UFC Hall of Famers Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping are set to serves as coaches for The Ultimate Fighter season 34, which features bantamweights and women’s strawweights in the latest installment of the long running reality series.
Both fighters are returning for a third stint as coaches after Cormier led TUF 27 and TUF 33 while Bisping was the head coach for TUF 9 and TUF 14. Of course, Bisping also won The Ultimate Fighter when he was competing as a light heavyweight in the third installment
of the series.
TUF 34 is set to debut on Paramount+ on Sunday, June 14 — the same day as the UFC White House card — with subsequent episodes dropping each Tuesday. There’s a total of 12 episodes for TUF 34.
Cormier is actually coaching back-to-back seasons after he went up against Chael Sonnen on TUF 33. Now he returns for his third coaching opportunity with 16 bantamweights and women’s strawweights vying for a TUF championship and a UFC contract.
Of course, Cormier and Bisping are both retired so the season won’t culminate in a battle of coaches.
But the pair of former UFC champions are regular commentators for the promotion with Cormier appearing at every major numbered event while Bisping routinely calls UFC Fight Night events.
While The Ultimate Fighter has produced numerous UFC champions over the years, the series has fallen on harder times lately when it comes to identifying top prospects in the sport, especially with the addition of Dana White’s Contender Series.
The last season to produce a future UFC champion — not counting TUF 26, which was built around crowning the first ever women’s flyweight champion — was Kamaru Usman during TUF 21 when he won the show and eventually went onto claim the welterweight title.
