The Ultimate Fighter, the show that effectively launched mixed martial arts into the American mainstream, is back this summer after a three-year layoff. UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and top contender Brian Ortega will coach teams of rising bantamweights and middleweights with a UFC contract on the line, leading up to their world title bout later this year. The 29th season of The Ultimate Fighter will debut in June, and air on ESPN+.

Although TUF has become less relevant in terms of actually producing great fighters as time goes on, the show has produced a number of UFC champions: Kamaru Usman, Robert Whittaker, Rose Namajunas, T. J. Dillashaw and Tony Ferguson stand out of more recent vintage. There’s a possibility, however slight, that another resides in this 16-man cast. So, with a few weeks to go before season 29 premieres, here’s an early look at the field:

Bantamweights

27-year-old Daniel Argueta (5-0) is one of the more interesting prospects in this field because of his camp – he comes from Jackson Wink MMA, one of the most successful teams in the history of the sport – and his undefeated record. A good Division II wrestler at Wisconsin-Parkside, Argueta was initially invited to Jackson Wink to help Holly Holm drill her wrestling before her UFC bantamweight title defense against Miesha Tate in 2016. His friendship with Cub Swanson helped him stick around, and he’s used his grappling ability to carry himself to an undefeated pro record, with four submission wins in the first round.

Brady Hiestand (5-1) is the youngest fighter in the field – he’ll turn 22 at the end of this month – and trains out of the Sikjitsu team in Washington that features fighters like Michael Chiesa and Julianna Pena. A karate black belt, Hiestand has developed into something of a BJJ specialist during his young pro career, winning his most recent pro fight in just 31 seconds with a rear-naked choke. Hiestand’s five pro wins have come over opponents who had a combined record of just 1-24, so the competition in the TUF house will be a massive step up.

Undefeated Dustin Lampros (5-0) trains out of one of the most pre-eminent camps in the game today, Sanford MMA in Florida, and the 27-year-old has started his career hot with five straight finish wins, four in the first round. Lampros became acquainted with former UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley as a teenager, and actually had Woodley in his corner for his first three amateur fights. Henri Hooft has repeatedly worked magic with developing fighters’ striking, and with four first-round TKO wins, it looks like Lampros might have some pop.

Vince Murdock (11-6) has already garnered a little bit of experience in the Octagon, making an appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series back in November. Murdock came up short in that attempt at securing a UFC contract – facing taller, lankier striker Luis Saldana, Murdock struggled to get inside Saldana’s range before getting knocked out with a front kick early in the third. Now, he’ll get another chance. A product of Team Alpha Male, which has produced a number of fantastic lower-weight fighters over the years, Murdock is regarded as a good, athletic wrestler and will be more one of the more seasoned men in the field.

Another undefeated prospect in his early 20s, 22-year-old Mitch Raposo (5-0) stands just 5-foot-5 but has emerged as one of the better young bantamweight talents in the Northeast. He’s bounced between flyweight and bantamweight so far in his career – his last fight, which took place in October, was at a 130-pound catchweight – and his long-term future may lay at 125. But so far, he’s shown that he has some pop that can play up at 135, and gym tilts with fighters like Calvin Kattar and Rob Font have given him a technical striking ability that’s better than most of his opponents on the regional scene.

At 31 years old and over 10 years as a pro, Joshua Rettinghouse (16-5) is set to potentially be the “old man” of this group, and certainly the most experienced. Rettinghouse has more pro fights than anyone else in the field, and he’s floated around the periphery of the big show for years: real hardcore freaks may remember Rettinghouse as the guy who challenged Marlon Moraes for the inaugural WSOF (now PFL) bantamweight title back in 2014. Rettinghouse holds wins over current UFC bantamweight Sergey Morozov and former Olympic medalist (and convicted murderer) Alexis Vila, but has fought just once in the last three and a half years.

Our only fighter from outside the United States, Ukraine’s Liudvik Sholinian (9-1-1) has a win on his record over UFC vet Vince Cachero, and went 4-0 in 2019 before taking the last year off. Before that, he appeared for Bellator in 2018, picking up his only career loss by decision to Sidemar Honorio on the undercard of the first Patricio Pitbull–Emmanuel Sanchez title bout. Sholinian knows what he wants to do – a former Ukrainian national wrestling champion, Sholinian takes opponents down and grinds them. You’d expect that to be his gameplan in the TUF house.

