Ultimate Fighter 13: Episode eight recap and discussion for 'Lesnar vs Dos Santos'

Episode eight of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 13, featuring heavyweight coaches and division rivals Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos, gets underway with Shamar Bailey complaining about pain in his back and neck. That could be an issue considering he's set to fight Chris Cope in the quarterfinals. Bailey promises to "choke that voice box out."

Whoo!

Ramsey Nijem credits his Palestinian heritage for being a tough fighter and is glad he does him combat inside the cage and not on the battlefield that is the middle east.

UFC middleweight Brian Stann makes a cameo to plug the Marine Corps and gives the International group an "All American" speech which leaves everyone feeling motivated.

USA! USA! USA!

Clay Harvison gets some wrestling practice in to prepare for the mat work of Nijem. Coach Lesnar shows him the defense Shane Carwin used in their UFC 116 title fight last July.

Time for the weigh-ins and both Clay and Ramsey make weight without incident. Let's get 'er done.

Quarterfinal elimination bout #1:  Ramsey Nijem (4-1) vs. Clay Harvison (8-3) 

Round 1: Touch of gloves and Clay rushes with punches but gets taken down. Ramsey quickly takes his back and works for the rear naked choke. Clay scrambles to his knees but gets pounded from behind. He slinks back down and Nijem flattens him out and squeezes the neck, forcing the tap.

Result: Ramsey Nijem def. Clay Harvison via submission (rear naked choke)

Back at the gym, Shamar Bailey continues his verbal assault on Chris Cope. Most of it stems from the "Whoo!" Cope yells every morning. After being cooped up in the house for so long, it doesn't take much.

Cope says he has nothing to lose in this fight and everything to gain. We shall see. Both guys make weight so let's just get to it.

Quarterfinal elimination bout #2:  Shamar Bailey (10-3) vs. Chris Cope (4-1) 

Round 1: Bailey spends the opening minute stalking his foe and landing intermittent punches. Cope has the head movement of a department store mannequin. After a minute of pawing, Bailey goes to his bread-and-butter, the takedown, and drives Cope into the cage. Cope defends the single and forces Baily to release and break away. Coach Dos Santos is not concerned. "Bee-yoo-tiful Shee-mar!" Bailey pushes him to the cage three more times but still cannot get Cope to the ground. Cope isn't doing anything offensively and Bailey is dictating the pace so we'll see how that affects scoring. Time expires with them tied up against the fence. 10-9 Bailey on the unofficial Nostradumbass scorecard.

Round 2: Sloppy punches open the second. Leg kicks can only be found on the back of a Las Vegas milk carton. Bailey shoots and gets nothing. Cope getting the better of the punches so Bailey shoots again and gets denied again. The next sixty seconds is dominated by wild punching and another failed shot. The last sixty seconds is dominated by wild punching and another failed shot. This fight is about as exciting as a message from the emergency broadcast system. 10-9 Cope. The judges don't agree with Nostradumbass and give Cope both rounds for the unanimous decision win.

Result: Chris Cope def. Shamar Bailey via unanimous decision

Coach Dos Santos goes berserk. Bailey says "You can't win a fight backing up." You can in Vegas, Mr. Bailey. Don't you watch MMA? He also gives Dana a laundry list of reasons for why he lost.

Whoo!

Stay tuned next week as Tony Ferguson blows a gasket prior to his fight against Ryan McGillivray and "Cold Steel" Chuck O'Neil tries to eliminate Zach Davis. Who will advance to the semifinals?