The Ultimate Fighter
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Contents |
Premise and Background
The Ultimate Fighter (aka TUF) is a reality television series produced by Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
On the show, professional MMA fighters that have yet to make a big name for themselves are situated in a house outside of Las Vegas, Nevada and compete against each other for the title of The Ultimate Fighter in an elimination tournament.
The winner gets a six-figure, multi-fight contract with the UFC. Day-to-day events on the show are overseen by UFC president Dana White.
White has often remarked that the only reason the UFC is around now is because of The Ultimate Fighter reality show.
Format
The format for The Ultimate Fighter changes slightly from each season. The general format features 16 mixed martial arts being seperated into two different weight classes (when applicable) and then into two teams to be coached by two notable fighters from the UFC.
From there the fighters face off against each other in an elimination tournament until there is only two comatants left in each weight class. These combatants face off against each other in a professional mixed martial arts bout broadcast on Spike TV the week after the last taped episode.
The variations between each season lie in the number of weight classes used in the season (either 1 or 2) and the way fights are chosen.
Coaches
- The Ultimate Fighter 1: Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell
- The Ultimate Fighter 2: Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin
- The Ultimate Fighter 3: Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock
- The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback: Randy Couture, Georges St. Pierre and Mark DellaGrotte*
- The Ultimate Fighter 5: BJ Penn and Jens Pulver
- The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra: Matt Serra and Matt Hughes
- The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest: Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin
- The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir
- The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom: Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping
* Coaches on Season 4 had different roles from the other seasons as they did not have teams and acted more as advisors to the fighters
Winners
- Season 1: Forrest Griffin (Light Heavyweight), Diego Sanchez (Middleweight)
- Season 2: Joe Stevenson (Welterweight), Rashad Evans (Heavyweight)
- Season 3: Kendall Grove (Middleweight), Michael Bisping (Light Heavyweight)
- Season 4: Matt Serra (Welterweight), Travis Lutter (Middleweight)
- Season 5: Nate Diaz (Lightweight)
- Season 6: Mac Danzig (Welterweight)
- Season 7: Amir Sadollah (Middleweight)
- Season 8: Efrain Escudero (Lightweight), Ryan Bader (Light Heavyweight)
- Season 9: Ross Pearson (Lightweight), James Wilks (Welterweight)
