Chael Sonnen is squaring off against Wanderlei Silva for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil. The two men will compete as coaches on the reality TV show and then as opponents in the Octagon.
News of the TV show hosting and fight were announced by UFC President Dana White during an interview with FOX Sports Live on Monday. White was interviewing Sonnen when he told the fighter about the UFC’s TV and fight plans.
White revealed, “I told everybody we wouldn’t release it until sometime late November. I guess we’ll do it here. The coaches of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil are Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen. That one’s going to piss off a lot of people. It’s happening. Then those two will fight. You two will coach The Ultimate Fighter, you will have a ton of security down there with you, and it should be a fun season.”
White promised added security because Chael Sonnen threw a bunch of barbs at the country of Brazil which has angered citizens.
For the last year Sonnen has been relentlessly attacking Silva with insults and insinuations. Those attacks led Silva to release several strange, heavy-metal-themed response videos on YouTube in his native Portuguese. In the video Silva swore through several tirades while promising to defeat Sonnen inside the Octagon. The two fighters most recently appeared at a Mr. Olympia convention in Las Vegas. Silva crossed the arena floor and confronted Sonnen, threatening to beat down the former middleweight title contender.
The two fighters will meet sometime in 2014. Currently Silva is recovering from a back injury which leaves Sonnen to face off against Rashad during UFC 167 in November.
Regardless of that matches outcome Wanderlei Silva will face off against Chael Sonnen following The Ultimate Fighter Brazil.
The two fighters are both experienced with the show, Sonnen coaches season 17 against Jon Jones and Silva hosted the first even season while facing off against Vitor Belfort.
The new season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil will start filming in the next few months.