Big Nog And Fabrico Werdum Agree To Coach TUF: Brazil II

[No More Sorrow]

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum reportedly have agreed to serve as coaches on the upcoming second season of "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil."

SportTV first reported the coaches, though UFC officials have made no formal announcement, and MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) could not immediately confirm the plans.


According to the report, contracts haven't been signed, but verbal agreements are in place.


"TUF: Brazil 2," which is expected to feature welterweight fighters, begins filming in early 2013 with an expected debut in March 2013. More than 300 UFC hopefuls recently attended in an open tryout in Rio.


"TUF: Brazil" was the first-ever international edition of the long-running reality competition series. The show, which featured Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort, debuted in March and aired on Globo in Brazil (with solid ratings). UFC.com and FUEL TV carried it in the U.S.


Following "TUF: Brazil 2," Nogueira (34-7-1 MMA, 5-3 UFC) and Werdum (16-5-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) will fight in the tradition season-ending coach-vs.-coach fight. It actually marks a rematch between the two fighters; Nogueira handed Werdum a decision loss at a 2006 PRIDE event in the opening round of an open-weight grand prix.


Since then, Nogueira has won a UFC interim heavyweight title but has alternated between wins and losses in his past seven fights. He most recently submitted Dave Herman at UFC 153 in Rio de Janeiro.


Werdum, meanwhile, signed with the UFC after PRIDE, then moved to Strikeforce (where he upset Antonio Silva and Fedor Emelianenko), and then ultimately returned to the UFC earlier this year. He's on a 5-1 run, which included a TKO win over Mike Russow at UFC 147 in Minas Gerais, Brazil.


Nogueira, of course, was a head coach on "TUF 8." Werdum was an assistant coach for Wanderlei Silva on "TUF: Brazil."


Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua had campaigned for "TUF: Brazil 2" coaching slots, but it appears the UFC has gone another direction.

Werdum has looked pretty good in his last two fights, his stand up is crazy good. Think he'll take this fight pretty easily.

 

[Slim]

Hmmm... that'll be a pretty nice fight. Werdum definitely will have the advantage standing cause he looked crazy good compared to how he usually looks. Question is how will the two of them do on the ground cause they both are real good there. Thats what I'm most interested in seeing.

 

[Dale]

Not that i'm going to watch this but there seems to be so many TUF series going on nowadays it's ridiculous to keep up with it, let alone want to care about it.

 

[The Cork]

Good fight, Werdum is probably the most dangerous jits guy in MMA.

Hopefully if he wins this he gets a #1 contender fight vs JDS/Velasquez/Overeem.

 

[Slim]

Good fight, Werdum is probably the most dangerous jits guy in MMA.

Hopefully if he wins this he gets a #1 contender fight vs JDS/Velasquez/Overeem.

Hopefully if we see another Werdum/Overeem fight it won't be the same crap they did in Strikeforce.

 

[Embrace Thou Maryse]

Not that i'm going to watch this but there seems to be so many TUF series going on nowadays it's ridiculous to keep up with it, let alone want to care about it.

It does seem like they announce new coaches every week lately.

Should be a good fight for Werdum, he'll win via whatever the hell he feels like.

 

[Deezy]

TUF is basically Raw for UFC.

Thinking it'll generate buzz like Rampage/Rashad, but it won't.

 

[Embrace Thou Maryse]

Hopefully if we see another Werdum/Overeem fight it won't be the same crap they did in Strikeforce.

One would imagine (or hope) that Werdums got a lot more confidence in his striking after his last couple of fights and wont flop like a fish. That would be a good fight if they both went at it.