The fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) will feature 16 155-pound fighters — a departure from its traditional format of two separate weight classes — from across the globe.

We know who the coaches will be — BJ Penn and Jens Pulver.

Other than that, there hasn’t been too much revealed about the cast members; but, we know one fighter who won’t appear on show:

UFC lightweight contender Clay Guida (21-6).

According to a recent article in InsideFighting.com, “The Carpenter” was asked to tryout for the upcoming season, which debuts on April 5.

Here’s a snip from Guida on the experience:

“It was basically being stuck in a room at the Palace Station Hotel for a day. The room was nice though. But there was just a TV and I had brought a Playstation but it wouldn’t work on the TV. The first day I didn’t do anything. I wasn’t able to hop on a treadmill or workout like they said we’d be able to…. Each fighter did like three- or four-minute interviews with the production company. They asked about how I started fighting, my family, basically why I fight.”

When all was said and done, the producers didn’t feel that Guida was “cut out for the show.”

That’s not too surprising, considering Guida is already one of the most experienced and talented fighters in the division.

Even though he’s relatively new to the UFC, there’s no need to showcase him on a television program when he can win in the Octagon right now.

I’m a bit shocked that the veterans the UFC brought in for tryouts were at this skill level. Apparently, the only eligibility restriction for the upcoming season was that veterans could have no more than one UFC fight.

We knew it would include a mix of experienced and inexperienced fighters. It seems to me that Guida was overqualified.

I’m glad he isn’t on the show because we can enjoy watching him work his way up the ranks this year.

He’s fighting on the upcoming UFC Fight Night 8 card against Din Thomas. To read more on the match up click here.

Here’s a snip from Guida on the upcoming fight:

“I’m kind of being thrown to the dogs and this is a big one. But I’ve been the underdog in ninety percent of my fights where I’ve had nothing to lose and everything to gain. I’m going to have to go out there and push the pace.”

That’s what makes his fights so exciting to watch – win or lose.