MMA Worldwide

Junior Dos Santos and Brock Lesnar announced as TUF 13 coaches

Posted by Brett Atchley on the 12 January 2011 | View Comments

Speaking during Fight for the Troops 2 Media Conference Call, UFC President Dana White has officially announced the coaches for the 13th season of the Ultimate Fighter. The coaches will be the former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, and the current #1 contender Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos.

With his announcement, Dana White ended months of speculations around the identity of coaches. Names such as Wanderlei Silva, Frank Mir, Chael Sonnen, Brian Stann, Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres have been all thrown into the mix, ahead of what is expected as to be one of the most interesting seasons in the history of TUF franchise.

Dos Santos comes into his role as a coach with an excellent camp behind him in Black House, no doubt able to help out similarly to his team mate Minotauro Nogueira's time as a coach on TUF 8. The up and coming heavyeight burst onto the scen last year, destroying Fabricio Werdum with an uppercut in just 80 seconds. Cigano is 6-0 in the UFC and 12-1 overall. He has currently defeated some top names like Mirko Cro Cop, Gabriel Gonzaga and Roy Nelson.

As for Lesnar, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion is currently 5-2 in his Mixed Martial Arts campaign, and 4-2 in UFC overall. Lesnar victimized opponents such as Heath Herring, Frank Mir, Randy Couture and Shane Carwin, before losing to Cain Velasquez via TKO at UFC 121. Lesnar currently trains at his own DeathClutch Gym, also using the services of the legendary coach Erik Paulson of CSW Training Center.

White also added that the fight between the two will take place sometime in June. An event is rumoured for June 11, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, exactly one week after the June 4th TUF 13 finale. White added that the fight won't be for the Interim Heavyweight title, but instead the winner will get the next shot at Champion Cain Velasquez.