Original subtitles

- Throughout history, the blade and one's ability to wield

it has been the difference between life and death.

Tonight, America's top bladesmiths, martial artists,

and knife experts bring their weapons

to the toughest challenge...

- Come on. Let's do this. - They'll ever face.

- It's a grueling gauntlet designed

to put their blade-wielding skills to the ultimate test.

Broke the knife in half!

The top two competitors move on to Dead Run,

the final showdown,

for a chance at a $20,000 grand prize.

Total carnage!

Who can do the most damage in the fastest time?

Whose blade and dreams will shatter?

And who will earn the title of "Knife or Death" champion?

- My emotion right now is calm on the outside,

storm on the inside.

I'm gonna utilize that storm in this competition.

- I am probably one of the top people in the world

that knows the most about blades.

I want to start cutting. It's gonna be fun.

- Blade-wielders, I'm Bill Goldberg.

Welcome to the most challenging, badass

knife competition ever created.

Welcome to "Forged in Fire: Knife or Death."

I'm honored to introduce to you

Special Forces Green Beret Tu Lam.

- The power, durability, and sharpness of your blade

is critical to your success today.

If you choose the right angles, have efficient movement,

you're gonna win this competition.

- Ladies and gentlemen, the first course is

Knife Fight.

The Knife Fight course is a true test of speed and power.

The first obstacle you'll face,

Trail Blazer.

You must sever six one inch-thick sections

of high-tension hemp rope,

each releasing a lit torch.

When the torches fall, igniting the steel pits,

it's time to move on to the next obstacle,

Stick and Move. You must stab, slice,

and cut through three separate containers

to release enough contents

so that the attached counterweights reach the ground

before the containers rise too high to hit.

Next up is Ice Pick.

You must chop into a 3-foot block of ice,

puncture the plastic pipe, and release the red liquid.

Then you move on to Lifeline, a sudden-death obstacle.

You must fully slice through three hanging objects

with one swing each.

Fail to slice through the thickest part,

your run time ends,

and you're not allowed to go on any further in the course.

If you make it this far, your last obstacle is Curtain

Call, where you must cut completely

through the wall of meat

and the sheet of metal.

Your time ends when you plunge your blade

through the tree stump.

- The Knife Fight course is completely insane.

It's not anything that I've ever seen in my life before.

- After every competitor finishes

and penalties are added up,

the two that make it the farthest the fastest

will move on to our second,

even more grueling, course challenge, Dead Run.

The winner earns a cash prize

and a spot in the grand champion

showdown at the end of the season

to vie for a $20,000 prize

and the title of "Knife or Death" champion.

- Our blade specialist and "Forged in Fire" champion,

Travis Wuertz,

will give your blade a final look

before you get the green light to tackle Knife Fight.

If he finds any problems with your blade,

he can disqualify you from this competition.

- I've never turned down a challenge,

and today is nothing different.

- I'm Braulio Agudelo.

I'm a fighter with Filipino martial arts.

We do sword, shield, spear.

I'm 54 years old.

I want to know I can still hang, so...

- So what have you brought today?

- I brought you a barong sword.

My blade is about 22 inches with a 16-inch edge.

- How old is this piece? - Over 100 years old.

- This looks like a very nice historic piece.

It should be fun to swing.

Not supposed to take three cuts,

but your blade swings so nice.

I just kind of got carried away.

Congratulations. Your knife makes the cut. Good luck.

- Thank you, sir.

It's gonna be a challenge, but I have no fear

of bringing a 100-year-old blade to a competition.

- I mean, just looking Braulio

With his discipline in extreme Filipino martial arts,

this guy is definitely coming in with the winner mind-set.

A 100-year-old barong,

during my time in the Special Forces,

I had to carry this in the jungles of the Philippines.

This thing is a power horse.

- Let's see how Braulio and his barong

take on Trail Blazer.

He's got to cut the ropes, release the torches,

light the fires.

- Look at his foot movement. - Different line of attack.

