The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters

The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters
GenreReality, Sports
Created byFrank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White
StarringDana White
Robert Whittaker
Kelvin Gastelum
Country of originUnited States
Production
Running time60 minutes
Original release
NetworkFox Sports 1
ReleaseAugust 29 (2018-08-29)[1] –
November 30, 2018 (2018-11-30)[1]
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters (also known as The Ultimate Fighter 28) is an installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter.[2] The season tournament finale took place on November 30, 2018, at Pearl Theatre at Palms Casino Resort on Fox Sports 1.[3]

Tryouts were announced on April 25, 2018. This season featured fighters from the women's featherweight and men's heavyweight divisions.[4][5][6] The coaches for this season were announced on July 7, pitting The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes winner and UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker against The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum.[7][8] A middleweight title fight was scheduled between Whittaker and Gastelum after the show on February 9, 2019, at UFC 234.[9][10][11] However, Whittaker pulled out of the event a few hours beforehand after he was forced to undergo emergency dual surgery due to an abdominal hernia of the intestine and a twisted and collapsed bowel.[12] The pairing eventually met 2 years later at UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum.[13] The cast was announced on July 11, 2018.[1]

  1. ^ a b c "'The Ultimate Fighter' 28 Cast Revealed with Heavyweights and Women's Featherweights | MMAnytt.com". MMAnytt.com. 2018-07-11. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  2. ^ Mobile, Adept. "Whittaker and Gastelum to coach The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters – Ultimate Fighting Championship-Mobile". m.ufc.com. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  3. ^ Sherdog.com. "Robert Whittaker to Defend UFC Title vs. Kelvin Gastelum Following 'TUF 28' Coaching Stint". Sherdog. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  4. ^ "'The Ultimate Fighter 28' tryouts set for May 22, targeting heavyweight men, featherweight women". MMAjunkie. 2018-04-25. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  5. ^ "TUF 28 Application". UFC. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  6. ^ Jesse Holland (2018-07-11). "TUF 28 cast announced for 'Heavy Hitters' debuting Aug. 29 on FOX Sports 1". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  7. ^ "UFC champ Robert Whittaker, Kelvin Gastelum to coach 'TUF 28'; title fight later this year". MMAjunkie. 2018-07-07. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  8. ^ "Whittaker And Gastelum To Fight For Title, Coach TUF 28". MMAmania.com. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  9. ^ "UFC: Whittaker to defend title against Gastelum". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  10. ^ "Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum to take place for middleweight title after coaching TUF 28". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  11. ^ DNA, MMA. "Robert Whittaker verdedigt titel tijdens UFC 234 in Melbourne tegen Kelvin Gastelum". mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
  12. ^ Pishna, Ken. "Robert Whittaker Emerges from Emergency Dual Surgery". MMAWeekly.com. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  13. ^ John Morgan, Marc Bohn and Nolan King (2021-03-16). "Robert Whittaker gets Kelvin Gastelum as replacement for UFC main event on April 17". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved April 3, 2021.