The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos is the thirteenth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...

 produced reality television

Reality television

Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...

 series The Ultimate Fighter

The Ultimate Fighter

The Ultimate Fighter is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts competition produced by Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship , and soon to be shown on FX. The show features unknown, professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, Nevada, and follows them as...

.

The UFC and Spike TV held open tryouts on November 4, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

. The casting call went out for Welterweight

Welterweight (MMA)

The welterweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:*The UFC's & Strikeforce's welterweight division, which groups competitors within 156 to 170 lb...

 and Middleweight

Middleweight (MMA)

The middleweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:*UFC's & Strikeforce's middleweight division, which groups competitors within 171 to 185 lb...

 fighters, however, all fighters will be in the welterweight division. All fighters applying and trying out for the show must have at least three professional fights and be at least 21 years of age. Notables who turned up to the tryouts included Strikeforce

Strikeforce

Strikeforce is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts and kickboxing organization based in San Jose, California. It is headed by CEO Scott Coker and owned by Zuffa, LLC...

 veterans Karl Amoussou

Karl Amoussou

Karl Amoussou is a French professional mixed martial artist. Amoussou is a M-1 Global, Dream and Strikeforce veteran and has fought for Cage Warriors.-MMA career:...

, Andre Galvao

André Galvão

André Luis Galvão is a Brazilian grappler and professional mixed martial artist. He has won the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship and IBJJF Pan American Championships multiple times and has also taken third place in the 2007 ADCC World Championship at both -77 kg and openweight...

, and Zak Cummings

Zak Cummings

Zak Cummings is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Cummings has mostly fought in his home state of Missouri.- Background:...

, and former TUF contestants Frank Lester

Frank Lester

Frank Lester VC was an English soldier in the British Army during the First World War, and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy awarded to British Commonwealth forces.Lester was born on 18 February 1896 in Huyton, near...

 & Jeremiah Riggs

Jeremiah Riggs

Jeremiah Riggs is an American professional wrestler, and mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight and middleweight divisions. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Riggs has made a name for himself mainly fighting in the Midwest, and his homestate of Mississippi...

.

It was confirmed during the Fight For The Troops 2 conference call that Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar

Brock Edward Lesnar is an American mixed martial artist, actor and a former professional and amateur wrestler. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and is ranked the No.5 Heavyweight in the world by Sherdog...

 and Junior dos Santos

Junior dos Santos

Junior dos Santos Almeida, also known as Junior Cigano , is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. Dos Santos fights in the Heavyweight division, under the tutelage of former UFC and Pride Heavyweight Champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and UFC...

 would be the coaches for this season.

This season did not feature an elimination round like the two seasons before it, however, the "wild card" selections introduced in season 11 were still featured. The initial cast was 14 fighters rather than the usual 16, 28 or 32 in recent seasons.

On May 12, 2011, midway through the airing of the season, Dana White

Dana White

Dana White is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship , a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.- Biography :...

 announced that Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar

Brock Edward Lesnar is an American mixed martial artist, actor and a former professional and amateur wrestler. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and is ranked the No.5 Heavyweight in the world by Sherdog...

 pulled out of the coaches' fight due to the return of diverticulitis

Diverticulitis

Diverticulitis is a common digestive disease particularly found in the large intestine. Diverticulitis develops from diverticulosis, which involves the formation of pouches on the outside of the colon...

, forcing Lesnar to withdraw from the bout.

Coaches

Team Lesnar:

• Brock Lesnar
  Brock Lesnar
  Brock Edward Lesnar is an American mixed martial artist, actor and a former professional and amateur wrestler. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and is ranked the No.5 Heavyweight in the world by Sherdog...
  
  
• Marty Morgan
• Erik Paulson
• Rodrigo Medeiros
  Rodrigo Medeiros
  Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. His nickname, Comprido, is Portuguese for "long". Rodrigo began BJJ at the age of sixteen...
  
  
• Greg Nelson
• Chris Manos
• Matt Hughes
  Matt Hughes (fighter)
  Matthew Allen Hughes is an American mixed martial artist, UFC Hall of Famer, and former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion. Hughes put together two separate six-fight winning streaks in the UFC, won the welterweight title on two occasions, defended the belt a record seven times, and holds the...
  
   (guest coach)

Team dos Santos:

• Junior dos Santos
  Junior dos Santos
  Junior dos Santos Almeida, also known as Junior Cigano , is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. Dos Santos fights in the Heavyweight division, under the tutelage of former UFC and Pride Heavyweight Champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and UFC...
  
  
• Antonio Peinado (Batista)
• Billy Scheibe
• Lew Polley
• Luiz Dorea

Fighters

(In order in which they were picked)

• Team Lesnar
• Len Bentley, Charlie Rader, Tony Ferguson
  Tony Ferguson (fighter)
  Tony Ferguson is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division for the UFC. Ferguson was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs...
  