- It needed to art of Silat,

that martial art has backswings, forward swings.

It's a combative close-range martial art.

- And you saw that immediately when he incurred a problem

because he went to instinct to make it happen.

Now Stick and Move.

Okay, beautiful attack. There you go.

- Look at those angles.

Notice how he doubled up on the blade.

- Yeah, he drained that bucket instantly.

One counterweight down. We have an octopus tubing.

- Bill, the secret to this is

to cut that weight low to release those contents.

- Is he gonna be able to have the weight hit the ground

before it's out of his reach?

And the answer is no.

- He's definitely conserving his energy

by going with both hands.

It's more of a power swing, and he's destroying that box.

- Yeah, it's a matter of seconds

before that weight hits the ground.

Okay, he crosses the line. Incurred one penalty there.

That dude is a tornado.

Braulio is one of our oldest competitors

with the oldest blade.

That blade is serving him well.

He is one or two strokes away from releasing that liquid.

There it is. Moving on.

- Here at Lifeline, Bill,

he needs to come in with a different mind-set.

He needs to come in at the most powerful angle

that he can generate off that barong.

Let's see what the ice block

did to the sharpness of that blade,

because he's gonna need it.

Braulio did not cut through the pipe.

He can no longer continue with the challenge.

Whether Braulio made it through there or not,

that was enjoyable to watch.

- Yeah, absolutely. - He represented himself.

He represented the martial art,

and he has nothing to hang his head low for.

-No.

- I'm Shawn Buckingham.

The first time I was introduced to a sword was a lightsaber,

and it just spiraled from there.

I've studied Bujinkan Taijutsu on and off for 25 years.

My upbringing's always been around swords.

I just like it. It's fun.

- So what have you got there? - I have a war falchion.

From the Middle Ages, 14th to 16th century.

Many of the falchions at that time were one-handed.

This one's a little bit different.

This is a two-handed blade. It's single-edged,

but it's got some really wicked-looking peaks

on the back side of it.

It was forged by one of my closest friends, Tom Kinder.

- Okay, now he was a "Forged in Fire" guy too, correct?

- Yes, sir, he was. - That's a lot of blade,

a lot of width.

Very thin cross section.

I'm gonna take just a medium blow here

just 'cause I get to play.

All right.

Well, that's just cool.

For a big blade, it was fun to swing,

and I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

- Thank you. - Your knife makes the cut.

- Thank you.

I have two boys at home.

I want to teach those two boys

that when an opportunity comes along,

you grab that opportunity.

Don't let it pass you by because in life, you never know

when you're gonna get a second chance.

- That may be the biggest, most intimidating blade

we see all season.

- The word "falchion" is French.

It means "wide," so this is a wide, chopping sword.

He has 38 inches of cutting power.

- He has the stance of a Zen warrior.

Okay, well, not the best beginning,

but let's see if he can use that frustration.

- Oh, my God, the tip hit the floor,

and it broke completely off!

With that long blade, he can't control his swing.

Moving on through Trail Blazer. A bit of an issue.

Let's see what happens to that blade at Stick and Move.

He's lost the tip, but the blade is so big,

there's enough metal to keep going.

Only if it's unsafe will we stop the competition.

He's going at it.

- Wow. - Number one completed.

Number two.

Okay, here's where I have the question. The box.

What's his blade gonna look like afterwards?

Total domination at Stick and Move from Shawn Buckingham.

- Ice Pick.

The ice tears up the blade, so it's about that durability.

- We shall see.

- He's determined.

- There goes the blade again.

Broke another part of the blade off.

If he gets through this challenge,

I wonder how long that sucker's gonna be.

Unfortunately it's no longer safe to continue,

and he's disqualified.

- The ice totally destroyed the blade.

- We had to stop that

'cause your falchion was slowly becoming a seax.

Now, as we look at this cross section,

I don't know if this was differentially

heat-treated or not,

but we do see some enlarged grain.

You came with a lot of blade.

You're leaving with not as much blade.

Thanks for putting on a great performance.

