIAGO “BODÃO” PERPÉTUO   
 
The low kicks from Tiago to set the distance found no defense from Massaranduba, who – on request of his team – tried to counter attack with right and left hands. A knee from Massaranduba before the two clinched made it a little hard for Bodão, who had to show off all his takedown defense with his back against the fence.  They soon switched positions and Wand’s pupil lost balance, but he didn’t stay on the ground for too long.

The fight continued with punches and knees from both as they battled against the fence. With 30 seconds to go, the referee separated the competitors, but the striking from long range didn’t last long, as they clinched again with the same exchange of blows, ending a close round.

The second round started with Bodão’s high and low kicks while Massaranduba tried to connect with his left hand. At close range, Bodão was dominating, but Massaranduba took him down and got inside the guard in order to punch his opponent. The “people’s champ”  couldn’t get a good ground and pound attack going like Rafael Cordeiro suggested, so Bodão pushed him with his feet and stood up. At this moment, Bodão could get him against the fence and land some good knees on his tiring foe. Taking advantage of this moment, Bodão threw some more blows and used a takedown attempt from Massaranduba to take him down and start hammering him with shots from half guard.

The charismatic man from Team Wanderlei tried to get back on his feet, but Bodão pushed his dominance against him, and punched him until the bell called for the end of the round.

The tight first round with a slight advantage to Massaranduba, and the dominance of Bodão in the second round led to a third round. But an exhausted Massaranduba wasn’t in condition to fight five more minutes, even with his opponent – in a rare moment in combat sports – trying to motivate Massaranduba to not give up on his dream. The winner – Tiago Bodão.

“I am very happy and confident,” said Bodão. “I’ll leave all this strength that I left up there for Serginho, who is next, and he will represent us. Thanks Brazil, Thank you for the support. Oss.”

“I’m not invincible, right?” said Massaranduba. “I lost it. You must tell the truth. I’m feeling defeated. I don’t like losing, but it comes and we can’t do anything, right? Now I’ll move on with my career, I can’t stop the time.”

Despite representing the rival team, Daniel Sarafian could not contain his tears with Massaranduba’s loss. The tough guy showed his emotional side as he felt with his heart the setback from the man he learned to like inside the house.

Next week, it’s Delson Pé de Chumbo vs. Sergio Moraes for the final spot in the semis.
   
TEAM VITOR

Sérgio Moraes (0-0)  
Cézar Mutante (1-0) submitted  Leonardo Macarrão on  ep. 5
Hugo Wolverine (1-0) beat  Marcos Vinicius “Vina”  by unanimous decision on  ep. 6    
Daniel Serafian (1-0) submitted Reneé Forte on ep. 3
Rodrigo Damm (1-0) beat John Macapá by split division on  ep. 4
Thiago Bodão (1-0)  beat  Massaranduba by withdrawal on ep. 8
Godofredo Pepey (1-0) beat Wagner Galeto by split decision on  ep. 2
Anistávio Gasparzinho (0-1) lost to  Rony Jason by submission on  ep. 7   
       
TEAM WANDERLEI

Delson Pé-de-Chumbo (0-0) 
Rony Jason (1-0) submitted Gasparzinho on ep. 7
John Macapá (0-1) lost to  Rodrigo Damm by split decision on  ep. 4        
Francisco Massaranduba (0-1) lost by withdrawal to Tiago Bodão on  ep. 8
Marcos Vinicius “Vina” (0-1) lost to Hugo Wolverine by unanimous decision on  ep. 6
Reneé Forte (0-1) lost to  Daniel Sarafian by submission on  ep. 3
Wagner Galeto (0-1)  lost to  Godofredo Pepey by split decision on  ep. 2
Leonardo Macarrão (0-1) lost to Cézar Mutante by submission on ep. 5     
 

Since the start of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter Brasil, fight selection happened during the episode aired. But with the narrowing of the featherweight division, the last fight of the quarterfinals was determined on the previous episode, leaving fans to speculate all week not just about what would happen in the fight between Rony Jason and Anistávio Gasparzinho, but to discuss the rumors that the confrontation caused.

