Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha
Season 23 “The Ultimate Fighter,” the UFC’s long-running reality competition, debuts in two weeks on FOX Sports 1, and today the cast was revealed.
The season will feature women’s strawweight fighters and men’s light heavyweight fighters competing for coaches Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the UFC’s women’s 115-pound champion, and Claudia Gadelha, who challenges for her title in a rematch in the TUF 23 Finale main event on July 8 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The 12-episode “TUF 23” season debuts April 20 on FOX Sports 1 at 10 p.m. ET. The show will start with 32 fighters – 16 in each division – fighting to get a spot in the house. The 32 fighters come from nine different countries around the world. As usual, the winners of the “TUF” tournaments, which will be determined at the same TUF 23 Finale, get a guaranteed UFC contract.
Some familiar names are part of the “TUF 23” cast, particularly among the women’s strawweights, several of whom have experience under the Invicta FC banner, including J.J. Aldrich, Ashley Cummins and Jodie Esquibel. On the men’s light heavyweight side, Myron Dennis is a Bellator and Legacy FC veteran who has a win over Paul Buentello on his resume. Norman Paraisy is a Bellator and Cage Warriors veteran. Las Vegas’ Khalil Rountree is 4-0 under the RFA banner. And Andrew Sanchez is coming off an RFA light heavyweight title win over John Poppie this past August.
The “TUF 23” cast includes:
Strawweight
- J.J. Aldrich, 2-1, 23, Aurora, Colo.
- Chelsea Bailey, 2-0, 23, Chewelah, Wash.
- Amanda Cooper, 1-1, 24, Bath, Mich.
- Ashley Cummins, 3-3, 28, St. Louis
- Jodie Esquibel, 5-1, 29, Albuquerque, N.M.
- Mellony Geugjes, 0-1, 23, Amsterdam
- Lanchana Green, 2-1, 26, Darlington, England
- Helen Harper, 4-1, 28, Farnborough, England
- Kate Jackson, 7-2-1, 29, Lostwithiel, England
- Alyssa Krahn, 3-1, 28, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Kristi Lopez, 2-0, 33, Quartz Hill, Calif.
- Amy Montenegro, 7-2, 32, Forks, Wash.
- Jamie Moyle, 3-1, 27, Las Vegas
- Irene Rivera, 6-2, 22, Barcelona
- Tatiana Suarez, 3-0, 25, Fontana, Calif.
- Ashley Yoder, 4-1, 28, Indianapolis
Light Heavyweight
- Kenneth Bergh, 3-0, 26, Oslo
- Trevor Carlson, 10-2, 27, Spring Creek, Nev.
- Muhammed DeReese, 5-0, 27, Titusville, Fla.
- Myron Dennis, 12-4, 27, Oklahoma City
- John Paul Elias, 3-0, 27, Fresno, Calif.
- Marcel Fortuna, 8-1, 30, Tubarao, Brazil
- Phil Hawes, 3-0, 27, Little Ferry, N.J.
- Cory Hendricks, 3-0, 27, Lynden, Wash.
- Jamelle Jones, 6-2, 28, Atlantic City, N.J.
- Abdel Medjedoub, 3-0, 30, Mila, Algeria
- Norman Paraisy, 15-4-2, 1 NC, 30, Paris
- Khalil Rountree, 4-0, 26, Las Vegas
- Andrew Sanchez, 7-2, 27, Shiloh, Ill.
- Eric Spicely, 8-0, 29, Stoughton, Mass.
- Joshua Stansbury, 7-2, 31, East Liverpool, Ohio
- Elias Urbina, 3-0, 22, Weslaco, Texas
For more on the TUF 23 Finale, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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