Tag: TUF

TUF Brazil 2 Cast Revealed, 28 Fighters Set To Compete For The Title Of “Ultimate Fighter”

The second season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil reality series is set to air on March 17, which will see opposing coaches Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum guide their teams to the final. On Thursday, GloboEsporte (via Tatame.com) announced the names of the 28-welterweights set to compete in this seasons Ultimate Fighter Brazil series. […]

TUF BrazilThe second season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil reality series is set to air on March 17, which will see opposing coaches Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum guide their teams to the final.

On Thursday, GloboEsporte (via Tatame.com) announced the names of the 28-welterweights set to compete in this seasons Ultimate Fighter Brazil series.

The finals for the second TUF Brazil reality series will take place this June as part of the UFC on FUEL TV 10 event, which will see coaches Nogueira and Werdum square off in the main event.

UFC on FUEL TV 10 is expected to take place on June 8, 2013 at the Ginásio Paulo Sarasate arena in Fortaleza, Brazil with the main card airing on Fuel TV while the prelim card is set to stream live on Facebook.

Check out the full 28-fighter participant list for TUF Brazil 2 below:

Bruno Dias “Jacaré” (11-3-1), 26 anos, Bragança Paulista, SP
Cleiton Duarte “Foguete” (12-1-0), 32 anos, Rio Grande, RS
Daniel Oliveira de Azeredo “Gelo” (4-1-0), 29 anos, Nilópolis, RJ
David Vieira da Silva (4-0-0), 31 anos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Felipe Olivieri (11-4-0), 27 anos, São João de Meriti, RJ
Gil Freitas (14-5-0), 29 anos, São Paulo, SP
Henrique Batista “Sucuri” (4-0-0), 27 anos, Linhares, ES
Juliano Wandalen “Ninja” (7-3-0), 35 anos, Blumenau, SC
Leandro Silva “Buscapé” (5-0-0), 26 anos, São Paulo, SP
Leonardo Santos (11-3-0), 33 anos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Luciano Contini (8-1-0), 29 anos, Curitiba, PR
Luiz Jorge Dutra da Silva Jr “Besouro” (11-2-1), 31 anos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Marcio Santos “Pedra” (4-0-0), 24 anos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Neilson Gomes (14-2-0), 26 anos, Salvador, BA
Pedro Iriê (9-5-0), 33 anos, Bragança Paulista, SP
Roberto Barros Martins Amorim “Corvo” (6-1-0), 23 anos, Goiânia, GO
Robson Ferreira “Negão” (4-0-0), 28 anos, Guarulhos, SP
Ronaldo Oliveira Silva “Rony Silva” (3-0-0), 26 anos, Vitória da Conquista, Bahia
Santiago Ponzinibbio “El Rasta” (18-1-0), 26 anos, La Plata, Argentina
Thiago Silva “Bel” (9-3-1), 22 anos, Curitiba, PA
Thiago de Lima Santos “Marreta” (8-1-0), 29 anos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Thiago Gonçalves “Jambo” (15-3-0), 33 anos, Maceió, AL
Tiago Alves “Unstoppable” (3-0-0), 33 anos, São Paulo, SP
Viscardi Andrade (13-5-0), 29 anos, São Paulo, SP
Wande Lopes Santana (6-0-0), 30 anos, Campo Grande, MS
Weguimar de Lucena Xavier “Big Big” (17-5-1), 31 anos, João Pessoa, PB
William Macario “Patolino” (6-0-0), 21 anos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Yan Cabral (10-0-0), 29 anos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ

UFC on FUEL TV 10 Slated For Fortaleza, Brazil; Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Fabricio Werdum Expected To Headline

The Ultimate Fighting Championship appears set to make it’s third trip to Brazil in 2013 with the UFC on FUEL TV 10 event and is expected to visit the Ginásio Paulo Sarasate arena in Fortaleza, Brazil on June 8th. This marks the promotions first visit to the city of Fortaleza which is located on the […]

Ginásio Paulo Sarasate arena in Fortaleza, Brazil

Ginásio Paulo Sarasate arena in Fortaleza, Brazil

The Ultimate Fighting Championship appears set to make it’s third trip to Brazil in 2013 with the UFC on FUEL TV 10 event and is expected to visit the Ginásio Paulo Sarasate arena in Fortaleza, Brazil on June 8th.

This marks the promotions first visit to the city of Fortaleza which is located on the North-East coast of the South American country.

