Heavyweights Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson have been announced as the coaches for the next season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ on FX.
At the weekend Dana White had said he’d been pleased that word over who would be coaching the show hadn’t leaked out, and that certainly was the case as Carwin Vs Nelson wasn’t an option that had been floated on the rumor-mill.
“This is going to be a very interesting dynamic between these two heavyweights,” White told USA Today. “They both have huge punching power and great chins, but outside of the octagon, they couldn’t be any more different.
“These two have been going at it on social media for a while and don’t seem to like each other very much, but they are going to be seeing a lot of each other during this series.”
On reflection Nelson is an obvious choice given that he was the winner of season 10 of TUF and has a somewhat quirky, off-beat persona that should add some spice to the show.
On the other hand the soft-spoken Carwin’s not yet proven to be an electrifying presence on-camera outside of the Octagon, though he often posts his thoughts online via Twitter, his website and on the UG Forum and is entertaining in that regard so this may be his chance to shine.
From a fight perspective it’s certainly a pairing that makes sense. Carwin’s coming off two losses after a four-fight unbeaten stretch in the UFC, but the defeats came to two of the division’s best in Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos.
Therefore he’s still considered one of the top fighters in the division, but after a year out due to back surgery he’s not ready to be thrown in against one of the top ranked heavyweight’s just yet.
That’s not to say that Nelson will be an easy fight for him. ‘Big Country’s’ form in the UFC has been patchy over the last couple of years, going 2-3 in the process, but he too has only lost to top-flight competition in Fabricio Werdum, Frank Mir and Junior Dos Santos.
While he was able to go the distance with all three of those fighters he did however take quite a beating in the process. That’s lead him to be recognised as an exceptionally durable fighter, but he won’t want to let Carwin test his chin too often as he’s one of the hardest hitters in the sport.
After disappointing ratings for the debut season on the channel all parties concerned will be hoping for a turnaround in fortunes on this occasion, so there will be a lot resting on Carwin and Nelson’s broad shoulders.
White for one seems confident they will deliver, stating that, “I guarantee it will make for great TV.”
We’ll find out in a few months time with filming expected to begin shortly and the show already lined up to begin broadcasting on FX in September.
