What to know about The Ultimate Fighter: Team Grasso vs. Team Shevchenko

Some of the biggest UFC stars of the 21st century first made a name for themselves while competing on The Ultimate Fighter

Now, the UFC’s popular reality series is set to return with a brand new season.

The summer is setting up to be a huge stretch of live events for the UFC and fight fans will get some bonus mid-week bouts for the next 12 weeks with The Ultimate Fighter: Team Grasso vs. Team Shevchenko beginning Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+.

Season 32 of “TUF” will see 14 different nations represented by 16 competitors between two different weight classes in what the organization is calling “the most international cast ever assembled for the show.”

The prospects will be coached by current women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso and former champ Valentina Shevchenko as they aim to secure a UFC contract.

COACHES

Perhaps just as compelling as the fights themselves is the coaching matchup between championship calibre rivals Shevchenko and Grasso. 

Shevchenko had her undefeated run as flyweight champion ended by Grasso at UFC 285 and then Grasso retained the title this past September after the pair fought to a controversial split draw at Noche UFC.

Grasso and Shevchenko will join Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate (Season 18) plus Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Cláudia Gadelha (Season 23) as the only women to serve as TUF head coaches.

No official announcement has been made as of the debut of TUF 32, however it is presumed Grasso and Shevchenko will complete their trilogy at some point later this year.

FIGHTERS

There are 16 athletes involved in the series, which began filming back in March, split evenly between the men’s featherweight and middleweight divisions. They will compete in two eight-man elimination tournaments over the course of 12 episodes.

The competing fighters lived in the same house while secluded from the outside world, and trained and competed at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas. The two featherweight finalists and two middleweight finalists will compete at a yet-to-be-confirmed live event later this year to determine the tournament winners.

FEATHERWEIGHTS (145 pounds)

Edwin Cooper Jr | 31 | 6-1 | Albuquerque, N.M.

Nathan Fletcher | 26 | 8-1 | Liverpool, England

Zygimantas Ramaska | 27 | 9-2 | Ukmergė, Lithuania

Roedie Roets | 27 | 7-1 | Polokwane, South Africa

Bekhzod Usmonov | 28 | 12-4 | Tajikistan

Guillermo Torres | 37 | 7-1 | Guadalajara, Mexico

Kaan Ofli | 30 | 11-2-1 | Melbourne, Australia

Mairon Santos | 23 | 13-1 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

MIDDLEWEIGHTS (185 pounds)

Omran Chaaban | 23 | 6-1 | Finland

Shamidkhan Magomedov | 29 | 8-1 | Gubkinsky, Russia

Robert Valentin | 28 | 10-3 | Switzerland

Mark Hulme | 29 | 12-3 | Johannesburg, South Africa

Ryan Loder | 31 | 6-1 | Sacramento, Calif.

Giannis Bachar | 33 | 9-2 | Athens, Greece

Thomas Theocharis | 30 | 9-5 | Toronto, Canada

Paddy McCorry | 26 | 4-1 | West Belfast, Ireland

Will any of the fighters above become fan favourites, title challengers or even champions at the UFC level?

Stars like Nate Diaz, Rose Namajunas, Tony Ferguson, Kelvin Gastelum, Julianna Peña, T.J. Dillashaw, Yair Rodríguez and Tatiana Suarez all got their start on the show, plus past UFC champions Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping, Matt Serra, Nicco Montaño, Carla Esparza, Robert Whittaker and Kamaru Usman are all among the previous TUF winners.