'TUF: Brazil' features featherweights and middleweights, tourney finals on PPV

The first international edition of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series, "TUF: Brazil," will feature featherweight and middleweight competitors.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the plans with Marshall Zelaznik, the UFC's managing director of international development, at a pre-UFC 142 press conference in Rio de Janeiro.

The finals of the tournament, as well as the coaches' fight between Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva, then will be part of a major June pay-per-view card.

That event is expected to take place in Brazil, possibly in Sao Paulo. A likely title fight and rematch between UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen (if he can get by Mark Munoz later this month at UFC on FOX 2) also could be part of the card.

According to Zelaznik, filming for "TUF: Brazil" begins next month in the country. The show then airs on Globo in Brazil and on FUEL TV in the U.S. As with our "TUF" seasons, the fighters compete in a tournament format, and the winners are guaranteed UFC contracts.

Each division features 16 fighters to start, and an elimination episode will narrow the field down to eight fighters in each bracket, who will then move into a "TUF: Brazil" house. The organization will not disclose the location of either the house or the training facility.

"TUF," which debuted on Spike TV in 2005 and quickly became a driving force for the UFC's move into the mainstream, has launched the careers of more than 100 UFC fighters and has produced past champions such as Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin and Matt Serra. While all seasons to date have filmed in Las Vegas, the UFC is planning additional international editions of "TUF" in Canada, Australia, the Philippines and the U.K.

For the latest on "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil" and UFC in Brazil (June), stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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