UFC Tonight Tweeted (@UFCTonight) the news on Wednesday night, linking the event to a welterweight bout between Erick Silva and John Hathaway.

– #FUELTV10!!! @arielhelwani: RT @IvanRaupp: Breaking: Erick Silva VS John Hathaway on #FUELTV10 http://glo.bo/Zs8sG6

The event will host the TUF Brazil 2 finals for the international reality show as well.

Opposing coaches, heavyweights Antônio Rodrigo ‘Big Nog’ Nogueira (34-7-1, 1NC) and Fabricio Werdum (16-5-1) are expected to headline the television event.

The Ginásio Paulo Sarasate arena, which opened in 1971, has a capacity to hold up to 17,000 spectators for events and typically hosts sporting events as well as live concerts.

Nogueira has traded wins for losses over his last six fights picking up a submission victory over Dave Herman last October at UFC 153. The win earned ‘Big Nog’ the “Submission of the Night” bonus and put him back into the win column following a technical submission loss to Frank Mir at UFC 140.

Werdum is 5-1 in his last six bouts and is 2-0 since returning to the Octagon after competing inside the Strikeforce cage for three years. His most recent appearance saw him pick up a first round TKO finish of Mike Russow last June in Brazil at UFC 147. The other win was by decision in a “Fight of the Night” bout with Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson at UFC 143.

Sam Sicilia vs. Maximo Blanco Added To TUF 17 Finale Event

A pair of featherweights were announced as opponents for the TUF 17 Finale on Tuesday in TUF Live alumni Sam Sicilia (11-2) and Venezuela’s Maximo Blanco (8-4-1, 1NC). Officials made the announcement online at UFC.com. The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale is expected to take place on April 13, 2013 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center […]

Maximo Blanco

Maximo Blanco

A pair of featherweights were announced as opponents for the TUF 17 Finale on Tuesday in TUF Live alumni Sam Sicilia (11-2) and Venezuela’s Maximo Blanco (8-4-1, 1NC).

Officials made the announcement online at UFC.com.

The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale is expected to take place on April 13, 2013 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event has a new headliner in bantamweights Urijah Faber vs. Scott Jorgensen.

Sicilia dropped his first Octagon appearance last October seeing a six fight win streak stopped by Rony Mariano Bezerra at UFC 153. The bout ended in the second round via TKO. Sicilia debuted at the TUF 15 Finale in his first featherweight pro-fight, stopping opponent Cristiano Marcello by second round knockout.

Blanco has yet to win under Zuffa having dropped his UFC debut by split decision at UFC 145 to Marcus Brimage and his Strikeforce debut to Pat Healy by second round submission at the Barnett vs. Kharitonov event. Prior to that Blanco had six straight.

TUF 17 Finale – Johnson vs. Moraga Out, Faber vs. Jorgensen In As Main Event

A scheduled UFC flyweight title fight between champion Demetrious Johnson and No. 1 contender John Moraga has been pulled from the main event of the TUF 17 Finale after an injury to ‘Mighty Mouse.’ Stepping into the spotlight will be bantamweights Urijah ‘The California Kid’ Faber and Scott ‘Young Guns’ Jorgensen (14-6). The new headliner […]

Urijah Faber - UFC 149 weigh-in photo via Facebook.com/UFC

Urijah Faber – UFC 149 weigh-in photo via Facebook.com/UFC

A scheduled UFC flyweight title fight between champion Demetrious Johnson and No. 1 contender John Moraga has been pulled from the main event of the TUF 17 Finale after an injury to ‘Mighty Mouse.’

Stepping into the spotlight will be bantamweights Urijah ‘The California Kid’ Faber and Scott ‘Young Guns’ Jorgensen (14-6).

The new headliner was announced by UFC president Dana White on Twitter (@danawhite) late Tuesday evening.

– Glad everyone is loving TUF this season! The main event for the Live Finale is Uriah Faber vs Scott Jorgensen @TUFonFX

The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale is expected to take place on April 13, 2013 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Faber fought last weekend at the UFC 157 pay-per-view event in Anaheim picking up a solid first round submission win over Ivan Menjivar. The victory put Faber at 2-1 in his last three matches and 3-2 in the Octagon since joining the promotion in 2011. The most recent defeat was to Renan Barao last July at UFC 149 for the interim bantamweight title, a decision loss.

