Who’s Next presented by FloGrappling returned this week after a week long break due to the 2022 IBJJF Worlds Tournament. In the previous episode, we saw the contestants take on challenges involving grabbing a ribbon off bulls and attempting to flip a bull. After the challenge was won by Team Jones, the smallest competitor Andrew Tackett chose to take on the biggest in Dan Manasoiu, where Tackett was able to win via rear-naked choke.
Episode 4 started off with Andrew Tackett, Izaak Michell, Kyle Chambers, Rene Sousa pulling a prank on Mike Rakshan. The group of misfits pulled up on Rakshan in the middle of the night and woke him up with frantic shouting and an ice bucket. Night terrors would have been a better alternative than what had happened to him. After the prank, Rakshan tried to retaliate against the competitors who ran outside but was immediately overpowered and thrown into the pool. Rakshan then came back inside the house and decided to throw cranberry juice and orange juice everywhere in retaliation.
The show then panned to the contestants being driven to Sheepdog Response with US Army special forces, Bronze Star recipient, and UFC veteran Tim Kennedy (18-6) stepping out of a helicopter. The first challenge of the day was revealed to be a tactical shooting challenge and the competitors were then ran through a few basic trainings regarding shooting. For the challenge, the competitors would start from being mounted by the opposing coach, they are then asked to get up, submit, or sweep the opposing coach in 30 seconds. Following that, the competitors would then carry kettlebells to the shooting station. Finally, they would then shoot targets at different stations and be judged on their team accuracy and time. Kyle Chambers off the bat looked like he had former shooting experience and breezed through the challenge as did Big Dan. Once it got to Adam Bradley, Team Jones was able to catch up since Bradley had missed a few shots and took a little longer. In the next round, Tackett faced off against Jansen Gomes, where Tackett came out on top. With the coaches set to go next, Team Spriggs was up by 28 seconds. Spriggs came up big in the first two portions of getting out of mount and the kettlebell walk but struggled in the shooting where Jones was able to catch up. Team Jones won the competition by 3 seconds that was determined by one less miss in the shooting portion. Tackett was once again awarded with the MVP honors before Kennedy helicoptered away in style. Team Jones got to choose the last quarterfinals matchups, and chose Chambers against Rakshan and Gomes against Sousa.
The contestants are then shown back at training where Rakshan went through his gameplan in a playful manner with Jones. The audience was then given an inside look to Rakshan’s life, outside of competing he is also a coach and owner of an accounting business. As a kid, Rakshan was introduced to his father for the first time at 7 years old when his mother took him back to Iran. Rakshan’s father was a fighter as well and he taught him how to box and wrestle from a young age. After high school, Rakshan’s college did not have a wrestling team and he chose to pursue MMA, but due to injuries relating to blood clots he transitioned from MMA to jiujutsu and the rest is history.
The show then cuts to a Team Spriggs training session and gives the audience an inside look at Kyle Chambers and his background. Chambers grew up in New Jersey and was a former track athlete that participated in the Junior Olympics at some point. He credited his his success to his family’s support and got especially emotionally when speaking about his mother’s positive impact on his life. Chambers then talked about his journey and support at the 10th Planet gym, thanking his coach Geo “Freakzoid” Martinez. There was tons of respect between the two competitors but nonetheless both knew that it was a competition and that they were there to win it all.
Mike Rakshan vs. Kyle Chambers Recap
The match started off with some hand fighting on the feet, but after 6 minutes Chambers decided to sit to his guard inviting Rakshan to engage. Chambers tried for an Imanari roll but Rakshan was able to escape. Jones criticized Chambers for being conservative and the two competitors then engaged in some trash talking as well. The two competitors went back and forth in a relatively similar manner for 20 minutes. Around 30 minutes in, Chambers was able to entangle Rakshan in an awkward position with a Kimura grip but Rakshan was able to escape. Rakshan then attempted to pass Chambers’s guard but was caught with a heel hook at 31:04. With Chambers onto the semi finals, the last match up in the quarter finals left is between Gomes and Sousa next week.
Kyle Chambers defeated Mike Rakshan via Heel Hook at 31:04
In a preview of the next episode, the contestants are shown in a lake completing rowing related challenges. The audiences are also given a preview at a heated confrontation between Craig Jones and Tim Spriggs. The next episode should be a good one.
