Who's Next: Submission Fighter Challenge presented by Tezos

Cowboy Andrew Tackett Takes Out Red Team's Giant | Who's Next Ep. 3 Recap

Cowboy Andrew Tackett Takes Out Red Team's Giant | Who's Next Ep. 3 Recap

On Episode 3 of Who's Next, Andrew Tackett gets in a scuffle at the house, tackles a massive animal, and targets the largest opponent in the competition.

May 26, 2022 by Corey Stockton
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Andrew Tackett is fearless.

Maybe it’s that he’s the youngest member of the Who’s Next cast. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s the middle child in a family of high-level grapplers. Maybe he’s just an adrenaline fiend. But Andrew Tackett takes risks.

He’s pushed the boundary in each of the first two episodes of Who’s Next: Submission Fighter Challenge presented by Tezos, and his attitude was no different in the third episode, which premiered on Wednesday, May 25.

The differences between the show’s youngest contestant, and its oldest, Mike Rakshan, boil over, and the two engage in a scuffle which bounces between play fighting and — somewhat uncomfortably — combat jiu-jitsu in the kitchen of the fighter house.

But Tackett is just warming up. The cast arrives on set for their most dangerous challenge yet, steer wrestling at Broken G Rodeo. Red Team coach Tim Spriggs wins his second coin toss of the show, and choses to allow Craig Jones’ Blue Team to go first. The Red Team beats the Blue Team in the first event, capturing the flag off of a calf’s tail. But the work isn’t over.

They are next challenged with a game of “shootdogging,” in which each individual will try to take a bull down by the horns.

The Red Team selects their giant to go first, Big Dan Manasoiu. The 270 lb grappler sticks to the animal, but can’t bring it down.

Next up, the Texas native, Andrew Tackett takes his shot. He runs a few feet out of the shoot with the bull, and takes it down by the head, rolling the bull over Tackett’s own torso and instinctively setting in his hook for back control.

Tackett scores the only clean takedown of the event, impressing even the ranchers, and earning the match selection for his team.

Tackett, remaining fearless, calls on Manasoiu, the show’s largest contestant. Manasoiu will have a 100 lb advantage over Tackett, but coach Craig Jones is confident in his gameplan.

Both teams take their turn at Craig Jones’ home gym, B-Team in  Austin, TX. Spriggs’ team goes first, and Jones, who owns B-Team, studies the tape from his security cameras.

When the Blue Team takes the mats, Jones and Tackett discuss their plans to test the giant’s endurance, and to defeat him psychologically.

Leading up to the match, Tackett frequently taunts Manasoiu, and continues to challenge him with heavy clubs and face pushes during the match. Manasoiu gets his most dangerous attack, a straight ankle lock, on Tackett, but Tackett eats the submission attempt and brushes it off.

Watch the full match here

With his opponent exhausted, Tackett pursues back control, and secures a submission once he has attained it. The smallest athlete in the house defeats the largest via rear naked choke in 8 minutes 42 seconds.


WNX Team Standings:

Red Team:

Jansen Gomes

Kyle Chambers

Adam Bradley

Dan Manasoiu

Blue Team

Izaak Michell (defeated Adam Bradley in Ep. 2)

Andrew Tackett (defeated Dan Manasoiu in Ep. 3)

Rene Sousa

Mike Rakshan