The match of the century has been booked. The UFC light heavyweight champion challenging the UFC heavyweight champion. Two of the biggest and baddest men on the planet colliding in an incredible fight that has ‘legendary’ written all over it. However, before Daniel Cormier puts on the gloves to fight Stipe Miocic, there’s going to be an entire season of The Ultimate Fighter as build up. The two will coach a cast of undefeated fighters for their chance at greatness, before they prepare for their own legacy-defining clash.
These two champions can’t do it alone though, they’ll need a group of coaches to help build their teams to success. Daniel Cormier will bring along all the people who have been with him for the long haul, including former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. Stipe Miocic will have UFC fighter James Krause, as well as GLORY kickboxer, former UFC fighter, and new ACB signee Chris Camozzi.
Daniel Cormier’s orange team: Javier Mendez, Cain Velasquez, Deron Winn, Daniel Cormier, Bob Cook, Rosendo Sanchez, and Leandro Vieira.
Stipe Miocic’s navy team: Bob Kaleal, James Krause, Stipe Miocic, Chris Camozzi, and Dustin Jacoby.
Filming should be starting anytime now, with cast already sharing some video teasers of The Ultimate Fighter gym. The show will drop its two-hour debut on April 18th on FS1, with The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale on Friday, July 6th. As always, it will be a double header of ridiculous fights because the next night is UFC 226 on July 7th, when the coaches will finally fight in easily the biggest clash of this year. Below is the full cast of fighters who will be participating in this history event.
Lightweight
Thailand Clark – 7-0 | 28 | Fort Worth, Texas
Joe Giannetti – 6-0 | 22 | Norwell, Mass.
John Gunther – 6-0 | 32 | Cleveland, Ohio
José Martinez Jr.– 4-0 | 27 | Lorain, Ohio
Luis Peña – 4-0 | 24 | Hillsboro, Miss. by way of Naples, Italy
Richie Smullen – 3-0-1 | 26 | Arklow, Ireland
Mike Trizano – 6-0 | 25 | Ramsey, N.J.
Allan Zuniga – 13-0 | 25 | San Miguel, Costa Rica
Featherweight
Jay Cucciniello – 8-0 | 31 | Malaga, Spain by way of Dublin, Ireland
Tyler Diamond – 9-0 | 26 | Oroville, Calif.
Brad Katona – 6-0 | 25 | Dublin, Ireland by way of Winnipeg, Canada
Bryce Mitchell – 9-0 | 23 | Cabot, Ark.
Suman Mokhtarian – 8-0 | 25 | Sydney, Australia
Dulani Perry – 4-0 | 31 | Houston, Texas
Kyler Phillips – 5-0 | 22 | Surprise, Ariz.
Ricky Steele – 5-0 | 29 | Boise, Ida.
Here we go!!! This is crazy, I’ve done this twice with @officialcainvelasquez and @joshkoscheck never thought I’d do it myself. Blessed! And so happy they got the colors right orange/black for Team DC #tuf27 pic.twitter.com/KMQ8ySDv8O
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) January 31, 2018
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/1/2018.