Author: Charttopper

TPress Release -Las Vegas, Nevada – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) confirmed today the next international installment of its famed reality show will feature two leading Commonwealth mixed martial arts countries, as Canada meets Australia in The Ultimate Fighter Nations™. Series veterans Patrick Côté (20-8) and Kyle Noke (20-6-1) were officially named coaches of the 22nd edition of the show, which will feature welterweight (170lbs) prospects.

UFC President Dana White’s exclusive announcement: http://www.ufc.com/media/tuf-nations-can-au-dana-white-announcement

A nine-year veteran of the UFC, Côté appeared on the reality series in 2006 when he joined a cast of UFC alumni in The Ultimate Fighter: The Comeback. Originally from Rimouski, Quebec, the bilingual fighter was the first Canadian to reach the series final, and remains only one of two Canadian fighters’ to have done so. Côté then went on a five-fight win streak in the UFC, and earned a shot at Anderson Silva’s UFC middleweight title.

Noke, a native of Dubbo, New South Wales, joined the reality series ranks when he fought his way onto season 11, The Ultimate Fighter®: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz. He was Hall of Famer Liddell’s No.1 pick, and reached the quarterfinals. He has since gone 4-2 in the UFC, including an impressive Submission of the Night win over Chris Camozzi and a devastating KO last time out over Charlie Brenneman.

Tryouts for The Ultimate Fighter Nations™: Canada vs. Australia will begin in September. Both countries will host casting opportunities, the first in Sydney and the second in Toronto. Further details and registration forms will be available as of July 1st at http://www.ufc.com/TUFNations.

The Ultimate Fighter Nations™ is expected to debut in early 2014. It will air nationally in Canada on Sportsnet and TVA Sports and on FX in Australia. A complete broadcast schedule will be announced at a later date.

The Ultimate Fighter, which debuted in 2005, has launched the careers of more than 100 UFC fighters and has produced past champions such as Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping and Matt Serra. This will be Australia’s second participation in the series, having taken part in the second international edition battling the U.K. in The Ultimate Fighter The Smashes: U.K. vs. Australia. Welterweights were most recently featured on The Ultimate Fighter 16 and The Ultimate Fighter Brasil 2, when Colton Smith and Leonardo Santos emerged as season winners.

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About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Universally recognized for its action-packed, can’t-miss events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the globe, the UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto and Beijing, UFC produces more than 30 live events annually. The UFC is the largest pay-per-view event provider in the world with events distributed residentially through North American cable and satellite providers including iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice. In 2012, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX properties FX and FUEL TV. This also includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®.

In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 145 countries, to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide, in 28 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and Australia via Main Event and FX and in French throughout Quebec via Interbox. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with nearly 2.4 million followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs and video games, UFC FIT®, an in-home fitness and nutrition program, an internationally distributed magazine, UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, a new franchise in development with EA, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club® affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.