No GSP for TUF; maybe Diego Sanchez

I just want to squash a rumour started in the Telegraph that UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre and the recently victorious Dan Hardy will coach season eleven of The Ultimate Fighter. While I think it would be great to get GSP back into the house – he’d make a great coach who the fighters could really benefit from working with and it would help solidify his status as the face of the UFC – it’s not going to happen.

Here’s why: First, putting GSP and Hardy into the TUF house would delay their title bout by at least three more months, from a tentative March date to June or later (depending on when the TUF season finishes airing). That’s almost a full year since GSP’s last title defense, and with heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar sick, light heavyweight and middleweight champs Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva both recovering from surgery, and lightweight champ BJ Penn already slated for a title bout in December, the UFC really needs GSP in the cage sooner rather than later.

Second,I don’t think the UFC wants another British coach so soon. Audiences are kind of Bispinged out and Hardy would be more of the same (at least on the surface, which is all that matters when you’re making a reality TV series).

Third, I have it on good authority (sorry to be vague but that’s how it is) that they’re looking at Diego Sanchez to be one of the coaches, especially if he beats Penn for the title. That makes a lot of sense. Sanchez is a huge personality, which would make for entertaining TV, and he’s got a great camp of coaches he could bring into the house with him. As for who the opposing coach would be, Kenny Florian seems like a no-brainer. He’s still a contender and would make for an interest match-up against Sanchez. And personality-wise he’s the polar opposite of Sanchez and would provide a nice counter-balance to some of the insanity, and he would actually be a good coach (he could also bring GSP in as an assistant coach on occasion to boost the ratings). Just thought I’d throw that out there.