The show will feature Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir as the head coaches of Team Nogueira and Team Mir respectively, and will follow the two fighters as they each attempt to guide 8 lightweights and 8 light heavyweights through two 16-man tournaments. The two will then compete against one another for the UFC heavyweight championship on December 27 at the UFC's annual New Years Eve event.

Below is a comprehensive list of fighters participating in The Ulimate Fighter Season 8, courtesy of SI.com:

Lightweights

Jose Aguilar
Fernando Bernstein
Junie Allen Browning
Rolando Delgado
Joseph Duarte
Charles Diaz
Efrain Escudero
Brandon Garner
David Kaplan
Brian McLaughlin
Wesley Murch
Shane Nelson
Phillipe Nover
Ido Pariente
John Polakowski
George Roop

Light Heavyweight

Ryan Bader
Antwain Britt
Jules Bruchez
Lance Evans
Karen Grigoryan
Jason Guida
Ryan Jimmo
Kyle Kingsbury
Tom Lawlor
Ryan Lopez
Vinicius Magalhaes
Eric Magee
Eliot Marshall
Sean O'Connell
Shane Primm
Krzysztof Soszynski