UFC denies TUF: Brazil will feature Team Silva vs. Team Belfort
Posted on November 1, 2011, 12:54 PM by Joey Santosus
Following UFC President Dana White's announcement that Brazil would play host to the promotion's first International version of The Ultimate Fighter, speculation immediately began on which two fighters would serve as the show's opposing coaches.
According to a report by Extra Globo, a major Brazilian news outlet, the answer is obvious: Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and UFC veteran Vitor Belfort.
The two competitors, whom are undoubtedly the UFC's biggest draws in Brazil, squared off back back in February, and though Silva made quick work of Belfort, knocking him out in the opening-round, a potential "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Silva vs. Team Belfort" would likely generate massive buzz throughout the country.
"You know more than me, but I hope so," Belfort said of the reports to Tatame.com. "My name is one of the possibilities (for TUF), but nobody confirmed me anything. If they choose me, I’ll be more than ready to help the young talents. I’m sure this country has a lot of great talents to be found, some better than Vitor Belfort. I’ll do my best to help this country."
While the Globo Organization is currently set to begin broadcasting TUF Brazil in March of 2012, which appeared to lend credence to the report, the UFC has since denied the claims, insisting that a decision has yet to be made on who will serve as coaches for the show. "We have not had one conversation about coaches," said a UFC official via MMAJunkie.com.
Comments
no, Ill take Sonnen vs Silva 2 please
That would be epic
TUF in Brazil, Sonnen & Silva, USA vs. Brazil. Make TV history happen Dana. Best season of TUF ever....
Ok, what's going on??? Does this mean that Anderson Silva and Ed Soares have been successful in their ongoing effort to duck Chael Sonnen? I thought the media in Brazil were all crazy about seeing Sonnen vs Silva 2? I hope it's not true. If it is then it's pure BS. That TUFF stuff always takes a champion away from being available to defend his belt for a long time.
LMFAO... What else can be pulled out of the hat for Silva to avoid Sonnen??? For the fun of it, any ideas?
Hasn't this been debunked already by other sources?
Also, it's always possible that the TUF coaches wouldn't actually fight each other afterwards.
Yes debunked, more than once. Yet here it is. Must be a slow fake news day.
Remember Silva was actually offended that Belfort wanted to fight him. Does Silva just wanna hand pick his cough "easy" cough opponent??
I bet If he could he would not fight at all and walk around with the belt and a pink shirt until he retires lol
So Vitor got knocked out in the first round by Silva and has defeated Akiyama since then, Sonnen but a beaten on Silva for 4 and a half rounds and then gets submitted, since then he has beaten the incredibly tough Brian Stan that was on a 3 fight win streak and undefeated at 185 before he fought Sonnen and Silva's team think Vitor is a more worthy opponent?
Silvas Team are p*****s,...
Maybe it'll be Wanderlei Silva vs. Vitor Belfort, guess they're just waiting to see if Wanderlei gets passed Cung Le.
Well silva cant use the excuse he didnt beat belfort already , got he got owned aswell , just like chael
Belfort is fighting Johnson @ UFC 142
Nogeria vs nogeria??
There is 0% chance that both coaches will be from Brazil. It's a TV show, they'll want to ramp up the drama.
After going with the lighter weight classes, I'd say they'll go 170/185. Which means the coaches will be from heavy or lt. heavy.
The obvious pick is a Brazilian against an American but forget Sonnen and Silva. If Anderson doesn't want to fight Sonnen, it's not very likely he'll do a TV show with him.
So my guess is Jon Jones against either Machida or Rua.
Jones is already fighting Machida @ UFC140 and Rua is fighting Hendo @UFC 139
Yeah, your right. Had a bit of a brain fart on that one.