Following yesterday’s announcement that The Ultimate Fighter is coming to Australia with an MMA twist on “The Ashes,” thoughts immediately turned to who could coach the opposing sides.
Twitter exploded with suggestions — and playful trash talk from the UFC Australia team directed towards their counterparts from the United Kingdom — and prompted me to comb the UFC roster to see what kind of combinations I could come up with.
It was a more difficult chore that I imagined.
Traditionally, coaches have squared off at the end of the season, and there back-and-forth on camera has always been one of the driving elements of the show.
While there are certainly solid candidates to choose from on both sides, we could be looking at the first season where coaches don’t end up fighting each other since Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes commanded opposing factors on Season 2.
Here’s a look at some of the top candidates from each nation, and one really cool idea about a pairing that would work in so many ways.
Team Australia
Kyle Noke
The veteran middleweight made his way into the UFC through Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter, so he’s ultra-qualified for preparing a team for the challenge before them in that regard.
He’s keen to be involved (I swear, the interview will be up this weekend!), and can tap into both his team in America (Team Jackson) and Australia (Integrated Martial Arts) to help fill out his coaching squad.
Anthony Perosh
“Hippo” is a veteran of the sport, and a tremendously skilled jiu-jitsu player who strikes me as a great option. He’s a testament to perseverance, having notched his first UFC win at age 39, and shows that you don’t have to be the most athletic or physical specimen to be successful in this sport.
Brian Ebersole
“The White Anderson Silva” would be a riot to watch on television week in and week out, and he’s also one of the most accomplished fighters in UFC history to come out of Australia, even if he’s not technically Australian.
Ebersole also has a great deal of experience (60+ fights) and took the road less travelled to the UFC, and the lessons he’s learned over those years would be invaluable to a crop of hopefuls.
George Sotiropoulos
Just like Kyle Noke, the Geelong native knows all about working his way into the UFC through The Ultimate Fighter.
Sotiropoulos is arguably the most successful cast member from Season 6, including winner Mac Danzig, and was on the verge of title contention before suffering back-to-back losses last year. You don’t work your way up the ladder without having plenty to pass on to the next generation.
Team UK
Brad Pickett
The bantamweight talent has voiced his interest in the position in the past, admitting a transition to coaching is the likely path he’ll take once his fighting career is over. Pickett has trained out of American Top Team for years, and could assemble quite an impressive collection of coaching and training partners for his team if selected; he also has the right personality to do well on a show of this nature.
Dan Hardy
He’s got personality for days, and has been at both ends of the spectrum in the UFC, leaving no doubt in my mind that Hardy would make an solid coach for the upcoming season. Could you imagine how entertaining pitting Hardy and Ebersole against one another would be? Hilarity, every episode.
Ross Pearson
Like a couple of the Australian options, Pearson earned his way into the UFC through The Ultimate Fighter as well, winning Season 9’s lightweight competition. His post-TUF career has been marked by decisions focused on making the most of his talents (dropping to featherweight, moving to the US), and that is the kind of guidance the incoming crop needs as they chase their UFC dreams.
Paul Sass
The Scouser is a submission special who carries an unblemished record (12-0) into a meeting with Jacob Volkmann at UFC 146 later this month. Coaching on TUF would be a great way to introduce the up-and-comer to a wider audience, win or lose, and his proficiency on the canvas gives him an area of expertise that is often lacking in British fighters. Sass vs. Sotiropoulous as coaches? I’d watch that.
Perfect World Coaches: Michael Bisping vs. Hector Lombard
It would take them coming away from their respective upcoming fights with similar outcomes, but tell me this wouldn’t be a great way to (1) showcase this program, (2) further showcase UFC newcomer Lombard, and, if both win their upcoming fights, (3) determine the #1 contender in the middleweight division.
Bisping recently voiced his displeasure with UFC President Dana White saying Lombard could potentially earn a title shot with a win over Brian Stann in August.
As “The Count” sees it, he’s been “knocking out the best fighters in the world and fighting the best consistently for six years, and (Lombard is) going to come in from knocking out John the baker from around the corner and you know, he gets a title shot?”
Save for the fact that Bisping hasn’t actually knocked out anyone in his entire UFC career – he has 8 TKO victories – he makes a good argument. I say we let them bicker about it on television for 13 weeks, and then settle things in the cage.
Sound good to you? I thought so.
E. Spencer Kyte is the author of Keyboard Kimura, the MMA blog of Vancouver’s leading newspaper, The Province. Follow him on Twitter (@spencerkyte), or Facebook.
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