  , Clay Harvison
  Clay Harvison
  Clayton Harvison is a American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Harvison has made a name for himself fighting in his homestate of Georgia. He was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs...
  
  , Chris Cope
  Chris Cope
  Chris Cope is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Cope has made a name for himself fighting on the regional circuit in California. He was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos...
  
  , Nordin Asrih, Chuck O'Neil
  Chuck O'Neil
  Chuck O'Neil is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, O'Neil has fought all over the Massachusetts area, building an 8-3 record on the regional circuit even having a 1-0 stint in Bellator Fighting Championships...
  
   (replaced Myles Jury who left in episode 1 with torn ACL)

• Team dos Santos
• Shamar Bailey
  Shamar Bailey
  Shamar Bailey is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Bailey has made a name for himself fighting in the Midwest, and his 1-1 stint with Strikeforce. He was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs...
  
  , Ryan McGillivray
  Ryan McGillivray
  Ryan McGillivray is a Canadian mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, McGillivray was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos.-Early life:...
  
  , Javier Torres, Ramsey Nijem
  Ramsey Nijem
  Ramsey Nijem is a Palestinian-American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight and lightweight divisions. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Nijem has made a name for himself fighting in Utah. He was a finalist on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs...
  
  , Zach Davis, Mick Bowman, Justin Edwards
  Justin Edwards (fighter)
  Justin Ross Edwards is an American mixed martial artist competing in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Edwards has made a name for himself fighting in the Midwest. He was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos...
  
   (replaced Keon Caldwell who left in episode 2 for family reasons )

Episodes

Episode 1: Something to Prove

• Dana White
  Dana White
  Dana White is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship , a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.- Biography :...
  
   welcomed 14 fighters to the UFC training facility and announced that all 14 would automatically get into the house. He also announced the return of the wildcard format.
• The coaches for the season were introduced. They then went on to evaluate the fighters.
• During the evaluations, Myles Jury got injured and was checked out by a doctor, who said that nothing was broken but wanted to do an MRI.
• Both coaches met in Dana White's office to go through the fighter picks. The coin toss was won by Brock Lesnar, who chose to pick the first fighter leaving dos Santos with first choice of match-ups.
• Myles Jury was told he had a torn ACL & was forced off the show. Dana White promised that he would get a second shot into the UFC after he heals up.
• Dos Santos announced that Shamar Bailey
  Shamar Bailey
  Shamar Bailey is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Bailey has made a name for himself fighting in the Midwest, and his 1-1 stint with Strikeforce. He was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs...
  
   will face Nordin Asrih.
• Shamar Bailey defeated Nordin Asrih via unanimous decision after 2 rounds.

Episode 2: Suck It Up

• Keon Caldwell struggled during an intense Team dos Santos training session and vomited. He told dos Santos that it was hard for him to be away from his family.
• Brock Lesnar admitted that he expected to lose the first fight between his sixth pick, Nordin Asrih and Team dos Santos' top pick, Shamar Bailey.
• Caldwell told dos Santos the next day that he wanted to go home. Dos Santos and later Dana White encourage to him to keep going. After initially agreeing to continue, Caldwell later changed his mind and left the show.
• Dos Santos announced that Javier Torres
  Javier Torres
  Javier Torres is a Mexican-American amateur boxer in the Super Heavyweight division. He's currently the second rated amateur boxers in the Super Heavyweight division, for the U.S. National team.-Personal life:...
  
   would face Chris Cope
  Chris Cope
  Chris Cope is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Cope has made a name for himself fighting on the regional circuit in California. He was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos...
  
  .
• Chris Cope defeated Javier Torres via unanimous decision after 3 rounds.

Episode 3: Chicken Salad

• Brock Lesnar's "making chicken salad out of chickens**t" comment confused his team, but he recovered by telling his fighters they became chicken salad once they had made it onto the show, and he also told them to stay motivated.
• Justin Edwards
  Justin Edwards (fighter)
  Justin Ross Edwards is an American mixed martial artist competing in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Edwards has made a name for himself fighting in the Midwest. He was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos...
  
  , a former Bellator fighter and 6-0 in his MMA career, arrived to replace Keon Caldwell on Team dos Santos.
• Dos Santos' wrestling coach, Lew Polley, ran an intense training session that eventually resulted in Shamar Bailey being cut above the eye.
• Lesnar announced that Len Bentley would face Ryan McGillivray
  Ryan McGillivray
  Ryan McGillivray is a Canadian mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, McGillivray was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos.-Early life:...
  
