Sara Bradley's journey has me convinced that Tournament of Champions values consistency
**Disclaimer: This Tournament of Champions article is based on the writer's opinion. Reader discretion is advised.**
Tournament of Champions, one of Food Network's toughest culinary competitions, which premiered in 2020, completed its sixth season on April 20, 2025. After a long series of intense battles and cook-offs between seasoned chefs, Chef Antonia Lofaso took the champion's belt and the $150,000 cash prize by defeating renowned Chopped alum Sara Bradley in the finale.
Antonia, for whom season 6 marked her sixth consecutive attempt, finally won the title after failing in the previous seasons. Despite coming close to becoming the victor, she could not outdo her opponents to clinch the belt. While her win is worth celebrating and remains undisputed, what one should take note of is her opponent for this season's finale.
Sara Bradley reached the finale of the Tournament of Champions (ToC) on her debut season. Despite not having prior experience with the pressure of the ToC kitchen or with the unique format of the show, Sara advanced to the finale to face the seasoned contestant, Antonia.
Tournament of Champions, due to its bracket-style format, use of Randomizer, and bling tasting system, offers every chef the same playing field, no matter how reputed or experienced. Consequently, watching Sara reach the finale despite being an amateur on ToC has me convinced that the contest values consistency in performance over everything else.
In my opinion, Sara reached the last stage of the competition because she continuously delivered winning dishes that were good enough to outperform her opponents in each round. Even though she lost to Antonia, her journey is a testament to how ToC values consistency in performance.
Tournament of Champions star Sara Bradley's dishes were never subpar
Sara Bradley entered the Tournament of Champions as a fifth-seeded chef from Division D. Her first battle of the competition was against Chef Dale Talde, a James Beard Award nominee, seeded in fourth place. The Randomizer offered them Denver steak, turnips, charred V-blade mandoline, and horseradish.
The Top Chef finalist, Sara, ensured that the ingredients mentioned by the Randomizer were used in multiple ways in her dish. She prepared a Urfa charred Denver steak with horseradish. The Tournament of Champions panelists were impressed with her plate of food, however, they expected more seasoning on the steak.
Sara went on to defeat Dale, who had prepared a kalbi with pickled turnip wrap. She received 76 points out of 100, whereas Dale ended with 72.
In episode 6 of Tournament of Champions, Sara was pitted against David Viana. Using the ingredients provided by the Randomizer, Sara prepared a rack of lamb with a whipped Meyer lemon and pistachio coating. She also included dandelion greens to enhance the lamb's taste.
Sara won the round based solely on her skills and perfectly cooked rack of lamb. While the judges appreciated both preparations, they granted the win to Sara with 87 points because of her display of technical skills. Despite facing tough competition from David, she advanced because of her performance.
Sara consistently improved her performance, gaining more scores in the second round than in the first.
Sara then won her quarterfinals against Chef Nini Nguyen with an even better score of 90 points out of 100. It further demonstrates how Sara maintained her level of performance, portraying her consistency as one of the main reasons she reached the finale.
In the semifinals, the Tournament of Champions alum faced the seasoned Lee Ann Wong. Sara presented the judges with crispy, silky chicken with shmaltz and potatoes. Lee Ann, on the other hand, cooked silky black chicken and dumplings. After tasting both dishes, the judges gave the win to Sara with 85 points, whereas Lee Ann scored an 83.
Sara then faced Antonia in the finale. However, she lost the cook-off, earning Antonia her much-awaited victory. Although Sara lost, if one looks at her journey throughout the series, it becomes evident that she advanced because of her performance.
Since the dishes were blindly tasted and each chef was given the same ingredients to work with, Sara never had an advantage in the competition. She outperformed her opponents with her food. Knowing the level of competition, one bad cook could lead to a contestant's elimination. Thus, each chef had to put their best foot forward to retain their spots in the contest.
Sara did precisely that. She never shied away from presenting win-worthy dishes. Consequently, she reached the finale on her debut season and proved anyone could make it far in the competition and potentially win the show if they consistently delivered noteworthy dishes.
Tournament of Champions can be streamed on Max.
