mma The Ultimate Fighter: Season 9 - Team U.S. vs Team U.K. [ Lightweight / Welterweight ]

Premiere: April 1 on Spike at 10 PM ET. A live UFN at 8 PM ET will be the lead-in.
Timeslot: Wednesdays at 10 PM ET.
Coaches: Former PRIDE Middleweight and Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson (US) and TUF 3 Light Heavyweight winner Michael Bisping (UK), who will, as is customary, face each other in the Octagon after the show. That fight is scheduled for UFC 100 in July.
Format: Lightweights and Welterweights. They will follow the season 7 & 8 format again-32 will fight down to 16 at the start of the show (8 for each team), with the 16 winners moving into the house.
Live Finale: June 20 on Spike.

Usual disclaimer: No spoilers will be posted before the shows have first aired on TV. (For me where I am, that's Wednesday night) This includes fight results and major plot twists, stuff like fighters getting kicked off, leaving, coming back, etc. Anything I post along those lines will be just rumors.

The fighters and status (updated after episode 4):
US Lightweights:
Santino DeFranco (13-4)
Jason Dent (19-9)
Cameron Dollar (4-1)
Richie Whitson (4-0)

US Welterweights:
DaMarques Johnson (13-6)
Mark Miller (10-4) (ELIMINATED in Quarterfinals)
Jason Pierce (9-0)
Frank Lester

UK Lightweights:
Jeff Lawson (13-2)
Ross Pearson (9-3)
Martin Stapleton (5-1)
Andre Winner (9-2-1)

UK Welterweights:
Dean Amarasinghe (4-1)
David Faulkner (2-1)
Nicholas Osipczak (3-0) (Semifinalist)
James Wilks (5-2)

Confirmed fights for TUF 9 Finale on June 20:
Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida
Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson
Chris Lytle vs. Kevin Burns
Anthony Johnson vs. Matt Brown
Gleison (Graison) Tibau vs. Melvin Guillard

Anybody heard if this show will be shown in Britain ?

Bravo used to show it, but since Setanta have the rights to UFC now im not sure if it will be on anymore.

I love the opening song !

Well, it's going to be a shitshow of a season if the younger Browning is anything like Junie.

We also are very close to setting what will be the first confirmed fight for the TUF 9 Finale, besides the TUF finals of course: Anthony Johnson vs. John Howard. Both have agreed to the fight, it should be official in the next 2 weeks.

I'd imagine so.

Why not? You judging him from his last fight with Diaz?

Let's see who does the better job of "hulking up" before the fight begins. That could be very entertaining.

The 32 fighters for the season have just been revealed:

U.S. welterweights
1. Ryan Biglar (2-1): Biglar, 24, is a jiu-jitsu fighter originally from Guam who represents the Cobra Kai in Las Vegas.
2. Ray Elbe (20-11): A Muay Thai fighter, the 25-year-old Elbe has spent the last three years working on his game in Phuket, Thailand. The most notable man he's faced was Renato Verissimo, who knocked him out in 2003.
3. Christian Fulgium (6-2-1): A wrestler, Fulgium represents the Gladiator camp in Lafayette, La.
4. DaMarques Johnson (13-6): Johnson took up MMA training while in the military. Training out of Elite Performance in Salt Lake City, Johnson once faced former World Extreme Cagefighting welterweight champion Brock Larson, who submitted him in a 2005 bout.
5. Kevin Knabjian (10-3-1): A wrester from Eastern Illinois University, the same school that produced UFC star Matt Hughes, the one-time WEC fighter trains at Gilbert Grappling in Chicago.
6. Mark Miller (10-4): A Muay Thai fighter also based in Chicago, Miller trains at Dino Costeas MMA and Toro Muay Thai.
7. Jason Pierce (9-0): A one-time collegiate soccer player, Pierce trains with the vaunted Miletich Fighting Systems camp in Bettendorf, Iowa.
8. Kiel Reid (8-1): A native of Bettendorf, Reid also trains with Miletich, whose experience includes a 2004 fight against UFC veteran Luigi Fiorvanti.

U.S. lightweights
1. Paul Bird (4-1): A striker, Bird trains at Des Moines (Iowa) MMA. He has fought in the Midwest Cage Championships promotion.
2. Santino DeFranco (13-4): A wrestler and jiu-jitsu specialist, DeFranco has experienced fighting in the now-defunct International Fight League. He also helped coach Efrain Escudero, the TUF 8 winner.
3. Jason Dent (19-9): A submission specialist, Dent runs his own gym in Mentor, Ohio, at Griffon Brawl. He is a UFC veteran who has losses to Roger Huerta and Gleison Tibau.
4. Cameron Dollar (4-1): Dollar trains in Colorado Springs, Colo., and is a former teammate of TUF alums Cory Hill and Noah Thomas.
5. Tom Hayden (4-0): A submission fighter, Hayden is trained by popular UFC veteran Jorge Gurgel in West Chester, Ohio.
6. Waylon Lowe (5-2): Lowe, 28, also fights for Gurgel.
7. Josh Souder (7-2): A member of Team Prodigy, Souder has faced castmate Jason Dent in 2005, losing by TKO.
8. Richie Whitson (4-0): A native Alaskan who trains with Team Quest in Temecula, Calif., Whitson is a heavy-handed striker.

U.K. welterweights
1. Dean Amarasinghe (4-1): A grappler from Nottingham, England, Amarasinghe trains at Rough House Gym.
2. James Bateman (2-1): A striker, Bateman trains at Grimsby NHB in Grimsby, England.
3. David Faulkner (2-1): A member of the Wolfslair team that features U.K. coach Michael Bisping and UFC star Quinton Jackson, Faulkner is a submissions expert.
4. Tommy Maguire (5-2): The 20-year-old Maguire is a striker who works with the Tsunami Gym in Wisbech, England.
5. Che Mills (7-2): A tall welterweight at 6-foot-2, Mills works with ex-UFC fighter Mark Weir's Range Fighting Gym.
6. Nicholas Osipczak (3-0): Osipczak trains in London with Pancrase UK. He's finished all of his fights in the first round.
7. Alex Reid (10-9-1): Reid, 33, trains in London with the London Shoot Fighters. He's faced notable opponents such as Murilo Rua, Tony Fryklund, Dave Menne and Jorge Rivera.
8. James Wilks (5-2): Trained by veteran Eric Paulson in Orange County, Calif., the 30-year-old Wilks is a striker.

U.K. lightweights
1. James Bryan (3-1): A striker, Bryan, 25, is from Somerset, England.
2. Dan James (3-0): A striker from Swansea, Wales, he's finished two of his three pro bouts.
3. Gary Kelly (2-1): A striker, the 25-year-old Kelly trains alongside Bisping and Jackson at Wolfslair in Liverpool, England.
4. Jeff Lawson (13-2): A submission fighter with 12 finishes, Lawson trains with Team Bulldog in Dorset, England.
5. Ross Pearson (9-3): A striker, Pearson trains at Sunderland Jiu-Jitsu & MMA Club in Sunderland, England.
6. Martin Stapleton (5-1): A Muay Thai fighter, Stapleton is a product of Quannum Combat Arts.
7. A.J. Wenn (7-2): A well-rounded fighter from the Tsunami Gym, Wenn is from Cambs, England.
8. Andre Winner (9-2-1): Winner is a member of the Rough House team in London and is coming off a loss and a draw in his two fights prior to appearing on the show.

On paper, my early picks to win will be DeFranco and Mills.

And no sign of Junie Browning's brother.

3/10 edit: Probably safe, based on reports, to add Nate Diaz vs. Joe Stevenson to the TUF 9 Finale.