  .
• Chris Cope was seen hanging out with Team dos Santos a lot, making the rest of Team Lesnar wonder what his motives were. Bentley seemed especially suspicious and asked Lesnar to talk to Cope, who told Bentley to calm down and fight.
• Dissatisfied with Polley's training sessions, dos Santos reminded him that the competition is a team effort, not his own.
• Four hours prior to weigh-in, McGillivray weighed 180 lb, so he cut the weight in 45 minutes with Polley and dos Santos in an Epsom salt bath. Both fighters weighed in at 170 lb.
• Maurício "Shogun" Rua paid a visit to dos Santos in support of his team and to watch the fight cageside.
• Lesnar was absent from the fight due to personal reasons.
• Ryan McGillivray defeated Len Bentley via majority decision after 2 rounds.

Episode 4: A Bad Dream

• Lesnar returned after leaving before the Len Bentley - Ryan McGillivray fight and congratulated Bentley on his efforts. Lesnar showed a commitment to getting wins from his four remaining fighters yet to compete: Charlie Rader, Tony Ferguson, Clay Harvison, and Chuck O'Neil.
• Lesnar removed Harvison from a training session momentarily for looking distracted and not committed. He also was angry with Rader for the same reasons.
• Dos Santos announced that Ramsey Nijem
  Ramsey Nijem
  Ramsey Nijem is a Palestinian-American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight and lightweight divisions. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Nijem has made a name for himself fighting in Utah. He was a finalist on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs...
  
   would face Charlie Rader.
• Lesnar invited Matt Hughes
  Matt Hughes (fighter)
  Matthew Allen Hughes is an American mixed martial artist, UFC Hall of Famer, and former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion. Hughes put together two separate six-fight winning streaks in the UFC, won the welterweight title on two occasions, defended the belt a record seven times, and holds the...
  
   as a guest instructor for wrestling techniques.
• Ramsey Nijem defeated Charlie Rader via rear-naked choke at 3:31 of round 2.
• Lesnar and O'Neil were visibly upset. Inside the dressing room, Lesnar began to scold the team, prompting Bentley to storm out of the room.

Episode 5: Wow Me

• As Lesnar continued to scold his team after Charlie Rader's loss to Ramsey Nijem, Len Bentley came back into the room, and Lesnar questioned his toughness. He said that Chris Cope (the only Team Lesnar fighter to win his bout through four prelimary fights) is the only one that has impressed him so far.
• Back at the house, Bentley continued to vent his frustration and showed his dislike of Lesnar.
• Dos Santos announced that Mick Bowman would face Clay Harvison
  Clay Harvison
  Clayton Harvison is a American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Harvison has made a name for himself fighting in his homestate of Georgia. He was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs...
  
  .
• At a Team dos Santos training session, dos Santos was drilling boxing techniques when wrestling coach Lew Polley took over, leaving dos Santos unhappy with him.
• As Harvison trained for his upcoming bout, he was annoyed that Cope was watching him. Harvison said in a confessional he knew "a shady person" when he saw one.
• Someone wrote "Chris Cope Double Agent" in the sand in the zen garden. Cope asked his team whether they thought he was a spy or not, and most of the team said they had "suspicions". Later that night, Cope entered the team bedroom and blamed Tony Ferguson for the message in the sand, based on handwriting similarities. Things got heated and everyone was paranoid.
• Bowman confessed to a few of his teammates that he wrote the message, saying "it was only meant to be a bit of fun". Ironically, his motive was that he sometimes thought that Cope was hanging around his team to bring information back to Team Lesnar.
• Clay Harvison defeated Mick Bowman via unanimous decision after 2 rounds.
• During the fight, Harvison had blocked a switch kick with his hand, breaking his pinky finger with the bone sticking out of the skin. His TUF stint was in jeopardy.

Episode 6: Mean Streak

• During a sparring session, Len Bentley collapsed in pain holding his knee. Lesnar was bothered by the injuries his team was sustaining.
• Harvison and Bentley were both at the hospital where they found that both their respective injuries were nothing too serious.
• dos Santos discovered that Lew Polley tried to visit the fighters' house on his own which made him feel like Polley was overstepping his boundaries once again. Dos Santos asked fellow coach, Luiz Dorea, for advice. Following Dorea's advice, dos Santos decides to send Polley home.
• Brock Lesnar announces the match-ups: Tony Ferguson
  Tony Ferguson (fighter)
  Tony Ferguson is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division for the UFC. Ferguson was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs...
  
   vs. Justin Edwards and Chuck O'Neil
  Chuck O'Neil
  Chuck O'Neil is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, O'Neil has fought all over the Massachusetts area, building an 8-3 record on the regional circuit even having a 1-0 stint in Bellator Fighting Championships...
  
   vs. Zach Davis.
• Tony Ferguson defeated Justin Edwards via knockout (up-kick) at 3:56 of round 1.
• Zach Davis defeated Chuck O'Neil via submission (triangle choke) at 3:20 of round 1.
• The wildcard match-ups are decided. Justin Edwards was picked, but was told that he cannot compete due to being suspended by the athletic commission.
• The wildcard match-ups are announced: Javier Torres vs. Chuck O'Neil
  Chuck O'Neil
  Chuck O'Neil is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, O'Neil has fought all over the Massachusetts area, building an 8-3 record on the regional circuit even having a 1-0 stint in Bellator Fighting Championships...
  
