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The wait is finally over as The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) will return on June 1, 2021. UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and title challenger Brian Ortega have been chosen as TUF coaches for the latest season.
While they are brilliant fighters in their own right, fans always want to see a heated rivalry between TUF coaches. Hopefully, the duo will come up with the goods to please the fans in the upcoming season.
Over the years, we’ve witnessed rivalries between coaches almost leading to violent physical altercations. These moments add to the drama and make for entertaining viewing on screen.
In this article, we look at every time bad blood between the Ultimate Fighter coaches spilled over into violence.
4) Chuck Liddel and Tito Ortiz (Season 11)
Chuck Liddel and Tito Ortiz share one of the most intense rivalries in UFC history. When these two fighters were picked as TUF coaches in season 11, fans expected fireworks to go off every time they were around each other.
The two were supposed to lock horns inside the octagon in the finale of that season, but the fight never came to fruition because Ortiz pulled out. During their coaching stints, the pair engaged in several heated verbal exchanges that almost turned physical. Both fighters taunted each other throughout the show and their animosity was evident.
3) Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock (Season 3)
Arch-rivals Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz were chosen as coaches for TUF season 3. The pair provided wholesome entertainment for fans during the show. At the time, Ortiz had already beaten Shamrock once. The pair went back and forth from the offset of the season.
Shamrock claimed he wouldn't have lost the fight against Ortiz if not for a knee injury, while Ortiz claimed that Shamrock's skills were outdated. During the season, Ortiz and Shamrock confronted each other and almost came to blows after the latter's team was overwhelmingly beaten by Ortiz's.
Things got so heated that the pair had to be separated by the TUF contestants. Later that year, Shamrock and Ortiz fought each other at UFC 61 when the latter scored a massive KO victory.
2) Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson (Season 10)
Season 10 of TUF saw Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson being paired as coaches. According to many fans, this was the most entertaining season of TUF ever. Both coaches jibed at each other from the get-go, and their heated exchanges made the show an entertaining watch.
Jackson and Evans continually bickered throughout the season about who was the better fighter. Confrontations between the two coaches were often intense, personal, and also violent. Jackson famously destroyed a door out of rage. 'Rampage' was seen as a bully due to his antics on the show. However, when the two eventually stepped into the cage to face each other, Evans won via decision.
1) Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva (TUF Brazil 3)
Chael Sonnen is a master of trash talking. When he was chosen to coach at TUF Brazil 3 alongside Wanderlei Silva, fans were expecting an entertaining season. Sure enough, Sonnen gave viewers what they wanted.
Chael Sonnen was not a popular figure in Brazil due to his insulting trash talk aimed at Anderson Silva ahead of their fight a few years before the season commenced. This time, Sonnen was paired with another Brazilian legend in Wanderlei Silva, and the lack of respect remained the same as with Anderson.
One thing led to another, and the bad blood finally spilled over into a fight between the two TUF coaches. The pair had to be pulled apart, but only after Sonnen took Silva down while they were trading wild punches.
Also read: When the Chael Sonnen vs Wanderlei Silva feud reached boiling point
