The upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter is set to debut on September 9 at 10 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, and will showcase 32 fighters competing for one of 16 spots featuring eight Europeans and eight Americans and the opportunity to be coached by Conor McGregor or Urijah Faber.
McGregor is the interim featherweight champion, besting Chad Mendes via second round TKO in July to gain that honor. He’s currently riding a 14-fight winning streak, and is set to unify his title with pound-for-pound king Jose Aldo at UFC 194 on December 12 in Las Vegas.
This is Faber’s second go around as a coach after appearing on season 15 against rival Dominick Cruz in 2012. Faber is a teammate of the aforementioned Mendes, and also has a few interactions between himself and McGregor than seem to have added a little spice between the two fighters.
Below is a full list of competitors by team and in alphabetical order (name, professional record, age, hometown):
|
United States |
Europe |
| Andreas Quintana, 8-1, 24, Albuquerque, N.M. | Artem Lobov, 11-10-1-1, 28, Dublin, Ireland |
| Austin Springer, 8-0, 27, Portland, Ore. | Abner Lloveras, 19-7-1, 32, Barcelona, Spain |
| Billy Quarantillo, 6-1, 26, Tampa, Fla. | David Teymur, 3-1, 25, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Brandon Ricetti, 7-1, 28, Chico, Calif. | Djamil Chan, 19-2, 24, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Brennan Sevin, 7-1, 29, Chauvin, La. | Frantz Frank Slioa, 4-0, 24, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Chris Gruetzemacher, 12-1, 29, Peoria, Ariz. | Marcin Wrzosek, 10-2, 27, Bydgoszcz, Poland |
| Jason Soares, 8-0, 25, Miami, Fla. | Martin Delaney, 10-1, 36, Bathgate, Scotland |
| Johnny Nunez, 5-1, 29, Las Vegas, Nev. | Martin Svensson, 14-5, 30, Malmo, Sweden |
| James Jenkins, 8-1, 29, Long Island, N.Y. | Mehdi Baghdad, 11-3, 29, Toulon, France |
| Jason Gonzalez, 9-2, 25, Colton, Calif. | Mohamed Grabinski, 10-1, 23, Dusseldorf, Germany |
| Julian Erosa, 14-2, 25, Yakima, Wash. | Paulo Boer, 10-1-1, 29, Holland |
| Mike Flach, 7-1, 27, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. | Sascha Sharma, 8-2, 27, Stuttgart, Germany |
| Ryan Hall, 4-1, 30, Falls Church, Va. | Saul Rogers, 10-1, 25, Bolton, England |
| Thanh Le, 4-1, 29, New Orleans, La. | Sean Carter, 10-1, 30, Essex, England |
| Tim Welch, 12-5, 25, Glendale, Ariz. | Thibault Gouti, 10-0, 28, Avignon, France |
| Tom Gallicchio, 19-8, 28, Perth Amboy, N.J. | Vladimir Sikic, 10-0, 25, Frankfurt, Germany |
The show will feature 12 episodes airing Wednesdays on FOX Sports 1. Each episode’s winner will advance in the single-elimination tournament, leading to the season finale card on December 11 in Las Vegas. The finale will be headlined by former lightweight champion and current second-ranked featherweight Frankie Edgar taking on Faber teammate, No. 3 Chad Mendes.