Even though we had to stop here at the ice block,

it was fun watching.

- I understand. Thank you.

A little bit disappointed right now.

You know, the tip broke off, but honestly,

I gave a 100%, and I had fun.

Didn't work out quite the way I wanted,

but it was an awesome time.

- My name is Christopher Fuller, and I'm a butcher.

Being a butcher, I have a knife in my hand

eight hours a day, every day,

so the hours that I've logged with a knife similar to the one

I'm using today is far

and above what most of these guys

are bringing to the table today.

- Well, what you got there? - This is a butcher's knife.

- Very light. Very little mass.

I have to ask, have you seen our course?

- Yes, sir.

- And what do you think of your knife choice?

- I feel pretty good about it, to be honest.

I'm confident

because I think the techniques that I'll be using

are gonna allow me to do well with this type of knife.

- I'm gonna go ahead and take a few slices on the tatami mat...

- Mm-hmm.

- Just to see what happens.

- Okay.

- It's not a lot of mass to swing.

It's a small knife for this course,

but if you're willing to run through it with it,

you have my blessing.

Congratulations. Your knife makes the cut.

- Thank you. This is a slicing knife,

so that's the technique that I plan on using.

- Chris Fuller, AKA "The Badass Butcher."

This dude shows up with a Kevlar butcher's apron.

He's ready for business.

Though I question the type of knife that he brought,

there's not a single competitor that has worked with the knife

that they bring to this competition more so than Chris.

Let's see if he's got the chops.

As you can see, the ropes in Trail Blazer make it difficult.

There's no back resistance.

- Rope binds.

You don't want to hit the rope direct and dead on.

It would just bounce back on you.

He needs to hit it at an angle.

- He's not having too much problem here.

There's no doubt about its sharpness,

but Stick and Move

is where this knife does not have an advantage.

There's no weight behind the blade.

There's no length.

It's very tough to generate power.

- Now he's trying to go underneath.

He's trying to split it open.

- Well, for what he's got, I think that's the only option.

He might be in meltdown mode.

- This is the wrong blade for this challenge.

- He's definitely at a disadvantage here

at Stick and Move.

No weights down yet, and I have feeling the crate is gonna be

even more of a huge problem.

The way he's attacking it is very smart

with the implement in his hand.

- He's definitely trying to lacerate,

trying to release those contents.

Wow. Look at that.

- Two counterweights still in the air,

but he did manage to break through the crate.

On to Ice Pick.

- This blade is not made to chop through ice.

- He's literally chipping at it,

whereas others were chopping at it.

He's putting everything he has into chopping the--oh!

- Oh, I like that. - Beautiful tactic.

You know what? He should have done that earlier.

That was brilliant, and this is what I have been waiting for.

The guy is a professional butcher.

He cuts meat every day.

One shot! Nice.

- Wow. - This will be

the most important chicken fillet of his career.

- Ugh! Ah!

- He chops meat every day,

the one thing that he's good at.

- So what type of cut is this?

- That's called " a two-piece chicken."

- All right. Well, you brought a knife

that I was borderline didn't want to let it compete.

- I know.

- I know I'd love to see you come here

with a little bit different knife,

because if you can make it this far with this little guy,

I think you'd be very impressive.

- Aw, thank you.

The irony that it was the chicken in the end

that did me in is not lost on me.

- I'm Dustin Remillard.

I just started bladesmithing about a year and a half ago,

and I absolutely love working with steel.

My strength today is gonna be the heavy strength

I can bring to it.

Weakness is gonna be I'm kind of weak on the cardio side.

I'm more of a "stand and fight" than "run away" kind of guy.

- So what you got there? - Got a falcata.

- This definitely looks hand-forged.

- Forged it myself.

That's an Iberian weapon. They ran across the Romans.

The Romans liked it so much,

they had to redesign some of their armor,

'cause that'll blast through almost anything in its path.

- So how much stuff have you cut with this,

and how long have you had it?

- I actually just finished the forging

on it a few days ago.

