The Ultimate Fighter 9 “US vs. UK” To Feature Welterweights and Middleweights
During last night’s Spike TV broadcast of UFC Fight Night 15 UFC announcer Mike Goldberg revealed that the UFC has begun its search for fighters for the ninth installment of The Ultimate Fighter reality series.
The Ultimate Fighter 9 will feature welterweights (170 pounds) and middleweights (185 pounds) in a United States versus United Kingdom format.
Auditions for the series will take place on October 20th in London, England and on October 27th in Chicago, Illinois.
The coaches for the show have not yet been announced, though popular British middleweight Michael Bisping, the winner of the The Ultimate Fighter 3’s light heavyweight tournament, is highly likely to be involved with the series.
The Ultimate Fighter 9 will begin filming later this year or in early-2009 for an anticipated April 2009 debut.
Tags: Michael Bisping
Loading ...
what about something like dan henderson vs. bisping as coaches, then they fight for no. 1 contender….
…thought, comments, suggestions
if bisping handles leben then ya, i’d be cool with that idea. i have absolutely no problem with hendo wipin the floor with bisping.
i do anticipate this bein a really good season and i’m sure it will start up quite a few conversations on this site about how much better the US is than UK, hahaha. just playin guys, can’t wait though.
Nate Quarry would be a good coach, but I don’t think it would make much of a fight. Bisping would rock him bad. Rich Franklin would also be interesting, and would be a huge step up in competition for Bisping. If he get through Leben (which I think he will do) it would be a great step up to really get him in title contention.
well rich is fight at 205 now, and he’s already been a coach on the show (twice if you count his cameo on the comeback season) i agree i would like to see those two fight at 185, but i bet dana and the ufc want something new
The thing is this is bad news for Bisping. Clearly after he wipes the mat with Leben he will have to fight someone else before he fights Anderson Silva. I expected him to be #1 contender after Oct. 18th but I guess he’ll have to fight for it.
A win over Leben does not make a fighter number 1 contender. He would have to beat someone else for a shot at Silva anyways.
I can’t think of anyone who could coach the U.S. team other than Hendo or Nate Marquardt, but from what I hear, those two are supposed to fight for the #1 rematch contender spot. Maybe the plan is to have the winner of Hendo/Marquardt coach against Bisping (so long as he beats Leben, which isn’t guaranteed.) If Bisping loses to Leben, it won’t make TUF 9 look too solid to have Bisping as a coach. I bet the Dana is keeping his fingers crossed for Bisping @ UFC 89.
@ justin
if brock can fight for a belt, bisping can fight for a CHANCE to fight for a belt…
@mburtoni
i wouldnt think that hendo and marquardt would have time to fight and coach before this year, if they’re gonna start filming before 2009
….i just re read justins post, and if he beats leben i was saying him and hendo fight for number one contender…and then somehow we fit marquardt into this…..battle royale
Can anyone tell me when in the hell Hendo as actually fought? if Bisping beats Leben there’s no reason in hell he shouldn’t be fighting Nate for a title shot… Everyone can say what they want about Mike but the guy is so exciting to watch he just doesnt look to score points like ugly ass hammel with is gay ass takedowns he looks to push the pace and end it!
I could that putting him in position to fight for #1. My post was directed at Tmoney.
I could see…**
Leo,
Hendo just fought and beat Palhares.
hendo fought palhares two weeks ago and dominated…and the only reason he was brought up is because we needed an american coach for the show and that was a pretty good one and since the last show had title implications for the coaches, figured this one might as well, and while im not an expert on coaching experience hendo seems like the better pick than nate…and we just gave bisping the job because he’s the only english fighter worth a damn (kidding) ((kinda))
Even though he’s canadian what about st pierre? He’s looking to move up a weight class and go after silva anyway… bisping vs. st pierre, the winner gets silva?
No offense to my UK friends, but I don’t like bisping and hope that Leben KO’s him flat out. He has zero chance against Silva, but then again, Cote is getting a title shot. I still think Henderson has a good chance of beating Silva. I know… I know… Silva submitted him before, but Henderson is such a good fighter that I think he can still beat Silva in a rematch.
