Junior Dos Santos says he was surprised by Brock Lesnar's professionalism during filming for The Ultimate Fighter

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC heavyweight Junior Dos Santos is about to get tons of exposure with casual MMA fans this week when The Ultimate Fighter 13 begins airing on Spike TV. Dos Santos, who coaches opposite former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar on this new season of the reality show, has been climbing up the ranks of the heavyweight division and was set to face current Champ Cain Velasquez before an injury put him on the sidelines.

"I was very upset when I found out that Cain Velasquez was injured and I wouldn't be able to fight him for the title," said Dos Santos in a media conference call this week. "But at the same time I got very happy when I heard the news I'd be coaching alongside Brock on TUF. Brock is a guy that's bringing a lot of fans into MMA, he's a guy that's very well known in the U.S. and I'm a guy who's starting to come up right now. This is a great opportunity for all of his fans to be able to see me."

It's that added exposure that makes this such a great opportunity for the Brazilian. Lesnar's name alone will bring high ratings for this show to Spike TV, and he'll in turn benefit with so many people getting a chance to know who he is on a weekly basis. And it all leads into a chance to pick up the biggest win of his career when he fights Lesnar on June 11 in Vancouver. And for Dos Santos, the entire experience of filming the show was something he found both surprising and enjoyable.

"Being in front of the cameras for that long and being in the house and the show was a new experience for me," he said. ?I really enjoyed it and being on the show with Brock was great because Brock is so used to the media spotlight and being in front of the cameras... Prior to the show I'd never actually met Brock, so I was a little bit surprised of how professional and how easy to deal with Brock was, even though we weren't able to be together all that much. In the end it was great to be able to meet my next opponent and the experience overall was phenomenal."

"Overall, I was surprised with a few things that happened. My enthusiasm with the team, and also the fact that my English was flowing so naturally. I was able to speak English very well and understand what everybody was saying, so a lot of things on the show did surprise me."

Dos Santos now looks ahead to June 11 and the Rogers Arena in Vancouver. A win over Lesnar would cap off the most exposure he's seen in his MMA career, and keep him in line for his shot at Velasquez later in the year.

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