My big strength test on it

I blew through a piece of plywood like it was paper.

- Okay. Take a few little trial chops, if you will,

make sure it's safe and handles well.

See, that's a pretty straight cut.

Your blade makes the cut.

- The blade itself, it's only seen a fair bit of testing.

Full combat's a whole other's tale,

and you can never really tell until it's been there.

- Dustin has no competition cutting experience.

He did forge this blade himself.

- The falcata is no joke.

Dustin definitely did his homework in the history books,

because the falcata

has been an effective weapon on the battlefield.

- There he goes! Nice clean swipe.

Beautiful.

Using the blade. Did not use his body there.

Relied upon the blade.

Took him a little bit of time to get through this.

Let's see how he can adjust at Stick and Move.

He's bashing it.

- He needs to cut down at an angle.

- First counterweight touched.

Oh, he is destroying the tube.

- Oh, yes. - Second weight cut.

With that falcata,

he should be able to rip right through that box,

and he does, but he stepped over the line.

Counterweight did not touch the ground. There's a penalty.

Let's see how that self-forged blade can hold up to Ice Pick.

Two-handed chop.

- That's how I would've done it. Two-handed chop.

- Brilliant! Dustin destroys Ice Pick.

He's stepping up to Lifeline.

You must fully slice through three hanging objects

with one swing each.

Had no issues with the tube.

Here comes the chicken, the one obstacle

that has taken out the most competitors so far.

No issues what so ever.

- I like how he's doubling up his hands.

- Yes, sir.

This might be the first success on Lifeline.

- Oh! - Oh, wow, what a shot!

Backhanded that fish right in half.

First competitor to get to Curtain Call.

I'm excited. I want to see this.

Nice! Right through the meat. Sheet metal.

One.

Two. Three.

Whole body. Beautiful.

He has completed Curtain Call,

therefore completing Knife Fight.

- Wow. He chose the right blade.

Maximized strength and mobility here.

- What did you think of Knife Fight?

- Oh, yeah!

- You're kind of like me. You don't have words.

You just have "Ooh! Ah!"

- Hrgh! Rah!

- I have nothing to say but congratulations.

- Thank you. - We'll see you in a little bit

if your time is good enough to put you outside in Dead Run.

- That may be the most fun I've ever had in that

short amount of time ever.

I want more of this. I want it so bad.

Taste it.

Ugh! Raw chicken. Never mind. Egh. No.

- I'm Nicole Warden.

I'm a two-time breast cancer survivor,

currently without any evidence of disease,

and I'm a two-time chopping competition world champion,

so I'm pretty much a badass.

- So what have you got there? - Today I am competing

with my competitive chopper.

- Where'd the knife come from?

- LT Wright Knives in Wintersville, Ohio.

- Well, it's a very nice blade. Now, this has been proven.

How much stuff have you chopped with this?

- Lots. A lot of different blade sports competitions.

- Awesome. You mind if I take a few swings?

- Go for it. - Good.

I was gonna do it anyway.

All right.

The upswing was just something I missed,

but this is a great blade.

Congratulations. Your knife makes the cut. Good luck.

- I'm here to represent women in blade sports,

and I'm gonna give it my all on that course.

- Nicole's coming in with the blade of choice

when it comes to blade sports.

The competition chopper, it's a heavy blade made for chopping.

- Trail Blazer, you better hold on.

- See, there's a lot of bounce in these ropes,

and you can see that she's trying to get the leverage.

She's trying to get those angles down.

- Yeah, she needs to use more power in her body

with the full movement

and not rely as much on the blade.

She got through.

A couple little stumbles,

but she's moving on to Stick and Move.

Okay, backwards strike. You know what?

- Love it. Love how she's chopping.

- I love it. Absolutely beautiful.

- She needs to utilize the hips in her movement.

She's just using all upper body right now.

- You see some frustration coming into play there.

She looked at the second weight,

wasn't hitting the ground, but she moved on anyway.

- That grip is killing her right now.

- No question.

You see the grimace on her face.

