The Ultimate Fighter: Team Grasso vs. Team Shevchenko (also known as The Ultimate Fighter 32 and TUF 32) is a 2024 installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter that will take start on June 4, 2024, at the TUF Fighters house and the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
Coaches
Team Grasso:
Alexa Grasso, Head Coach Diego Lopes, assistant coach Francisco Grasso, assistant coach Alessandro Costa, BJJ coach Colin Daynes, wrestling coach Jose Martinez, striking coach
Team Shevchenko:
Valentina Shevchenko, Head Coach Pavel Fedotov, assistant coach Jason Andrada Miguel Carpinacci Richie Van Houten Martin Gil Louai Kiblawi Rocky Kiblawi
MEN’S FEATHERWEIGHT 145 lbs (name, age, professional record and fighting out of)
Edwin Cooper Jr | 31 | 6-1 | Albuquerque, N.M.
Nathan Fletcher | 26 | 8-1 | Liverpool, England
Zygimantas Ramaska | 27 | 9-2 | Ukmergė, Lithuania
Roedie Roets | 27 | 7-1 | Polokwane, South Africa
Bekhzod Usmonov | 28 | 12-4 | Tajikistan
Guillermo Torres | 37 | 7-1 | Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Kaan Ofli | 30 | 11-2-1 | Melbourne, Australia
Mairon Santos | 23 | 13-1 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
MEN’S MIDDLEWEIGHT 185 lbs (name, age, professional record and fighting out of)
Omran Chaaban | 23 | 6-1 | Finland
Shamidkhan Magomedov | 29 | 8-1 | Gubkinsky, Russia
Robert Valentin | 28 | 10-3 | Switzerland
Mark Hulme | 29 | 12-3 | Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Ryan Loder | 31 | 6-1 | Sacramento, Calif.
Giannis Bachar | 33 | 9-2 | Athens, Greece
Thomas Theocharis | 30 | 9-5 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Paddy McCorry | 26 | 4-1 | West Belfast, Ireland
Teams
Team Grasso
Featherweights: Bekhzod Usmonov, Guillermo Torres, Kaan Ofli, and Mairon Santos. Middleweights: Omran Chaaban, Robert Valentin, Thomas Theocharis, and Paddy McCorry.
Team Shevchenko
Featherweights: Edwin Cooper Jr., Nathan Fletcher, Zygimantas Ramaska, and Roedie Roets. Middleweights: Shamidkhan Magomedov, Mark Hulme, Ryan Loder, and Giannis Bachar.
Background
Current UFC Flyweight Champion Alexa Grasso and former champion Valentina Shevchenko will serve as head coaches for the season.
This season will feature male featherweights and middleweights. The casting call for the season ended on January 19, 2024, with the selections made in late January. The filming of the season is expected to begin in March 2024. The cast was officially announced on March 4, consisting of fighters from 14 different nationalities.
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Grasso vs. Team Shevchenko will feature the most international cast ever assembled for the show, with 14 nations being represented by the 16 rising prospects in the men’s featherweight (145 lbs.) and middleweight (185 lbs.) divisions, who have put everything else in their lives aside to pursue their UFC dreams.
No. 1 ranked women’s pound-for-pound fighter Grasso (16-3-1, fighting out of Guadalajara, Mexico) intends to make a statement in her coaching debut. She will look to pass on the skills and experience that have earned her notable victories over Shevchenko, Maycee Barber and Joanne Wood. Grasso now has her sights set on shutting out Shevchenko as coach and building momentum towards their inevitable rematch later this year.
Former UFC flyweight champion Shevchenko (23-4-1, fighting out of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) is considered by many to be one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. A Master of Sport in taekwondo, boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai, Shevchenko has claimed highlight-reel victories over Lauren Murphy, Jéssica Andrade, and Katlyn Chookagian. She now plans on adding a successful TUF coaching season to her impressive resume on the way to reclaiming her belt from Grasso.
The fighters
Featherweights
Edwin Cooper Jr.
Record: 6-1 Age: 31 Fighting out of: Albuquerque, New Mexico Notable:
Fought on the PFL Challengers Series in 2022
Trains at Jackson Wink MMA -- the same gym as UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones and former UFC champions Holly Holm and Michelle Waterson-Gomez
Nathan Fletcher
Record: 8-1 Age: 26 Fighting out of: England Notable:
Six wins by submission
Trains at Next Generation MMA Liverpool; the same gym as UFC fighters Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann
Kaan Ofli
Record: 10-2-1 Age: 30 Fighting out of: Melbourne, Australia Notable:
Nickname is Genghis
Won Hex Fight Series featherweight title in last fight
Riding an eight-fight winning streak
Zygimantas Ramaska
Record: 9-2 Age: 24 Fighting out of: Lithuania Notable:
Has had only one professional fight go the distance
Riding a three-fight winning streak, all wins have come via KO/TKO
Roedie Roets
Record: 7-1 Age: 27 Fighting out of: South Africa Notable:
No fights between January 2020 and April 2023
Won four of his past five fights
Mairon Santos
Record: 13-1 Age: 23 Fighting out of: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Notable:
Trains at Paraná Vale Tudo -- the same gym as Jessica Andrade and Denise Gomes
Was supposed to face now-UFC featherweight Sean Woodson in August 2023 but bout was cancelled
Guillermo Torres
Record: 7-1 Age: 37 Fighting out of: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico Notable:
Each of his past four fights have ended in KO/TKO (three wins, one loss)
The oldest fighter on this season of TUF
Bekhzod Usmonov
Record: 11-4 Age: 28 Fighting out of: Russia Notable:
Has not fought since December 2022
Middleweights
Giannis Bachar
Record: 9-2 Age: 33 Fighting out of: Athens, Greece Notable:
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship welterweight champion
Both of his losses have come by submission
Omran Chaaban
Record: 6-1 Age: 23 Fighting out of: Helsinki, Finland Notable:
UAE Warriors welterweight champion
Riding a five-fight win streak
Has finished each of his past five opponents (two knockouts, three submissions)
Mark Hulme
Record: 12-3 Age: 29 Fighting out of: Johannesburg, South Africa Notable:
Riding a four-fight winning streak
Ryan Loder
Record: 6-1 Age: 32 Fighting out of: Roseville, California Notable:
Trains at Team Alpha Male, a gym founded by former UFC fighter Urijah Faber
Shamidkhan Magomedov
Record: 8-1 Age: 29 Fighting out of: Dagestan Notable:
LFA interim welterweight champion
Fought on Khabib Nurmagomedov's Eagle FC from 2021 to 2022
Paddy McCorry
Record: 4-1 Age: 26 Fighting out of: West Belfast, Ireland Notable:
Each of his wins has come via finish (two knockouts, two submissions)
Tom Theocharis
Record: 9-5 Age: 30 Fighting out of: Toronto Notable:
Seven of his eight wins have come by KO/TKO
Won the Alaska Combat Entertainment middleweight championship twice
Robert Valentin
Record: 10-3, 1 NC Age: 29 Fighting out of: Zurich, Switzerland
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