In the Cage – TUF 18 Cast Announced, Lawal to face Newton for interim-championship

Each day, The MMA Corner will provide a recap of results, event announcements, fight match-ups, and injuries/cancellations from throughout the world of MMA

Over 200 fighters applied to be on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, however the cast for the show was narrowed down to 32 fighters for the start of production.  For the first time in the shows history, there will be both men and women living and competing in the house.  Both the men’s and women’s divisions will have bantamweight fighters.  Today, the cast for the show was officially released.

Women’s Bantamweight:
Shayna Baszler (15-8), 33, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Revelina Berto (3-1), 24, Winter Haven, Fla.
Jessamyn Duke (2-1), 27, Richmond, Ky.
Tonya Evinger (11-6), 32, Lake St. Louis, Mo.
Laura Howarth (4-0), 26, Hove, East Essex, England
Tara LaRosa (21-3), 35, Albuquerque, N.M.
Valerie Letourneau (4-3), 30, La Prairie, Canada
Bethany Marshall (4-1), 25, Newport News, Va.
Sarah Moras (3-1), 25, Kelowna, Canada
Peggy Morgan (2-0), 33, Nashua, N.H.
Gina Mazany (3-0), 25, Seattle
Roxanne Modafferi (15-10), 30, Pittsfield, Mass.
Julianna Pena (4-2), 24, Spokane, Wash.
Raquel Pennington (3-3), 24, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Jessica Rakoczy (1-3), 36, Las Vegas
Colleen Schneider (4-3), 31, Las Vegas

Men’s Bantamweight:
Chris Beal (7-0), 28, Somis, Calif.
Cody Bollinger (14-3), 22, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Louis Fisette (6-1), 23, Winnipeg
Rafael Freitas (6-0-1), 29, Albuquerque, N.M.
Davey Grant (8-1), 27, Bishop Auckland, England
Tim Gorman (9-2), 30, West Des Moines, Iowa
Anthony Gutierrez (4-0), 22, Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Emil Hartsner (4-0), 23, Luberod, Sweden
Josh Hill (9-0), 26, Binbrook, Canada
Chris Holdsworth (4-0), 25, Woodland Hills, Calif.
Patrick Holohan (9-0-1), 25, Dublin
Sirwan Kakai (9-1), 23, Coconut Creek, Fla.
Danny Martinez (18-4), 28, San Diego
Matt Munsey (4-1), 26, Hollywood, Fla.
Lee Sandmeier (9-0), 30, Knoxville, Iowa
Michael Wooten (6-0), 24, Liverpool, England

The eighteenth season of the promotions reality show will air on Fox Sports 1 starting on Sept. 4.  The two coaches on the show are women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and No.1 contender Miesha Tate.

Even though Emanuel Newton knocked out Muhammed Lawal back in February, the two will square off this fall again.  This time, the two fighters will be fighting for Bellator gold.

Both fighters have won recent 205-pound tournaments, as Newton won the season eight tournament, while “King Mo” recently won the four-man summer series tournament.  With two tournament champions waiting in the wings while current champion Attila Vegh is out with a shoulder injury, having the two square off with one another for the interim-championship made sense.

The rematch will happen at the promotions first venture into pay-per-view, “Rampage vs. Tito”, which takes place on Nov. 2.