Exclusive: Dante Rivera believed to be selected for upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter”
January 28, 2008 by Sam Caplan
Filed under Jorge Rivera, T. Jay Thompson
FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) has learned through several sources close to Dante Rivera that the New Jersey middleweight is involved with the current taping in Las Vegas for the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
The 33-year old has a pro record of 10-3 and a documented amateur record of 1-1.
The Team Renzo Gracie representative broke onto the national scene in 2007, competing twice for the International Fight League. He lost his IFL debut last February in Atlanta when he submitted in the second round to strikes from Tim Kennedy.
Rivera rebounded with a victory for Felix Martinez’s Cage Fury Fighting Championships in June when submitted Alex Aquino with a heel hook at 2:41 of round 2. He then recorded his first-ever victory in the IFL this past August in East Rutherford, N.J. during the undercard of the promotion’s team semifinals. Rivera notched the win when he TKO’d Nissim Levy of Team Tiger Schulman at 1:15 of round 3.
Rivera is the third fighter confirmed by FiveOuncesOfPain.com and ProElite.com as having been selected for the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Aaron Meisner of Philadelphia and Mike Marrello of Chicago have been reported as being on the show as well.
Click here for additional cast spoilers from FiveOuncesOfPain.com for the upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter 7.”
any word on the other coaches that rampage and forrest will be bringing along?
looks like an interesting crop of prospects so far. guess we can count on the selections not being part of the shows “shake up”. hopefully most of these guys will be TRUE middleweights, and not drop down to the other crowded divisions afterward.
Woooburn, not yet, but we’re always working on that stuff.
I could probably come up with some pretty good guesses.
Juanito kinda has an aura around him right now after training QJ and others – I hope we get to see more of him on the show.
He will do well. He is very gifted!
Dante is a great fighter not many people relize his talent hes a sleeper wish him the best