I don’t usually do reviews for international versions of The Ultimate Fighter but season 3 of TUF Brazil looks exciting so I figured it’s worth it:
~ Introduction ~
The episode starts off with talks about the background between the rivalry with coaches Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen. Right off the bat there are several traits that are unique about this season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil. The first is that Chael Sonnen is the first non-Brazilian to coach on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil. Secondly is the fact that this is one of only three seasons of The Ultimate Fighter across the board to showcase heavyweights as one of the weight classes. Then there are the unique introductions to this season that mostly appeal to women.
This season sees the introduction of the guest coaches from other sports. The first coach for Team Silva is Isabel Salgado who is a former Olympic Volleyball player. The second for Team Sonnen is Olympic medalist basketball player Hortencia Marcari. In addition there is also a different competition related to the UFC that doesn’t have to do with fighting. There will be an Octagon girl competition to find the face of the Octagon girl in Brazilian UFC shows.
There is also a brief speech from Dana White about how the talent coming out of Brazil is some of the best in the world. This has been and still is the case for many of the top talents. Before the preliminary fights take place there is the usual meeting between coaches competitors about competing and motivation. Silva and Sonnen go first before guest coaches Salgado and Marcari give their speeches about motivation and making the most about this opportunity. After that the preliminary fights take place which is also something unique about this regional version of The Ultimate Fighter, fighters still need to fight their way onto the show.
Several of the fighters back stories are very touching and motivational. One thing that sticks out is the quality of the preliminary fights considering that they all either finishes or close decisions. The preliminary round is divided up between the first and second episodes dividing the middleweights and heavyweights evenly. Going into The Ultimate Fighter house for the middleweights this first episode were Paulo Costa, Joilton Santos, Wagner Silva, and Ricardo Abreu. Entering the TUF house for the heavyweights were Job Kleber, Jollyson Francisco, Edgard Castaldelli, and Antônio Carlos Junior.