The upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 has received a great amount of attention because of the coaches involved. Those men are bitter rivals Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva.
Now, we know who the men are who will be serving as the proteges under these established mixed martial arts stars.
In an article released by Globo, the 32 participants of this upcoming season were revealed. The men will participate in the middleweight and heavyweight tournaments that were created by the UFC.
In looking at the roster of names, there are a lot of little-known men looking to strike big here. When you look at most of their records, a lot of these guys have less than five fights and are early in their MMA careers.
Some of the middleweight participants that strike the eye immediately are Ismael de Jesus of Nova Uniao, top prospect Ricardo Abreu, future star Warlley Alves and established vet Wendell Oliveira Marques. Marques is the most experienced of the young bunch, holding a record of 23-7.
There are even a couple lightweights and welterweights who will be moving up to compete in the middleweight tournament. As seen in past seasons, this is common, as this show is the best attempt at gaining a foothold in the UFC, and it’s worth the risk to fight up weight classes.
As for the heavyweights, there are more experienced guys in that tournament. However, most of the competitors are listed as normal light heavyweights, meaning you will see a lot of these guys not cutting weight, which will save them energy.
The top names to look at here are former TUF cast member Richardson Moreira, middleweight prospect Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Bellator tournament veteran Thiago “Big Monster” Santos.
There is even a fighter from Portugal by the name of Goncalo Salgado, who has fought at super heavyweight in the past and has weighed up to 300-plus pounds.
It’s also worth noting that Team Nogueira is heavily represented on this season with seven men on the cast.
The show will air on UFC Fight Pass and feature one of the most heated coaching rivalries ever.
Here is the full cast.
Middleweight
- Cristiano Ferrugem (4-1, X-Gym)
- Douglas Moura (4-1, Team Nogueira)
- Giuliano Alemao (5-1, Octagon Fight)
- Guilherme Vasconcelos (3-1, Titi Jiu-Jitsu)
- Ismael de Jesus (9-4, Nova Uniao)
- Joilton Santos (9-2, Benkei MMA Systems)
- Jose Roberto (5-0, Montanha Team)
- Marcio Alexandre (12-0, Team Tavares)
- Markus Echeimberg (3-0, Gracie Fusion)
- Paulo Henrique Costa (3-0, Rubens Dorea Team)
- Pedro Paulino (3-0, Pantanal Fight Team)
- Ricardo Abreu (4-0, Wand Fight Team)
- Wagner Silva Gomes (3-0, Tata Fight Team)
- Warlley Alves (6-0, X-Gym)
- Wendell Oliveira Marques (23-7, Crazy Fight Team)
- Willian Steindorf (3-0, Neo Dojo)
Heavyweight
- Alexandre Machado (6-1, Machado Team)
- Antonio Carlos Jr. (3-0, Chamption Team)
- Antonio Paulo Branjao (3-0, Team Nogueira)
- Bruno Silva (9-4, Nocaute Fight)
- Edgard Castaldelli (12-4, Team Nogueira)
- Everton Rocha (3-1, Team Nogueira)
- Felipe Diego Dantas (6-0, Kioto)
- Fernando Camoles (4-1, Brazilian Top Team)
- Goncalo Salgado (7-2, Portugal)
- Guilherme Viana (4-1, Ruas Vale Tudo)
- Job Kleber Melo (3-1, Beto Padilha Team)
- Jollyson Sosatleta (2-0, Nova Uniao Pernambuco)
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima (11-2, 011 MMA Team)
- Richardson Moreira (7-1, Team Nogueira)
- Thiago Santos (11-3, Team Nogueira)
- Vitor Miranda (9-3, Team Nogueira)
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