Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos Announced as TUF: UK vs Australia Coaches

The UFC continues its international expansion with their next installment of The Ultimate Fighter. This upcoming season will pit the best prospects from the United Kingdom against the best that Australia has to offer. 

In a surprising move, the UFC has named Georges Sotiropoulus and Ross Pearson as the coaches for this upcoming season, as confirmed by UFC President Dana White.

Both fighters actually made their way to the UFC by the competing on the show, and Pearson won his season which saw the UK compete against the United States. 

It is expected that the two coaches will compete at the end of the season. It will mark a return to lightweight for Pearson, who was unable to find the same success at featherweight.

George Sotiropoulos was a contestant on the sixth season of the Ultimate Fighter as a member of Matt Serra's team. He was one of the favorites to win the season but was upset in the semifinals in his bout against Tommy Spear. 

He's been floundering in the lightweight division ever since, putting together a string of wins before suffering back to back losses to Dennis Siver and Rafael Dos Anjos.

Pearson has had a similar run in the UFC. He was able to put together a string of wins at lightweight before trying to reinvent himself at featherweight. He suffered a knockout loss at the hands of Cub Swanson at UFC on FX 4 in Atlantic City in June.

The season is expected to begin filming this week in Australia. There has been no update on when it will air in the United States or which of the Fox suite of channels it will be be broadcast on.