Cormier To Challenge Miocic For Heavyweight Title at UFC 226

Got this bombshell press release sent to me by the UFC a few minutes ago:

 

 

CHAMPIONS STIPE MIOCIC AND DANIEL CORMIER

COACH UNBEATEN CAST OF FIGHTERS ON

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER^®: UNDEFEATED

 

Season premieres Wednesday, April 18 on FS1

 

Las Vegas – The highly anticipated 27^th season of The Ultimate Fighter^® will see UFC^® heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic coach opposite light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. Following the series, which debuts Wednesday, April 18 on FS1, the two will battle for the heavyweight crown during the 7^th annual UFC International Fight Week (July 3-7) at UFC 226^®: MIOCIC vs. CORMIER at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, July 7.

The Ultimate Fighter^®: Undefeated will also feature a dynamic cast of unbeaten lightweight and featherweight fighters. Each tournament winner will receive a six-figure UFC contract. The season will air for 12 consecutive Wednesdays on FS1, followed by a live finale to be announced at a later date.

Both coaches recently defended their championships at UFC 220 earlier this month in Boston.

Miocic (18-2, fighting out of Independence, Ohio) netted his historic third heavyweight title defense with a dominant decision over dangerous striker Francis Ngannou. The NCAA Division I wrestler and Cleveland Golden Gloves boxing champion has been on a tear since 2015. Going into the bout with Ngannou, the consensus “baddest man on the planet” had earned five consecutive knockout victories against Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski and Mark Hunt. Miocic now looks to lead his team to victory before further etching his name in the record books.

As for Cormier (20-1 1NC, fighting out of San Jose, Calif.), the former Olympian earned a spectacular TKO win against knockout artist Volkan Oezdemir. During his reign as light heavyweight champion, Cormier has also earned impressive title defense wins over Anthony Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson. The bout against Miocic will mark his first at heavyweight since defeating Roy Nelson in 2013. Prior to joining UFC, Cormier won the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix by besting Josh Barnett in the final. He now aims to join Georges St-Pierre, Conor McGregor, BJ Penn and Randy Couture as a two-division UFC champion.

 

Below is a full list of competitors (name, professional record, age and fighting out of):

 

LIGHTWEIGHT

• Thailand Clark – 7-0 | 28 | Fort Worth, Texas
• Joe Giannetti – 6-0 | 22 | Norwell, Mass.
• John Gunther – 6-0 | 32 | Cleveland, Ohio
• José Martinez Jr.– 4-0 | 27 | Lorain, Ohio
• Luis Peña – 4-0 | 24 | Hillsboro, Miss. by way of Naples, Italy
• Richie Smullen – 3-0-1 | 26 | Arklow, Ireland
• Mike Trizano – 6-0 | 25 | Ramsey, N.J.
• Allan Zuniga – 13-0 | 25 | San Miguel, Costa Rica

 

FEATHERWEIGHT

• Jay Cucciniello – 8-0 | 31 | Malaga, Spain by way of Dublin, Ireland
• Tyler Diamond – 9-0 | 26 | Oroville, Calif.
• Brad Katona – 6-0 | 25 | Dublin, Ireland by way of Winnipeg, Canada
• Bryce Mitchell – 9-0 | 23 | Cabot, Ark.
• Suman Mokhtarian – 8-0 | 25 | Sydney, Australia
• Dulani Perry – 4-0 | 31 | Houston, Texas
• Kyler Phillips – 5-0 | 22 | Surprise, Ariz.
• Ricky Steele – 5-0 | 29 | Boise, Ida.

For more show information, bios, videos and photos, visit ultimatefighter.com and follow us on Twitter @UltimateFighter and Facebook.