Sam went to meet his soon-to-be new friend. The best of the best in Pre-transcendent level.
When Sam met him he has a faint recollection of that bear. He is one of the bears that were at the forefront of the war and killed the most number of Orangutans and also the most injured bear.
Now he was completely recovered and wants to have a little competition. The competition went on for the next few days.
It is actually not that big of a deal, the bear wants to fight with them one on one to see where it ranks amongst all of Sam's beasts.
Even though Sam felt like this is a bad idea, the beasts are excited to give the newbie a good beating.
Their bloodlines are superior and they have some distinct advantages over bear for now as their battle experience is different.