The last featherweight fight of the quarterfinals matches two guys that are friends outside the house, but that in TUF Brasil represent rival teams.  This bout divides opinions inside and outside the house. Through the UFC’s social media, many said that the choice is part of being a professional and earning a place in the world renowned Octagon, but at the same time, fans did not like the choice of a match between friends.

In the house, the two fighters in the most talked about fight of the season thus far have a confusion of feelings. The discontent is visible, but it is a mission that must be fulfilled in search of the goal that each one of them had from the moment they signed up for the reality show.
      
In a private conversation, Wagner Galeto and Jason (Team Wanderlei) talk about Vitor’s decision and wonder if Gasparzinho has been scheming with the coach of his team, and also show concern about Jason’s cardio.  From the green team, Godofredo Pepey talks with Gasparzinho about what he heard from Jason about his performance in the elimination fight. The fighter in the last featherweight quarterfinal claims that Jason has already shown himself to be mentally shaken, and Sergio Moraes is aware of the cardio problem that Jason has.

After the official weigh-in for the fight, Team Wanderlei took the free time to get in their share of teasing, using a Vitor Belfort photo in the training center to glue on a mustache, tie, hat, scar and a tattoo on the belly button. This is common on TUF seasons outside Brazil, but had not happened yet on the Brazilian version.  The leader of Team Vítor took the joke well, while some of his men didn’t take so kindly to it.

Vítor came up with a clever chat to motivate his athletes, saying that Dana White called him, mentioning that he could replace some of his athletes, those who were less motivated. The idea worked as a motivator, despite the distrust of some whether it was true or not.

Wanderlei and Rafael Cordeiro tried to motivate their athletes, and Vina condemned the method used by the coaches, saying they put everything on the athletes’ shoulders. Jason says that is the athlete’s fault, as he’s the one who must understand that it’s all or nothing.

The visit of former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida to the locker room before the fight between Jason x Gasparzinho gave a final motivation to the fighters. The statements of both guys are based on workouts they had in the past, but as the saying goes, “training is training, a fight is a fight.”

Once the fight began, the battle only heated up after a short interruption to check on Gasparzinho, who suffered an accidental finger in the eye. Starting again, Jason attempted a front kick, which was defended by Gasparzinho, who came back with a right hand that made Jason go back and get trapped against the fence. Gasparzinho took advantage of the moment and went in with a flying knee, and even though it wasn’t perfect, it knocked Jason off balance. On the ground, Gasparzinho entered Jason’s guard and quickly went for the armlock. The submission was very tight and it was only a matter of seconds before Mario Yamasaki interrupted the fight immediately, giving Team Wanderlei their first win in the house.

If all the controversy did not appear during the seconds that the fight lasted, in the post-fight, it came in full force. Wanderlei snapped at Vitor about choosing a match between two friends. The atmosphere was heavy, with a lot being said by the former PRIDE middleweight champion, who has a strong opinion about Vitor.

“[He] doesn’t know what a partner is, he has not one friend on earth.”

Vítor fired back, “Sportsmanship. This is a sport. He won [Jason], congratulations.”

Opinions are divided at this time and different points of view are created that will still create much controversy.

With the first victory of Team Wanderlei, the game changes as the choice of the next middleweight fight (Thiago Bodão, Sergio Moraes, Delson Pé de Chumbo and Francisco Massaranduba) will be made by Silva.

 
 

Despite the declaration of war made by Rony Jason and Delson Pé de Chumbo’s idea of sharing rooms according to teams in previous episodes, the atmosphere in the house remains in harmony.

