A TUF Pill to Swallow: No Chael or Wanderlei for "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 13, Brazil Soon to Come

Many are still left wondering what the future holds for the popular long-running UFC reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter”. The coaches for the landmark thirteenth season of TUF have yet to be announced, although a new report indicates that Dana White will announce the coaches either today (December 16) or tomorrow (December 17). Another report indicates that Brazil is one of the major competitors in the hunt to see which country gets an international version of TUF first. And one of MMA’s premiere journalists recently confirmed that neither Wanderlei Silva nor Chael Sonnen will coach TUF Season 13. Here are all the details.

According to a report seen on MMA Mania, journalist Ariel Helwani recently took to Twitter for a pair of announcements: that TUF Season 13’s coaches have still not been finalized, and that both Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva are officially out of the running. The two men were widely rumored to be coaching opposite each other for weeks, with many anticipating the inevitable showdown thanks in no small part to a classic video that showed “The Axe Murderer” laying a verbal beatdown on a somber, borderline-apologetic Sonnen.

We then head to MMA Weekly for a report concerning a possible Brazilian version of TUF. For those unaware, there’s been a lot of talk recently surrounding which country/countries will get the first shot at their own version of TUF. Regarding a possible Brazilian version, UFC President Dana White had this to say: “…Imagine the talent that would come off that show… So yeah, we want to do it. I don’t know how fast it would be that we could get it done, but trust me, we’re moving pretty quickly… We want to take ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ everywhere. All these places and all these different countries that we’re going, we want to take ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ to these places.”

I have to admit, I had my heart set on Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva coaching against one another. Chael Sonnen is certainly charismatic enough and infamous enough for the role of a coach. Plus, Wanderlei Silva is so good-natured and kind that I think fans across the world would find yet another reason to become a fan of “The Axe Murderer” once they get to know who he really is outside of the Octagon: the kind of man that once stated “I don’t have fans. I have friends.” The contrasting ideals and potential dynamic between these two could have given us some of the best TUF drama in years, perhaps ever, and I’m honestly sad that it’s not happening.

In regards to a Brazil-exclusive version of TUF, I fully agree with Dana White: this is a no-brainer. Brazil has bred an incredible amount of MMA champions, it’s one of the premiere destinations for Mixed Martial Artists no matter what discipline they’re looking to train. I’d love to see a Brazilian version of TUF, I think the fight quality would be off the charts.

All in all, it’s going to be very interesting to see how things shake out for “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2011. And what about you, fans and friends? What do you think about these recent TUF developments?