The UFC are preparing to reboot The Ultimate Fighter reality show and it’s now been announced that featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega will serve as the season’s coaches.
Volkanovski and Ortega had initially been set to fight on the UFC 260 card last month, but the champion tested positive for Covid-19, leading to the title clash being postponed.
Now it will happen after their stint as team coaches on TUF Season 29, the first new installment of the show in well over two years.
In addition to being the UFC’s featherweight champion, Volkanovski also currently holds the No.3 spot on the men’s pound-for-pound rankings, with only Kamaru Usman and Jon Jones being above him.
He’s reached that high point after amassing a 22-1 career record, including a perfect 9-0 run in the UFC to date, during which time he has both won and then defended the 145lb title against Max Holloway, along with other prior victories against the likes of Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes.
As for Ortega, he was unbeaten in his first 15 pro-fights until he came up against Max Holloway in a featherweight title bout in December of 2018, whereby the Hawaiian star gave the jiu-jitsu ace a striking masterclass, leading to a brutal beating and fourth round TKO stoppage.
Ortega then vanished for the best part of two years, but upon his return in October of last year he showed that he’d not wasted his time away as he demonstrated vast improvements to his striking technique on his way to a convincing decision victory over ‘The Korean Zombie’.
Now the two stars will have a chance to grow their fanbase and generate even more enthusiasm for their eventual fight by featuring on TUF, before their eventual title showdown later this year.
