Many people were left guessing when they were shown previews of Gilbert and Rene fighting during a supposed "upcoming episode" of Next Great Champ - that fight never aired on any episode during the show's run. Producers were worried during the final days of production that news of the show's winner might leak out. After all, the matches were filmed in a ring that was set atop a downtown Los Angeles rooftop, and it would have been easy enough for unwanted paparazzi to snap a few pictures and spill the beans to the rest of the world as to what the eventual outcome would be. Producers decided to stage two fights on the same night that the finale was to be shot... one being the real fight... the second, merely a "mock" fight intended to throw spectators off. Ultimately, Gilbert and Rene were chosen (and paid) from the ousted cast to participate. During that fight however, the fighters (who were instructed beforehand to simply "throw" their punches) became unexpectedly competitive. The result was one of the bloodiest and most viciously contested matches that had taken place. Gilbert actually required stitches to a facial cut shortly afterward. The producers were very unsure what to do with the actual footage. It was arguably the best fight footage they had, however they had no place in the storyline for it. In the end, the fight was decidedly left out... but snippets of the footage were inserted into weekly previews to keep people guessing.
