TUF 21 highlights rivalry between Florida gyms. Photo: Reproduction
After 20 seasons, and ten years of continuous airing on North American TV, the reality show The Ultimate Fighter, highlighted by president Dana White as one of the milestones in the growth of the UFC, underwent a radical change. As already announced exclusively by SUPER LUTAS last year, the TUF 21 debuted in the United States on Wednesday night (22), with a special two-hour episode, and brought several new features and one of the biggest rivalries between gyms in the sport as a backdrop.
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Entitled “TUF: ATT x Blackzilians”, the 21st edition will show the duel between two of the main academies in Florida: blackzilians, where today names like Vitor belfort e Anthony Johnson, Ea American Top Team, founded by dissidents from Brazilian Top Team, and today home to athletes like Gleison Tibau, Glover Teixeira and the Ultimate welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.
One of the most striking points is the heated rivalry between the gyms, mainly between owners Dan Lambert (ATT) and Glenn Robinson (Blackzilians). At various times, the enemies needed to be contained during the first chapter, and the promise is of a lot of confusion, and extra motivation to win the competition, throughout the current season.
Right away, president Dana White has already drawn attention to the main change in the format of the reality show: instead of the traditional tournament to define who will win a contract with the UFC, the program will feature two stages, in which gyms will compete for a cash prize, which reaches around US$500 thousand (approximately R$1,5 million, at current prices).
In the first phase, each of the eight athletes will be able to fight up to three times, but may also be left without acting, depending on the decision of the coaching staff. In total, there will be 12 fights contested, with the first four worth 25 points, the next four 50 points and the last 100 points. At the end of this stage, the team that scores the most points guarantees US$200 (R$600).
The next phase is the grand final, scheduled for July 12th, in a city to be defined, in the state of Florida (USA). To compete in the final, the athlete must have competed in at least two fights in the knockout phase. The academy that wins this fight will win the TUF trophy and US$300 (R$900).
Reality will have six Brazilians
Teams ATT (above) and Blackzilians (below). Photo: Reproduction
As expected, since both academies carry Brazilian DNA in their origins, Brazilian athletes are a massive presence in TUF 21. In total there are six Brazilian fighters in the squad, making the country the second with the highest number of fighters. representatives in the attraction – second only to the United States, which has eight.
The Brazilians on the attraction are: Marcelo “Grilo” Alfaya, from ATT; and Valdir “BBmonstro” Araújo, Luiz “Buscapé Firmino, Vincent Luque, Andrews Nakahara and Felipe “Balboa” Portela, from Blackzilians. The eight Americans are: Steve Carl, Nathan Coy, Michael Graves, Hayder Hassan, Sabah Homasi and Steve Montgomery, from ATT; and Carrington Banks and jason jackson, by Blackzilians. In addition American Top Team has the Slovenian Uros Jurisic and Blackzilians has the Nigerian Kamaru Usman.
Blackzilians takes the lead with Nigerian victory
The intense dispute between ATT and Blackzilians started with an advantage for the team from the city of Boca Ratton, with the Nigerian triumphing Kamaru Usman about Michael Graves. The duel also introduced fans of the show to another new feature: this season, each team chooses its representative for the fights, but the opponent will only be known on the day of the weigh-in.
Despite the first triumph for Blackzilians, and the 25 points guaranteed for the US$ 200 dispute, the performance of the two fighters did not impress president Dana White, who harshly criticized the quality of the fight and demanded more dedication from the athletes in the next presentations.
Next week, as a bonus for the victory, the Blackzilians headquarters will once again be the stage for the second fight of the reality show.
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