She is gassed. She's accepting both penalties.

Crossed the line. Moving on.

- You see where the grip is coming in to play here.

- Yep. Not using her entire body,

not getting the maximum out of each swing.

There's the red liquid. She moves on to Lifeline.

- Now, you did see the way

that she had to readjust her grip almost in every swing.

- This deep into the competition when fatigue sets

in, focus is paramount.

Here she goes.

Right through the tube,

that blade may be able to complete this task.

Here comes the dreaded chicken.

And again a competitor is taken down

by a two-pound chicken.

- My arms were definitely getting tired.

I was burnt out.

Because this was so difficult,

blade sports competitions from here on out

will be a lot easier for me.

- My name is Casey Cleveland.

I've been in the military since 2008.

Ever since I could hold one in my hand and use it,

I've had a knife on me, using them for hunting,

fishing, skinning game. Later on in life,

I started training edge-weapon self-defense.

I've never been in a cutting competition before,

but I'm sure I could fit right in.

- So what do you got there? - I've got a competition cutter

that's gonna win this competition.

It's custom made for chopping and slicing.

- Is this uniform hardness or differentially heat-treated?

- Uniform hardness. - Right on.

Should be a very tough, springy blade.

Got some tatami mat,

and I'm just gonna do a couple cuts on here.

- Let's give her a go.

- Nice knife. It cuts well.

Your knife makes the cut.

Good luck in this competition.

- I'm confident that my blade and my skill

set is gonna dominate this competition.

They won't see me coming.

- Casey's coming in with a custom chopper.

- This is gonna be a heavy blade.

That's going to give him that hacking power that he needs.

- Here we go. Casey. Trail Blazer.

Nice.

- Look how he's dropping his leverage.

He definitely knows how to shift his weight.

- No issues whatsoever.

Taking his time, full follow-through.

Beautiful run.

Very impressive. He steps up to Stick and Move.

Okay, he's going up top.

Haven't seen that technique before.

- Yeah, he's hit it low, because it's gonna start

trickling the contents,

and it's gonna start lifting that bucket up

where he's got an angle.

There you go.

- Beautiful job. Totally destroyed the bucket.

On to the tubes.

Beautiful job.

But as he moves on, the second weight

has not hit the ground yet.

He stopped swinging too soon.

He thought he had it, and now it's out of his reach.

Two counterweights hanging, two penalties. That ain't good.

- This ice is gonna take a lot out of him.

- Here he goes with Ice Pick.

- He's shifting his weight. He's expanding those hips.

That's a good strike.

- There's the liquid. Casey moves on to Lifeline.

Remember,

one cut through each obstacle, or you are eliminated.

- Well, I'll tell you, Bill, I'm really concerned

about the length of that blade.

He needs to really slow down and concentrate on this cut.

- Here comes the dreaded chicken. Whoa!

Beautiful cut.

Okay, here it is.

Oh, beautiful job!

At this point, he's in second position,

but can his time hold out?

Here comes Curtain Call.

- Yeah! - One slice through the meat.

I'm curious to see how he goes through the sheet metal.

- Ah-ah-ah-ah! Ah! - Whoa, follow-through power.

Course completed.

Great job by Casey Cleveland.

- Yeah, he had some problems with Stick and Move,

but he was able to brush it off and continue on strong.

- I'm glad I finished the course.

Whether it's gonna be enough, we'll have to wait and see.

- My name is John Lennox.

I teach combat for stage and actually for film.

I've been training with bladed weapons for 30 years now.

I'm skilled at using at least 25 to 30 different weapons.

I'm excited about this competition,

and I'm looking forward to see what it's gonna be like.

Nice.

- What have you brought today? - I brought you a Bowie knife.

It was forged by a good friend of mine.

Since this was based on a 1700s Longhunter's pattern,

I decided to wear attire that would fit that kind of a knife.

- Oh, okay. An extremely thick cutting edge.

I've seen spines of knives in this competition thinner

than this cutting edge.

We shall see how it actually cuts.

