‘The Ultimate Fighter Brazil’ Premieres Sunday Night on TUF.tv

Show is first international edition of TUF

UFC president Dana White has been promising international editions of “The Ultimate Fighter” for a while, and the first of those is under way in Brazil.

Sunday night, the first episode of “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” will premiere on TUF.tv. All 13 episodes of the season will air on the website on Sundays at midnight Eastern, made available to American and Canadian audiences.

TUF Brazil is being coached by Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva, who are expected to face each other after the season wraps up – likely at UFC 147, which is being targeted for a soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro. In addition to Belfort and Silva, fans can watch for guest coaching appearances from UFC champions Anderson Silva, Junior Dos Santos and Jose Aldo and former champions Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

The U.S. version of “The Ultimate Fighter” debuted in 2005 and became the UFC’s flagship on Spike TV. After 14 seasons on Spike, the show now airs on FX in a new live format each Friday night. Brazilian production company Floresta is handling TUF Brazil, and it is the first time a TUF series was filmed outside of the United States.

TUF Brazil features featherweight and middleweight divisions, and tonight’s first episode will feature elimination bouts between 32 fighters, cutting the field to 16 fighters who will live in the TUF house and compete in weekly elimination bouts, just like the U.S. version of the show. At the conclusion of the show, winners in each weight class will be awarded a UFC contract.