With the score in favor of Team Vitor, 4-0, episode number six of The Ultimate Fighter Brasil is crucial for the hopes of the coaches of Team Wanderlei. The pressure for a victory was already being felt when Renee Forte was submitted by Daniel Sarafian in the third episode, and at that time the score was only 1-0 for the team led by the former UFC light heavyweight champion, Vitor Belfort. Now with the disadvantage hitting epic proportions, the fifth fight inside the house is all or nothing for the blue team.

Leonardo Macarrão‘s recent fight may have worked as a motivator for the upcoming fights of his teammates, because while Macarrão was submitted, he showed a strong will and great Muay Thai before succumbing.

Some fighters are already starting to look at what lies ahead, even though Cezar Mutante is saying that the most important is the next fight and not what happens beyond that.

It is clear that Vitor’s pupils know that they may face each other soon.  With the reality show unfolding, the paths start to get narrow and the choice for the featherweight bout will leave the next fight of the division defined.

In an agreement between the coaches, the sequence of the fights involves only the featherweight division of the house, and Vitor’s choice is Marcus Vinicius “Vina” Pancini and Hugo “Wolverine” Viana for the last fight before the quarterfinals.

Back at the house, the athletes that will fight have the right to a “gastronomic spree” one day before the fight, and Vina and Wolverine don’t waste time to get this job done.

Godfredo Pepey returns to being the center of attention in the house because of his posture, and the rival team thinks he’s cocky. This keeps Pepey away from some, and the first impression they got from him won’t be changing anytime soon.

This week’s fight begins with good movement from both, and Wolverine gets the better punches off before clinching, and Vina responds with a knee to the waistline. Trying to seize the moment, he applies more knees that force Wolverine to let go of the clinch and use his boxing. Separated, Wolverine uses an overhand right, making Vina lose balance.           

Later, Vina, a Bahia native, found the perfect distance to get in and out of his opponent’s guard, using his fists well. But a second of lost balance from Wanderlei’s pupil made Wolverine finish the round better, and a takedown followed by some ground and pound guaranteed a 10-9 round for the athlete from Team Vitor.

After studying his foe at the beginning of the second round, Vina delivered a strong low kick to Hugo’s left thigh. Round two also had a unique moment on the ground when Vina went for the takedown, got a knee, but couldn’t keep his opponent on the ground.

Once standing, Wolverine intended to keep the same pace with his striking and leg kicks, but Vina had his best moment with a series of knees in the best Muay Thai style. Wolverine tried to get out of the opponent’s dominance, and despite moving forward all the time, the pace of the second round also affected Vina. Failing to score consistently in those five minutes, he wasn’t able to convince the judges that he deserved the round, and at the end of the bout, Wolverine won via unanimous decision to move forward in the competition.

“What makes us upset is that I know that his ability is far greater than what he showed,” said Wanderlei of Vina.

“I’m so happy I could show a little more of my martial art,” celebrated Wolverine, a Salvador native.

After the celebrations and lamentations from the two participants in the fight of episode six, Rafael Cordeiro, the most experienced coach of Team Wanderlei, showed his dissatisfaction  with the performance of the defeated athlete who was not listening to the instructions of the blue corner.

And while Vitor’s team is now up 5-0, the next three athletes led by Wanderlei – Pé de Chumbo, Massaranduba and Ronny Jason – will have a chance to redeem their team should they get to the finals and, consequently, win the season title. But that’s an arduous task, with five of their teammates already out of the competition and with little motivation.
 
