Coach Brock Lesnar picks Tony Ferguson and Team Dos Santos' Justin Edwards for the next elimination bout on episode six of the mixed martial arts reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter season 13, which leaves Team Lesnar's Chuck O’Neil and Team Dos Santos' Zach Davis for the last elimination bout on the same episode.
In an effort to boost team morale Coach Junior Dos Santos gives a motivating speech before the next elimination bout, but receives a stab in the back by his wrestling coach, Lew Polley, when he openly contradicts Dos Santos and insists on winning safely a la GSP rather than delivering an exciting fight by leaving it all in the cage. To make matters worse, Dos Santos finds out Polley went to the fighters' house without his knowledge and decides to send Polley home.
Lesnar has high hopes for Ferguson to not only make it to the TUF 13 Finale, but to win the much coveted six-figure contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the process. Dos Santos, on the other hand, believes that Edwards will dominate due to his superior stand-up skills.
At first it seems like Dos Santos called it right as Edwards batters Ferguson without mercy. But Ferguson manages to hang in there and trade punches. Edwards maintains the lead with two takedowns although he finds himself in a less dominating position on the ground. When Edwards gets back on his feet after the second takedown, Ferguson stays down on his back and defends with upkicks. Eventually, he brings Edwards down with a kick to the chin and Ferguson follows up with a heavy dose of ground and pound that results in Referee Josh Rosenthal stopping the fight and awarding Ferguson the win via TKO.
Dos Santos masks his shock by pointing out that anything can happen in MMA, while UFC President Dana White is ecstatic about Ferguson's win from behind, so to speak. Needless to say, Lesnar feels validated.
O'Neill and Davis both go into the bout confidently after a productive training session with their respective coaches. It seems like O'Neill slightly underestimates Davis, maybe partly due to Lesnar's demeaning comment of calling him a "klutz." Nevertheless, Davis uses that misperception to his advantage by launching an instant attack with a successful takedown. In spite of O'Neill's big opinion of himself he can't seem to impose his will on Davis on the ground and gets back on his feet. But Davis is determined to keep the fight on the ground and takes O'Neill down two more times before locking him into a triangle choke that seals the deal and forces O'Neill to tap out.
With the elimination bouts on the books White, Lesnar and Dos Santos have to discuss the wild card selections, which will give two fighters who have been eliminated on the show the chance to make it into the quarterfinals. For the first time in TUF history the coaches show true respect for each other, while helping White choose the two fighters who want and deserve another chance the most, regardless of team affiliation.
Ultimately, Javier Torres and Chuck O’Neil get their second shots at becoming The Ultimate Fighter as wild card picks. They will fight each other on episode seven next week at 9 p.m. on Spike TV to earn a slot in the quarterfinals.
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