UFC Hall of Famers Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen will serve as coaches for the 33rd Season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Cormier and Sonnen will lead teams of flyweights and welterweights on the reality TV series, which is expected to return to ESPN channels on May 27th.
The upcoming season will be a return to the show for both prominent MMA figures who have previously worked as coaches on the show.
Cormier notably led Brad Katona and Joe Giannetti to tournament wins in 2018 against Team Stipe Miocic. And it was an all-Team Sonnen final in 2018 when he coached a squad of middleweights across from Jon Jones. Sonnen notably also served as a coach against Wanderlei Silva in the third season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil” in 2014, generating the viral “I can’t let you get close” moment.
The appointments go against the long-standing tradition of active UFC fighters coaching talents on the roster. Past seasons have used the coach roles to help hype upcoming matchups, with the team leaders eventually meeting as part of a UFC card down the line. Last year, UFC flyweights Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko squared off shortly after they appeared on the show.
Fighter lineups for the upcoming season of “TUF” have yet to be revealed.
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