All 16 competitors on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter 24 will bring championship gold with them.
The UFC announced on Tuesday that the cast will be comprised of champions from various promotions, with the winner earning a crack at the UFC flyweight title.
Champions from around the world will descend upon Las Vegas for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter®. This season, 16 seeded competitors, all champions in their current promotion, will be coached by two former flyweight title challengers Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo.
The series debuts on FOX Sports 1 August 31 at 10 p.m. ET.
Currently riding a five-fight winning streak, Benavidez (24-4) has met current 125-pound kingpin Demetrious Johnson twice and will utilize the experience gained in those two encounters to help guide his squad of eight fighters from around the world. In addition to his matchups with “Mighty Mouse,” Benavidez has blown through the competition in the 125-pound division and racked up victories over the best flyweights in the world, including Zach Makovsky, Ian McCall and Jussier Formiga.
Coaching opposite Benavidez this season is Olympic gold medalist, Cejudo (10-1), whose only professional loss has come at the hands of Johnson. Cejudo became the youngest American to earn gold in wrestling at the 2008 games in Beijing. After representing his country on the world’s stage, he turned his attention to MMA, where he holds victories over some of the sport’s elite, including former title challenger Chris Cariaso.
The show will feature 12 episodes airing Wednesdays on FS1. Each episode’s winner will advance in the single-elimination tournament. In a new twist from previous seasons, the two finalists will meet in the last fight in the house to determine who will receive a shot at the UFC flyweight world title at the finale in December.
