Teams revealed for The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs UK: The Smashes
Competitors from NSW, QLD and WA will represent Australia in the UFC martial arts battle against the UK.
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FX has announced the sixteen Australian and British mixed martial artists set to battle in The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs UK: The Smashes.
The Australian team comprises competitors from NSW, QLD and WA (including the youngest ever TUF contestant), while the UK team features fighters from all over England as well as Northern Ireland. The teams will live together in The Ultimate Fighter house, competing for a prized contract with the UFC.
“These guys have definitely made the second international TUF show ‘can’t miss’ TV,” said UFC President Dana White. “Going into this thing, I had no idea just how much the Aussies and the Brits can’t stand losing to each other. Now I know.”
Australian coach George Sotiropoulos said: “It’s a really diverse group of guys on the team, but the thing that’s uniting them is that everyone’s motivated and focused. There’s a lot of personal and national pride at stake but they’re going into the competition with a positive attitude and are really pulling together as a team. I’m very impressed by their maturity.”
British coach Ross Pearson added: “Having been where they are, I know exactly what the guys are facing. They’re taking it all in their stride and, despite being so far from home, they’re eager to prove themselves, so morale is high. They each bring unique strengths to the team so the sparks are really going to fly when they meet the Aussies in the Octagon.”
The 13-episode series produced by activeTV culminates with a live three-hour finale in December. The two lightweight coaches will also go head-to-head in the Octagon at the live finale.
Team Australia:
Lightweights:
Grant Blackler, 23, Sunshine Coast
Patrick Iodice, 19, Gold Coast
Richie Vaculik, 29, Sydney
Ben Wall, 23, Brisbane
Welterweights:
Ben Alloway, 31, Gold Coast
Xavier Lucas, 31, Perth
Manuel Rodriguez, 27, Sydney
Robert Whitaker, 21, Sydney
Team UK:
Lightweights:
Colin Fletcher, 29, Sunderland
Norman Parke, 25, Bushmills, Nth Ireland
Michael Pastou, 30, Essex
Mike Wilkinson, 24, Leigh
Welterweights:
Luke Newman, 22, London
Bola Omoyele, 30, London
Valentino Petrescu, 30, Essex
Brad Scott, 23, Melksham
7:30pm Wednesday September 19 AEST on FX.
2 Responses
@RRaz agreed. Loved the US version very excited for this on to start!
Glad this show is coming to Australia, will be interesting to see how this version will play out. And great FX is supporting Aussie productions.