Jorgensen ended a two fight losing skid by submitting opponent John Albert last December at the UFC on FOX 5 show. The win also earned ‘Young Guns’ the “Submission of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” bonuses. The losses were to Eddie Wineland, by KO at UFC on FX 3, and to Renan Barao by decision at UFC 143.

Ratings Update: UFC 156 Prelims Set Record Numbers, Epic KO Fails to Boost TUF 17


(“I’LL ASK YOU ONE MORE TIME, JAY, WHO TATTOOED THIS AFFLICTION SHIRT TO YOUR BACK?!”) 

If the first month is any indication, 2013 is going to be a good year for MMA. There hasn’t been a significant injury in weeks (sorry Patricky), title fights are almost starting to make sense, and on top of it all, the UFC’s primetime ratings are slowly beginning their climb out of the abyss. Throw in the fact that Bruce Buffer’s upcoming autobiography is all but a shoe-in for a Pulitzer and we are left with little to complain about. It feels…good.

So before we jinx ourselves, let’s get to the great news regarding the preliminary portion of UFC 156, which was able to pull in record numbers during its run on FX last Saturday despite the fact that it featured several debuting fighters and not a lot of name power. As MMAFighting’s Dave Meltzer reports:

Saturday’s UFC 156 prelims drew 1,897,000 viewers, topping the previous UFC on FX record of 1,860,000 viewers set two weeks earlier for the Vitor Belfort vs. Michael Bisping card from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The number was a huge increase from the prelims on FX on Jan. 26 before the FOX network special from Chicago’s United Center which did 1,208,000 viewers.

The largest previous audience on FX for prelims before a big show came on July 7 when theUFC 148 prelims did 1.8 million viewers. But that was to be expected, since there was more interest in UFC on that day with the Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen middleweight title rematch than any day over the past two years. 

After almost ten minutes of research, we have determined that there are only two real explanations for the UFC’s sudden viewership jump:


(“I’LL ASK YOU ONE MORE TIME, JAY, WHO TATTOOED THIS AFFLICTION SHIRT TO YOUR BACK?!”) 

If the first month is any indication, 2013 is going to be a good year for MMA. There hasn’t been a significant injury in weeks (sorry Patricky), title fights are almost starting to make sense, and on top of it all, the UFC’s primetime ratings are slowly beginning their climb out of the abyss. Throw in the fact that Bruce Buffer’s upcoming autobiography is all but a shoe-in for a Pulitzer and we are left with little to complain about. It feels…good.

So before we jinx ourselves, let’s get to the great news regarding the preliminary portion of UFC 156, which was able to pull in record numbers during its run on FX last Saturday despite the fact that it featured several debuting fighters and not a lot of name power. As MMAFighting’s Dave Meltzer reports:

Saturday’s UFC 156 prelims drew 1,897,000 viewers, topping the previous UFC on FX record of 1,860,000 viewers set two weeks earlier for the Vitor Belfort vs. Michael Bisping card from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The number was a huge increase from the prelims on FX on Jan. 26 before the FOX network special from Chicago’s United Center which did 1,208,000 viewers.

The largest previous audience on FX for prelims before a big show came on July 7 when theUFC 148 prelims did 1.8 million viewers. But that was to be expected, since there was more interest in UFC on that day with the Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen middleweight title rematch than any day over the past two years. 

After almost ten minutes of research, we have determined that there are only two real explanations for the UFC’s sudden viewership jump:

1) Americans were riding the violence-fueled high that only the anticipation of the Super Bowl can bring.
2) Jacob Volkmann‘s cult of survivalist troglodytes has gained a far greater following than we previously thought possible. This is probably the correct answer.

Unfortunately, not all is well in the land of UFC ratings…

Despite receiving Dana White’s hype-seal of approval and delivering one of the most violent knockouts in the history of The Ultimate Fighter, Tuesday’s episode of TUF 17 took a significant dip in ratings. Where episode two managed to reel in 1.27 million viewers and a 1.5 household rating, the third episode of the oft duplicated reality show only took in a .92 rating and 1.2 million viewers.

Granted, these numbers aren’t even in the same ballpark as the shameful lows last season brought, but it kind of makes you wonder how an episode that received so much more publicity failed to stir up the same amount of interest. Any ideas as to this drop in ratings, Taters?

Semi-related: The Fifteen Greatest Knockouts in TUF History. 

–J. Jones