Wanderlei Silva to Coach Opposite Chael Sonnen on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3

A long brewing rivalry between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva has been in the public eye for quite some time now. There have been messages on video blogs, rants on UFC Tonight, and even a scuffle at Mr. Olympia which received widespread criticism for Silva for bringing a camera crew along to the ‘spontaneous’ confrontation.

Now, according to UFC president Dana White, they will finally be able to settle their differences, at least in theory, at the conclusion of TheUltimate Fighter: Brasil 3.

Dana White confirmed to Sonnen on FOX Sports Live. The announcement came with some hesitation by White who stated that,“people at my own company are gonna get mad at me”.

Sonnen seemed relatively shocked at the announcement, most likely due to the fact that this was his first time hearing confirmation of the news after it had already been proposed:

“I gotta react here, but you kind of caught me off guard,” Sonnen Stated. “We’ve had a little bit of talks about this, but I didn’t know it was final.”

Sonnen will still face off against Rashad Evans in the co-main event at UFC 167 on November 16th. but now has his next fight booked as well.

Sonnen returns from a first round submission over Silva’s former training partner at Chute Boxe, and former UFC light-heavyweight champion, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at the first UFC on FOX Sports 1 card.

Silva has been out of action much longer, nursing an injury. His last bout came in Japan in March against former WEC light-heavyweight champion, Brian Stann. Silva won that bout via 2nd round knockout.

As for the potential security risk posed by Sonnen’s presence in Brazil, White stated that they were planning ahead:

“You will coach The Ultimate Fighter and you will have a ton of security down there with you. It should be a fun season,”

What will be interesting to see is how a team of Brazilians will react to being coached by a fighter who is universally hated by the entire nation.

“It should be a fun season”, White stated.

There is no news on broadcast details or on where and when the fight between Sonnen and Silva will take place at the end of the season.

UFC.com released details on tryouts:

Tryouts for The Ultimate Fighter: Brasil 3 will be held in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, November 11 and are open to middleweights, light heavyweights and heavyweights, with filming expected to begin in early 2014.

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