(I know they’re beautiful, Dominick, but just because you promised to get them on TV doesn’t mean they qualify as assistant coaches.)
The UFC announced yesterday that the fifteenth season of its reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, will feature current bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz and long time rival Urijah Faber as its coaches when it debuts on FX this March.
The pair last met in July at UFC 132, where “The Dominator” earned a unanimous decision nod and evened the score between the two in an exciting back-and-forth battle.Their initial meeting dates back over five years to the glory days of the WEC, where Faber scored a guillotine choke over the current champ within the first two minutes.
Since their UFC 132 Fight of the Night earning brawl, Cruz has scored another unanimous decision win over Demetrious Johnson, whereas Faber recently picked up a second round submission victory at UFC 139 over the man to lose the WEC bantamweight title to Cruz, Brian Bowles.
TUF 15 will feature contestants in both the welterweight and lightweight divisions, and for the first time in the shows history, all fights will be held live. Additionally, MMA Live’s Jon Anik will be taking over as the show’s host.
It will be interesting to see if Cruz can push the buttons of the notoriously laid back Faber, or if the need for reality style drama that plagues the show will be pushed entirely on the competing fighters this time around. Who knows, maybe one of the coaches will play the role of misunderstood heel/uber jackass to boost up ratings. One thing’s for sure, when these two complete the trilogy at the show’s finale, it will definitely be a lot more competitive than Miller/Bisping.
-Danga