I don’t like the USA vs UK format. I’d have to root for the USA and there might be guys that I’d rather see lose. Conversley, I’d have to root against the UK even though they might have some fighters that I favor… I’m in a bad position here as who I should root for… dangit…
IF Bisping beats Leben, I can see Hendo fighting Marquardt @ UFC 92 and the winner will be the U.S. coach. However, no offense to all you Brits, but Bisping actually is the most relevant English fighter at the moment. If he loses to Leben, then the UFC might decide to use a non-British fighter as the coach for the UK team. In that case, the coaches wouldn’t necessarily have to be middleweights and could therefore be anyone.
southcakalak,
u read my mind. i said the same thing when i read this, yeah hendo vs. bisping. one on hand, i would like for hendo to SMASH the gay count but on the other hand, i would like to see silva put the gay count OUT OF COMMISSION!!!
bisping is the gay count.
bisping sucks.
bisping likes boys.
USA! USA! USA! USA!
you could always make ross pointon the english coach
@ MMAFan,
HOW CAN U SAY BISPING WOULD ROCK NATE QUARRY??? did u not see quarry’s fight against pete sell? don’t get me wrong, pete sell isn’t too great, but the damage quarry took in that fight and the power he had left to put pete sell on his ARSE is crazy! bisping would see his first loss at MW against “the rock” if not leben first.
@MMAFAN,
i just read your other post regarding GSP and i must apologize for calling u out in my last post…IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS UR ON CRACK IF U THINK BISPING DESERVES TO FIGHT THE LIKES OF GSP!!!
Kelvin,
What did Bisping’s wife do to deserve you calling her a man, or even a boy for that matter?
Kelvin,
C’mon man… Stop soft soaping it… Tell us how you really feel. Do you like bisping or not?
so….
….nobody thought Ross “The Gladiator” Pointon was a good idea……guys?
dont let his 6-10 record fool you
Ross Pointon is a good punching bag. I don’t see him as being a contender anytime in the near future… or any future. He’s a game fighter and I like the fact that he’ll go in against whoever they put in front of him, but whoever that is usually wins.
Anyway, Ross Pointon isn’t listed in the UFC. I think he’s out.
lol
I saw on another page that Pointon was fighting in Cage Rage.
guys…just kidding about pointon…he’s garbage
i thought my sarcasm was coming thru loud and clear
leo, if you haven’t seen them before, i suggest getting ahold of some pride footage to see why hendo gets so much respect.
Ross pointon would be a fine choice for coach… if he was a good fighter… which he ain’t. What made you think of him Southwhatever
southcakalak
What does southcakalak mean?
i am really liking the idea of bisping as a coach i think bisping is one of the only guys who may be able to beat silva…and hendo vs bisping or bisping vs nate would be great fights
Lucas, you’re my buddy and all and I’m hoping for the very best for you, but… bisping able to beat Silva?… The only way Bisping could beat Silva would be if Silva fell asleep from boredom. I don’t mean to second guess you, but bisping beating Silva??? I can’t see that happening in my lifetime. I think Henderson can beat Silva, but bisping doesn’t have the standup game to compete nor does he have the mat game to be able to compete. Hamill beat bisping fair and square, but 2 judges, Jeff Mullen being one of them, blew that fight. They had a Hochuli moment… a complete brain fart. If bisping can’t handle Hamill, how could he compete with Silva? Sorry, buddy, but no way.
i dont see the hate for bisping… why? what has he done to deserve the hate?
