UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and his former training partner, T.J. Dillashaw, are set to coach The Ultimate Fighter 25, the UFC announced Sunday night. MMANewsLine.com initially reported the news.
The Ultimate Fighter 25 will premiere on Wednesday, April 19th at 10 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Titled “Redemption,” the season will feature a cast of welterweights with at least one thing in common — they have all competed on The Ultimate Fighter in the past. A handful of the upcoming contestants are former winners of the show, and one is a current UFC fighter.
Garbrandt is expected to defend his title for the first time against Dillashaw after the show concludes later this year.
Garbrandt (11-0) captured the 135-pound title in the co-main event of UFC 207 last month with a shocking decision win over Dominick Cruz. “No Love,” who made his debut inside the Octagon in early 2014, is 6-0 in the UFC, with four knockouts.
Dillashaw (14-3) lost the bantamweight championship early last year in a split decision loss to the aforementioned Cruz. He rebounded successfully with a decision win over Raphael Assuncao at UFC 200 last July and followed that victory up with a recent dominant win over top contender John Lineker.
Last October, it was revealed that The Ultimate Fighter’s budget would be cut down to $10 million from $27.6 million. Jeremy Botter also reported in October that new UFC owner WME-IMG planned on cancelling the show altogether in the foreseeable future. That doesn’t seem to be the case — for now.