4 best coaches in Ultimate Fighter history

#4 Chael Sonnen (Season 17 and TUF Brazil: Season 3)

Chael Sonnen was such a great TUF coach even his Brazilian team embraced him

For a fighter who prided himself on being a trash-talking “bad guy”, Chael Sonnen was a shockingly brilliant coach; in fact, I’d say there’s an argument to be made for him being the best coach in the history of the reality show. Nobody was really sure what to expect when he was chosen to coach against Jon Jones for Season 17 in 2013, but most fans were pleasantly surprised when ‘The American Gangster’ was clearly there for the benefit of the contestants rather than just to build his fight with Jones.

Sonnen made inspirational speeches that really worked – driving the likes of Kelvin Gastelum and Luke Barnatt onto surprising successes against far more experienced opponents; he brought in guest coaches like Ronda Rousey and Mickey Rourke to push his fighters even harder, and he knew exactly how to handle the tricky personality that was Uriah Hall.

Sonnen’s performance in Season 17 alone would net him a spot on this list, but a year later he pulled off something even more amazing. For years he’d talked trash about Brazil and Brazilian fighters, and yet when he was made a coach on the 3rd season of TUF: Brazil alongside his bitter rival Wanderlei Silva, he not only did a great job again, but he also managed to win round practically every fighter in the house.

For showing total faith in all of his fighters no matter the odds against them, for continually inspiring them to perform way above their usual ability – the likes of Guilherme Vasconcelos and Marcos Rogerio de Lima even ended up training with Chael after their TUF stints due to his brilliance as a coach – there’s no doubt that ‘The Bad Guy’ is one of TUF’s all-time great coaches.