Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje will be the head coaches for season 26 of The Ultimate Fighter. For the second time in TUF history, a new weight class is being introduced and a new champion will be crowned. Alvarez and Gaethje will coach 16 flyweight women throughout the season and lead them to a shot at being the inaugural women’s 125-pound UFC champion. In season 20 Carla Esparza emerged victorious earning the strawweight world title with a third-round submission win over Rose Namajunas.
Former UFC lightweight champion Alvarez (28-5, 1 NC) has held a belt in nearly every promotion he’s ever competed in and will use his experience to try and produce a champion in the UFC’s newest weight class. He has 22 finishes – 17 knockouts and five submissions – in his 28 professional wins and packs one of the most powerful punches in the 155-pound division.
After making an impressive UFC debut with a second-round knockout of No. 5 Michael Johnson during International Fight Week , Gaethje (18-0) will be looking to coach the next world champion en route to becoming a champion himself. With 15 knockouts and one submission on his record, Gaethje has become one of the most exciting fighters every time he competes and will no doubt try to pass his highlight reel finishes on to the women he will be coaching.
The Ultimate Fighter remains the highest rated and most watched original show on FS1 and will premiere on Wednesday, August 30th.
Subscribe
60 Responses
Adam Gomez Gavin Joyce
Alvarez snore
Yet again stalling careers with TUF
Rosš Brierlëy
David Pollock
Knew it x
Mark Sherry
Not sure how I feel about this. Gaethje has one fight in the ufc, didn’t look impressive. Now he’s a coach on tuf fighting Alvarez…. The push for this kid is crystal clear.
Didn’t they announce this a few weeks ago
Craig Tibbits
Pish!
Uh who? ?
Sean Anthony ?
James Murray ?
Gaethje teaching his style ?
?? be more interesting matches a guess!
Make sure you block the punches with your head n try hit them harder
James Murray ?
Sam Jackson definitely watching this series
Gemma Bond
Bloody hell gaethje must have made a bigger impact on his debut than what we thought lol.. bet that will be a fiery series haha ? xx
155 is so damn lit
Justin Gaethje should be entertaining and every fight will be a performance bonus. I don’t like the choice of Alvarez though, he’s not going to make it too the top again, McGregor made him look like a amateur and I thought it would be tough for McGregor.
I like the choice of Justin Gaethje, why not? Cody hadn’t beat anyone as good as Johnson and got a title shot and outclassed Cruz but don’t understand the choice of Alvarez although the fight will be entertaining.
I would argue, Alvarez will be a much better productive coach on the show. I think Justin will be fun but not great as a coach. He is too young
Cody is young, the difference between him and TJ were ridiculous. The choices even in fighters, the training and game plan for fights. Cody was out his depth as in terms in coaching. TJ actually seemed genuinely happy to help the lads whereas Cody got drunk with his team.
I don’t have a problem with Cody by the way, just what I saw.
Their is no bitter rivalry between these and that’s what I like to see as the coaches.
Also too add to what you actually said, Justin has a certain way of fighting of constant pressure and banging etc. So I think he could be a interesting coach.
I agree about Alvarez, he’s a very level headed guy and will likely be very much like TJ in the last season.
One fight and now coach on TUF???? He had a good win against Johnson but he could just as easily have been ko’d himself. TUF is becoming a joke
Cody hadn’t beat anyone as good as Johnson and got a title shot and outclassed Cruz. So I like the choice of Justin Gaethje as he’s very entertaining, I don’t like the choice of Alvarez though. Overall it’s a strange one though.
Cody beat cruz then became a coach and there was real beef with dillishaw which made it entertaining. Gaethje and Alvarez just doesn’t do it for me. It’s really a nothing fight and a nothing rivalry. Look at previous series penn v pulver, rampage v rashad, rousey v tate amongst other. That made great entertainment