  .

Episode 7: It's Just Good To Win

• Len Bentley of Team Lesnar was confused about why he wasn't chosen for the wildcard match-up. He confronted Dana White about it but instead, asked for a rematch with Ryan McGillivray at the finale.
• Shamar Bailey and Chris Cope got into a confrontation. Bailey stated that he was annoyed with Cope yelling "woo" and that he wanted to fight him.
• Junior dos Santos defeats Brock Lesnar in the Coaches' Challenge which involved football drills. After winning, dos Santos gave his share of the cash prize with members of Team Lesnar excluding Brock himself.
• Chuck O'Neil defeats Javier Torres via submission (d'arce choke) in round 2.
• The quarter-finals matches are announced:
• Ramsey Nijem vs. Clay Harvison
• Shamar Bailey vs. Chris Cope
• Zach Davis vs. Chuck O'Neil
• Ryan McGillivray vs. Tony Ferguson

Episode 8: Shut Him Up

• Shamar Bailey confided to his teammate about a back injury he had.
• UFC middleweight, Brian Stann
  Brian Stann
  Brian Michael Stann is an American mixed martial artist and former US Marine who competes as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a former WEC Light Heavyweight champion...
  
  , arrived at the gym to give a pep-talk to the fighters.
• Ramsey Nijem defeated Clay Harvison via submission (rear-naked choke) in round 1.
• Chris Cope asked his teammate, Nordin Asrih, for advice on fighting Shamar Bailey.
• Chris Cope defeated Shamar Bailey via unanimous decision after two rounds.

Episode 9: Then It Turned Ugly

• Chuck O'Neil tried to share the $5000 he earned in his finish bonus, with his friend, Charlie Rader. It is revealed that Rader owes child support and hadn't seen his child in over a year.
• Chuck O'Neil defeated Zach Davis via unanimous decision after two rounds.
• Zach Davis returned to the house and reveals that he had suffered torn retinas in both his eyes. He said that the doctors have told him that he could no longer fight and that he would have to retire.
• Tony Ferguson defeated Ryan McGillivray via TKO (punches) 0:46 in round 1
• The semi-finals matches were announced:
• Ramsey Nijem vs. Chris Cope
• Tony Ferguson vs. Chuck O'Neil
• Both teams joined together to party after the fights. Charlie Rader poured alcohol on Tony Ferguson as a joke, but Ferguson reacted badly. Both got into a heated confrontation which lead to Tony Ferguson mentioning Rader's problems involving his son. Members of both teams tried to break-up the fight. Ferguson left to cool off in the pool while the others comforted Rader inside, but when Ferguson came back, he started where he left off. The argument was finally settled but both teams were angered and disgusted by Ferguson's actions.

Episode 10: The Biggest Test

• Tony Ferguson apologized to his team about his actions, but his team did not believe that his apology was sincere.
• Ramsey Nijem defeated Chris Cope via TKO (punches) in round 2
• Tony Ferguson defeated Chuck O'Neil via TKO (punches) in round 3
• Following the conclusion of the episode, Brock Lesnar
  Brock Lesnar
  Brock Edward Lesnar is an American mixed martial artist, actor and a former professional and amateur wrestler. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and is ranked the No.5 Heavyweight in the world by Sherdog...
  
   phoned Dana White to tell him that he had to pull out of his bout with Junior dos Santos
  Junior dos Santos
  Junior dos Santos Almeida, also known as Junior Cigano , is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. Dos Santos fights in the Heavyweight division, under the tutelage of former UFC and Pride Heavyweight Champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and UFC...
  
   at UFC 131. Dana went on to say that Lesnar would be replaced by Shane Carwin
  Shane Carwin
  Shane Bannister Carwin is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship , where he was previously the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion...
  
  .

Finale

The finale was held on June 4, 2011, at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

• Welterweight bout:   Ramsey Nijem
  Ramsey Nijem
  Ramsey Nijem is a Palestinian-American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight and lightweight divisions. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Nijem has made a name for himself fighting in Utah. He was a finalist on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs...
  
   vs.   Tony Ferguson
  Tony Ferguson (fighter)
  Tony Ferguson is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division for the UFC. Ferguson was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs...
  
  

Ferguson defeated Nijem via KO (punches) at 3:54 of round 1 to become the Season 13 Welterweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter.

Tournament bracket