Chael Sonnen just announced that he will be bringing in elite competitor Mason Fowler to work as a coach on his team for The Ultimate Fighter 33. The season has only recently been announced and is still a few months away from airing, but Sonnen will be facing off against fellow MMA legend Daniel Cormier as head coaches for the two opposing teams. Sonnen had already confirmed several members of his coaching staff, including both Colby Covington and Vinny Magalhaes; so Fowler is joining a pretty star-studded lineup. They also collectively represent a vast amount of grappling knowledge from both wrestling and MMA that will definitely come in handy.
There’s a pretty long history of BJJ competitors appearing as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter too, with Craig Jones working alongside Alexander Volkanovski just a few years ago and many more before that. This will be the first time that Fowler had ever filled that role, although it isn’t surprising that Sonnen would invite him to take part given that the pair have a longstanding relationship. They spent plenty of time together when Sonnen was still operating as a promoter with Submission Underground, as Fowler competed on many of their events and even became their men’s absolute champion with multiple title-defenses.
Sonnen even reportedly played a part in booking Mason Fowler against Gordon Ryan, although that match unfortunately fell through in the end. He actually referenced that while he was doing a press conference for The Ultimate Fighter 33 too, as he brought up the possibility of Gordon Ryan facing Fowler on the UFC Fight Pass Invitational event again: “When we look back on how great Gordon (Ryan) is, and he is, he’s gotta do that match!” Fans will have to wait a little while even if that match does get rebooked though, as Ryan is currently recovering from an injury he suffered at ADCC 2024.
Mason Fowler shared the news that he had been invited to work as a coach under Chael Sonnen in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
