This season consisted of 12 episodes and a live finale in Brazil. The season tournament finale, along with the coaches fight, took place on June 8, 2013.[1] The show started filming in November 2012 and was in Portuguese. The season was again produced by Floresta, a Brazilian production company, and aired in Brazil on Globo. Each episode was offered over the Internet with English subtitles at TUF.tv.[2]
The UFC held open tryouts for the show in October 2011. The casting call was for Welterweight fighters who are at least 21 years old and have a minimum of two wins in three professional fights. More than 300 contestants showed up, hoping to be one of the 28 fighters selected.[3] On October 30, 2012, it was announced that the coaches for the season would be Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabrício Werdum.[4]
Fighters are told this season will feature a wildcard match, allowing for the two best losing fighters, as selected by their coaches, to return.
The fights to get into the house were divided into two parts, half on this episode and half on the second episode.
The preliminary fights began:
Pedro Iriê defeated Wande Lopes Santana by TKO (punches) in the first round.
Marcio Santos defeated Daniel Oliveira by submission (rear naked choke) in the first round.
William Macário defeated Roberto Barros Martins Amorim by TKO (cut) in the first round.
Thiago de Lima Santos defeated Gil Freitas by majority decision after two rounds.
Neilson Gomes defeated Felipe Olivieri by unanimous decision after two rounds.
Luiz Dutra Jr. defeated Robson Ferreira by unanimous decision after two rounds.
Tiago Alves defeated Weguimar de Lucena Xavier by submission (kimura) in the second round.
Episode 2
The preliminary fights continued:
Yan Cabral defeated Ronaldo Oliveira Silva by submission (rear naked choke) in the first round.
Cleiton Duarte defeated Bruno Dias by split decision after two rounds.
Leonardo Santos defeated Luciano Contini by TKO (injury) in the first round.
David Vieira defeated Leandro Silva by unanimous decision after two rounds.
Juliano Wandalen defeated Henrique Batista by submission (rear naked choke) in the third round.
Viscardi Andrade defeated Thiago Goncalves by majority decision after two rounds.
Santiago Ponzinibbio defeated Thiago Silva by TKO (punches) in the second round.
Following the preliminary fights, the two coaches were allowed to choose their teams and a coin was flipped (green for Nogueira, yellow for Werdum). Werdum won and opted to choose the first fight, so Nogueira got to choose the first fighter. The fighters were chosen in the following order:
Coach
1st Pick
2nd Pick
3rd Pick
4th Pick
5th Pick
6th Pick
7th Pick
Nogueira
Luiz Dutra, Jr.
Santiago Ponzinibbio
Neilson Gomes
Leonardo Santos
David Vieira
William Macário
Cleiton Duarte
Werdum
Pedro Iriê
Yan Cabral
Tiago Alves
Viscardi Andrade
Marcio Santos
Juliano Wandalen
Thiago de Lima Santos
While the green team is out training, Team Werdum destroys the mattresses (including their own) as a prank by skipping on them on the pool and sledding them on the hills. This meant that both teams are forced to sleep on the floor for the rest of the season.
Episode 3
Angered at the mattress destruction, Team Nogueira decided to attempt revenge on the yellow team by spraying shaving foam into their shoes. However, they mistook the coaches' shoes for the fighters' own. In retaliation, Team Werdum flooded the green team's mats and belongings with foam and flipped over their lockers.
Tiago Alves defeated Cleiton Duarte by unanimous decision after two rounds.
Yan Cabral defeated David Vieira by submission (rear naked choke) in the second round.
Episode 4
Yan Cabral of Team Werdum is eliminated because of a broken hand and is replaced by Daniel Oliveira, whom Marcio Santos defeated in the elimination round.
Neilson Gomes of Team Nogueira is also eliminated due to a torn ligament in his knee and is replaced by Thiago Goncalves, whom Andrade defeated in the elimination round. They will have a rematch to see who will be in the quarterfinals.
Former heavyweight champion Junior "Cigano" dos Santos visited Team Nogueira and gave advice to Goncalves.
Viscardi Andrade defeated Thiago Goncalves by TKO (punches) in the first round.
After the win, Andrade taunted Nogueira and created tension between the two teams.
Episode 5
Werdum announces the next bout as Thiago de Lima Santos against Macario
Thiago Santos states that he and Macario were scheduled to fight twice before but it never happened so this is the fight he wanted.
William Macário defeated Thiago de Lima Santos by unanimous decision after two rounds.
Having regained control, Nogueira announces the fifth fight as Leonardo Santos vs. Juliano Wandalen.
Felipe Werdum plays a practical joke by depicting a black magic ritual in Team Nogueira's locker room, resulting in a food fight between the two teams.
Leonardo Santos defeated Juliano Wandalen by unanimous decision after two rounds.
Team Nogueira declares they are now on a comeback path after having lost the first three fights.
