"Last man to beat Gordon Ryan” - Chael Sonnen shares surprising list of coaches for TUF 33 against Daniel Cormier, including a UFC welterweight

Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier will feature as respective coaches for season 33 of 'The Ultimate Fighter,' which will air in 2025. The announcement was made during the promotion's first pay-per-view card of the year, UFC 311, which took place on Jan. 18.

With the 'TUF' format usually set up for the two coaches to fight at the end of the season, it seems that the saga featuring Conor McGregor as a coach has prompted UFC executives to go with Cormier and Sonnen, who are retired from MMA.

McGregor was set to face Michael Chandler in a bout following the finale of 'TUF' 31 in 2023. But 'The Notorious' has yet to enter the octagon for a fight, while Chandler has moved on to other opponents.

During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, 'The American Gangster' shared the list of coaches who will join him on 'TUF' 33. Sonnen's list includes one surprise mention, that of UFC welterweight Colby Covington. Alongside him is elite Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Vinny Magalhaes.

The former UFC fighter said this:

"The head coach will be Clayton Hires. Clayton Hires is my coach, he's my mentor, he is not my assistant, ever... Clayton's team will consist of me, Cowboy Steve [Smith]... I would never do an 'Ultimate Fighter' without bringing the greatest grappler, Vinny Magalhaes. The last man to beat Gordon Ryan, I might add... And Colby Covington, Colby is going to come in... He is going to do a fantastic job."

Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below (11:05):

---

Chael Sonnen believes that Islam Makhachev's double-champ aspirations are down to weight

Islam Makhachev has famously stated that he would like to become a two-division or potentially even a three-division UFC champion. The 33-year-old currently holds the lightweight title but has made it clear he wants a second belt.

With friend and part-time teammate Belal Muhammad currently the welterweight champion, Makhachev has shared his interest to skip 170 pounds and go to middleweight to challenge Dricus du Plessis.

But Chael Sonnen believes there is a deeper-lying meaning behind the lightweight champion's desire to move up. During his aforementioned interview with MMA Junkie, he said this:

"When Islam keeps telling you he wants out of [lightweight], he said it twenty times now. It's not that he's tired of these guys, or he's tired of defending, he doesn't want to weight 155 [pounds]. Somebody somewhere needs to listen." [35:27-35:35:40 in Chael Sonnen's interview with MMA Junkie]