“This is a historic moment,” remarked Wanderlei Silva in broken English when attempting to describe the groundbreaking, upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter set to take place entirely in Brazil. And indeed, it is pretty amazing to see how far the reality show, and therefore the UFC, has come in the past few years; UFC 144 really sent this notion home. A sport once considered a passing trend by its critics has now grown to the point that it can simultaneously broadcast two different reality shows from two different countries, folks, so let’s join in on the celebration.
Set to air on March 25th, The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil has already made huge waves in the Mecca of mixed martial arts, receiving overwhelming support from the country as documented in the above video. Set to coach opposite Vitor Belfort, “The Axe Murderer” recently made one of several appearances to plug the upcoming show, and was greeted with open arms and cries of “When are you going to kill Chael Sonnen?” by the legions of fans lined up around the block. Man, those dudes carry a grudge. Never a man of many words, Silva could only reply, “SOON.”
As we know, TUF Brazil will feature featherweight and middleweight classes doing battle over the course of a twelve episode season, with the rematch between Silva and Belfort to transpire on a separate PPV card, likely in June. Being that this season will feature up and coming Brazilian talent, we would imagine MMA fans will be paying especially close attention, because we are likely looking at future champions in their respective divisions.
Speaking of heated rivalries carried out through The Ultimate Fighter, check out this video promo for the fifteenth season of TUF, which will see bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz square off against rival coach Urijah Faber. We really don’t know what to think of it, aside from the fact that it will probably piss Creationists right the hell off. And whoever decided to use the Red Hot Chili Peppers version of “Higher Ground” instead of the Stevie Wonder original should be tarred, feathered, and hung by their testicles from the nearest tree branch.
What say you, Potato Nation?
-J. Jones