The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Latin America is all geared up after the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) called for registration of fighters in the area in February. It will also be an interesting show with heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez pitching in as coach together with veteran Fabricio Werdum.
Fighters gunning for a spot in TUF Latin America must be 21 to 34 years old, understands/speaks Spanish, has at least three professional MMA fights, and holds a certifiable winning record.
They must also be citizens of the following countries: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Given the diversity in the nationality of the Latino fighters, the show will be filmed in neutral territory - Las Vegas, Nevada.
To add more spice to the upcoming TUF Latin America, the UFC has also announced the respective coaches for the season. Reigning heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will be coaching alongside another top contender and UFC veteran, Fabricio Werdum.
The two fighters are slated to face each other on November 15 as the main event bout for UFC 180, which is scheduled to take place in Velasquez's home country of Mexico.
The Ultimate Fighter series has been the career launching pad of some of today's top UFC fighters like Nate Diaz, Rashad Evans, Josh Koscheck, and Diego Sanchez, among others.
Since its debut in 2005, the show has been a success so far, and has branched out to different countries like the UK, Australia, and Brazil. This continuous growth has brought the optimism out of Jaime Pollack, the UFC's Senior Vice President of International Development and General Manager for Latin America.
"Latin America has become a huge market for the UFC and we're excited to take it to the next level with The Ultimate Fighter," he said in a statement.
"With the successful launch of the UFC NETWORK, and the tremendous growth of our fan base, our focus has now moved to finding and developing the top talent in this market," the statement added.
"We want to find the next star, the next fighter who will do what Anderson Silva did for Brazil. We want to give the fans a homegrown hero," Pollack added.