Have to put a little bit more ass in that.

damn.

Kind of like pushing a marshmallow into a coin slot.

Well, I hope your training has prepared you,

because that's a thick edge,

and it's just not very sharp,

but your knife does make the cut.

- Thank you.

I'm feeling kind of Zen.

I am ready to do this.

- John is the theater department's Indiana Jones.

One day he's in class.

The next day he's at Knife Fight.

- The Bowie knife was used by Jim Bowie

in the Battle of the Alamo.

In a heavy blade attack,

it was used for self-defense.

- See the bounce. - See the flex in the rope.

You see the bounce in the blade.

- With my experience, Bill, cutting through rope,

if you do not have a sharp blade,

that rope will bounce on you.

- And let's talk about how many strokes it took him

to cut that first rope.

Cardio is gonna come into play here, and I can guarantee you,

in that traditional garb,

he's got some sweat going underneath.

Finally he crosses the line, ending Trail Blazer.

Stick and Move.

Remember he's got to cut through each object,

release the contents, let the weight hit the ground.

He's persistent.

- He just went. - One weight down.

On to object number two, the octopus.

- Now, Bill, I want to say this, man.

The Bowie knife was not made to slash.

It was made for thrusting.

- Now he moved on, but as you see,

that counterweight is not touching the ground yet.

He is quitting on that crate and moving forward.

Two penalties incurred on Stick and Move. Ice Pick.

- He has a shot. It's a heavy blade.

I don't see him having any issues chipping away the ice.

- And I can see that liquid. Completes Ice Pick.

Now, how much sharpness does John still have in that blade,

because he's got one attempt at each of these objects.

Even though along the way he's incurred penalties,

completing the course may be enough to move on

to the next round.

Beautiful. Right through the first obstacle.

Now the chicken.

Oh, nice! If he can just get past the fish.

Go right through it. Aw! Taken down by the fish.

- The fish is one of the hardest items to cut,

but he went towards the backstroke attack pattern.

That's not the strongest angle of attack.

- And what that tells me is he was fatigued.

- I think I was just out of gas.

Didn't have enough edge to push it through.

- My name is Jason Willard Johnson. I'm 36 years old.

I'm from Omaha, Nebraska.

I started throwing knives when I was about 10 years old.

When I compete in the knife throwing competitions,

what I do is instinctive knife throwing.

I can look at a target and throw a knife

and hit it without second guessing my distance.

One of my goals is to show the world what real knife

throwing can do, and it also goes into cutting.

- What have you brought today? - I brought you a custom kukri.

- So who made this kukri?

- A buddy of mine named Frank made it.

- I don't even have to look at this a whole lot to tell you

I like it. What's the blade steel?

- 51-60. - Great springy steel.

Got nice edge geometry. You're no stranger to knives.

I understand

that you can really whip one out there, knife thrower.

- Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

- But in this competition, I hope you do not throw it.

- I'll be holding it. No, sir.

- Powerful blade.

Congratulations.

- Thank you, sir. - Your knife makes the cut.

Good luck. - Thanks.

When I hit Knife Fight, what you're gonna see from me is

purpose, delivery. The proof is in the package.

- Jason Johnson, professional knife thrower.

- Armed with a kukri, the kukri is found around India.

You see the Gurkhas carrying a kukri.

It's a great chopping tool.

- What better knife to bring here?

It is one intimidating blade,

and if you look into Jason's eyes,

he's an intimidating person wielding it.

Only two competitors have finished the Knife

Fight course so far.

Jason's the last one up,

so let's see if he's got what it takes.

And Jason's off, attacking Trail Blazer.

Oh, my God, the fastest time I have ever seen going through

Trail Blazer! -Very efficient.

- That was amazing.

He gets a horizontal slice. He's not slicing down.

Hit the ground.

- Look at his foot moves.

Now he's coming in angle one, angle two.

- Yep. - Wow.

- Destroying Stick and Move.

- Look how proficient his movements are.

