The Lion's Den tryouts have been criticized by some for their level of brutality. However, Lion's Den fighter and UFC champion Jerry Bohlander said the difficulty of the tryouts are exaggerated: "Most of those stories are like urban myth. Don't get me wrong, the tryout was hard, but far from impossible. We had a few guys that passed it that would never be good candidates for a pro fight. You had to be in shape and have a great deal of determination. I wish I could give you a good story, but most of them are the type that you would have had to experience in person." Bohlander added, "Most of the horror stories that you've heard were from guys that came in but couldn't cut it."