Jon Jones will coach against Chael Sonnen on 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Sonnen was scheduled to fight Forrest Griffin at UFC 155 on the UFC’s year end card, but that has been canceled because there hasn’t been a TUF season since – Oh, never mind there are two season going on right now that no one is watching. Jones and Sonnen will fight for the light heavyweight championship on April 27th at UFC [TBD].

This is the fight that everyone wants days after Anderson Silva smashed light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar. Whatever. The Gangster from West Linn, Oregon has been asking for this fight since August when Jon Jones first turned down the fight. Jones had previously stated that he would not let Chael Sonnen “talk his way” into a title fight, but that is precisely what happened. Sonnen’s last fight was to Anderson Silva at middleweight.

The most likely scenario leading up to this fight being scheduled is the fact that both these men stand to make a boatload of money because Jones is one of the two best fighters on the planet and Sonnen is the absolute best mixed martial artist at hyping and selling fights right now. Over the last couple years Sonnen has transformed into the ultimate heel. Now he gets to fight the UFC’s best fighter than fans love to hate. People will tune into this fight absolutely despising at least one of these guys, if they aren’t there hoping for a double-knockout.

The UFC is excited about all that and they probably hopes this will save The Ultimate Fighter franchise which continues to plummet in the ratings, stuck on cable in the wasteland that is Friday nights. Before you get too excited about watching TUF 17 on DVR on Saturday mornings this winter, you should know that since The Ultimate Fighter hit double-digit seasons the UFC hasn’t had much luck with the fights actually happening. Fights have been delayed or canceled because of injuries, illness and even Hollywood. Take a look.

TUF 16 – Shane Carwin – Roy Nelson (*knock on wood*)
TUF 15 – Urijah Faber – Dominick Cruz (Cruz injured, fight never happened)
TUF 14 – Michael Bisping – Mayhem Miller (Fight took place, Miller was awful)
TUF 13 – Brock Lesnar – Junior dos Santos (Lesnar sick, fight never happened)
TUF 12 – Georges St. Pierre – Josh Koscheck (Fight took place)
TUF 11 – Chuck Liddell – Tito Ortiz (Ortiz injured, Liddell lost to Rich Franklin & retired)
TUF 10 – Rashad Evans – Rampage Jackson (Rampage filmed The A-Team, fight happened months later)

They better let these two coach and talk shit in bubble wrap if they expect either guy to fight in April. If it does happen, I’ll tune it. Right after I catch a TUF 17 marathon to make sure nothing interesting happened.

[MMA Junkie]

Previously: Chael Sonnen Now Plays Dennis on It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Previously: UFC 151 Canceled Because Jon Jones Turned Down a Chael Sonnen Fight
Previously: UFC 148: Anderson Silva Beat Chael Sonnen
Previously: Video: Chael Sonnen Challenges Anderson Silva To Loser-Leaves-Town Match
Previously: The Animated Tales Of Chael Sonnen