The Ultimate Fighter 19 will premiere in April 2014 on Fox Sports 1 and the coaches for this season will be BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar.
The UFC made the announcement on Wednesday’s edition of UFC Tonight and this season of the reality show will feature middleweight and light heavyweight fighters.
“BJ Penn is moving down to 145 lbs. to coach The Ultimate Fighter against Frankie Edgar,” said UFC President Dana White. “BJ really hates the fact that he lost to Frankie Edgar. It’s something that’s been burning deep inside of him for three years now. So he’s moving down to 145 lbs. to not only avenge those defeats, but to try and become the first fighter in UFC history to win titles in three different weight classes.”
During the announcement of Penn and Edgar being named the coaches, White explained that he originally targeted for Faber to be the opposing coach against Edgar. However, Edgar did not want to move down to the bantamweight division and White was not interested in a catchweight bout.
As White was figuring out what to do, Penn texted him and stated he wanted to face former champion Benson Henderson and then have his trilogy fight against Edgar. White decided to have Penn get his trilogy fight with Edgar now and Penn has signed a new contract with the UFC.
Penn and Edgar will meet following the reality show at an unknown UFC event in 2014.