Dana White: Season 16 of The Ultimate Fighter with Nelson will be interesting
Roy “Big Country” Nelson (17-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC) coaches opposite Shane Carwin (12-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, which debuts Friday on FX with a two-hour season premier starting at 9:00 p.m. The show will also be known as TUF Fridays.
Nelson made his UFC debut on Season 10 of the show and after “Big Country” won “TUF 10,” UFC President Dana White said he knew what he was getting into when he named Nelson a TUF coach.
White told hosts Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten on Inside MMA: “It’s very interesting. Roy and I don’t get along too well. He’s got his ideas and his way of doing things, and I have mine. He’s a coach. We let him go. We let him do his thing, and you’ll see how it goes.”
Nelson is often a fan favorite and in the past has walked out for fights to I’m Fat by Weird Al Yankovic. He is well-known for his mullet and beard but possesses a legendary chin in the Octagon.
TUF Fridays, debuts Friday with an elimination round of fights that will cut the list of fighters from 32 to 16. Those 16 then will be drafted into two teams for a single-elimination tournament taking place over the 13-week season which culminates in a live finale on December 15 in Las Vegas. The main card for that event includes the Season 16 finals plus Nelson vs. Carwin in the traditional coaches fight broadcast on FX.
TUF 16 features Welterweight fighters, including notable names like Strikeforce veterans Bristol Marunde (12-7), Ricky Legere Jr. (14-4) and Cortez Coleman (8-3) and Bellator veteran Sam Alvey (19-4).
