Originally Posted by CagedPotato

Rumor: Nogueira, Mir To Coach Next Season of TUF

An unofficial source tells Cage Potato that the coaches have been signed for the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, and they are none other than UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former champ Frank Mir.

Of course, this means that Mir will be getting the next shot at the heavyweight strap, and that the title will be out of circulation for a looooong time while they film, edit, and air the show.

This latest revelation might also shed some light on why the UFC has been purging its heavyweight roster. With this development off in the distance, they have less need for guys like Tim Sylvia and Jake O’Brien hanging around the water cooler down at the Zuffa headquarters.

While we’re a little disappointed that we won’t get to see Sylvia coach his own TUF team and try desperately to get them to like him, at least this might help introduce Big Nog to some of the newer fans of the sport. Next thing you know all the kids will be going crazy for the butterfly guard. Don’t think it can’t happen.

Originally Posted by MMAJunkie

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir named "TUF 8" coaches

Interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former title-holder Frank Mir will serve as coaches on the eighth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," which debuts Sept. 17 on Spike TV.

Spike TV made the announcement on Monday.

The two fighters will not compete again until a tentatively scheduled pay-per-view match-up that will take place after the season is finished airing in December.

Casting has already begun for the show, which will begin filming this summer. Nogueira and Mir will coach rival teams that will include heavyweight and welterweight fighters.

Although rumors of Nogueira and Mir as potential coaches began in February, they really heated up last month, as MMAjunkie.com (
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) reported. Contracts were signed during the past couple weeks.

Nogueira (31-4-1), a former PRIDE heavyweight title-holder, defeated Tim Sylvia at UFC 81 for the UFC's interim belt. The UFC created the interim title after Randy Couture resigned from the organization in October. The main-event victory over Sylvia was Noueira's second straight win in the UFC -- and his seventh win in his past eight fights. Prior to accepting the coaching slot, he had been tentatively scheduled to fight in August.

Mir (11-3) won the title in 2004 but was stripped of the belt after suffering a motorcycle accident that kept him sidelined for nearly two years. He is 3-2 since the comeback, and he's won his past two fights, including a February 2008 bout with former WWE performer Brock Lesnar. He had been scheduled to fight Justin McCully July 5 at UFC 86, but the bout was recently pulled from the card.

Originally Posted by Fightline.com

Spike TV announced today that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will coach opposite Frank Mir in the upcoming eighth season of the UFC's wildly successful reality show, The Ultimate Fighter.

The show, according to Dave Meltzer, begins taping next week and will air from September until early December building towards a championship match between the coaches on the New Year’s Eve weekend card.

The show is expected to go back to it's original format and will feature eight lightweights and eight light heavyweights competing in two separate tournaments.