TWO OF IRELAND’S best MMA fighters will battle it out on the latest series of reality television ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ (TUF), it has been revealed today.
Dublin natives Cathal Pendred and Chris Fields are two of 16 cast members who have made it onto season 19 of the X Factor-style show — which airs on Fox Sports 1 and BT Sport from 16 April and follows the fighters as they aim to earn a professional contract with the UFC.
Ex-UFC champions BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar will coach the two teams, which will be a mixture of middleweights and light heavyweights, this year.
26-year-old Pendred (13-2) vacated his Cage Warriors welterweight title last month in anticipation of the announcement and has been hotly-tipped as the next Irish fighter to follow SBG team-mate Conor McGregor into the UFC.
Fields (10-5-1), also fighting out of John Kavanagh’s SBG, is a 30-year-old former Cage Warriors middleweight champion.
TUF’s finale will be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on 6 July.
Watch the official promos for TUF season 19, which were released today and feature the two fighters, below:
Source: The Ultimate Fighter
