As of October 2019, 10 people have won UFC titles. After Rich Attonito pulled out of the competition, his quarter final place was taken by Court McGee. [35] The fight between season ten coaches Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson took place at UFC 114 with Rashad Evans winning by unanimous decision. Team Koscheck, "Episode No. Griffin and Diego Sanchez are also regarded as the original Ultimate Fighters, after their wins at the finale. Instead of the usual 16 fighters, the season had 32 fighters after Dana White claimed that he was tired of fighters coming onto the show for airtime. [74] The final saw MMA veteran Roy Nelson and Brendan Schaub, with Nelson winning via first-round knockout. In the end, Spike narrowed its choices down to the UFC and K-1. Team Penn, The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned, The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians, The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. In order to garner more attention for the sport, The Ultimate Fighter utilizes gimmicks: one notable example, in the ninth season, employed a country vs. country theme, with the United States competing against the United Kingdom. The winners of the first three seasons of The Ultimate Fighter competition, and certain runners-up depending on their performance in their competition finals, receive the touted "six-figure" contract to fight in the UFC. He was also not a fan of the grappling aspects of MMA, but the UFC rebuffed his suggestion to change the rules of the sport to accommodate striking. Many winners have gone on to compete for UFC championships with some becoming UFC champions. He was replaced by Sergio "Serginho" Moraes, the man he had defeated via KO in the semi-final round. [85] The wildcard made another appearance, with Javier Torres and Chuck O'Neil getting the slots, leading to a submission victory for O'Neil. The winner of Season 24 won a fight with Demetrious Johnson. Franklin replaced Ortiz as head coach in the final episode; fought Liddell. [54], The fourth season was different from others before it, as it was the "comeback" season. The Ultimate Fighter returns exclusively on ESPN+ March 2021. [3], The live finale for the first season saw the historic bout of Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar. April 5, 2007. That season was coached by Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva and featured featherweights and middleweights. [70], The tenth season was the first season to feature only heavyweights and was largely built around the internet sensation Kimbo Slice and former NFL players. American reality series and MMA competition, T.U.F. Team Miller Finale, The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale: Bisping vs. Kennedy, The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Lutter was scheduled to compete for the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 67: All Or Nothing, but weighed in over the limit. Though rarely taking place at the live finales, the coaches' fights are an important part of each season of The Ultimate Fighter. Team Tate, The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Despite his loss, Bonnar was also awarded a coveted contract live on the air, after White declared that "There were no losers in this fight." However, Romero weighed in over the limit. The series debuted on January 17, 2005, with its first episode, "The Quest Begins". [78] The season was blighted by injuries to multiple competitors, such as the withdrawal of Nick Ring, after he required knee surgery. The season saw a format change, when the team-games were eliminated in favour of a conventional knockout style tournament format. [75], The eleventh season saw former UFC Light Heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell coach the two teams. Volkanovski proved himself as one of UFC’s top pound-for-pound fighters with two title fight victories over Max Holloway, along with dominant performances against Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes and Darren Elkins. [69] The lightweight final saw Team Rough House teammates Andre Winner and Ross Pearson face off for the contract, with Pearson coming out on top via decision. The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters Main Event from the Pearl Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. on the 30th November 2018. In addition, UFC fans can re-watch all 28 previous seasons of TUF on ESPN+, the industry-leading sports streaming service, with entire seasons premiering on the service each week through the end of May for bingeable viewing. Team Ortega will see UFC® featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and No. Team Ortega (name, age, professional record and fighting out of): Hosted by Forrest Griffin, this compilation special takes a look back on 28 groundbreaking seasons with incredible moments, fighters, and coach rivalries that have made TUF the longest running sports competition series in history. [51], The second season saw welterweights and heavyweights compete, featuring coaches Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes. Team Forrest, The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. 