The 28 welterweights competing in the second edition of "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil" have been revealed.
"TUF: Brazil 2," which features UFC heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo Noueira and Fabricio Werdum as coaches, debuts March 17 in Brazil on Globo. U.S. broadcast plans have yet to be announced, but the series is expected to be available in North American as an online stream.
As with the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil," the new edition of the series begins with an elimination round of fights, which are expected to be featured in the first two episodes of the series. All winners of the those fights become official cast members. They then compete in a single-elimination tournament, which is the focus of the reality show's regular-season run.
"I think the level this season is extremely high," Nogueira stated in an official release announcing the cast. "I'm confident that apart from the season winner, we will be sending a lot of great fighters to the UFC in the future. Basically, we have the very elite of Brazilian MMA welterweights in front of us."
While most of the fighters are veterans of the Brazilian scene and largely undiscovered talent (in North America), there are a few notables, including DREAM veteran Yan Cabral and Sengoku and BAMMA veteran Leonardo Santos. A pair of familiar-sounding names are in the cast with Thiago Silva and Tiago Alves, though it's important to note those are not the UFC veterans most familiar to MMA fans.
The full list of "TUF: Brazil" fighters includes:
Bruno "Jacare" Dias (11-3-1)
Cleiton "Foguete" Duarte (12-1)
Daniel "Gelo" Oliveira de Azeredo (4-1)
David Vieira (4-0)
Felipe Olivieri (11-4)
Gil Freitas (14-5)
Henrique "Sucuri" Batista (4-0)
Juliano "Ninja" Wandalen (7-3)
Leandro "Buscape" Silva (5-0)
Leonardo Santos (11-3)
Luciano Contini (8-1)
Luiz Jorge "Besouro" Dutra Jr. (11-2-1)
Marcio "Pedra" Santos (4-0)
Neilson Gomes (14-2)
Pedro Irie (9-5-0)
Roberto Barros "Corvo" Martins Amorim (6-1)
Robson "Negao" Ferreira (4-0)
Ronaldo "Rony Silva" Oliveira Silva (3-0)
Santiago "El Rasta" Ponzinibbio (18-1)
Thiago "Bel" Silva (9-3-1)
Thiago "Marreta" de Lima Santos (8-1)
Thiago "Jambo" Goncalves (15-3)
Tiago "Unstoppable" Alves (3-0)
Viscardi Andrade (13-5)
Wande Lopes Santana (6-0)
Weguimar "Big Big" de Lucena Xavier (17-5-1)
William "Patolino" Macario (6-0)
Yan Cabral (10-0)
Nogueira and Werdum are slotted to meet at UFC on FUEL TV 10, which takes place June 8 at Ginasio Paulo Sarasate in Fortaleza, Brazil. The tournament finale also takes place at the same event.
Source: MMAJunkie.com