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'The Ultimate Fighter(R): Team Serra vs. Team Hughes' Premieres Wednesday, September 19 at 11:00pm on Spike TV
NEW YORK, July 31 -- UFC(R) Welterweight Champion Matt
Serra and former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes will serve as
coaches for Season 6 of Spike TV's highly-rated series, "The Ultimate
Fighter(R)," premiering Wednesday, September 19 at 11:00pm ET/PT.
"The Ultimate Fighter: Team Serra vs. Team Hughes" features sixteen of
the best up-and-coming mixed martial artists in the 170 lb. division from
around the world. The two finalists will square off in a live finale in
December, with the winner netting a six figure contract with the Ultimate
Fighting Championship(R), the premier mixed martial arts organization in
the world. The series recently wrapped production in Las Vegas. Hughes and
Serra will fight each other in a UFC pay-per-view event after the series
finale in December. The series will assume its regular timeslot of
Wednesdays at 10pm on September 26.
Serra is no stranger to "The Ultimate Fighter," having won Season 4
last November, earning the right to fight then-welterweight king, Georges
St- Pierre. Serra proceeded to stun the sports world by defeating St-Pierre
at UFC 69 in April to claim the title. A Long Island native, Serra began
training under the legendary Renzo Gracie in the mid 1990's and was awarded
the black belt in 2000, the first American to have such an honor under
Gracie. Among Serra's most memorable victories prior to beating St-Pierre
are his defeat of Yves Edwards at UFC 33 and his win over Ivan Menjivar at
UFC 48. He currently runs two successful jiu-jitsu schools on Long Island.
Joining Serra on his coaching staff will be his "The Ultimate Fighter 4"
cast-mate Pete "Drago" Sell and boxing coach Ray Longo.
One of the sport's all time greats, Hughes, from tiny Hillsboro,
Illinois, is a former UFC welterweight champion and four-time collegiate
All-American wrestler. A coach for The Ultimate Fighter 2, Hughes' list of
victories in the UFC includes the sport's biggest names, including Royce
Gracie, Georges St- Pierre, BJ Penn, Carlos Newton and Frank Trigg. Joining
Hughes on his coaching staff will be mixed martial arts star Robbie Lawler,
Matt Pena, and Marc Fiore.
During the six-week Ultimate Fighter competition, the sixteen men
endure a grueling regimen of jiu-jitsu, judo, muay thai, karate, boxing and
wrestling. The intense competition between the fighters continues after
they leave the gym -- at The Ultimate Fighter House. These warriors are
forced to live together, knowing that any day they might be forced to fight
each other in the famed UFC Octagon(TM).
In each episode, opponents from each team are selected to square off in
battle, officially weighed in and then, in front of their teammates,
coaches and the Nevada State Athletic Commission, face off in two
five-minute rounds with a sudden death third round in the event of a draw.
Over the first five seasons, the show has delivered approximately two
million viewers each week, often beating the NBA, NHL, MLB and NCAA
football and basketball head-to-head on Thursday nights with men 18-34.
Craig Piligian of Pilgrim Films and Television, Frank Fertitta III,
Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White of Zuffa, LLC, and Kevin Kay of Spike TV are
the show's executive producers. Brian J. Diamond, senior vice president,
Sports & Specials, Spike TV is co-executive producer and Christopher
Martello is executive in charge of production for Spike TV.
Spike TV is available in 91 million homes and is a division of MTV
Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the
world's leading creators of programming and content across all media
platforms.
SOURCE Spike TV
http://www.spiketv.com
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