7 recap: "The Ultimate Fighter 11: Team Liddell vs. The winners of the first three seasons of The Ultimate Fighter competition, and certain runners-up depending on their performance in their competition finals, receive the touted "six-figure" contract to fight in the UFC. At the end of a season, the two remaining fighters of each weight class are placed in a single-elimination fight at Ultimate Fighter Finales, such as The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale where the title of Ultimate Fighter is awarded to the winner. [71][72] The two coaches were former UFC Light Heavyweight champions Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans who squabbled throughout the entire season, hyping their eventual fight further. Dollaway who defeated Tim Credeur for the right,[63] but Sadollah won in the final to become The Ultimate Fighter. The entry fights consisted of just one round, as opposed to the usual two with the possibility of a sudden death victory. [33] Season 16 was supposed to feature a fight between coaches Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin, though this was also cancelled after Carwin suffered a knee injury. Team dos Santos", "TUF 13 Finale officially draws 2,053 attendance and $440k gate", "The Ultimate Fighter 14 cast unveiled with 32 bantamweights and featherweights", "TUF 14 fan voted $25k awards go to Dodson, Bermudez, Gaudinot and Pague", "TUF 14 finale ratings: Event average 2.5 million viewers, peaks with 3.4 million", "Mike Chiesa already setting goals for UFC career after winning TUF 15 crown", "With Mutante vs. Sarafian official, UFC 147s main card complete with five bouts", "UFC 147 results: Cezar Mutante Ferreira wins TUF Brazil middleweight tourney", "No Bull, El Matador shines at TUF Finale", "Grove tops Tanner, Sadollah crowned TUF champ", "TUF 8 Finale recap: Underdogs Escudero and Bader win TUF titles", "Sanchez proves nightmare to Guida; Pearson and Wilks capture TUF crown", "The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale recap: Nelson TUF 10 champ, Kimbo wins decision", "The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale recap: Court McGee crowned TUF 11 champion", "WEC: Kyle Disqualified, Sincade Wins Title - Lodune Sincaid (on back) vs. Dan Molina", "With WEC deal unresolved, ex-champ Doug Marshall focused on PFC 13", "Kenny Florian slated to fight at UFC 68", "Bobby Southworth defends title against "Babalu" at Sept. 20 Strikeforce", "Bobby Southworth copes with loss, eyes second shot at "Babalu, "Scary good: Silva dominates Griffin at UFC 101, Penn submits Florian to retain belt", "UFC 107 main card recap: Penn outclasses Sanchez; Mir destroys Kongo", "UFC 136 main card results: Champ Edgar storms back for stunning title defense", "UFC 80 Recap: B.J. 16 of the best Mixed Martial Arts fighters, 8 Light Heavyweights and 8 Middleweights, have come from around the world to Las Vegas with one dream .to be named The Ultimate Fighter and given a contract in the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization. Tim Elliott won the tournament and fought Johnson for the main event on the finale. [36] The fight was postponed by five months due to Jackson's A-Team filming commitments and his temporary decision to retire from fighting.[37]. The historic Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar fight in the first season drew millions of viewers to the show and launched the sport into the mainstream. [60] Arguably, only George Sotiropoulos has gone on to have any success post-TUF, having gone on a 7 fight win streak after The Ultimate Fighter,[61] while season winner Danzig has hovered around the .500 mark since his season win. The coaches' fights have resulted in the following matchups and results: The first season of The Ultimate Fighter was the last attempt by the UFC to capture public interest in the sport. 7 recap: "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. The series was aired on Spike TV as a last resort measure to gain mainstream exposure for mixed martial arts (MMA). TKO (knees to the body and punches) at 3:34 of round 3, TKO (punches and elbows) at 4:33 of round 1, Submission (guillotine choke) at 1:53 of round 2, Submission (guillotine choke) at 2:13 of round 3, TKO (knee and punches) at 4:10 of round 1, TKO (knee and punches) at 3:59 of round 3, Submission (rear naked choke) at 3:17 of round 1, Submission (rear naked choke) at 3:54 of round 4, Submission (rear naked choke) at 4:02 of round 2, Technical Submission (rear naked choke) at 4:23 of round 3, TKO (knees to the body) at 4:45 of round 2, Submission (triangle choke) at 4:02 of round 3, TKO (head kick and punches) at 2:26 of round 5, KO (head kick and punches) at 2:20 of round 5, TKO (punches and knee) at 4:22 of round 3, Leonardo Santos (Brazil 2 winner) def. For over eight seasons the show has featured not only up and coming UFC stars but the top names in the UFC working as coaches: such as Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, BJ Penn, Ken Shamrock, Antonio Nogueira, Frank Mir and many others. Weeks later, Hecht met with Lorenzo Fertitta in Las Vegas. [6] The Ultimate Fighter also drew record viewing figures for Spike TV when YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice participated in the tenth season. His staff took over his duties. Now widely regarded as the most influential fight in MMA history,[5] the bout took place in what was the first ever MMA event on live and free television. [55] This season was also the only one to date to not feature team coaches. Team Cláudia, The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions, The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion, The Return of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Volkanovski vs. [59] The final saw veteran Mac Danzig defeat Tommy Speer to become The Ultimate Fighter, before he dropped to the lightweight division. [26] The wild card bout was instituted one last time in season 13, which only featured 14 fighters in the house & no preliminary fights. The show features professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, Nevada, and follows them as they train and compete against each other for a prized six-figure contract with the UFC. [Video file]. Because of this success, The Ultimate Fighter was regarded as instrumental to the survival and expansion of the UFC and mixed martial arts into the mainstream. The Ultimate Fighter is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by Fox Sports 1 and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). 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