It's Good Guy vs. Bad Guy on Season 33 of 'The Ultimate Fighter'

Season 33 of "The Ultimate Fighter" premieres Tuesday nighttime astatine 10 p.m. ET connected ESPN2 and ESPN+ with 16 men's flyweights and welterweights from each implicit the satellite vying for 1 UFC contract.

This season, the co-hosts of ESPN's "Good Guy/Bad Guy," UFC Hall of Famers Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen, volition service arsenic coaches. Both person antecedently appeared connected TUF arsenic coaches, but dissimilar past seasons, some are present retired. They were capable to walk the afloat play focused connected the athletes without the unit of grooming themselves. The coaches person traditionally fought pursuing the decision of each play of TUF.

In beforehand of the show's 20th year, Cormier and Sonnen sat down with ESPN.com to speech astir the acquisition this clip astir and preview the storylines to watch.

Looking backmost astatine 20 years of "The Ultimate Fighter," the champion seasons person featured coaching rivalries. Should we expect immoderate beef betwixt you two?

Cormier: There is nary rivalry, but neither of america wants to lose. Chael is simply a truly bully manager and you could spot however locked successful helium and his full squad were. So it made for a truly amusive season.

Sonnen: I wouldn't effort to merchantability beef betwixt Daniel and I, but determination is simply a existent competitiveness. I knew helium was formidable arsenic a coach, but I didn't cognize helium was this formidable. To spot however galore responsibilities Daniel juggled astatine 1 clip was impressive. But was it capable to get implicit a feline who is consenting to cheat?

You some person been coaches connected the amusement before. Is the attack immoderate antithetic present that you aren't active?

Cormier: Yes. It's precise casual to beryllium locked successful arsenic a manager present and beryllium a small much unfastened to change. The past clip I coached connected TUF, I was 38 years aged and inactive actively competing. I kept reasoning to myself, "If I tin bash this, each of you kids should beryllium capable to bash it, too." And that led to maine conscionable moving those guys into the ground.

As a retired guy, I tin look astatine these guys and spot that they're tired. So I tin propulsion backmost a small bit. Just having that acquisition allows maine to beryllium much unfastened to allowing these guys to remainder and recover. I deliberation that helped our squad this season.

Sonnen: Coaching is truthful overmuch antithetic since I stopped being an athlete. When I was an athlete, it was precise selfish and I had to get my workout successful first. I didn't cognize that's what I was doing; I thought I was conscionable successful determination and moving a bully workout. You person to beryllium precise selfish arsenic an athlete, and you person to beryllium precise selfless arsenic a coach. I bash consciousness that looking backmost connected it, possibly being capable to spot things a small spot otherwise made america amended astatine our job.

What is harder for TUF fighters: Being distant from their existent lives oregon the turnaround clip betwixt fights?

Cormier: The turnaround successful the combat time. Man, it's hard to beryllium that tough, to get done that and to combat aggregate times. You've got to think, we're filming this play implicit a month. For the guys who made the finals, they fought doubly successful a month. And close aft you fight, due to the fact that we had immoderate truly bully fights, you person to recover. You can't kick, you can't move, you can't walk, you mightiness beryllium cut. And past 2 weeks later, you've got to get backmost successful determination and bash it again.

Being separated from the family, that comes with warring astatine times. Some guys spell into campy being distant from their families. It's being capable to combat that galore times implicit a abbreviated play of time.

Sonnen: "The Ultimate Fighter" is the toughest tourney successful each of sports. I ticker our sport, and each azygous Saturday idiosyncratic misses weight. Somebody pulls out. Somebody doesn't consciousness good. I spot guys missing rubric shots. I've complained that we don't person unwellness and wounded issues -- we're plagued by a clump of fake pugnacious guys.

When you ticker "The Ultimate Fighter," you ticker these guys combat successful a tournament. They don't cognize who their adjacent hostile is going to be. They've got to measurement successful aggregate times. And they've got to marque that locomotion aggregate times, sometimes against friends. But nary of them propulsion out, nary of them miss weight. But arsenic soon arsenic they motion the declaration and marque it to the large time, each of a abrupt they get these owies and boo-boos.

Dana White asked these guys 1 question connected Season 1, which was simply, "Do you privation to beryllium a fighter?" It was a precise just question, and the guys that travel done "The Ultimate Fighter" person each answered it, careless of outcome. They've each answered it: "Yes."

What is the toughest portion astir coaching a combatant who you haven't worked with earlier and whose crippled you are conscionable learning?

Cormier: Trying not to springiness them excessively much. Our occupation is not to remake these guys arsenic athletes. Our occupation is to effort to assistance them and mold what they already person portion giving them immoderate caller things that they tin either instrumentality oregon not. You don't importune that a feline fights successful the mode that you do. Instead, you archer them: "I would promote you to effort what I'm trying to springiness you, due to the fact that I cognize that it works."

You're not going to reinvent the instrumentality successful a month. Right now, it's astir keeping them healthy. Get them successful signifier and marque them acceptable to combat with the skills they already person portion conscionable sprinkling a small spot of coaching connected what they do.

Sonnen: We had astir 11 countries and 7 antithetic languages represented connected the amusement this season. This roster was dispersed each implicit the world, and MMA has go specified an planetary sport.

The toughest portion was Daniel and I trying to talk to these fighters, due to the fact that we don't person coaches from each those antithetic places. And truthful we talk a cosmopolitan connection of doing. You're trying to amusement them what to do, and this guy's trusting you. Somebody who you can't adjacent afloat pass with is wholly trusting you successful 1 of the astir susceptible moments of his full life. That was a portion of the communicative that was astir intolerable for the producers to tell.

It was a portion of the communicative that I privation we could person told, due to the fact that it made the play precise unique.

What's the astir rewarding portion astir coaching connected the show?

Cormier: The lasting interaction you marque connected these athletes. You effort to assistance them hole themselves for what they're doing close now, and what they're going to bash down the line. The relationships are special, too. I've got 3 of the fighters that are present coming retired to bid with my squad and me. They made a transportation with maine and my coaching staff, truthful they privation to instrumentality that cognition to the adjacent level. That's erstwhile you volition spot them marque their existent improvements.

Sonnen: Definitely the relationships. As adjacent arsenic I americium with my friends successful my assemblage oregon from precocious schoolhouse and college, determination are nary relationships similar the ones that you signifier during "The Ultimate Fighter." Some of these radical genuinely don't person anyone else. We indispensable beryllium determination for them. As overmuch arsenic this yet is simply a solemnisation and determination volition beryllium 1 idiosyncratic with this beauteous contract, determination are 15 different fighters who are brokenhearted. They request someone, too. It's their life's dream, and sometimes your enarthrosis is the lone 1 there.