Coaches Involvement
With the exception of seasons two, four, eleven and thirteen, fifteen and the first season of TUF: Brazil the coaches fight each other after the conclusion of the show. Season two featured Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes, who were in different weight categories, eliminating the possibility for a post-season fight. The fourth season saw multiple guest coaches take the lead, differing from other seasons with two clearly designated coaches. As such, these seasons did not feature their respective coaches in competition. Season eleven coaches Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell's fight was cancelled due to Ortiz's need for neck fusion surgery. Season thirteen saw the fight between Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos cancelled after Lesnar was diagnosed with his second bout of diverticulitis. 2012 saw the cancellation of a bout between season 15 coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, due to a torn ACL for Cruz. In addition, the expected match between the TUF: Brazil coaches Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva did not occur after Belfort sustained a broken hand while preparing for the fight. Season 16 was supposed to feature a fight between coaches Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin, though this was also cancelled after Carwin suffered a knee injury.
In addition to the seasons which did not feature post-season fights between the coaches, several seasons have been impacted, forcing postponements. Due to injuries to the season six coaches Matt Serra and Matt Hughes, their fight was postponed. Serra suffered a herniated disc in his lower back and Hughes later suffered a torn MCL before the fight finally took place at UFC 98. The fight between season ten coaches Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson took place at UFC 114 with Rashad Evans winning by unanimous decision. The fight was postponed by five months due to Jackson's A-Team filming commitments and his temporary decision to retire from fighting.
Though rarely taking place at the live finales, the coaches' fights are an important part of each season of The Ultimate Fighter. With each season effectively hyping the fight and the individuals for multiple weeks, the fights are usually the focal point of the pay-per-view event they feature at. The coaches' fights have resulted in the following matchups and results:
| Season | Event | Winner | Loser | Method | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell 2 | Chuck Liddell | Randy Couture | KO (Punch) at 2:03 of round 1. | Liddell won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship | |
| 3 | UFC 61: Bitter Rivals | Tito Ortiz | Ken Shamrock | TKO (Punches) at 1:18 of round 1. | Rematched just three months later | |
| 5 | The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale | B.J. Penn | Jens Pulver | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:12 of round 2. | ||
| 6 | UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida | Matt Hughes | Matt Serra | Decision (Unanimous) | Heavily delayed – see above. | |
| 7 | UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin | Forrest Griffin | Quinton Jackson | Decision (Unanimous) | Griffin won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship | |
| 8 | UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 | Frank Mir | Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira | TKO (Punches) at 1:54 of round 2. | Mir won the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship | |
| 9 | UFC 100 | Dan Henderson | Michael Bisping | KO (Punch) at 3:20 of round 2. | ||
| 10 | UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans | Rashad Evans | Quinton Jackson | Decision (Unanimous) | Heavily delayed – see above | |
| 11 | UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin | Rich Franklin | Chuck Liddell | KO (Punch) at 4:55 of round 1. | Franklin replaced Ortiz as head coach in the final episode; fought Liddell | |
| 12 | UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck 2 | Georges St-Pierre | Josh Koscheck | Decision (Unanimous) | St-Pierre retained the UFC Welterweight Championship | |
| 14 | The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller Finale | Michael Bisping | Jason Miller | TKO (Knees to the body and punches) at 3:34 of round 3. | ||
| Smashes | UFC on FX: Sotiropoulos vs. Pearson | Ross Pearson | George Sotiropoulos | TKO (Punches) at 0:41 of round 3. | ||
| 17 | UFC 159 | Jon Jones | Chael Sonnen | TKO (Punches and Elbows) at 4:33 of round 1. | Jones retained the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship |
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Famous quotes containing the words coaches and/or involvement:
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