The tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter is almost here as it will air following Ultimate Fight Night 19 on Wednesday, September 16th at 10 PM EST. This season's focus will be on the heavyweights, and it looks like the UFC has managed to bring in a number of legitimate fighters to not only impress the casual fans watching the show, but to hopefully have lasting impressions in the UFC following the show's airing. IFL and Affliction veteran Roy Nelson, Youtube sensation and EliteXC headliner Kimbo Slice, and four former NFL players have all made their way onto the show's roster. In this two-part series, we'll take a brief look at each fighter that will be appearing on this season's show.

Marcus Jones (4-1) is a former NFL football player who played defensive end for seven years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after playing collegiately for the University of North Carolina. At 36 years of age, he'll likely be one of the older fighters on the show, but he does have an advantage from some experience training down at Gracie Tampa. Rob Kahn, black belt under Royce Gracie and 1995 NY State Golden Glove champion, is his lead trainer along with being a part of a camp that includes former UFC fighter Matt Arroyo, TUF contestant Allen Berube, UFC fighter Corey Hill, and Shane Primm.

Jones hasn't beaten anyone with a name yet in his career, but he'll surely get the chance to do so within the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter. He's mostly a ground-and-pound style of fighter, but he'll likely have some submission ability if he's under the instruction of Rob Kahn. Powerful and strong, he's managed to devastate most of his opponents by way of TKO, but he was knocked out by a single punch back in March of 2008. Obviously, there are some holes for such a green fighter, so there is a distinct possibility some of the veteran strikers on the show will take full advantage.

Justin Wren (10-1) hails from Arlington, Texas where he's spent most of his fighting career. Battling it out in smaller regional promotions, Wren has amassed ten finishes, mostly by TKO. While his record looks impressive at a glance, most of his wins have been against subpar competition (see Reinhardt, Jason). However, Wren's amateur wrestling background suggests that he has a bright future in the sport.

He attended Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, Texas, a powerhouse in wrestling with Olympic Gold Medalists Kenny Monday and Kendall Cross as coaches. He was a two-time Prep State Champion and two-time All-American, and he won the national championship his senior year. He also won a national championship in Greco-Roman wrestling, earning him a scholarship to train for the Olympics.

Wren decided he wanted to try his hand at Division I wrestling at Iowa State University under Cael Sanderson, but he sustained an elbow injury as a freshman. During his rehabilitation of that injury, he began training in mixed martial arts and passed on a full scholarship to Iowa State University to pursue a career in MMA. He trains with Travis Lutter at his facility in Fort Worth, Texas, but he's also trying to relocate to Denver, Colorado to train with Nate Marquardt and his boxing instructor Trevor Whitman.

It's interesting that this kid has been basically raised to be a wrestling machine. Two Olympic Gold Medalist coaches in High School? He's definitely a gifted athlete who also had the coaching behind him to make him into what he is today, and it's strange that he basically chucked a full ride to Iowa State for MMA. If his wrestling is this good, fans should truly keep an eye on this kid.

Video of some of these prospects following the jump...

Zak Jensen (7-3) will probably be one of the bigger fighters on the show as he sports a 6' 4", 265 lb. frame. The Minnesota-native isn't a product of Minnesota Martial Arts Academy like most fighters coming out of the northern state, but rather a small gym known as Gorilla Combat in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Jensen was a two-sport athlete throughout much of his collegiate career as he played football and wrestled at Northern Illinois University for two years and at Augsburg College for his final two years. Once his career was done in the collegiate scene, he began training as a boxer and entering local Golden Glove tournaments. He abruptly moved to mixed martial arts after being recruited by a friend.

Jensen is probably most famous for battling Brad Imes in only his third professional fight back in September of 2007. In the bout, Imes clamped on the infamous gogoplata submission from his back in what became a streak of two gogoplatas after Imes repeated the submission against Bo Cantrell. Jensen also lost quickly to Mike Whitehead via armbar in his sixth fight in May of 2008. He obviously has some work to do on the ground, but his training is mostly aimed at his striking and wrestling. His grappling technique is where he'll truly be lacking during his stint on the show.

Scott Junk (6-2-1) isn't an unknown name among fans who follow the UFC meticulously. Junk replaced Justin McCully at UFC 76 after McCully dropped out of a battle with Christian Wellisch due to injury. Wellisch defeated Junk via heel hook at the 3:19 mark of the first round, giving Junk his second loss in his career. The 6'1", 265 lb. Hawaiian currently trains out of MMA Development with UFC veterans Brandon Wolff, Steve Burns, and Anthony Torres.

Interestingly enough, the big man from Hawaii was once a scouted baseball player for Southwestern Oklahoma State. He was named first team All-American, the first in school history, and gained some eyes from pro scouts due to his hitting ability. Unfortunately, Junk didn't have what it took to cut it in the big leagues. He got into MMA after friends took him to a local event, and he managed to score a MMA debut against former UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez, one of his two losses. After the encounter, he was hooked.

