I hope you guys realize that everything we’re about to tell you in this reveal article of TUF China, we already told you in Sunday Morning Rumor Mills that date back a couple months. That’s just the nature of the SMRM — it’s prophetic in the sense that it tells you stuff before it even happens. I just defined a definition by reiterating its definition. That’s some high-level syntax structure right there, folks. Noam Chomsky would be proud.
Just a few hours ago in Bejing, China, UFC held their first press conference to announce a multi-year partnership with Liaoning TV along with a season of The Ultimate Fighter being held in the country. The show will premiere on Liaoning Satellite TV, making it available to more than 830 million people in China. It’s impossible to wrap your head around those numbers. You’ll get a migraine just trying.
TUF China will be a twelve-episode series in which sixteen fighters will compete for a shot at a six-fight UFC contract. The finale of TUF China will be held on March 2014 at Venetian Macao’s Cotai Arena. The show will utilize UFC’s production staff, which is a definite plus.
This is actually a first for Liaoning TV. Never before in the company’s history have they imported an American-style reality product to a Chinese audience.
No coaches have been announced yet, but it appears Zhang Tiequan will be selected. There’s also a rumor that Cung Le will coach opposite of Tiequan, although I think it’s a long shot.
Tryouts for TUF China begin July 21st, so if you feel like you have what it takes (and miraculously can understand English), visit sports.sohu.com/tuf2013 to register.
Oh, and the UFC will hold an event in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands in 2014. We told you that a few weeks ago, but egh — who’s counting. Big thanks to Stu for the info.
