Several interesting prospects are part of the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.
The cast will comprise fighters from the bantamweight and lightweight divisions and will be coached by legendary Brazilian champs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. UFC officials formally announced the rosters Wednesday in a press release (via Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com).
@posters_chance @GrabakaHitman @neilrooke01 @ScottHarrisMMA wait until you see results
— Jason Coles (@MMASun) March 17, 2015
The bantamweight half of the show looks particularly stacked, with longtime flyweight prospect Dileno Lopes moving up to 135 pounds to compete on the show. Well-regarded 26-year-old Leandro "Pitbull" Higo, who trains with Bellator featherweight champion Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, among others, is also in the cast. Both should be considered favorites to make deep runs on the Brazil-based spinoff of the UFC's venerable reality show.
The full TUF: Brazil 4 bantamweight cast is as follows:
- Franklyn Arrocha (4-0)
- Eduardo Diez (4-0)
- Bruno Gustavo (8-2)
- Leandro Higo (13-2)
- Bruno Korea (4-0)
- Dileno Lopes (17-1)
- Marcos Maju (9-2)
- Matheus Mattos (8-0)
- Renato Monaco (10-1)
- Peter Montibeller (7-0)
- Matheus Nicolau (10-1)
- Gustavo Sedorio (4-0)
- Maycon Silvan (7-2)
- Giovanni Soldado (15-1)
- Mateus Vasco (12-1)
- Reginaldo Vieira (12-3)
On the lightweight side, Nova Uniao products Fernando Bruno and Nikolas Motta both move up to 155 pounds from their customary featherweight. Bellator veteran Nazareno Malegarie and undefeated jiu-jitsu ace Bruno Murata also are among the standouts.The full lightweight list includes:
- Fernando Bruno (15-2)
- Alexandre Cidade (11-1)
- Carlos Costa (7-1)
- Adilson Fernandes (11-4)
- Glaico Franca (12-3)
- Gabriel Macario (3-0)
- Nazareno Malegarie (27-3)
- Raush Manfio (6-1)
- Nikolas Motta (6-1)
- Bruno Murata (6-0)
- Joaquim Neto (7-0)
- Jeferson Negrini (9-0)
- Edson Pereira (12-2)
- Andre Ricardo (3-1)
- Erick Carlos Silva (14-4)
- Arlen Viana (8-1)
Rua was originally scheduled to coach against Anderson Silva, but Nogueira stepped in for Silva after Silva was removed from the show after he failed a drug test prior to his bout at UFC 183 with Nick Diaz.
TUF: Brazil 4 airs in Brazil on Globo TV and on UFC subscription streaming service Fight Pass, starting on April 5.