Ricky Turcios (10-2) is another Contender Series vet: the long-haired 27-year-old appeared on the very first episode of the show in 2017, losing a unanimous decision to the fantastically-named Boston Salmon, who proceeded to drop both his fights in the UFC. Turcios is energetic and dynamic, and he’s a loose and aggressive kicker, but it was Salmon’s sharp and direct counters that sent him to defeat. Whether or not Turcios has spent the last few years tightening up his defense could be the biggest factor towards determining his success this season.

Middleweights

Bryan Battle (5-1) has won his last four fights by finish, and to hear him tell it, it should have been five: according to Battle, his only career defeat, against Nickalas Martino in 2019, came after Battle knocked Martino out on his feet, didn’t realize Martino was out, took him down and got caught in an armbar. He’s rebounded well since that embarrassing moment, scoring three submission wins in his last four fights. Battle has never beaten anyone with more than three professional fights – he’s another prospect who will have to deal with a massive step up in competition.

Tresean Gore (3-0) is one of the least experienced fighters in the field, but he’s flashed plenty of raw talent early in his career. Gore has been fighting at light heavyweight and will be dropping down to middleweight for the first time in three years, and weight cuts on TUF have often been adventures. However, Gore is reputed to have some big power in his kicks and has flashed some really slick grappling ability so far: check out this sweet transition into a rear-naked choke in one of his amateur fights.

While Gore is going to be moving down to middleweight, Miles Hunsinger (7-0) is going to be moving up: the 6-foot-1 30-year-old out of Xtreme Couture has been fighting at welterweight for the last few years. Lately, however, he’s struggled to make 170, missing by almost four pounds for his last fight in 2019. Having previously fought in LFA and the PFL, Hunsinger has flashed some promise, although he’s only fought once since July 2017. We’ll see if the move to middleweight can fully unlock his potential.

Kemran Lachinov (10-3) has dipped his toes into Bellator’s waters over the last few years, fighting six times for the promotion with a record of 5-1. Notably, in October he became the first man to beat former Division I All-American wrestler Kyle Crutchmer, by a very controversial unanimous decision. Lachinov defended Crutchmer’s takedowns well and was the more aggressive fighter, but many figured Crutchmer’s more effective striking should have won him the fight. Afterwards, Lachinov called out the seemingly universally despised Dillon Danis. Instead, he got a fight with Shamil Nikaev, who ended Lachinov’s undefeated Bellator run – after controlling the first two rounds, Nikaev gassed out hard in the third, but Lachinov didn’t have enough juice left to fully take advantage. Still, Lachinov has more experience competing at a high level than most fighters in this field, and he’s got a lot of dog in him.

26-year-old Ryder Newman (3-1) is birds of a feather with Hunsinger: he’s also an Xtreme Couture product who’s going to be moving up from welterweight this season. A good grappler, Newman’s preferred strategy throughout his young MMA career has been to rely on his excellent cardio, wearing his opponents out and taking control. He’s also been working on his punching power: a couple weeks ago, he was one of the latest to take on UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou in the Body Shot Challenge.

Andre Petroski (5-1) enters the TUF house coming off the first loss of his career: in October, talented Canadian prospect Aaron Jeffery knocked him out with a knee in the main event of an LFA show. Jeffery is expected to feature on the Contender Series later this year, while Petroski will try to take the longer road to a UFC contract. Petroski is a wrestler first with the ability to take opponents down, beat them with ground-and-pound or submit them. He’ll have no issue making things ugly in the clinch.

This Aaron Phillips (5-2) shouldn’t be confused with the Aaron Phillips who’s already in the UFC: that Aaron Phillips is a bantamweight who’s set to fight Cameron Else in July. This Aaron Phillips was a relatively pudgily built light heavyweight before cutting down to middleweight and losing to Contender Series alum Collin Huckbody in December. A native of Alaska, Phillips is another wrestler who’s flashed some skill elsewhere: he has a leg kick TKO win on his record, as well as a few submissions.

Last but not least, Gilbert Urbina (6-1) is another talented young fighter who will be moving up to 185 for this competition: I’ve seen him listed as tall as 6-foot-3, so middleweight should be a much easier fit. The Texan’s only career loss came at the hands of Sean Brady, who’s since emerged as one of the top welterweight prospects in the world, by unanimous decision in 2018. There are no Sean Bradys in this cast, so things should be a tad bit easier.