The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America Explained

Genre:Reality, Sports
Runtime:60 minutes
Creator:Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White
Starring:Dana White, Cain Velasquez, and Fabricio Werdum
Country:United States
Network:Televisa, UFC Fight Pass

The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America (also known as The Ultimate Fighter: Team Velasquez vs. Team Werdum) is an installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter. It is the seventh series to be produced primarily for markets outside the United States.

The series was preceded by the launch of UFC's Latin America developmental program in late 2012, where the organization scouted for Hispanic talent. Many of the prospects that were picked from the tryouts spent the following year training in coveted camps — mainly Jackson's MMA — with all expenses paid alongside of $1,200 monthly stipend. Most of them eventually appeared in the first two seasons of the Latin America installment, Yair Rodríguez, Guido Cannetti and Marlon Vera among others.[1]

The series was officially announced by the UFC in April 2014, shortly after Fabrício Werdum defeated Travis Browne to earn a title shot against Cain Velasquez. The coaches will be Velasquez and number-one contender Werdum and the series will culminate with their bout at UFC 180 on November 15, 2014, at Arena Ciudad de México in Mexico City. This season will feature eight featherweight and eight bantamweight competitors, four in each class representing Mexico and Latin America (not including fighters from Brazil, which has its own TUF). Filming began in May 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the series scheduled to debut in August 2014.[2]

In May 2014, the cast of fighters participating on the show was announced.[3] Eight fighters were chosen for both Team Velasquez and Team Werdum to represent Mexico and Latin America, respectively.

Cast

Coaches

Team Velasquez:
Team Werdum:

Fighters

Episodes

Episode 1 (August 20, 2014)
Episode 2 (August 27, 2014)
Episode 3 (September 3, 2014)
Episode 4 (September 10, 2014)
Episode 5 (September 17, 2014)
Episode 6 (September 24, 2014)
Episode 7 (October 1, 2014)
Episode 8 (October 8, 2014)
Episode 9 (October 15, 2014)
Episode 10 (October 22, 2014)
Episode 11 (October 29, 2014)
Episode 12 (November 5, 2014)

Tournament Bracket

Bantamweight Bracket

Featherweight Bracket

Legend
 Team Velasquez
 Team Werdum
 Unanimous Decision
 Split Decision
 Submission
 (Technical) Knockout

Finale

See main article: UFC 180. The finale for the event took place on November 15, 2014, at UFC 180.[4] The event was expected to be headlined by a UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between the current champion Cain Velasquez and top contender Fabrício Werdum. However, on October 21, it was announced that Velasquez was forced to pull out of the bout due to an injured knee and was replaced by Mark Hunt. That also changed the originally planned title fight into an interim title bout.[5]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: How the UFC's developmental program in Latin America has paid off – but can still grow. Danny Segura. January 10, 2021. MMAjunkie.com.
  2. Web site: Cain Velasquez, Fabricio Werdum coach 'TUF: Latin America,' fight in November. April 29, 2014. MMAfighting.com. May 15, 2014.
  3. Web site: Report: The Ultimate Fighter (TUF): 'Latin America' cast revealed for 'Velasquez vs. Werdum'. MMAmania.com . May 14, 2014 . May 15, 2014.
  4. Web site: Viva Mexico - The UFC and TUF head South. ufc.com. Staff. 2014-04-29. 2014-04-29.
  5. Web site: Cain Velasquez injured, Fabricio Werdum vs. Mark Hunt new UFC 180 main event. UFC.com. UFC. 2014-10-21.