Press Release: Nogueira and Mir to coach TUF 8 which begins Sept. 17
New York, NY, May 12, 2008 -- The coaches for season eight of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter,” the most successful original series in network history, will feature two of the UFC’s all-time top heavyweights. Interim UFC heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, will star in the new season featuring light heavyweights (205 lbs) and lightweights (155 lbs) premiering Wednesday, September 17 at 10:00pm ET/PT. Nogueira and Mir will square off in the Octagon™ for a to-be-announced UFC pay per view event. UFC President Dana White will once again serve as the show’s host.
The Brazilian native Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1), known as “Minotauro” (a Greek mythological creature), is one of the sport’s most successful heavyweights. Nogueira’s incredible career almost never happened as he was involved in a life-threatening accident at age ten when he was run over by a truck in his native Brazil. Fortunately, he survived and avoided permanent damage, thus his mixed martial arts pursuits were not deterred.
He began his professional career in MMA in the United States in June of 1999 with the World Extreme Fighting organization. However, Noguiera truly made a name for himself in the sport when he joined the RINGS organization in Japan and posted an 8-1-1 record from 1999-2000, losing only to Dan Henderson.
Nogueira’s leap to MMA stardom came when he joined PRIDE in Japan and, from 2001-2003, proceeded to defeat the biggest names in the division including Bob Sapp, Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, Enson Inoue, Sanae Kikuta, Semmy Schilt, and avenged his earlier loss to Henderson. A tough loss to Fedor Emelianenko in March 2003 stopped his impressive winning streak, but “Minotauro’s” career rebounded with a close decision win over former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez in August 2003.
The defining match in his career in PRIDE came in November 2003 with a memorable victory over Croatian Mirko Cro Cop via submission to gain the PRIDE heavyweight belt. ‘”Minotauro” would go 8-2 with one no contest in the final three years of his stay in Japan, including avenging a previous defeat to another former UFC heavyweight champ, Josh Barnett, with a decision win in December 2006.
Nogueira made his UFC debut in July 2007 at UFC 77 with a victory over a familiar nemesis, Herring, whom Nogueira had beaten three times previously in his career. This past February, “Minotauro’ defeated Tim Sylvia in a stirring comeback via submission in the third round to claim the interim UFC heavyweight belt. The 31 year-old Nogueira lives in Brazil but spends time in south Florida training with the renowned MMA organization, America’s Top Team.
Although he’s only 28, Frank Mir has endured quite a professional and personal rollercoaster ride since his UFC debut in November 2001 at UFC 34. Following a first round loss to Ian Freeman at UFC 38 in July 2002, Mir, a young, highly touted mixed martial arts star from Las Vegas was at a career turning point. Mir regained credibility as an emerging star with an impressive victory over UFC great Tank Abbott in February 2003. That victory led Mir on a journey to the ultimate prize in mixed martial arts, the heavyweight title. Mir defeated Tim Sylvia at UFC 48 in June 2004 in an unforgettable arm-breaking submission that UFC fans still discuss to this day.
In a span of a few months, Mir went from the heights of UFC heavyweight champion to the lows of nearly dying in a grisly motorcycle accident. The severe injuries he suffered in the horrific accident led to him being stripped of his title as he rehabbed his broken leg.
Mir returned to the Octagon almost two years later in February of 2006, but was stopped by Marcio Cruz in the first round. A subsequent decision win over Dan Christison put Mir in the win column once again, but a loss to rising star Brandon Vera put Mir back on the comeback trail. Now, after two straight victories including a first round submission of Brock Lesner, a former All-American wrestler at the University of Minnesota and WWE superstar, Mir is ready for another shot at the title.
The eighth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” goes into production in late May. The entire cast will be announced in early September.
Craig Piligian of Pilgrim Films and Television, Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White of Zuffa, LLC, and Kevin Kay of Spike TV are the show's executive producers. Brian J. Diamond, senior vice president, sports & specials, Spike TV is co-executive producer and Christopher Martello is executive in charge of production for Spike TV.
what took the UFC so long to
what took the UFC so long to confirm this?
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
ULTIMATE CHALLENGE CHAMPION UFC 83
This SUUUUUUUCCKKKKS. So
This SUUUUUUUCCKKKKS. So basically we have to wait a year to see the HW champ defend his title. That's crap.
I think it's a little funny they are going to be coaching Lightweights (and LHWs). Why not... uhhhmmm.... HEAVYWEIGHTS?
I'm not a fan of this
I'm not a fan of this decision either. Yet another title shot delayed by TUF. And, if Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson can't save the ratings then Mir and Nogueira certainly won't...
Just my opinion but what a
Just my opinion but what a story. Two guys who faced almost died, now they are at the top of the division (at least one of them) It should make for good publisity.
CapnCrunch
I once knocked a kid out, he was a division above me so I was kind of proud!
