GSP and winner of Kos/Daley to coach TUF 12

GEORGES ST-PIERRE AND WINNER OF BOUT BETWEEN JOSH KOSCHECK AND PAUL DALEY AT UFC 113 TO COACH SEASON 12 OF “THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER”

New York, NY, May 7, 2010 – UFC® welterweight champion Georges “Rush” St-Pierre (20-2-0) will serve as one of the coaches on the twelfth season of Spike TV’s most popular original series ever, “The Ultimate Fighter®”.  One of the most dominant fighters on the planet, St-Pierre will be coaching against the number one contender in the welterweight division, either Josh Koscheck (16-4-0) or Paul Daley (23-8-2), who square off for that honor this Saturday at UFC 113 in St-Pierre’s hometown of Montreal.  The new season premieres Wednesday, September 15 at 10:00 PM ET/PT featuring some of the best unsigned fighters in the world in the lightweight division.  The new season goes into production in June 2010 in Las Vegas and will last six weeks.  The cast will be announced later this summer. 

A native of Montreal, QB, Georges St-Pierre began training in martial arts at the age of 7, when he began learning Kyokushin karate in order to defend himself from a bully at school.  He earned a black belt in this discipline before he began to expand his MMA training, achieving a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and become well versed in wrestling, boxing and Muay Thai.  St-Pierre began his amateur fighting career at the age of 16, and, since then, has established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the history of mixed martial arts.  A two-time UFC welterweight champion whose current reign includes four consecutive title defenses, St-Pierre’s career boasts wins over the likes of Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Matt Serra, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves and Dan Hardy.  He was named Fighter of the Year 2009 by Sports Illustrated. 

A trainer on the fourth season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” St-Pierre is one of mixed martial arts’ biggest mainstream stars holding major national endorsement deals and having appeared in two movies, “Death Warrior” and “Never Surrender.”

St-Pierre’s potential opposing coaches on the show are Josh Koscheck, an alumnus from the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and member of the famed American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, CA who is looking for a rematch with St-Pierre after dropping a decision to him in 2007 at UFC 74; and Paul Daley, a devastating striker that trains with Team Rough House in Nottingham, UK that has knocked out his opponents in 18 of his 23 mixed martial arts victories.  The two meet this Saturday in Montreal in at UFC 113 with a date with St-Pierre on “The Ultimate Fighter” and, later, inside the Octagon™, on the line.