Despite what the mainstream press may have you thing, surfing competitions aren’t just about Aussies getting attacked by sharks. Occasionally, some surfing breaks out as well.

And in the most recent WLS contest at the infamous Teahupo’o wave in Tahiti, by God, some surfing took place. Due to a rather lucky draw, two of the best surfers on the planet, Brazilian Gabriel Medina and Hawaiian John John Florence (so good they names him twice) went head to head in the 3rd heat.

To put it in footballing terms, this is like Spain meeting Brazil in the first knock out round of the World Cup. This was big.

However, unlike the millionaire babies who boot a boot a ball around a field, this clash of the titans lived up to the billing. Currently ranked 14th and 15th in the world respectively, Florence and Medina are both masters at riding barrels, and put on one hell of a show as they did battle.

In the end, Medina narrowly squeezed past Florence and took the win by a few points, but the fact that both men picked up 9Personalities clash+ scores in each round tells it’s own story. This highlights make for 11  minutes of some of the best competition surfing you’ll ever see.

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