The infamous “brawl” episode of TUF Brazil 3 finally aired yesterday, giving us a complete picture of what led up to Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen tussling on the gym floor, and it’s honestly one of the funniest moments in TUF history. Silva instigates the situation by punching his palm and repeating the word “soon!” at Sonnen, like a schoolyard bully from a Disney movie. He spits at Sonnen’s feet, and I hate to make insulting comparisons here, but it’s the kind of thing that a llama or ape would do.
Chael remains as a cucumber, though: “How do you feel when you say crazy things like that to me, when I’ve been challenging you for years. You ever feel weird about that?”
At the 0:40 mark, I kid you not, Wanderlei says that Sonnen is going to have a daymare. Goodness, the English language offers so many possibilities for clever turns of phrase. But the best part is when Chael tries to grill Wandy on when exactly they’re going to fight. Of course, Wandy doesn’t have a clear answer for that. Then, Silva does some kind of slapping thing in front of Chael’s face, and the next time Silva closes distance on him, it’s on. Before you know it, Sonnen is on top of Silva, and Andre “Dida” Amade — who is an assistant coach on the show, not a competitor — is slugging Sonnen in the back of the head and ripping his jersey.
And that’s when this whole incident goes from comedy to tragedy. Sonnen called Dida’s behavior “straight-up illegal”, and he might have a point there. Just because you’re sucker-punched on a reality show doesn’t mean that normal assault rules don’t apply. Right? I have no idea, actually; I’ve never been on a Brazilian reality show. But I hear good things.
A few more important notes about this episode, via Wikipedia:
– “The next heavyweight fight is supposed to be announced by Wanderlei, but he’s nowhere to be found. He finally arrives and the fight is revealed: Richardson Moreira vs. Job Kleber. Sonnen argues about Wanderlei’s excuses to be late and even mentions that he smells alcohol from his opponent.”
“Both teams participate in a challenge to write TUF: Brasil using a strings-based device that requires them to work together so the words are correctly written and approved by a professor. Team Sonnen finally ends their overall losing streak and Hortência announces that their team will participate in a pajamas party at the house while their opponents will be locked in a room as the party goes on.” [Ed. note: So, one team gets an all-dude pajama party, while the other has to play seven minutes in heaven?]
– “Gabrielle Garcia, a multi-time BJJ world champion, participates as a guest coach in Team Wanderlei’s training session.” [Ed. note: Obviously, this was filmed before her Clomiphene bust.]
– “…André Amade punches [Sonnen] in the back of the head and later brags about punching him and ripping his shirt off. Vinny Magalhães tells [Sonnen] that Amade was punching him, something that he didn’t notice. The entire team is perplexed with Amade’s attitude.”