Cruz

By FCF Staff

For the first time in “The Ultimate Fighter” television series, the show will be coached by bantamweights, as today the UFC announced that champion Dominick Cruz and long time rival Urijah Faber will guide the show’s fifteenth installment.

TUF 15, or “Ultimate Fighter Live”, will premiere on FX, March 9^th, and will feature competitors from the lightweight and welterweight divisions. The show moves to the FX channel from Spike TV, as part of the recent, multi-year broadcasting deal the UFC signed with FOX.

As part of the show’s new format, “Ultimate Fighter Live” will feature live fights every Friday night on FX, rather than taped bouts as previous.

Cruz and Faber will fight for a third time, following the show’s conclusion, sometime in mid-2012.

“Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a gym rat and love learning and teaching mixed martial arts,” the champion Cruz (19-1) was quoted saying in the official announcement. “This is a dream come true. To get a chance to coach TUF and beat Faber again is all the motivation I need. This is going to be an insane season of The Ultimate Fighter.”

Faber submitted Cruz in their initial meeting at WEC 26 in March, 2007, before Cruz avenged the loss this past July, by working his way to a unanimous decision win over the former WEC featherweight champ at UFC 132.

“I can’t wait to be the next coach on The Ultimate Fighter,” Faber (26-5) said. “I am looking forward to mentoring a bunch of hungry and talented fighters. The new cast needs to be ready to work hard and learn! Having Dominick coach on the opposite side couldn’t be more perfect. I’m not too thrilled about being in each other’s space for an extended period of time, as I am sure we are going to get on each other’s nerves. But I can’t wait to mentally beat him up as a coach, and then literally beat him up in the cage and swipe that UFC strap.”

After the two hour, TUF 15 premiere on March 9^th, the show will run for eleven weeks on FX.