LOS ANGELES, CA – FUEL TV (www.fuel.tv) presents the U.S. television debut of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil®, as the 13-episode series officially premieres on FUEL TV on Sunday, June 10 (10:00 PM ET).
The first international edition of the long-running Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) reality TV series features UFC veterans Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort and Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva, coaching 16 of the best up-and-coming featherweight (145 lbs) and middleweight (185 lbs) fighters from Brazil, with two lucrative UFC contracts on the line.
“I am pumped that FUEL TV is going to air season 1 of TUF Brazil! The fights are awesome and it shows how deep the talent pool is in Brazil,” says UFC President Dana White. “As we continue to grow globally, not just the UFC but The Ultimate Fighter too, we will have so much more content that I know U.S. fans will love to get their hands on.”
“We’re excited to bring the first international edition of the very popular TUF series to U.S. television audiences,” says George Greenberg, Executive Vice President and General Manager, FUEL TV. “While the series has been available to fans domestically online, the reach television provides will help broaden the audience and strengthen the franchise. Our sneak peak last Saturday posted a strong rating and helped push FUEL TV to its third most-watched day ever.”
The premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil showcases the elimination bouts, narrowing down the initial group of 32 hopefuls to the final 16 who will move into the TUF house. From there, they will be split between “Team Vitor” and “Team Wanderlei” and face weekly elimination fights until the finale, where a winner from both weight classes will be declared The Ultimate Fighter® and win an international UFC contract.
Coaches Belfort and Silva have a long-standing rivalry – they fought more than 13 years ago at UFC Brazil on October 16, 1998. Belfort won that night via first round TKO, and the two have since gone on to greatness, with Belfort winning the UFC Light Heavyweight title and Silva reigning as the PRIDE Middleweight champion for five years in Japan.
Throughout the season, there are special appearances by UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos, UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo, and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
TUF series is the longest running unscripted competition series on cable, and launched the careers of UFC standouts like Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez, Forrest Griffin, Josh Koscheck, Rashad Evans and Nate Diaz.
Last season’s featherweight winner, Diego Brandão, was the first Brazilian to win the show. Other Brazilian fighters have appeared on previous editions, including heavyweight icons Rodrigo “Minotauro” and dos Santos, who have both served as coaches on the show.
TUF Brazil premiered in Brazil on March 25 on Globo TV, and makes its U.S. television premiere on FUEL TV Sunday, June 10 (10:00 PM ET).
In 2012, FUEL TV offers more UFC programming than any network has ever offered, including more than 100 hours of live fights, weigh-ins, preliminary bouts, and pre- and postfight shows.
For a complete listing of FUEL TV shows, go to: http://www.fuel.tv/schedule/. For more information, go to www.fuel.tv, www.fuel.tv/ufc, on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/fueltv, and on Twitter at: @fueltv, #UFConFUELTV
To find out FUEL TV on your television, go to www.fuel.tv/getfueltv, or call 877-4 FUEL-TV.