At last, the cast for The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes has been announced. This season will feature a United Kingdom vs. Australia aspect of the reality show, which will make for great competition.
In a press release sent to Bleacher Report by the UFC, the cast was revealed to be eight-on-eight with no fights to make it into the house. Also, the weight classes featured will be lightweight and welterweight.
Here is a full rundown of the cast.
Guided by Australian coach George Sotiropoulos, Team Australia comprises of:
Lightweights:
Grant Blackler, 23, Sunshine Coast
Patrick Iodice, 19, GoldCoast
Richie Vaculik, 29, Sydney
Ben Wall, 23, Brisbane
Welterweights:
Ben Alloway, 31, GoldCoast
Xavier Lucas, 31, Perth
Manuel Rodriguez, 27, Sydney
Robert Whitaker, 21, Sydney
English coach Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson takes charge of Team UK:
Lightweights:
Colin Fletcher, 29, Sunderland
Norman Parke, 25, Bushmills, Nth Ireland
Michael Pastou, 30, Essex
Mike Wilkinson, 24, Leigh
Welterweights:
Luke Newman, 22, London
Bola Omoyele, 30, London
Valentino Petrescu, 30, Essex
Brad Scott, 23, Melksham
To the average fan, many of these names are unrecognizable. To hardcore fans like myself, most of these names are familiar and I am stoked to see this season.
Something interesting about the Australian lightweights is that two of their fighters are not usually lightweights. Richie Vaculik is bantamweight, which is fought 20 pounds under the 155-pound lightweight limit.
Also, Grant Blackler is usually a featherweight, showing that the Aussies may be undersized. But, with lack of size will come speed, so it may even out.
The coaches of the season will be Ross Pearson of the UK and George Sotiropolous of Australia. The two will square off at the end of the season, which will be the cherry on top of a great rivalry from the show.
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