Junk should be a solid prospect on the show simply because he does have decent stand-up. The huge problem will come the fighters who are willing to brawl with Junk and possess solid chins. Junk is also another heavyweight with problems avoiding the submission game, and his striking isn't the most technical I've seen. He should have the experience to be a solid match-up for anyone within the house, but he'd have to show some huge improvement to make a real run at the finals.

Jon Madsen (1-0) is going to be one of the smaller fighters on the show at only 6'0", 240 pounds. He's also one of the most inexperienced fighters with only one professional bout under his belt coming into this season. He is, however, a highly decorated high school and collegiate wrestler. He actually defeated Brock Lesnar in high school along with being a D-II National Champion (2000) and three-time All-American for South Dakota State University. 

Madsen currently trains out of Granite City, Illinois at H.I.T. Squad with fighters Matt Veach, Brian Foster, Robbie Lawler, and Matt Hughes. His style is no secret. He'll likely want to punish his opponents by using his wrestling base, and Matt Hughes is probably one of the best in the sport at honing Madsen's skills to become a true Cinderella story on this season of The Ultimate Fighter. Many are talking about Madsen potentially being a surprise pick in winning the show.

James McSweeney (3-4) is a British import who has a plethora of experience fighting in the extinct Cage Rage promotion. He's fought UFC veterans Mustaph Al Turk and Neil Grove within his seven-fight career, but he hasn't had much success as he's currently only 3-4. He'll also be one of the lighter heavyweights on the show at 230 lbs., but don't let his size and record fool you.

McSweeney amassed a 136-9 record as a professional kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter from the late 90's to 2005-2006. He won numerous heavyweight titles in kickboxing and Muay Thai during the span, and he only recently began the transition to MMA due to his devastating striking. He's currently training out of Jackson's Submission Fighting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

McSweeney is likely going to be a personality on the show as he has a pretty limited ground game. He'll likely be a target by most of the field as an easy fight due to his inability to stop wrestlers and grapplers, but he still remains a huge danger in the striking department. If Greg Jackson can somehow make McSweeney adept on the floor, he may be a guy who can upset a few dreams on the show... but I'm not going to hold out hope.

Matt Mitrione (0-0) is a former NFL defensive tackle who played for the New York Giants during the 2002-2003 season. He played 9 games, but succumbed to intolerable pain during the New York Giants NFC wild card game due to a navicular fracture in his right foot that he played with since his senior season at Purdue University. He went through surgery to repair the bone, but a staph infection and seven procedures later -- Mitrione was finally relieved of the horrible pain. His NFL career, however, suffered greatly as he was cut by the Minnesota Vikings two years later before being re-signed as a reserve defensive tackle.

After being released by the Vikings in 2005 during the football season, Mitrione started his own nutrition company called Energy Design Nutrition (EDN). Through EDN, he hooked up with current Philadelphia Phillies slugger Jayson Werth, who happens to promote MMA fights through a Springfield, Illinois-based promotion named Capital City Cage Wars. Mitrione happens to have went to high school at Sacred Heart in Springfield. Mitrione cold-called MMA agent Ken Pavia, and Pavia recommended him to his current clients, Chris Lytle and Jake O'Brien.

From that point, Mitrione moved to Indianapolis to train with the veteran UFC fighters Chris Lytle and Jake O'Brien at Integrated Fighting Academy. Apparently, Lytle and O'Brien were impressed enough with Mitrione's training because he was pushed by Pavia to appear on the show, and he made the cut.

We haven't seen what Mitrione can do yet, but he'll likely be a guy who uses wrestling as his strong suit. According to an article at MMAJunkie.com, Mitrione is a very cocky individual who had no idea who any of the names were within the TUF house, so that could make for some entertaining television. Lytle stated in the article that people will either love him or hate him, so he could prove to be a major source of conflict in the house.

Demico Rogers (0-0) is currently 4-0 in his amateur career, but he's been rumored to be an absolutely devastating force that could be one his way to a bright future within the sport. From what I can gather, he's been training out of Ring Sports United in Washington State with boxing coach Mark Messer, former state kickboxing champ, and jiu-jitsu coach Joel Burris, BJJ Black Belt under Marcelo Pereira.

He's a major unknown currently, but if his amateur bouts are any indication -- he's a very explosive fighter who could turn heads on the show. Unfortunately, he's still going to have a real tough time as he's limited himself to regional trainers rather than trying to move to a camp that has a lot of tested veteran fighters. Rogers could prove to be the real deal however. He has solid cardio, great power and strength, and always looks to put on an exciting show for fans. He's a great addition to the TUF 10 lineup.

HT: Fight! Magazine

 
Marcus Jones vs. Danny Perez, Jones' lone loss.

 
Marcus Jones vs. Eddie Boza

 
Justin Wren Wrecking People - Wrestling Highlight

 
Zak Jensen vs. Matt Hirsch

 
Scott Junk vs. Min Soo Kim in K-1

 
James McSweeney vs. Roman Webber