The standoff that started in episode two between Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen regarding Silva’s demand that Sonnen apologizes ends when Silva decides to go through with the show but claims he will make Sonnen apologize by defeating him in the Octagon. With that Silva flips the coin to determine which teams gets the choice to pick the first fight or the first fighter.
Silva wins the toss and opts to pick the first fight, leaving Sonnen to make the first fighter pick. After the fight picks are made Silva starts to talk about The Ultimate Fighter but when Sonnen makes a remark about how it should be called the “Wanderlei Show” Silva pushes Sonnen and the two are broken up by the fighters. Sonnen then says that he’s going to stay out of reach of Silva for the rest of the show.
After the fighters settle into The Ultimate Fighter house, the following day mentor coaches Hortencia Marcari and Isabel Salgado announce that in addition to the regular TUF competition there will also be an Octagon girl competition during the season. The fighters are presented with sixteen candidates who do an Octagon walk in front of the fighters.
Afterwards the fighters and girls mingle in a barbecue so that the fighters can get to know the girls better and decide which eight get to move on. Following the socializing, the fighters make their picks and the eight finalists are decided. They will all serve as Octagon girls during the various fights and the winner will be chosen at season’s end.
On the day of the picks it was announced by Silva that the first middleweight fight would be between Team Silva’s Wagner Gomes and Team Sonnen’s Joilton Santos. During the training the experience of Marcari and Salgado actually comes in handy as both coaches help the fighters focus.
Leading up to the fight is becomes obvious that Santos is the joker of the house. Also during the weigh-ins he notes that weight is not a problem for him considering he normally fights at lightweight. Fight day first starts with Octagon girl candidate Rafaela Machado is shown being prepped and also mentally focusing on her duties.
The fight is a rather exciting bout as the first two rounds are back and forth affairs. Ultimately the first round is scored for Santos while the second one is scored for Gomes. This results in the sudden death third round. While Santos is able to keep it close initially, the third round ends with Gomes trying various submissions until Santos is saved by the bell. The fight ultimately goes to Gomes giving Team Silva the win.