New York, NY, August 18, 2008 – They come from all over the globe, spanning Brooklyn to Israel, including far-off locales such as Russia, Nova Scotia, England, and Hawaii. Their diverse backgrounds range from a former Division 1 college football player to a CIA recruiter and include the brother of “The Ultimate Fighter 2” winner.

For these 32 up-and-coming mixed martial arts fighters, there is one goal, to win a six-figure contract with the preeminent mixed martial arts organization in the world, The Ultimate Fighting Championship.®

Season eight of Spike TV’s wildly successful original series, “The Ultimate Fighter,” premieres Wednesday, September 17 at 10:00pm ET/PT, with 16 lightweights (155lbs) and 16 light heavyweights (205lbs) under the watchful eye of the coaches interim UFC heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

Each of the 32 contestants must fight his way into the Ultimate Fighter House by winning a preliminary bout that will be featured during the first two episodes (Sept. 17 and 24). The remaining 10 episodes will feature the victorious 16 fighters and their quest for the coveted “Ultimate Fighter” crown.

During the six-week taping of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Mir vs. Team Nogueira,” these 16 men who survived the prelims endured a grueling regimen of jiu-jitsu, judo, muay thai, karate, boxing and wrestling. The intense competition between the fighters continues after they leave the gym – at The Ultimate Fighter House. These warriors must live together, knowing that any day they might be forced to fight each other in the famed UFC Octagon™.

The two finalists will square off in a live finale Saturday, December 13 on Spike TV, when the two weight class winners will be declared The Ultimate Fighter® and net the aforementioned contract and a cash prize. UFC President Dana White will once again serve as host of the series.

After each show, Spike.com users will get exclusive extended footage from each episode and an exclusive video leak of the upcoming episode.

Craig Piligian of Pilgrim Films and Television, Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White of Zuffa, LLC, and Kevin Kay of Spike TV are the show’s executive producers. Brian J. Diamond, senior vice president, Sports & Specials, Spike TV is co-executive producer and Christopher Martello is executive in charge of production for Spike TV.

The 32 fighters for “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Mir vs. Team Nogueira” include:

LIGHTWEIGHTS

Jose Aguilar

Age: 25

MMA Record: 17-3-0

Trains With: Grapplers Edge

Location: Las Cruces, NM

Fernando Bernstein

Age: 25

MMA Record: 2-0-0

Location: San Clemente, CA

Marcus Brimage

Age: 22

MMA Record: 1-0-0

Location: Birmingham, AL

Junie Allen Browning

Age: 22

MMA Record: 2-0-0

Trains With: Four Seasons Martial Arts

Location: Lexington, KY

Rolando Delgado

Age: 26

MMA Record: 7-3-1

Trains With: Westside Fight Team

Location: North Little Rock, AR

Joseph Duarte

Age: 24

MMA Record: 3-0

Trains With: Unleashed Training Facility/ Alliance MMA

Location: San Diego, CA

Efrain Escudero

Age: 22

MMA Record: 10-0-0

Trains With: Southwest Martial Arts

Location: Tempe, AZ

Brandon Garner

Age: 26

MMA Record: 4-1-0

Trains With: Team ROC

Location: Raleigh, NC

David Kaplan

Age: 28

MMA Record: 3-1-0

Trains With: Lloyd Irvin Team

Location: Camp Springs, MD

Brian McLaughlin

Age: 23

MMA Record: 5-0-0

Trains With: Team Gracie Tampa

Location: Tampa, FL

Wesley Murch

Age: 25

MMA Record: 4-2-0

Trains With: Trojan Gym

Location: Bristol, UK

Shane Nelson

Age: 24

MMA Record: 11-3-0

Trains With: BJ Penn’s MMA

Location: Hilo, HI

Phillipe Nover

Age: 24

MMA Record: 5-0-1

Trains With: Team Renzo Gracie

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Ido Pariente

Age: 30

MMA Record: 13-4-0

Trains With:

Location: Tel Avis, Israel

John Polakowski

Age: 26

MMA Record: 3-1-0

Trains With: The Pit

Location: San Luis Obispo, CA

George Roop

Age: 26

MMA Record: 7-3-0

Trains With: Ultima MMA

Location: Tucson, AZ

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Ryan Bader

Age: 24

MMA Record: 7-0-0

Trains With: Arizona Combat Sports

Location: Chandler, AZ

Antwain Britt

Age: 29

MMA Record: 4-0-0

Trains With: Bombsquad MMA

Location: Virginia Beach, VA

Jules Bruchez

Age: 30

MMA Record: 3-2-0

Trains With: Ronan Dojo

Location: Lafayette, LA

Lance Evans

Age: 30

MMA Record: 4-2-0

Trains With: TKO MMA

Location: Niagara Falls, NY

Karen Grigoryan

Age: 26

MMA Record: 5-0-0

Trains With: RusFighters Sport Club

Location: Russia

Jason Guida

Age: 30

MMA Record: 26-13-0

Trains With: Hellhouse Gym

Location: Chicago, IL

Ryan Jimmo

Age: 26

MMA Record: 6-1-0

Trains With: Titans MMA

Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Kyle Kingsbury

Age: 26

MMA Record: 7-1-1

Trains With: American Kickboxing Academy

Location: Sunnyvale, CA

Tom Lawlor

Age: 24

MMA Record:

Trains With: American Top Team

Location: Oviedo, FL

Ryan Lopez

Age: 25

MMA Record: 5-3-0

Location: Oklahoma City, OK

Vinicius Magalhaes

Age: 23

MMA Record: 2-2-0

Trains With: Team Quest

Location: Temecula, CA

Eliot Marshall

Age: 27

MMA Record: 5-1-0

Trains With: Eastern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Location: Boulder, CO

Tom Matijacic

Age: 31

MMA Record: 4-0-1

Trains With:

Location: Tigard, OR

Sean O’Connell

Age: 24

MMA Record: 1-0-0

Location: Salt Lake City, UT

Shane Primm

Age: 23

MMA Record: 1-0-0

Trains With: Team Gracie Tampa

Location: Tampa, FL

Krzysztof Soszynski

Age: 30

MMA Record: 16-8-1

Trains With: Team Quest

Location: Temecula, CA

Spike TV is available in 96.1 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com.