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Ross Pearson picks out ones to watch on TUF Live

Ross Pearson won the lightweight competition on season nine of The Ultimate Fighter © Getty Images

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Ross Pearson has picked out Justin Lawrence as the man to beat on season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter, although he is also backing Mike Rio to go far in the competition.

Pearson will act as one of the coaches on Team Cruz throughout the season, a season that got off to a bang with the shock victory of James Vick over Daron Cruickshank.

British featherweight Pearson has been through the TUF process himself, winning the lightweight final in season nine, so he knows what it takes to win. And, based solely on what he saw in the prelim fights, he is backing Black House talent Lawrence to go the distance.

"It was hard to judge from just one five-minute round, but we got to help some of them warm up, and a few of them impressed me there," Pearson told ESPN. "There's a few guys who can make an impact in the UFC.

"Picking two, I'd say Justin Lawrence and Mike Rio. That's not just due to their prelim fights, that's based on how confident they were and they look like they're ready to push themselves to see how far they can go.

"Lawrence came out swinging, fast hands, fast feet. He looks good."

Pearson expects to be involved right up until the Finale of the series, as Dominick Cruz pours all his resources into helping his team. And the Brit admits he can see some mischief already starting between the two teams.

"I'm proud to be part of the show, working with Dominick and Team Alliance, we've literally brought up the whole team, all the coaches, all the team," Pearson said. "We'll be here for 13 weeks, training at the Tapout gym.

"They've started [the pranks] already a little bit. It started off nice but in 13 weeks I feel like this is going to get worse! I'm glad I'm not in the house this time - glad I can escape a little bit!"

Pearson is one of many UFC stars to be attending The MMA Show Live on May 12/13 at the NEC in Birmingham, a ground-breaking event featuring more top level MMA fighters than any other show of its kind in Europe. The interactive expo has sold over 14,000 tickets already, with 30,000 fans expected across the whole weekend

Tickets for The MMA Show Live are priced from £20 and available from www.theticketfactory.com or by calling 0844 338 0338. For more information visit www.themmashowlive.com

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