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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The coaches fight for the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter will not come on pay-per-view.
UFC President Dana White revealed after Saturday's UFC 130 event that coaches Michael Bisping and Jason "Mayhem" Miller will meet at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale in December, instead of at the next pay-per-view event after that.
The two fighters were recently revealed as the coaches for the season after Chael Sonnen failed to convince the California State Athletic Commission to lift his suspension, taking him out of the coaching spot. The season begins filming early next month and is expected to feature bantamweights and featherweights for the first time on the reality show.
This won't be the first time coaches have fought on the Finale event for their season instead of on pay-per-view. In season five, B.J. Penn and Jens Pulver met at that season's finale. It hasn't been the case for the seasons since then, but White said the organization was planning for the coaches for this 14th season to fight on the Finale event from the get go.
The season begins airing in September, and the Finale event will likely take place on December 3 in Las Vegas.
Penick's Analysis: This is the right move for this fight. Miller hasn't fought in the UFC since 2005, and though he does have some exposure through his hosting duties on Bully Beatdown and his fight with Jake Shields on CBS, he's still going to be a new face to the casual fanbase. That doesn't make for a pay-per-view fight. It's interesting to hear White say the fight would have taken place on the Finale even if it was Bisping-Sonnen, as that would have been their highest profile TUF main event in a long time. Still, this fight is great for free television, and after a season of TUF should bring the most viewers to a Finale event in a long time.
[Michael Bisping art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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