Only days after posting the worst ratings in ”The Ultimate Fighter” history the UFC has announced that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former middleweight contender Chael Sonnen will coach the upcoming seventeenth season of the “The Ultimate Fighter.” UFC president Dana White revealed the news to the LA Times earlier today.
The pairing allows the UFC to attempt to give the struggling reality show relevance again while providing hype for a bout between the two coaches. The bout is scheduled for April 27th but the venue is unnamed as of this posting.
The UFC tried to arrange a bout between the two fighters on short notice to save the failed UFC 151 fight card when Dan Henderson went down with injury but Jones declined the bout.
Jones began warming to the bout recently citing fan requests trumping whether or not Sonnen deserved the title bout. Jones tweeted:
The more I realize how bad the fans want to see me fight Sonnen the more I am beginning to disregard whether he deserves it or not
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) October 12, 2012
A part of me wants to do it for the fans the other part of me feels as if it delegitimizes the importance of championship
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) October 12, 2012
Sonnen wasted little time in responding to the champ’s thoughts on twitter.
You don’t GIVE.I TAKE.Remembah that, Bonesie-Boy @jonnybones
— chael sonnen (@sonnench) October 12, 2012
Filming for the upcoming season is set to begin soon. The show was originally set for light heavyweights and middleweights but was rumored to have been whittled down to just middleweights after the tryouts.
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