They both have great
They both have great stories... especially Nog. I think it will be a great fight and a good season. I would love it if they did all Brazillian fighters on one team and USA on the other - that would make it real interesting!!
The question is do either of
The question is do either of them have enough personality to make this "coaches battle" worth watching...Pulver had personality and got a little under dull Penn's skin. Hughes personality, Jackson Personality, Forrest personality, Coture, Shamrock, Tito all strong personalities...I don't see it out of these guys.
mir does commentary and post
mir does commentary and post fight interviews on WEC and does a good job at it so i dont doubt he will be able to handle himself. i don't know how well nog's english is to the point where him coaching guys outside of his native language (i assume portuguese) might not be quite as fluid ...
sure people can understand but its not as simple as just providing instructions conversationally.
bosco...i actually disagree
bosco...i actually disagree with you about the commentary and post fight interviews...i always thought Mir was absolutely terrible at it...doesn't really matter though.
i also am interested to see how nog's english is going to carry over into the show. also...mir and nog are two highly repectful guys so i dont' know if having two back to back seasons of coaches who like each other is going to fly with the casual fans.
Agreed with you Papa, I
Agreed with you Papa, I don't see either of these cursing each other out or any drama starting between them. The interesting part about them is they are both great BJJ fighters so that could be interesting with the trainging.
I originally heard they were planning on doing this season as heavyweights and lightweights. I guess the turn out for heavyweights wasn't there.
I'll start the conspiracy that Dana White wants to prolong anything improtant going on in the heavyweight division until the Couture situation is closed. I don't think he likes the interim tag hanging around and wants it to end. This way they won't fight probably until later 2008 possibly 2009 and we should know who is truly the champ by than.
-The Captain
yeah what happened to the
yeah what happened to the heavyweights? i guess they figured every heavyweight that would try out would be light heavys anyways...
Yea I think from TUF2 since
Yea I think from TUF2 since (I believe) no heavyweights from that are still in the UFC besides Rashad who is fighting at LHW.
-The Captain
i'm very interested in the
i'm very interested in the HW landscape...i can understand why they're cutting down their roster but letting AA go baffles me.
Yea I think we really need
Yea I think we really need to hope that the Mir-Nog fight is a great battle and that Valazquez, Lesnar, and Carwin live up to some of this hype and become division contenders.
-The Captain
honestly, as much as i hate
honestly, as much as i hate that elite does this...i hope they start feeding those three guys cans so they can build them up.
PapaBalsamo
honestly, as much as i hate that elite does this...i hope they start feeding those three guys cans so they can build them up.
I'm not sure if the UFC roster has any rooms for cans. It's actually one of the things I like about the promotion. You don't know where the next star is coming from. Like the NFL, almost every fight is a toss-up...
But, the UFC's heavyweight depth is not impressive at all. Not sure why you need a season of TUF with lw and lhw when those are fairly deep divisions...As others on this thread have commented, hw needs the most help.
i think they stopped doing
i think they stopped doing heavyweights because of the lack of bodies. i think at the over 215-220 walking weight (guys that wont/cant cut to 205) you are getting towards the smaller end of the bell curve, in terms of professional athletes.
even at 155, finding guys that can cut down from 170 is still easier than finding guys that walk around over 200 and cant cut down to 205. seems like a numbers thing. at heavyweight you have a tiny pool to try to find gems, so it might be more trouble than the end product is worth. i mean look at each weightclass (even before the UFC made roster cuts) ... i think heavyweight was probably the least deep and you start to stretch to find guys that can offer decent competition.
yeah pramit...what i was
yeah pramit...what i was getting at is that if they're doing some roster cutting they might as well feed some borderline guys to these up and comers like lesnar and carwin.
PapaBalsamo wrote: yeah
yeah pramit...what i was getting at is that if they're doing some roster cutting they might as well feed some borderline guys to these up and comers like lesnar and carwin.
Gotcha Papa. So you're basically saying that if these borderline guys can't beat the up and comers release them...Makes sense...
I find the HW's the most
I find the HW's the most boring weight class of them all. But that is just my opinion. Maybe it is because I'm really not a fan of anyone in the class (now that Randy left) so I have nobody to cheer for.
same here.. Underboss
same here..
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
ULTIMATE CHALLENGE CHAMPION UFC 83
How does Frank Mir win this
How does Frank Mir win this fight? I know it's a long, long, long (too damn long) ways off, but I was thinking about this and the fight just doesnt make sense to me. Mir does not do a single thing better than Nog. He's certainly not going to submit Nog... and Mir's stand up is horrific and Nogs is decent, so Nog wins that battle... Mir has shown a tendancy to give up in long, tough fights... whereas there is absolutely nothing about Nog that indicates he ever quits or gives up in a fight.
Anyway... just rambling about this thinking of how disappointing it is to wait so long to see a HW title fight, and on top of that, having it be one that appears to be a lopsided affair to boot. Which means... it could be another 12 months from today before we actually see Nog in a battle...