TEAM VÍTOR 
Cézar Mutante  (1-0) Submitted Leonardo Macarrão on  ep. 5 
Hugo Wolverine (1-0) Beat Marcus Vinicius “Vina” by unanimous decision on ep.
6 
Daniel Serafian (1-0) Submitted  Reneé Forte on ep. 3 
Rodrigo Damm (1-0) Beat  John Macapá by split division on ep. 4 
Thiago Bodão (0-0) 
Godofredo Pepey (1-0) Beat Wagner Galeto by split division on ep. 2 
Sérgio Moraes (0-0) 
Anistávio Gasparzinho (0-0) 
 
TEAM WANDERLEI 
Delson Pé-de-Chumbo (0-0) 
John Macapá (0-1)Lost to Rodrigo Damm by split decision on ep. 4 
Francisco Massaranduba (0-0) 
Marcus Vinicius “Vina” (0-1) Lost to  Hugo Wolverine by unanimous decision on  ep. 6 
Reneé Forte (0-1) Lost to Daniel Sarafian by submission on  ep. 3 
Wagner Galeto (0-1)Lost to Godofredo Pepey by split decision on  ep. 2 
Leonardo Macarrão (0-1)Lost to  Cézar Mutante by submission on ep. 5
Rony Jason (0-0)

 

The result of the fight on episode four of TUF Brasil still resonates in the house as episode five begins. Rodrigo Damm beat John Macapá in a battle that opened the door for many different opinions, but the only ones that count are those of the judges, and they decided that Damm won by a split decision.

The choice of the second middleweight fight made by Vitor Belfort once again provoked debate, and the view that the residents of the house have about Cezar Mutante and his relationship with the team coach leaves room for the word “protection,” making things very uncomfortable. Some say that Vitor chooses the less difficult match for his pupil, leaving athletes like Sergio Moraes – who broke down in tears because he felt like he was on the outside looking in – the task to go up against the toughest opponents.

In Vitor’s customary pre-fight selection speech, Wanderlei showed his discomfort, and he took advantage of the absence of Rodrigo Damm, who took the day off, to pepper his rival with technical questions.

Leonardo Macarrão, who had the hardest elimination fight of TUF Brazil, was Vitor’s option to face Cezar Mutante. Clearly the reach of Mutante will be a problem for Macarrão, who will also need to overcome the pressure of winning the first bout for Team Wanderlei.

From the training center of TUF Brazil to the house, where Gasparzinho camped out with his baggage in the garden so he is always alerted by the presence of frogs, the rest of the competitors start to get concerned about the mess. Some of the athletes don’t have organizational habits, and the living conditions make a lot of people very uncomfortable. Needless to say, a task force will be needed for cleaning up.

One of the most discrete members of the house, Vina, thinks about the routine of some who seem to have no focus to go to the end of the season. According to the Team Wanderlei member, these guys can’t wait to see a camera in order to do something to show off and cause trouble.

Show off? Oh, come on, right Gasparzinho? Impersonating a radio announcer, the hilarious member of Team Vítor teases Damm, saying he is boring, while interacting with Serginho and Wolverine. Damm rejects Gasparzinho’s joke and it is clear that the two aren’t so friendly with each other, although they are on the same team.

Before the weigh in, Mutante tries to style his shirt with some sayings and makes a mistake when writing “voceis.” Mutante becomes the target of jokes from his companions, and they keep pointing his attention to the error that may have left all his Portuguese teachers ashamed.

With his traditional subtlety, one of the most popular fighters that hasn’t competed yet, Francisco Massaranduba, gives the formula to solve the problem of the disappearance of Gasparzinho’s things and its consequences.

Now it’s off to the fight, and before receiving a straight left that shook him, Macarrão hit two good leg kicks. Losing a chance at the outset, the member of Team Vítor pressured when Macarrão recovered and received a left and a right hand that made Mutante walk backwards. Even with a nosebleed, Macarrão showed better Muay Thai, and he shook Cezar with a sequence of punches. An unsuccessful takedown attempt by Mutante was defended by Macarrão, and even though he went down the second time, they got up to finish the round.

Using the old saying from the early days of MMA fighters – if you want to take me to the ground, I will punch and kick you, and if you punch and kick me, I’ll take you to the ground – Mutante applied a beautiful takedown and quickly passed guard. Using his long arms, he was roping Macarrão’s neck before pulling guard and finishing the fight with a guillotine choke at 1:05 of the second round.

