The thirty-third season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) is just about to start shooting. Former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion Daniel Cormier will coach against former three-time title challenger Chael Sonnen. Unfortunately, like most of the other 30+ seasons, they will not fight at the end of the season.
However, they both have an idea to make up for it.
Today (Wed., Feb. 12, 2025), during TUF 33 media day (watch here), Cormier and Sonnen pitched a fight that they think should happen.
“Okay, so Chael and I are talking,” Cormier said. “I have Michael Chiesa on my coaching staff, and Chael has Colby Covington on his coaching staff; why don’t they just fight, and we coach them? That’s as close as we can get to going back into the Octagon. Why don’t those dudes just fight each other?”
“To back Daniel up, I can’t believe nobody is suggesting that. It’s the obvious fix,” Sonnen responded. “I don’t think Colby and Chiesa can go through this process without finding each other.”
“Imagine how much we can instigate those guys. It would be awesome. We can instigate them for four weeks without having to get punched,” Cormier added. “See, I would instigate Stipe [Miocic] all the time (during season 27 of TUF), but there was always a moment I thought, ‘Man, he might actually hit me because I was messing with him so much.’ We don’t have to worry about getting hit by each other like we can make them hit each other.”
While Chiesa vs. Covington might be five years too late, it would be an interesting fight for where they are in their respective careers, and to Cormier’s point, if he and Sonnen get the two Welterweights riled up, maybe it could be a fun build-up – especially because “Maverick” has called out “Chaos” since his win over Rafael dos Anjos and then again after his Neil Magny win.
Nevertheless, TUF 33 debuts on ESPN+ later this year on Tues., May 27, 2025, featuring Flyweights and Welterweights, with the winners earning six-figure UFC contracts.
For more on this season of TUF click here.