Who's Next: Submission Fighter Challenge presented by Tezos

Tempers Boil Over Between Tim & Craig | Who's Next Ep. 5 Recap

Tempers Boil Over Between Tim & Craig | Who's Next Ep. 5 Recap

The coaches of the Red and Blue Teams on Who's Next can't seem to get along, and they erupted after the last quarterfinal of the season on Ep. 5.

Jun 17, 2022 by Corey Stockton
null

Animosities between coaches Craig Jones and Tim Spriggs escalated, and came to a head in episode five of Who’s Next: Submission Fighter Challenge, presented by Tezos.

Jones’ Blue Team and Spriggs’ Red Team squared off in the show’s fourth challenge, a four-on-four paddleboard race across Lady Bird Lake in Austin, TX.

The Blue Team appeared prepared to win a third consecutive challenge with the confidence of young renaissance man Andrew Tackett, Rene Sousa and Izaak Michell. But chaos made the battle much more even, as players from both teams began attacking each other, dragging each other into the water and wrestling to gain any advantage.

Coach Craig Jones joined in on the action, giving his team an advantage and receiving reprimands from his counterpart, Spriggs.

The Blue Team captured the win, their third consecutive victory. Their prize: a steak dinner before the semifinals.

The bickering between Jones and Spriggs continued in the daily training session. While passing off mat space, Jones called Spriggs out for not rolling with the Red Team members during training, and challenging him — once again — to a rematch. Spriggs, who lost to Jones via submission in their last encounter, insisted that Jones was a step down in competition for him.

While the team leaders were squaring off, the athletes left the competition on the mats. Rene Sousa and Jansen Gomes, who would face in the last quarterfinal, bonded over the grill, as Sousa prepared picanha for his housemates.

Gomes and Sousa remained friendly throughout the show, but had well-designed strategies prepared for each other when the quarterfinal began. Both athletes were on clear missions, consistently pushing forward and trying to make their game work throughout the duration of the 32-minute match.

Gomes survived the flurry of buggy choke and leg lock attempts from Sousa, and capitalized on an opportunity to finish a kimura.

Watch the full match here.

But before Gomes could have his hand raised, Spriggs erupted into a gloating rant at Jones, which spiraled once again into denying Jones the opportunity to face him. 

The semi finals are now set, and will take place on episode six.

Izaak Michell will face Jansen Gomes, and Andrew Tackett will face Kyle Chambers.