The bragging rights go to Canadian Georges St-Pierre in Episode 2 of "The Ultimate Fighter."
The UFC welterweight champion manipulates rival coach Josh Koscheck into changing his first pick when it comes to choosing teams for Season 12 of the reality TV show.
Koscheck had Michael Johnson ranked first, ahead of Marc Stevens. But he elects to pick Stevens after seeing St-Pierre flashing a fake list of picks that has Stevens at the top.
That left Johnson for St-Pierre.
"Well played, Georges St-Pierre. Well played," said UFC president Dana White in the episode that aired Wednesday night.
Koscheck picks Stevens, Sevak Magakian, Sako Chivitchian, Andy Main, Nam Phan, Aaron Wilkinson and Jeff Lentz.
St-Pierre opts for Johnson, Jonathan Brookins, Spencer Paige, Alex (Bruce Leroy) Caceres, Kyle Watson, Cody McKenzie and Dane Sayers.
The 14 lightweight fighters have a new playground this season, a sumptuous Vegas mansion complete with chandeliers, pool and garden statues.
As always, the kitchen is well stocked with booze and Lentz leads the charge to the bottle. It turns out he also enjoys a smoke, a bad habit that soon makes the rounds.
"Go get a cig," teases Koscheck during one training session.
St-Pierre and Koscheck soon show different coaching techniques
"I let my coaches coach my team," said GSP. "I'm more like a training partner with these guys."
St-Pierre's coaching braintrust includes Greg Jackson, Phil Nurse and John Danaher.
In contrast, Koscheck is front and centre as coach on his team. He's the one yelling instructions during training.
"I believe in mindless training," he explains. "Mindless training is 'Guess what, you guys just show up and train. I'll tell you what to do. if you listen to me, you'll achieve your goals."'
The welterweight contender's coaches include (Crazy) Bob Cook, Teddy Lucio and Daniel Cormier.
Koscheck warns viewers against thinking of him only as the UFC's heel. Spend time one-on-one with him and "you'll fall in love with me, guaranteed."
St-Pierre gets to select the first bout and grants Caceres his wish by putting him up against Lentz, causing White to wonder about the wisdom of letter fighters choose the matchups.
"That's a great fight for us," says Koscheck.
But St-Pierre reasons a motivated fighter is a dangerous one.
Come fight day, Caceres -- a Bruce Lee devotee -- is calm and collected. Lentz literally races to the cage.
Lentz wins the first round, outmuscling Caceres in a prolonged clinch at the fence. But the fight turns when the two go to the ground in the second and Caceres locks on a triangle.
Lentz, who boasted earlier at the house that he would goes to sleep rather than submit, taps out.
"He had pretty good cardio, I'm going to tell you that much, for smoking cigarettes and drinking all the time," said Caceres, already one of White's favourites in the cast.
The teaser for Episode 3 includes a visit by Mike Tyson, and Caceres getting in trouble for over-celebrating his win.
