The Greatest Male Players in Challenge History: #7- Mark Long
8 Seasons: Real World vs. Road Rules (Win), Battle of the Sexes (Win), Battle of the Sexes 2, Gauntlet II (Final), Duel II (3rd place), Battle of the Exes, All Stars (5th place), All Stars 3 (4th place)
3–1 Elimination Record
40 Challenge Wins
Daily Challenges: 9.5/10
Eliminations: 9/10
Finals: 7/10
Politics: 10/10
The Godfather. The OG. The First Avenger.
Mark Long isn’t just a legend for being one of the show’s pioneers — he’s one of the most complete players in Challenge history.
Mark appeared on the first real season of The Challenge back in 1999. To put that in perspective, Kam Williams was just five years old.
Mark started his career with a win, leading the Road Rulers in a season that had no eliminations and everyone made the finals.
While his next two seasons, Battle of the Sexes and Battle of the Sexes II also didn’t have eliminations, the guys voted based off performance in both seasons.
In the first incarnation, Mark was constantly in the inner circle (from the fifth mission on) and finished the season first in points, as the guys defeated the girls in the end.
On Sexes II, Mark again was one of the top-performing men, only outshined by Theo and Dan in an absolutely stacked cast. He also was in the dominant veteran alliance with Dan, Theo and Eric that finagled its way to the final four, throwing people like Brad under the bus along the way.
At the end, the men threw the final daily challenge to keep the girls’ weak link Arissa in the game, and Mark bowed out to allow his pal Eric to reach the final for the first time. But Mark Long always leaves a show with money, as the four men agreed to split their winnings.
In the first season with eliminations Mark was on, Gauntlet II, he again was one of the leaders on the Veterans team and stayed out of elimination, as Derrick would have had to been delusional to want to face Mark in an elimination.
After hanging up his bandana (or rather giving it to Derrick as a passing of the torch), he returned from his retirement at 37 years old on The Duel II, and again proved to be one of the best males, both physically and politically.
Mark was in the dominant male alliance of Evan, Landon and Brad, again staying out elimination for the entire season and winning a pair of daily challenges. He was the only man to not go into an elimination that season.
Mark finished third in the final, in part due to having to wait for Aneesa to start the partner portion of the final.
The old man came back again at age 40 on Battle of the Exes, and didn’t miss a beat both physically and politically.
Partnered with a past-her-prime Robin, who was at best the sixth-best girl on the season (definitely behind Emily, Camila, Diem, Rachel and Paula, while arguably Cara Maria and Mandi would have been better partners as well), the duo still performed solidly and even won a tough daily challenge (Don’t Rock the Boat).
But it was Mark’s relationship with Bananas that allowed them to make it all the way to the final four. Despite never having done a season together, Mark was able to make himself Johnny’s top ally.
The only real reason Mark went into the final elimination was because of dumb decisions by Diem and CT. They chose not to throw in Bananas/Camila against Ty/Emily, then spared Ty/Emily in the final elimination and instead threw in Mark/Robin because they hadn’t gone in yet.
Mark probably would have defeated Bananas in X Battle, but he reportedly cut a deal with Johnny to suffer his first elimination loss because Johnny/Camila had a much better chance of winning the final than he did with Robin.
Mark returned at 49 on All Stars and once again dominated politically and physically. He won the tough Rib Cage Path mission, won the Life Saver in the On the Ropes mission and used it to save Katie, beat Laterrian/Katie in elimination with Kendal, and finished third among the guys in the final (fifth overall).
He had an even more impressive season on All Stars 3, making the Authority three times, taking out Laterrian and Jordan in elimination, and making the final yet again.
Mark is often called the greatest political player in the history of The Challenge, and while I agree he’s one of the best, he never really had to play the political game much until Battle of the Exes because he was always one of the top competitors, although his strong social game certainly helped him in seasons like Sexes II and Duel II.
But Derrick was never going to risk facing him on Gauntlet II, and on Duel II he was still a feared competitor. On All Stars he only went into elimination because he was the captain and his team lost, although he was shockingly voted in by the Authority against LT on All Stars 3, and he was called out by Jordan.
Still, even if he’s at worst the third-best male political player of all-time (behind Kenny and Bananas), he also was a dominant force physically, which makes him one of the most well-rounded players of all time.
The main reason he isn’t higher for me is because of the era he played in, him “only” doing six seasons of the flagship show, and his lackluster performances in individual finals on Duel II, All Stars and All Stars 3.
Regardless, there’s no question that Mark is one of the greatest players in Challenge history.
