According to reports emerging from Brazil today, heavyweight stars Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum are expected to be announced soon as the coaches for the second season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil which will air in 2013.
The news originally came from GloboEsporte in Brazil, but it’s yet to be confirmed by the UFC.
Nogueira has proven himself to be a solid team coach in the past, having overseen a team on TUF 8 opposite Frank Mir. On that occasion two of his picks, Ryan Bader and Efrain Escudero, ended up becoming TUF winners.
For former Strikeforce fighter Werdum this will be a new experience, but he’s an intelligent fighter with a good sense of humor so he should come across well on-screen.
‘Big Nog’ and Werdum have fought before, with Nogueira defeating his rival by unanimous decision back at the PRIDE openweight grand-prix quarter-finals in 2006.
Werdum is currently on the outskirts of title contention in the heavyweight division after notching up two victories since moving over from Strikeforce to the UFC, but with Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez set to rematch for the belt at the end of the year and Alistair Overeem waiting in the wings to fight the winner, a stint on TUF which is watched by millions of viewers in his native Brazil, doesn’t seem like a bad idea for him at all.
Nogueira is already hailed as a hero in Brazil, but given that Dana White has indicated in the recent past that he’d like him to consider retiring, he’s probably glad to have been given an opportunity like this, not only to appear on TUF, but also to have a meaningful, high profile opponent awaiting him next too.