“Yeah, I knew I made a great fight, but to me a good fight is the one you win. If I lost it, it wasn’t a good fight,” said Macarrão.

The winner of the day, even showing weaknesses that could be exploited by future opponents, said, “Fortunately we executed the right strategy. I heard the coaches change the strategy from one round to the other and I got the submission.”

Now, the score is 4-0 for Team Vitor, demanding some emergency action from Wanderlei and his staff.

As expected, the excessive joking of Anistávio Gasparzinho is bothering his training partners and the rival team. The peak of misunderstanding happens when the athletes decide to sleep and Gasparzinho, electric as always, starts a session of noise, singing and pulling Rony Jason‘s sheets from him.

Rony doesn’t take the jokes so well, and after having his sleep interrupted and talking to the athletes of the opposing team about his insomnia problem, he goes down to hit the punching bag around 4:45 in the morning. It’s a considerable disturbance for Team Vitor.

Later in the training center, Rony goes to Team Vitor’s room to report what happened and explain the reasons which led him to do such a thing in the morning. Head coach Vitor Belfort believes the allegations, but thinks he could have acted differently.

The fourth episode marks the competition’s second match in the featherweight division, and Vitor oozes with confidence as his team is up 2-0, while opposing coach Wanderlei Silva tries to build the confidence of his men so they don’t feel too bad about the disadvantage.

Vitor, Francisco Filho and Luis Dorea take a different strategy to name a team representative and opponent for the next fight, leaving this decision for the day of the announcement. And the new plan doesn’t please everyone, but Rodrigo Damm (Team Vitor) and John Macapa (Team Wanderlei) are chosen.

During the hours before the fight, the two trainers explain to fans the steps for cutting and regaining weight correctly.

Leaving theory aside, it’s time for action! At first the two strikers go hard while trading 1-2s. Macapa has the advantage early, forcing Rodrigo to seek the takedown with a single leg. Rodrigo showed his wrestling credentials to get the takedown, but didn’t keep Macapa on the ground for long. Standing again, the member of Team Wanderlei was in control until Damm got the takedown again. This time, he was working to pass the guard, which didn’t happen, allowing them to get back on their feet, with more bombs being thrown at will.

Round number two began with Rodrigo trying two takedown attempts, but Macapa was alert and his sprawls were accurate. The two failed attempts by Damm made Macapa more confident and he kept the pressure on. An accidental finger in the eye of Macapa stopped the fight momentarily, but did not diminish the aggression of the Team Wanderlei member. And while Macapa had the advantage, he got taken down in the final seconds, which left a doubt in the eyes of the judges, and a third round was needed to undo this tie.

A give and take of punches started in the decisive round, and Damm tried to take Macapa down without any success. Macapa had good combinations with his hands and got off a leg kick. At this point, the titles Damm won in wrestling helped him out of an area of discomfort when he applied a beautiful takedown and began working with punches until passing the guard. With less than 20 seconds to go, Damm took advantage of an attempted takedown from Macapa to try a kimura lock, but this hard-fought battle was going to the scorecards, where Damm won by a 2-1 nod, putting Team Vitor ahead 3-0 in the competition over Team Wanderlei.

“It was one of the toughest fights I’ve ever done in my life,” said the winner of the three round war.

Meanwhile, the leader of Team Wanderlei showed all his indignation with the result, saying that Damm was holding throughout the fight and offered no danger, not even once.

For the next episode, Team Vitor still has the advantage of choosing the fights, and in an attempt to turn the tables, Wanderlei and his coaches will need a new course of action while not letting the team lose faith.

The confidence that Team Vítor’s first victory brought is evident. Even though each fighter still has to make his own way and advance in the Ultimate Fighter Brasil competition, a good portion of the former UFC light heavyweight champion’s staff seemed to have a huge weight taken off their shoulders with the split decision victory of Godofredo Pepey over Wagner Galeto in last week’s episode. The pressure is now on the shoulders of the rival team, which, according to coach Wanderlei Silva, was expecting to take control of the action at this time.