is it because hes english? or are there other reasons for your disdain of him… if there are no other reasons then thats pretty pathetic to dislike him just because of where he is from… and if thats all there is then i guess i should hate on ALL USA fighters since i dont care for most of america…
pretty ignorant eh…
as for bisping beating silva, i dont see it happening… hell i dont see him losing for a long time… but you never know… cote could somehow upset the fans and beat him, you just never know whats gonna happen…
as for who to coach… i dont see bisping being a coach, and if he does become one, then i dont see it being a very good season… bisping doesnt come off as the type to be a coach…
as for american coaches, i could see a few potential prospects, hendo is certianly one of them… maybe lidell, i know he could do it… and dropping the weight off his frame might allow him to gain some speed allowing his one-hit wonder punch to not be seen days in advance…
have you watched bisping at mw he is so fast and crisp..and just so you know i really dont like bisping…but i can see him beating silva…just with how fast he is and if travis lutter can get mount on silva bisping can…..also please watch serra vs gsp if a turd like serra can knock off rush than anything is possible…but i think bisping has a better shot than cote……cote.cote.cote………..cote…… cote
Bisping cannot beat Silva. NO WAY! I’d like to see Bisping try his luck with Marquardt first….then we can discuss Silva.
@ DolfanG
South Carolina lol
southcakalak,
Shouln’t it be cakalaki? That’s what we say up here in NC.
In regards to Bisping beating silva, I do think he has a better shot than Cote, but I would think it would have to be along the lines of GSP v. Turd (Serra).
Pointhead is a douche and I really think Bisping could continue with success. He improves every fight. This will be a great test for him. I won’t mind seeing Chris lose. The longer it goes the more it favors Bisping. Unfortunately Chris has that stupid “button” on his chin…
ive heard it both ways but in the in you know what i mean, i know what i mean, and everybody goes home happy
in the end*
No…I don’t know what you mean
No offence, but bisping is like a novice fighter.
Doesn’t make sense (not talking money) to have him as coach unless they find another equally as lame.
16-1 is not exactly novice, in my opinion of course
rampage is training in the uk now , maybe he’ll drop down to 185# and coach again , he’s got much more character than butbing , i mean bisbing and definately is a better fighter.
ok, so.. Bisping coaching a group of guys who want to be in the UFC is probably THE biggest joke I have heard since I heard that Mir was a coach and getting a title shot…
Bisping looked great at 185 no doubt, against two absolute nobodies in the sport today. I really think Leban beats Bisping, but even if he doesn’t Marquart and Hendo will kill him. Silva will probably collapse his eye socket and shatter his cheek bone or something worse. He is highly over rated and got beat by Rashad and Hammil, no matter what anyone says. And we’ve all seen how poor hammil’s striking is. I think Bisping doesn’t have the KO power to put Leban down and Leban has a good enough chin to absorb some punishment and land a big shot. But seriously he’s coaching already? what happened to the days of Hughes, Couture, Liddell, Serra (who owns and teaches at gyms.) bisping is still a kid!
its just speculation as to whether or not he will be a coach
Realistically, if/when Bisping beats Leban, your looking at Hendo USA v Bisping UK, with them meeting afterwards for no.1 contender against whoever is MW champ at the time.
My bet is it will still be Silva to be honest, as by the time the series is filmed, broadcast, and the few months grace following the final, until Hendo v Bisping, Silva may have already fought Cote, Okami and/or Marquart. Especially as Silva and Dana said that Silva wants to fight 4/5, maybe even 6 times a year.
And despite whether most people think thats deserving or not, just or not, personal opinions of fighters…bottom line is it will be big money, a big story, and big business for the show and the UFC branching into Europe. I really cannot see anything other than this scenario.
Just look at Randy v Lesnor… big business.
I’m not saying that Bisping would have any chance at all against St Pierre. St Pierre would kill him. But it would put St Pierre in a position to fight Silva after beating a solid contender like Bisping. And yeah, even after watching Nate’s last fight, I think Bisping would get through him with relative ease.
MMAFan,
The whole idea of St. Pierre moving up to try to fight Silva, is predicated on St. Pierre beating BJ. I think that is likely to happen, but BJ is so good you still have to give him some credit as to possibly winning that fight.
In terms of Bisping being the coach for UK v US, whether or not he would be the best coach, or him being a good enough fighter, he is still THE biggest name as far as fighters from the UK, and if they want a UK fighter as coach for the UK team, I don’t see anyone else they could go to. It wouldn’t make sense to have some guy we’ve never heard of. The only other thing I could think of would be to have the guy that runs Wolfslair, but if they want the coaches to fight, I don’t know how that would work out, not sure who that person is, and if they’re even an active fighter or whatever.
