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The Ultimate Fighter is back after a long layoff of two years. Brian Ortega and Alexander Volkanovski will be the coaches for the 29th edition of the reality show. Fans got their first glimpse of one of the middleweights when American Andre Petroski sat down in an interview with MMA Junkie.

The interviewer asked him about his roots and about how he started getting into MMA. He revealed that his dad was a wrestler and subsequently encouraged him to wrestle in high school and college. Petroski always wanted to fight, and his parents supported his dreams. He got a first-round TKO in his first amateur fight, and it got him hooked onto MMA.

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The interviewer then asked Petroski about his gym, The Renzo Gracie Philly gym, and how he became a part of the team. “My roommate was training at Renzo Gracie Philly, and he was like, you gotta come check it out,” Petroski answered.

We came back home, and I was getting ready to take a fight. I went and checked it out, and their schedule is super legit. They got practices all day long, morning and night, and the best 70 and 85 pounders around,” he added.

The gym features prominent athletes and UFC fighters in Jeremiah Wells, Sean Brady, and Joe Pyfer. Petroski said that being in the same team as those guys helped boost his confidence. “I’ve always believed in my abilities,” Petroski revealed.

Andre Petroski believes that TUF is perfect for him because of his wrestling background

The Ultimate Fighter requires the competitors to do regular weight cuts for fights, and it might be hard for a few fighters to do so. However, wrestlers tend to do it more freely as they had to partake in a lot of weight cuts earlier. Petroski attested to this when asked if he likes the format of TUF.

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I always watched it and would say like that format, and that scenario would be perfect for me. I come from a wrestling background. We’re used to making weight regularly. That format is where I excel. When I’m active, I compete the best,” he answered.

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What do you think about TUF 29? Will you watch it?

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