On Wednesday, March 18th, the UFC announced the cast for The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 4: Team Shogun vs. Team Big Nog. While the Brazilian series has, so far, yet to build the fully fledged star that the UFC has hoped for, it has brought through a number of decent fighters. And this year it will be hoping to tap into the talent rich Brazilian bantamweight and welterweight divisions.
For this season the UFC has decided to relocate the filming of the show from Brazil to the familiar UFC gym in Las Vegas, which has played host to numerous series of the show. Initially Anderson Silva was scheduled to act as a coach alongside Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on the show, but his failed drug test has ruled him out of coaching and he has been replaced by his long time mentor, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
While Nogueira has coached once before, it will be Rua’s first time coaching the show.It is an opportunity he has always wanted:
“I always had the dream to be one of the The Ultimate Fighter coaches in Brazil, and it’s a dream to be on this season,” said Rua. “It’s the first Brazilian season in Las Vegas, the heart of the UFC, and the weight divisions selected by the UFC are great because of the physical aspect of the Brazilians and full of talents. The technical level is high and I can guarantee it’s going to be an exciting season.”
The full cast of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 4 includes:
- BANTAMWEIGHTS
- Franklyn Arrocha(4-0)
- Eduardo Diez(4-0)
- Bruno Gustavo(8-2)
- Leandro Higo(13-2)
- Bruno Korea(4-0)
- Dileno Lopes(17-1)
- Marcos Maju(9-2)
- Matheus Mattos(8-0)
- Renato Monaco (10-1)
- Peter Montibeller (7-0)
- Matheus Nicolau (10-1)
- Gustavo Sedorio (4-0)
- Maycon Silvan (7-2)
- Giovanni Soldado (15-1)
- Mateus Vasco (12-1)
- Reginaldo Vieira (12-3)
- LIGHTWEIGHTS
- Fernando Bruno (15-2)
- Alexandre Cidade(11-1)
- Carlos Costa (7-1)
- Adilson Fernandes (11-4)
- Glaico Franca (12-3)
- Gabriel Macario (3-0
- Nazareno Malegarie(27-3)
- Raush Manfio (6-1)
- Nikolas Motta (6-1)
- Bruno Murata (6-0)
- Jeferson Negrini (9-0)
- Joaquim Neto BJJ (7-0)
- Edson Pereira (12-2)
- Andre Ricardo (3-1)
- Erick Silva (14-4)
- Arlen Viana (8-1)
While the cast features almost exclusively fighters with good records there are some fighters in particular with a lot of hype behind them. In the bantamweight division, Nova Uniao’s Matheus Nicolau looks to be quite the talent, with a solid mix of submission skills and knockout power that could well see him making it to the latter stages of the tournament. In the lightweight division, one fighter really stands out. Nazareno Malegarie, a former Bellator fighter, is well rounded and has proven he has versatile finishing ability with only 3 of his 27 victories coming by decision. The show also features Bloody Elbow featherweight scouting report prospect Nikolas Motta, moving up to lightweight for the show.
The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4 premieres on Globo TV in Brazil on April 5 and will be streamed on Fight Pass for non-Brazilian fans to enjoy.
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