Filed under: UFCWith the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter’s 13th season now in the books, we pause to examine our first impressions of coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos, with a few other pithy observations mixed in for good measure.
With the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter‘s 13th season now in the books, we pause to examine our first impressions of coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos, with a few other pithy observations mixed in for good measure.
I. Who slipped Brock Lesnar a valium? Okay, maybe it’s unfair to expect him to go all ‘Hulk smash!’ on the first day of filming, but the big man did seem especially low-key throughout the entire first episode. The clips from the rest of the season indicate that this trend may not last, which is good news for ratings even if it might not be so beneficial to his team. Lesnar is a big enough star that his name alone can probably pull viewers, but I bet Spike TV would love to poke him with a cattle prod every now and then to make sure he’s still awake.
After weeks of speculation, Dana White on Tuesday finally answered what had become the biggest mystery in MMA.
The next coaches of “The Ultimate Fighter” will be Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos, the UFC president told members of the media on a conference call. The two heavyweights will then meet “in June, definitely 100 percent,” White said – likely on an as-yet unannounced pay-per-view expected to take place June 11 in Vancouver.
Lesnar is the former UFC heavyweight champion, but lost his title at UFC 124 in October to Cain Velasquez. Dos Santos was expected to get the next shot at Velasquez as the division’s top contender. But with the new champ on the shelf with a shoulder injury, the Brazilian will instead act as a coach, then stay busy afterward with a fight against Lesnar – putting his top contender status in jeopardy in the process.
White said with Velasquez out, there would not be an interim heavyweight title. Instead, the winner of dos Santos-Lesnar will be the No. 1 contender for the most coveted title in the sport.
Dana White spoke with MMAFighting.com and says he’s got 3 ideas in mind for TUF 13 Coach pairings. The most obvious choice is Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen. The rumors online have spread like wild-fire that these two guys will be the next coaches to go head-to-head on The Ultimate Fighter show […]
Dana White spoke with MMAFighting.com and says he’s got 3 ideas in mind for TUF 13 Coach pairings. The most obvious choice is Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen. The rumors online have spread like wild-fire that these two guys will be the next coaches to go head-to-head on The Ultimate Fighter show to culminate in an anticipated Main Event bout where the two outspoken fighters could let their fists do the talking (so to speak). Sonnen’s suspension doled out by CSAC was cut in half on December 2nd after he faced the board in a hearing. His suspension will be lifted on March 2nd, which renders him conveniently available to do the show.
Another appealing coaching match-up, is Miguel Torres and Urijah Faber. Faber successfully returned to the Bantamweight division and these two facing each other in the cage is inevitable, so why not make a tv show of it? Torres is expected to fight February 5th in UFC 126, but as we’ve seen recently with White pulling Jon Fitch out of his match-up against Jake Ellenberger to now headline UFC 127 along with BJ Penn, if White wants Torres and Faber, White will make it happen.
Finally, White tossed out the idea of Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir who could meet for a rubber match following the show. However, it seems crowd excitement has waned on that idea and with Lesnar taking a hiatus out in the woods somewhere, it may not be a real choice for White…perhaps just a pitch he’s tossing out to throw us off the scent. We know how UFC loves to surprise us with their coaches.
With the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter‘s 13th season now in the books, we pause to examine our first impressions of coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos, with a few other pithy observations mixed in for good measure.
After weeks of speculation, 