Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen will not be the opposing coaches on season thirteen of The Ultimate Fighter, according to sources Fighters Only has spoken to.
Urijah Faber is also out of the running according to one of sources.
But Fighters Only understands that it is still very possible that one or both coaching spots will be taken by recently arrivals from the WEC.
Mir-Lesnar was mooted but Mir is now reportedly lined up for a fight with Schaub after fans revolted against the prospect of a rubber match so soon.
With the absorbing of the WEC, the UFC now has new fighters and new weight classes to promote. The chance to showcase an exciting new division such as bantamweight will be attractive.
"But Fighters Only understands that it is still very possible that one or both coaching spots will be taken by recently arrivals from the WEC"
How the hell do you understand that when Dana flat out said in day one of the merger that the WEC boys were gonna have to wait a while before they were seen coaching on TUF!?!?!
RNunberg - I predict winner of Maynard/Edgar vs. winner of Pettis/Henderson... but they may be too small for this season.
this is what I logged in to post.
Sonnen v W. Silva has to be out of the question considering Sonnen's status with the CSAC following the hearing a week and a half ago, and the fallout w/ Keith Kizer/NSAC due to Chael's comments during the hearing.
We could see this announced Thursday night, but more likely to hear an announcement at the Pre-fight press conference for UFC 125, or in the weeks leading up to the event.
Just my prediction.
No way Brock does TUF, wishful thinking there, but kudos to BLAF if he pulls that off.
Edgar needs the exposure, as does Henderson/Pettis, although ratings would be abysmal.
I know the point of the coaches is usally to set up a title fight or #1 contender spot, but Stann vs Leben (Marines vs Army) would be awesome. I'm sure there are plenty of dudes in the service that would love a crack at the UFC, and what better way, than this. There are a few things that would throw a wrench in the works, like what happens when it's just 4 Soldiers left in the semi-finals after cleaning out the Marines. And how would you explain that Leben represents the Army after it is a known fact that he went AWOL. It's be fun though.
Neither Henderson or Pettis have ever fought in the UFC. Hard to justify giving either the coaching gig. Now that I think about it, will the winner of Hendo, Pettis be the first to get a title shot in there UFC debut?
