UFC and Vale Tudo Japan to produce tournaments for a TV show, winners to join the UFC

During a press conference in Tokyo Dana White announced an unprecedented deal, stating that the UFC is partnering up with Vale Tudo Japan to help build stars and improve their roster of Japanese fighters. The two promotions will cooperate to produce a TV show in Japan that will have tournaments in both bantamweight and featherweight divisions, with the top fighters eventually joining the ranks of the UFC.

It will be two eight-man tournaments, and while it will have the same goal as The Ultimate Fighter, it will have a very different format from the long running reality show. Most notably, it will be a longer round-robin tourney and the fighters coming out with the best record after facing each other, will be moving on to the UFC.

"There will be 30 episodes on television. It will have three fights on each show for over eight months," White told the media in Japan, "They won't live in a house. They won't train under guys that we bring in. They will train with their own coaches, do their own thing. People will see they where they train, where they live, and their families. It will be a real look at who these guys are."

The show will be all be produced, shot, and aired in Japan, with the goals of building future stars that will eventually join the UFC. After hinting earlier this week that they would add content that would 'absolutely surprise' people, White also noted that they're planning on streaming this show in Fight Pass as well.