MTV 'Challenge' Veteran Derrick Kosinski Details 'Vendettas' Elimination Battle With Joss Mooney

When it comes to the best competitors in the 31-season history of MTV’s “The Challenge,” a handful of names stand out.

Johnny “Bananas” Devenanzio is the most decorated contestant with six winning seasons. Darrell Taylor is second all-time with four wins, and it only took him eight tries to do so.

Then there’s Derrick Kosinski, who doesn’t take a backseat to anyone. He’s got three wins in 10 seasons and might be the toughest person to ever compete on the reality-TV show.

It’s a lesson that “Challenge” rookie Joss Mooney discovered on the latest episode of “The Challenge: Vendettas.” Derrick ended Joss’ attempt to win a grand prize of potentially more than $500,000 by defeating him in perhaps the greatest elimination challenge in the show’s history—a 90-minute long war that left the two men bloodied and badly bruised, looking like they had just competed in an MMA fight.

“I don’t think you’ll ever see two dudes beating the [expletive] out of each other for that long,” Derrick told International Business Times. “I don’t think production is gonna let it go for that long.”

Joss was one of four “Vendettas” cast members that was forced to face a “Challenge” veteran in a one-on-one elimination round. MTV flew Derrick to Spain to be a “mercenary” for one night, showing why he might be the most respected contestant ever.

“I thought, ‘I’m gonna be an assassin,’” Derrick told IBT. “That’s your only goal. You have no idea who you’re going against. You have no idea what you’re gonna do. You just show up and know you’re gonna be there for a competition and then you’re leaving the next day.”

“Crazy 8” called for the two challengers to wrestle away a ring from the other competitor and return it to their side of a muddy pit. For almost an hour and a half, neither Derrick nor Joss would let the other one control the object, doing whatever they could to try to pry it away.

“We were trying to trip each other, slam each other, body check,” Derrick said. “There was so much body checking going on. So many elbows.”

The challengers weren’t allowed to throw punches, but just about anything else was legal in their epic battle. Derrick went to the hospital soon after the elimination round was complete, and both men sustained injuries.

“At one point, I literally felt like an animal that got shot and had to squirm out of whatever position I was in because I really [expletive] up my shoulder. I definitely tore my groin. I had a bruise on my groin all the way from my butt cheek all the way down to my calf. My whole hamstring was bruised. Both my arms had scrapes all the way up and down to my face,” said Derrick, who had Joss on his “Challenge Mania” podcast Thursday to recount their back-and-forth contest.

“He, too, couldn't get out of the bed in the morning. And he also had to ask people on the flight (home) to put his bag up in the bin and take it down for him, just like I did.”

There was even a point where the competition had to be stopped for about five minutes because Derrick had a cut above his eye that wouldn’t stop bleeding. He refused to quit, eventually outlasting Joss, who cost himself with a mental error.

The game was reset every time Derrick and Joss fell out of the pit and both had control of the ring. Joss fell out of bounds and assumed Derrick did so with him, but the “Challenge” veteran managed to keep his feet on the inside of the rope. He scampered toward his side of the pit with the ring in hand and eliminated arguably the most physically gifted member of the “Vendettas” cast.

“I got to fight the new ‘Challenge’ bull. This dude is set up to be the new ‘Challenge’ superhero. He’s big. He’s strong. He’s good looking. He won the first challenge and he quite possibly was in an elimination round that will top all other elimination rounds ever.”

“Vendettas” might be Joss’ first season on “The Challenge,” but he certainly has what it takes to be an all-time great competitor. He looks like he’s chiseled from stone, standing at 5’11 and weighing close to 215 pounds of what appears to be pure muscle.

Derrick is a full four inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter than Joss, though size has never stopped the 34-year-old from winning challenges. It’s nothing new for Derrick, who’s been going toe-to-toe with bigger competitors for his entire “Challenge” career.

It’s why Bananas calls Derrick the best pound-for-pound contestant in “Challenge” history. It’s why Shane Landrum, who was eliminated on the same night as Joss when he competed against mercenary Jordan Wiseley, told IBT that he would’ve quit immediately had he been forced to face Derrick.

“No one wants to go against Derrick in a head-to-head physical fight,” Shane said.

Derrick won’t appear again on “Vendettas,” though he told IBT that other mercenaries will compete this season.

“I pride myself on being in eliminations like what you saw (Tuesday). In the battles that you saw (Tuesday),” Derrick said. “In the grudge matches that I’ve been involved in in the past against some really tough dudes. I like to set myself aside by being the dude that has been in the most physically demanding grudge matches of all time.”

“The Challenge” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST on MTV. Derrick’s “Challenge Mania” podcast drops twice a week, featuring interviews with contestants of the show.