5 TUF coaches' fights that never actually happened in the UFC

This week marked the final episode of TUF 31, and with the season now over, attention will turn to the coaches’ fight between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler.

With no official date for the fight, though, will McGregor vs. Chandler ever happen? Or will it join the list of TUF coaches’ fights to simply disappear into the ether?

Since its debut back in 2005, the reality show has produced some memorable fights between coaches, but for various reasons, some coaching match-ups simply fell apart.

With that in mind, here are five TUF coaches’ fights that never actually happened.

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#5. TUF 11: Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz

Tito Ortiz was forced out of his coaches' fight with Chuck Liddell in 2010 [Image Credit: @titoortizig on Instagram]

2010’s TUF 11 featured a new format of sorts in the form of beaten fighters being allowed to return to action thanks to a “wild card”. However, the series overall still felt a little tired, and that was partially due to the choice of coaches.

The series was coached by old rivals Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, who had fought previously on two occasions.

Those fights were amongst the best-selling in the promotion’s history, largely thanks to the backstory that saw the two men go from friends and training partners to bitter enemies.

However, both fights were largely one-sided in favour of Liddell, and nobody really wanted to see ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ face him for a third time.

In the end, they didn’t have to. Ortiz injured his back during the filming of the series, forcing him out of the planned bout with ‘The Iceman’.

The UFC brass was so frustrated by this that Ortiz was removed from his coaching role altogether, and was replaced by Rich Franklin.

‘Ace’ went onto defeat Liddell in a thrilling fight that turned out to be the swansong for the latter inside the octagon. ‘The Iceman’ did fight Ortiz for a third time, but that bout didn’t go down until 2018, and did not take place in the UFC.

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#4. TUF Brazil: Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva

A broken hand forced Vitor Belfort out of his 2012 meeting with Wanderlei Silva [Image Credit: @vitorbelfort on Instagram]

The UFC decided to branch out internationally with its TUF series in 2012, and produced the entertaining TUF Brazil, which featured a number of high-level prospects.

Chosen as coaches were Brazilian legends Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva, who had previously fought in the UFC back in 1998, with Belfort winning via knockout.

The duo still had a healthy rivalry over a decade later, and so pitting them in a rematch made absolute sense, particularly with both men largely out of title contention at that stage.

Thanks to the reality show, their bout quickly became one of the most highly-anticipated of that year, with Belfort being portrayed as a hypocritical villain and Silva clearly wearing the white hat.

However, before they could step into the octagon, disaster struck and ‘The Phenom’ broke his hand, forcing him out of the clash.

‘The Axe Murderer’ instead faced Rich Franklin, and lost a tight decision. While their fight was perfectly fine, it wasn’t Silva vs. Belfort, and it was hard not to be disappointed.

More disappointing, however, was the fact that the UFC never decided to match the duo up again before both men eventually departed the promotion years later.

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#3. TUF 16: Shane Carwin vs. Roy Nelson

Roy Nelson missed out on his TUF coaches' fight with Shane Carwin

The 16th season of TUF, which aired in late 2012, was perhaps the least well-received season of the reality show. This was largely because none of the fighters appeared to be quite on the right level to succeed in the UFC.

Neil Magny would, of course, eventually prove that idea to be false. However, the other reason that the season was so badly received was because the intended coaches’ fight never ended up happening.

Heavyweight contenders Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin were chosen to head up the show, despite the fact that they didn’t exactly have a major rivalry of any kind.

Interestingly, the two men had been booked to face one another in early 2011, only for the bout to fall apart when Carwin was forced into back surgery instead.

Sure enough, their rivalry didn’t exactly heat up during the series, with Carwin preferring to take a back seat to his assistant coaches, and Nelson choosing largely to antagonise Dana White.

Their coaches’ fight was intended to take place on the season finale, but about a month beforehand, White made the announcement that Carwin had blown out his knee, forcing it to be cancelled.

Despite the intention being to re-book the fight for later down the line, Carwin ended up retiring six months later, and the bout disappeared into the ether instead.

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#2. TUF 13: Brock Lesnar vs. Junior Dos Santos

Diverticulitis prevented Brock Lesnar's TUF coaches' fight with Junior Dos Santos

While Brock Lesnar’s UFC career was relatively brief, the current WWE superstar made a huge impact during his time in the octagon. He claimed the UFC heavyweight title in 2008, and made two successful defenses before losing it to Cain Velasquez two years later.

Following his title loss, though, Lesnar battled with diverticulitis, a debilitating condition that kept him out of action for lengthy periods of time.

In 2011, it was announced that ‘The Beast Incarnate’ was ready to return, and so the UFC matched him in a top contender’s bout with the surging Junior Dos Santos. Looking to capitalise on Lesnar’s massive popularity, they also made the duo coaches for the 13th season of TUF.

Unfortunately, the show felt largely cursed from the off, even if it did unearth a future champion in the form of Tony Ferguson.

Lesnar was largely absent from a handful of the episodes, and never really built a rivalry with Dos Santos.

That would’ve been fine had the bout gone ahead as planned, but about a month before the event, it was revealed that Lesnar’s diverticulitis had returned.

The coaches’ fight was scrapped immediately, with Dos Santos fighting – and beating – replacement Shane Carwin before downing Velasquez to claim the title.

Lesnar, meanwhile, did not return for another six months. Upon his comeback, he lost to Alistair Overeem and hung up his gloves directly after, meaning the fans never did get to see him lock horns with ‘JDS’.

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#1. TUF Brazil 3: Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva

Failed drug tests put paid to the Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva TUF coaches' fight [Image Credit: @wandfc on Instagram]

It’s arguable that the most heated coaching rivalry in TUF history took place on the third season of TUF: Brazil. The season pitted middleweight contenders Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva against each other, with ‘The American Gangster’ heading into seriously hostile territory for the tapings.

Of course, it turned out that over the course of the season, Sonnen’s anti-Brazil schtick was almost entirely an act, something his fighters quickly cottoned onto.

Unfortunately, Silva certainly didn’t get the idea that Sonnen’s trash-talk was simply meant to build up their eventual fight, causing a wild scene that saw the two men outright brawl in the TUF gym.

By the time the season ended, UFC fans around the world were salivating over the idea of the two men finally squaring off in the octagon.

However, it didn’t take long for disaster to strike. After a hand injury sustained by Silva in the afore-mentioned brawl delayed the fight slightly, both men failed pre-fight drug tests and ended up suspended for a lengthy period by the NSAC.

Unsurprisingly, both Sonnen and Silva ended up having their UFC deals terminated, and while Bellator MMA eventually put the fight together in 2017, by that point the heat and hype was gone. Due to the crazy rivalry, this one remains probably the biggest missed opportunity in TUF history.

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