Meet real-world teammates Hendricks, Moyle and Rountree, who all got a 'TUF 23' surprise

(Spoiler warning: This story includes results from Wednesday’s “TUF 23” season debut.)

LAS VEGAS – Syndicate MMA fighters Cory Hendricks, Jamie Moyle and Khalil Rountree were all selected for “The Ultimate Fighter 23,” but on Wednesday’s season debut, the Las Vegas teammates got a pretty big surprise.

The latest season of the long-running reality show, which features strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk and rival Claudia Gadelha as head coaches, features a tournament with male light heavyweights and another with female strawweights.

All three Syndicate MMA fighters won their elimination-round fights on the debut episode and became official cast members. However, for Hendricks (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Rountree (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), their primary concern – possibly fighting each other – popped up immediately after they won their spots on the “TUF 23” cast.

Rountree was Team Joanna’s second male pick, and Hendricks was Team Claudia’s fourth and last male pick. With matchmaking duties, Jedrzejczyk announced that the real-world teammates will fight each other on the next episode as part of the official first round of the “TUF 23” tournament.

Check out the above video as the fighters discuss their bad luck and their paths to “TUF 23.” You can also watch all three of their elimination-round fights, including Moyle’s (3-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), below (in fact, the UFC’s Youtube page has all 16 “TUF 23” elimination-round bouts available):

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.