Team Vitor scored a 7-1 victory over Team Wanderlei in the first eight bouts of TUF Brazil, so to keep the competition fresh, Dana White, the president of the UFC, decided to intervene, suggesting to switch some of the athletes from one team to another.
It’s the first time we’ve seen TUF in Brazil, but the show has already produced some interesting moments, especially if we take into consideration the stories of the American version of the program that just finished its 15th season. One of these moments caused a lot of controversy: the switch that took Thiago Bodão, Godofredo Pepey and Sérgio Moraes to Team Wanderlei, while Pé de Chumbo, Vinicius Vina, and Renee Forte left their team to go to Vitor’s team.
The audience wasn’t left out and fans let their opinions be known on the website. Many didn’t agree, while others supported the decision. Inside the TUF house, things were unsettled as well. In interviews to TUF.TV, Pepey said he was worried because he would have to face a fighter from Vitor’s team and everybody there knew his game already. Serginho was upset about not working anymore with some of the coaches, and he also brought up the question about Cesar Mutante, who was Vitor’s pupil already, being on the show, and addressed some comments of Daniel Sarafian about him.
“I was told that even before I fought Pé de Chumbo, Daniel and Cezar talked to Vitor and told him who they would like to fight with. They thought I was going to lose to Pé de Chumbo. Honestly, I think Mutante deserves to be here in the reality show. But it is a fact that when you have someone in your corner you know a long time, he’ll have that while others won’t. Vitor already knew how to work with him, while the rest of us had to adjust to his training,” he said.
But the switch involved much more. Besides invigorating Team Wanderlei, it gave a new chance to Marcus Vinicius Vina. The fighter had been beaten already while representing the blue team, but was returned to the tournament when Rodrigo Damm needed to leave the competition due to medical reasons, opening a spot so that Vina could come back to the Octagon. Vina had a great performance against Pepey, but was once again defeated. Wand was pleased, because he got his second victory on the reality show. And besides that, he changed his opinion about Pepey’s personality in a positive manner.
On the other hand, Serginho Moraes had to face his oldest teammate, Daniel Sarafian, and got the worst of it, getting knocked out. Was the exchange harmful to Moraes?
The game goes on, and the atmosphere will still be tense. Let’s see how everything unfolds.