TUF 21: American Top Team vs Blackzilians

With this kicking off in the very early hours of Thursday morning our time, I thought it might be a good idea to have a dedicated thread so we can discuss the series throughout.

As mentioned above, the premiere will be on Thursday at 3am GMT on Fox which will be a 2 hour special, and then will continue being broadcast at the same time for 11 weeks with 1 hour episodes.

Obviously the format is completely different this year with the American Top Team and Blackzilians gyms facing off, but the concept is the same. This year it's 8 welterweights from each gym, however there are a few differences from previous season which should add to the drama: fighters continue to train at their respective gyms but fights are never on neutral ground as the winning fighter earns home gym control for the next bout. In addition, each fighter will never know their opponent until the weigh-ins start and there's a total of $500,000 up for grabs for each gym to pocket throughout the season.

Some background on the rivalry from UFC.com below:

There’s no shortage of bad blood between these two camps. In 2001, the famed American Top Team gym was founded in Coconut Creek, Fla. by Dan Lambert. The gym has since been home to numerous champions and top contenders including current UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, former title challengers Thiago Alves and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, former WEC® featherweight champ Mike Brown, Hector Lombard, Tyron Woodley and Dustin Poirier.

However, in 2011 several members defected to start their own camp, the Blackzilians.

Partnering with successful businessman Glenn Robinson, the fighters started their own training facility only 20 minutes away in Boca Raton, Fla., beginning one of the deepest rivalries in all of MMA. The Blackzilians camp is now home to former UFC light heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Vitor Belfort, as well as top contenders Anthony Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Michael Johnson and Matt Mitrione.

And the fighters who will be competing:

AMERICAN TOP TEAM
Marcelo Alfaya (16-7, 1NC) Porto Alegre, Brazil
Steve Carl (21-4), Belle Plain, Iowa
Nathan Coy (14-5), Vallejo, Calif.
Michael Graves (4-0), Toledo, Ohio
Hayder Hassan (6-1), Fort Lauderdale, Fla
Sabah Homasi (8-4), New Brunswick, N.J
Uros Jurisic (5-0), Ljubljana, Slovenia
Steve Montgomery (8-2), Florence, S.C.

BLACKZILIANS
Valdir Araujo (14-5), Gama, Federal District, Brazil
Carrington Banks (3-0), Peoria, Ill.
Luiz Buscape (16-5), Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil
Jason Jackson (4-2), Kingston, Jamaica
Vicente Luque (7-4-1), Westwood, N.J.
Andrews Nakahara (4-2-2), Mogi das Cruzes, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Felipe Portela (8-2), Brasilia, Brazil
Kamarudeen Usman (5-1) Auchi, Nigeria

The finale is scheduled for July 12th (so the day after UFC 189) in Florida in what will add to an already insane week of UFC as Mir and Duffee face off on July 15th before we move across the pond to Glasgow on July 18th. Bring it on!