Although all eyes will be on UFC 299 this weekend alongside the blockbuster Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou boxing match tonight, Dana White has dropped some huge news. The UFC boss announced that the coaches for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter will be two women that are very well known to each other. Flyweight champion, Alexa Grasso will meet Valentina Shevchenko and go head to head to coach their individual teams. As of yet, the full cast hasn’t been announced, however, we know that it will feature men’s featherweights and middleweights.
Happy International Women’s Day!#TUF32 coaches will be @AlexaGrasso and @BulletValentina premiering June 4th on @ESPN! @UltimateFighter pic.twitter.com/JC4msNmWuY
— danawhite (@danawhite) March 8, 2024
The two women are extremely familiar with each other having shared the octagon on two separate occasions. The first fight between the two women saw one of the biggest upsets in the companies history as Grasso not only defeated the long-time dominant champion, Shevchenko, but finished her. Naturally, there had to be a rematch due to the previous dominance of Shevchenko.
On the second meeting between the two women took place on the card celebrating Mexican Independence Day, which saw a number of Mexican stars compete on the card. The two women had a competitive bout which saw the women fight to a draw with scores of 48–47, 47–48, 47–47, meaning that Grasso retained her belt.
Grasso and Shevchenko have both been dealing with injuries which have seen them sit out of action since their rematch. They will, however, meet in a trilogy bout after the conclusion of TUF 32.
TUF 32 is set to premiere June 4 on ESPN.