Don’t under estimate Bisping. He’s only getting better.
Justin,
I really think BJ is going to beat GSP. At first when all the rumors started flying around I thought “NO WAY BJ…C’mon! Just defend your title!” Then after seeing BJ go into the cage after GSPs win over Fitch and making the UFC match making very “awkward,” I feel differently. BJ wants this BAD! I believe he asked for the fight previously and was not given what he wanted. That is why he just went straight to the cage and said he wanted to fight GSP to his face, Dana’s face, and all of us fans. “C’mon Georges, lets do it, want to do it? give the fans what they want. want to do it? let’s do it!” I love BJ. The guy has got character. I’m more excited for the next match between the two because both have evolved their own games and matured. We te fans are lucky for this one. It’s really one of those fights where I hate that someone has to lose but I prefer BJ win…..then the saga can continue. At the same time I really want to see GSP work his way into a match with Anderson Silva so Silva can show off more of his greatness.
About Anderson Silva.. he is a great fighter but he is not unstoppable. The two guys who have a chance. Are GSP and Dan Henderson. i know hendo has already fought him but he would still have the best chance. GSP wood be a good fight. A fight I would like to see sometime in the future..(if he moved up a weight class) Diego Sanchez Vs. Anderson Silva.. It wood def. be a entertaining fight
KOuch,
BJ is good, and I can see him winning that fight as well, IMO it is an extremely tough prediction to make. I think the result depends on the fighters’ game plans, as long as they come out and execute that game plan at their highest level, which I think they will. I think GSP has the edge on the feet, and in the ability to get take downs, but if it does go to the ground, GSP has to be careful because BJ is so good there. If GSP decides to come in and try to keep it standing, and BJ takes the same approach, its a coin toss, even though GSP has the reach advantage. If GSP wants to keep it standing, and BJ is looking for takedowns, I think it will be tough for him to get them, and may get beat up in the process. If GSP wants to take it to the ground, he will have to apply a lot of pressure, like Guida did to Danzig to be able to stay out of submission attempts. I also don’t think GSP will have a hard time taking BJ down, 1. He has great take downs, as he showed against Hughes. 2. BJ doesn’t mind being on the ground, even if he’s on his back. No matter the outcome, and who you think will win, which today I feel like GSP will…I might change my mind next week, its such a close matchup…it is a highly intriguing fight, and one to look forward to.
Swed,
I assume that by wood you mean would. I think Hendo has a better shot than GSP against Silva, but I do give GSP some credit at possibly being able to take him. I would contend, though, that if Silva were to move up to 205, and remain there, aiming at the title, he would likely meet someone that could beat him. I think W. Silva could beat him, if he came out like he did against Jardine, not necessarily because of skill/ability, but because of his style.
Did nobody watch their first fight???
GSP has almost nothing to worry about in BJ’s guard. He sat for 2 rounds in BJ’s guard and was never in any trouble. BJ I would say has a slight edge on the feet over GSP – but I’m also basing that off of their first round where GSP took a nasty eye poke that lacerated his bottom eyelid, was gross, and was partially blinded for that whole round..
My opinion is that GSP dominates Penn found 3 rounds and Penn gases out, in the 4th GSP stops him.
penn is guna stop gsp in the first, gsp has a rubbish chin an pens guna tko him, penn is better then gsp an hes guna prove it
I think GSP will overwhelm Penn. I wouldnt say GSP has a rubbish chin, he got caught once, it happens. If you get caught on the button with the needed amount of force then it does not matter who you are, your going down!
Bring on October! I cant wait to try out for TUF. It sucks about the weight classes tho. Im currently 216lbs. Its gonna kill me to make 185 by then… but if it gives me chance to meet uncle Dana! Im in! haha
Ryan,
haha, best wishes on that, seems like quite a stretch to get down to 185 for ya.
@ Justin
Trust me man, ill try my best! haha I might have to loose a limb or two tho! lol
Plus, I havent read the entry form yet, but I wouldnt think that I would have to be at 185 for the tryout… not sure. Anyone know? Im hoping ill only have to be of that weight for the show, providing i get on! lol