Instead, Belfort’s team holds all the cards heading into this week’s bout. Much has been said that in the opening fight in the middleweight division, Vitor would put Cezar Mutante (his protege, according to Wanderlei ‘s team) to face Leonardo Macarrão – who still shows the visible signs of his previous fight in the qualifiers – or Francisco Massaranduba.

But looking at the vibe and excitement of Daniel Serafian, Team Vítor chooses to pick him. The man from São Paulo made his remarks to avoid a confrontation with Delson Pé De Chumbo, and he opens up to the possibility of facing Macarrão or Renee Forte.

At the time of the fight selection, the contrasts between the two coaches become even more visible, which should sharpen the rivalry leading up to their own rematch this summer. While Vítor tried to pass a good message to the opposing team, Wanderlei gave his thoughts and among them he said, “The guy asked to be boring, and entered three times in line … So I leave the question which rules the world, ‘does the annoying person know he’s annoying?’”

Vítor surprised the opposing team by choosing Renee, who stood waiting for Mutante, but instead received Daniel Serafian as an opponent.

In the house, Pé de Chumbo, one of the most experienced men in the competition, brings up the subject of being serious from now on. According to him, the ideal is to regulate the routine more and separate the teams in the rooms as well, since the teams are already defined. This decision divides opinions.

 Without letting him pass unnoticed, here comes Gasparzinho, “the most discreet athlete of the house,” who is still doing pranks with both teams. Some of the jokes were not well accepted, and even teammate Rodrigo Damm told him about the thin line between pranks and lack of respect.

The differences of the teams are not only in the color of their jerseys, but also in their pre-fight approach: Team Vítor relied on faith, while Team Wanderlei stepped on the gas when it came to fooling around. In addition, a special visit from the heavyweight champion, Junior “Cigano” dos Santos, gave a special excitement to both teams before the moment of truth.

A combination that ended with a low kick from Serafian was the first moment of action in the fight against Renee. A left hook followed by a straight right gave an answer, and both went to the fence. Renee pushed and came up with two more right punches, and Daniel wanted to get the Thai clinch, but ended up taking the fight to the ground, staying on top. The pupil of Belfort tried to work, but the fight was a battle of positioning, and they soon returned to the feet. Serafian caught a knee, but apparently had more gas than his opponent. Renee remained a little hesitant in front of Serafian, and in the last 10 seconds, Serafian almost got the mount, but the bell rang, marking the end of the first five minutes.

Between rounds, Renee was told that it was time to get moving in the second round, since he had lost the first. The message seemed to have put an extra pressure on the fighter, who froze and saw Serafian grow even more. Oozing determination, the man from São Paulo used his standup game more easily and then got a takedown. He went on to dominate, and in a beautiful move, he took advantage of the opening provided by Renee’s decision to stand back up to take his back and get a choke.

An injury early in the fight explained the passivity of the defeated.

“He (Renee) told me that he kicked Serafian in the beginning and injured his foot; he felt a lot of pain in his foot,” said Wanderlei.

Vítor saw things differently.

“He defended well, and Renee is a very strong fighter, very talented. Renee needs guidance, I think.”

“If it was an event in the UFC, he surely would have won the Submission of the Night,” Cigano exalted.

With his team now down 2-0, Renee said he felt the pressure put on him by the team, and one of the trainers, the super talented Rafael Cordeiro, could not contain himself, shouting, “It wasn’t good, you didn’t fight well, let’s be real about it. It wasn’t good, it was a s***** fight. Let’s face it, your fight was terrible. We won’t cover  the sun with a sieve, you didn’t do 10% of your potential.”

Vítor is still calling the shots of the fights after his team’s second straight win, and Wanderlei needs to start winning or another defeat could shake the structure of all the team. Will this responsibility on his shoulders bring extra motivation or discourage him? Wait for the next few weeks to find out.