UFC featherweight Billy Quarantillo weighs in on Alexander Volkanovski vs Brian Ortega and explains how TUF intensifies feuds [Exclusive]

UFC featherweight Billy Quarantillo is paying close attention to Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega's escalating feud in the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF 29).

Featherweight champion Volkanovski and title challenger Ortega served as coaches on the returning reality series. In last week's episode, the two had a heated back and forth when Ortega commented on his opponent's string of losses.

Quarantillo, an alumnus of the show, revealed that TUF is programmed to develop bad blood between the opposing coaches. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda's John Hyon Ko, Billy Q said:

"They're in this competitive environment. So, I definitely understand where that's coming from especially when it comes to Ortega and Volkanovski, who are gonna fight each other after. So, it's pretty much just like a press conference every time like, 'You guys are gonna fight each other. What are you gonna do?'"

The 32-year-old also pointed out that the show's producers are deliberately trying to cause friction between rival coaches. Billy Quarantillo added:

"Obviously, the people on the show do a good job of intensifying that. They're always with each other. The cameras are always on and they're expected to say stuff. They're always being asked questions like, 'What do you think of your opponent? What do you think of this?' And I think what it started with is one guy said one bad thing and next thing you know, the war of words heat up. So I get it man."

Check out the full interview below:

Billy Quarantillo's The Ultimate Fighter experience

Billy Quarantillo competed on the show's 22nd season, The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber. According to the fighter from Tampa, Florida, he didn't harbor ill-will toward his fellow competitors, but a few of them still got under his skin.

"There were some Europeans who kinda rubbed me the wrong way just because they thought they were like 'the s***.' But I think I was lucky we had a pretty cool team," Quarantillo told Sportskeeda MMA. "I got along with pretty much everyone on my team. So they didn't really rub me the wrong way but I definitely saw it between Team Alpha Male and Team McGregor."

Billy Quarantillo defeated Brandon Ricetti via TKO to qualify as a member of Team Faber. His TUF run, however, was cut short when he lost to Saul Rogers via unanimous decision after two rounds.