Jones, Sonnen named coaches for ‘The Ultimate Fighter’

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

October 17, 2012 - 1:02 am

Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen have been announced as the opposing coaches for Season 17 of "The Ultimate Fighter."

Filming will begin in Las Vegas later this month. The season will begin airing in January on FX (Cable 24) with Jones defending his UFC title against Sonnen on a yet-to-be announced pay-per-view card on April 27.

UFC president Dana White revealed the news to the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. Sonnen has been fighting in the middleweight division, where he is coming off a loss to champion Anderson Silva in July.

Jones rejected a short-notice bout against Sonnen in September, prompting the unprecedented cancellation of UFC 151. The fight will be Sonnen's first at light heavyweight since 2005.

Sonnen had been scheduled to fight Las Vegan Forrest Griffin in December. That fight is now off, with plans for Griffin not yet announced.

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