Episode 6
The show opened with a game of dodgeball between the two teams, with the right to choose the next fight on the line with Team Werdum winning.
For the next fight, Werdum chose Pedro Iriê to face Luiz Dutra, Jr.
Dutra complained of pain in his ribs and went to the doctors, where he was cleared to fight.
Luiz Dutra Jr. defeated Pedro Iriê by submission (rear naked choke) in the first round.
Following the fight, Team Werdum's Daniel Oliveira drew the wrath of Wanderlei Silva when he stated that Dutra was a better athlete.
Episode 7
The final semi-finals elimination round fight is between remaining fighters Marcio Santos and Santiago Ponzinibbio.
Wanderlei Silva gave a speech apologizing to everyone, especially for Daniel Oliveira.
Chuck Liddell was a special guest who showed both teams some of his techniques.
Santiago Ponzinibbio defeated Marcio Santos by TKO (punches) in the first round.
The decision of referee Mario Yamasaki to stop the fight when Santos suffered the knockdown provoked outrage in Team Werdum. Silva accused Yamasaki of halting the fight too early.
White talks with the coaches over the phone to choose the next fight. Werdum picks Oliveira to face Cleiton Duarte.
Episode 8
Daniel Oliveira was chosen to face Cleiton Duarte.
Two eliminated Team Werdum fighters, Thiago Santos and Pedro Iriê, were chosen for the wild card bout for an opportunity to return to the competition.
Oliveira was unable to make weight for his fight and was promptly expelled from the show, allowing Duarte to advance to the next round.
Werdum's team opted not to coach either of his fighters in the wildcard bout.
Thiago Santos defeated Pedro Iriê by unanimous decision after two rounds.
Episode 9
The two met to plan the matchesfor the quarterfinals of the program.
Luiz Dutra, Jr. had an MRI done for pain in his right hand. The test confirmed a torn ligament and he had to withdraw from the competition.
Dutra was very upset over this and cried about it, even begging to fight with one hand. Viera was then chosen to be Dutra's replacement in the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinals were announced:
William Macário vs. Tiago Alves
Leonardo Santos vs. Thiago Santos
David Vieira vs. Viscardi Andrade
Cleiton Duarte vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
The athletes of Team Nogueira and Team Werdum engaged in a series of back-and-forth pranks.
William Macario defeated Tiago Alves by TKO (strikes) in the first round.
Episode 10
This episode featured two fights to advance to the semifinals.
Leonardo Santos defeated Thiago Santos by unanimous decision after two rounds.
Viscardi Andrade defeated David Vieira by unanimous decision after two rounds.
Juliano Wandalen was angered by Werdum's joke that involved putting explosives in Team Nogueira's locker room.
Wandalen then called his coach weak and lacking in leadership. Werdum then decides to kick him off the team, even offering him to Nogueira.
This was the second time for a fighter to be kicked off a team, since Andy Wang of TUF 5.
Episode 11
This episode featured the final quarterfinals round fight.
Before the fight, the coaches took part in a go-kart race for the Coaches' Challenge. Werdum won the race, earning $20,000 for his team.
Santiago Ponzinibbio defeated Cleiton Duarte by unanimous decision after two rounds.
The four semi-finalists feature three Team Nogueira fighters (William Macario, Leonardo Santos, Ponzinibbio) and one Team Werdum fighter (Viscardi Andrade).
Episode 12
William Macário defeated Viscardi Andrade by TKO (punches) in the third round.
Santiago Ponzinibbio defeated Leonardo Santos by unanimous decision after two rounds.
It is revealed at the end of the episode that Ponzinibbio broke his hand during the fight. Santos was chosen to replace him against Macário.
Like previous seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, this season offered bonus awards in three categories. The following fighters were awarded $25,000 bonuses each.[7]
Fight of the Season: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Leonardo Santos
The main event was a heavyweight rematch between The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil season two coaches, and perennial contenders Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabrício Werdum. It is a rematch of the first fight, in Pride, in which Nogueira won by unanimous decision back in 2006.[9][10]
Also featured on the card was the welterweight finals of season two of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.[11] The finals were originally scheduled to be Santiago Ponzinibbio versus William Macário. However, Ponzinibbio broke his hand during his semi-final fight and was replaced by semi-finalist Leonardo Santos.
Derek Brunson was scheduled to face Ronny Markes at the event. However, the bout was scrapped on the day of the weigh in as Markes was involved in a minor traffic accident. While Markes was not seriously injured, the incident prevented him from competing.[14]
This card broke the record for the number of submission finishes on a single UFC event. A total number of eight submission finishes occurred on the card, topping the previous total of 6 that was held by three events.[15]
This was the last UFC to be branded with the Fuel TV brand; on August 17, 2013, Fox Cable Networks discontinued the Speed and Fuel TV channels, replacing them with the Fox Sports 1 and 2 channels. The next Fox Cable UFC matches were branded as UFC Fight Night on FS1.