- He has got one hell of a run going,

but the third counterweight never touched the ground.

- He got over-confident. He was eager to move across that line.

- He rushed.

One, two, three, four.

Five cuts! He's through.

Stepping up to Lifeline, the one obstacle

that has taken down more competitors

than any other place in this course.

Uh-oh. He's not taking his time,

but is it enough?

Oh, beautiful! - Wow.

- What a performance we're seeing

from Jason Johnson.

There he goes.

- Wow. - One slice!

Let's see how many slices through the sheet metal.

Boy, he attacked it from the bottom. He's through!

He completes Curtain Call,

therefore completing Knife Fight.

- Jason, that wasn't just a phenomenal run.

That was a statement run.

- You got it. - What's that statement?

- I'm here to win. - Damn right.

You put some hellacious swings.

- Yep.

- You weren't doing nothing no favors.

- Nope.

- You got a couple little--actually,

that's not your blade. That's--

- No, that's sheet metal. - Yeah.

You came here to make a statement.

You definitely did.

- Thank you, sir. - Thank you.

- Okay, Jason's one of three who finished the course,

but he incurred a penalty.

We'll see if that affects his chances of advancing

to Dead Run.

Casey, Jason, and Dustin,

you were the only three blade wielders to complete

Knife Fight, but only two of you will move on

to Dead Run.

Casey, you and your chopper gave the course

hell, but unfortunately your time with two penalties

wasn't fast enough,

so your time on "Knife or Death" is over.

- I'm glad I finished the course.

I built my blade for this kind of competition.

My only downside was it didn't have a pointy edge.

Whether it would've helped me out or not, I'm not sure,

but I think it did what it needed to do.

- Jason and Dustin, your speed, intensity, power,

and downright aggression has earned the two of you entry

in Dead Run.

See you there, gentlemen.

Dustin made this blade on his own.

Watching him go through this course

is gonna be a sight to be seen.

While Knife Fight was the ultimate test of blades,

Dead Run is the ultimate test of speed,

timing, accuracy, and precision. Steak Knife.

From the platform, cut each steak in half.

A solid slice will keep the swing moving.

Extinguisher. Cut the rope. Release the bottle.

Cut the bottle on the downswing to extinguish the flame.

Weight Cut. Cut the necessary

40 pounds each from the meat

and the ice block to advance. Free Fall.

You cut each watermelon as it drops.

Only exposed red fruit counts. Strike Zone.

Behind that curtain is a variety of objects

that you must attack.

Cut the rope to bring down the curtain,

and the objects are revealed.

Every object must be cut in half.

Dead Run ends with Fire

Storm, where you must cut two ropes to release the platform,

fight exhaustion to ascend the stairs,

and the clock stops only if you can make one final chop

to a stack of hard sugarcane.

Here he goes.

- I know my strengths, and that falcata gives me

an immense amount of strength.

My Iberian falcata came to win.

- That blade's formidable, but this is a very long course.

Does he have the stamina to make it happen?

- I like how he's using the blade

to whip the meat around a lot faster.

- He took a penalty there. Headed to Extinguisher.

Remember, cut the rope. Release the bottle.

Cut the bottle. Extinguish the flame.

The timing may be an issue,

and the hand-eye coordination--oh,

he got it on the backswing,

but it did not extinguish the flame.

Let's see if he can do better on the second rope.

Very interesting.

First competitor I've seen not hit it on the downward slope.

Nailed it! - Yes.

- He's finding his timing, finding his rhythms,

finding the best way to complete this challenge.

Nailed it!

He's wasting a lot of time there.

Okay. The final candle is out.

He missed one. Two penalties so far.

He is moving on to Weight Cut.

- Definitely this is going to make or break the blade.

- Remember, he's got to put 40 pounds in the scale.

40 pounds of it. There you go. He's on to the fourth one.

- He's attacking the meat up high.

- There is no doubt

that blade has kept its sharpness.

He is moving on to Free Fall.

- With the long blade, he did have some problems

with his timing on Extinguisher.

- First two nailed!

Oh, three for four.

- He's coming in at a proper angle.

- Four for five. Yes, sir.

Only one penalty so far.

Very interesting.

Good job.

Moving on to Strike Zone.

Each object must be cut in half in order to advance.

No problem with the sugarcane.

- Ugh! - Here he goes with the rope.

- I like how he's doubling up on his swing.

- Here he goes with the container.

Oh, beautiful!

That is how it's done!

Losing a little bit of sharpness in that blade.

- A lot of power. - He destroyed it.

Here he goes with the fish. Had a much better swing inside.

That blade is taking a beating.

Moving on to the pork loin.

Okay.

- Oh, that blade's definitely gotten dull.

- Definitely gotten dull.

There he goes. Moving on.

Headed up the stairs. Got to cut that sugarcane.

Time will be revealed. Here we go.

- Ugh! Ah!

- Let's see his time.

4 minutes, 26 seconds. - Yeah!

- Argh!

- Very impressive run, but he did rack up some penalties.

He didn't cut piece of meat on Steak

Knife, left the candle burning in Extinguisher,

missed two targets on Free

Fall, and he took a lot of time on Strike Zone.

We shall see.

Jason Johnson's up.

An unbelievably impressive performance inside.

I can only imagine he's gonna continue that out here.

- Absolutely. A lot of martial art background.

He knows how to move.

- Everybody's got a plan until they get punched

in the face, right?

I got a plan. I know what I'm gonna do.

We'll see how my cut works, and if my cut is true,

then may the best man win.

But I intend on not going home.

- Jason Johnson. Here he goes. He's up.

He is slicing right through Steak Knife...

In record time.

On to Extinguisher.

Let's see his technique here.

Beautiful precision. He's on to number two.

Ah, precision slice. Nailed it. Number three.

- He found that sweet spot. - He's taking his time.

He's methodical.

It did not extinguish the flame.

Oh, he misses on the upswing.

Hits it on the downswing. He will incur three penalties.

Moving on. Weight Cut.

Remember, 40 pounds in the scale, or you're penalized.

He starts on the meat.

- Oh, wow.

- Look at the sharpness of that blade,

but does he have 40 pounds? On to the ice block.

Oh, my God, record time! - Rocking the ice block!

- Now he goes to Free Fall.

Let's see what he's got.

Number one.

This guy is at one with his blade.

- All about hand and eye coordination here.

- Oh!

Beautiful job.

He is blowing out Free Fall.

Think he missed that one though.

Now he's on to Strike Zone.

You must cut each object in half in order to advance,

and the time's ticking.

Right through the first container.

Second container is not an issue at all.

One slice through the fish.

One slice through the rope.

- That is a sharp blade!

- Okay, he's on. Off to Fire Storm.

Two ropes are cut. There's the platform.

He's ascending the stairs.

He cuts the sugarcane.

Let's see if he's beaten the time.

Dustin's time, 4:26. We knew that.

Jason's waiting for his time.

Take into consideration that he incurred six penalties,

but he made quick work on the course.

3:28! - Wow, there you go.

- Jason Johnson takes Dead Run!

Wow. That was impressive.

That guy destroyed the course in Knife

Fight, came out did the same thing to Dead Run.

Takes home the crown.

- Nice job, brother. - Yeah, fast, man.

- Hell, yeah. Always.

I felt it didn't matter if I won or lost

right up until I saw that time,

and I'm like, "I can do better,"

but that's always the next step is,

"Where am I at? Where am I going next?"

- This course is real tough.

There was a lot of things I didn't expect,

a lot of things that nobody could've expected.

- Hey, don't celebrate too long

'cause you got that grand finale to win.

- That's what we're here for. - Yes, sir!

- To beat all these guys, these leading competitors

that I've seen, it feels--it's amazing.

A lot of anticipation of the next competition,

and I'm gonna bring it, man. That's what I'm here for.

I'm coming back for this showdown, and I'm gonna win.

I'm not good at smiling so much, but you get the idea.