The Ultimate Fighter

History

The Ultimate Fighter was originally an experimental series financed by the former owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III. The series was aired on Spike TV as a last resort measure to gain mainstream exposure for mixed martial arts (MMA).

During the early days of Spike TV, the channel wanted sports programming, but had no budget for sports licensing fees. Spike TV founder Albie Hecht began a search to find programming with broad appeal that the network could afford. In the end, Spike narrowed its choices down to the UFC and K-1. Hecht flew to Japan to meet with the head of K-1, but the meeting did not go well. Weeks later, Hecht met with Lorenzo Fertitta in Las Vegas. Hecht was impressed by the UFC's celebrity following, its plan to acquire and consolidate smaller promotions into the UFC, and with Dana White's ability to be a "Vince McMahon"-like personality.

Hecht saw K-1 as a safer bet, given it had more international notoriety. 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. Hecht credits Kevin Kay and his editorial collaboration with the UFC for highlighting the show's story lines, which he believes helped drive its ratings success.

Airing after World Wrestling Entertainment's flagship show WWE Raw, The Ultimate Fighter's debut episode was able to garner a 57% retention rate in viewers from Raw, which was double the usual rate for Spike TV. It is believed by some that WWE's Vince McMahon had to approve The Ultimate Fighter following Raw, but this is incorrect. According to Hecht, McMahon did not have the final say, but given his stature and Raw's' importance to Spike TV at the time, the network wanted McMahon to "be on board" with the program lineup. At the time, Hecht believes the WWE did not see the UFC as a challenge.

The live finale for the first season saw the historic bout of Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar. Now widely regarded as the most influential fight in MMA history, the bout took place in what was the first ever MMA event on live and free television. The bout ended in a unanimous decision victory for Griffin and led to the show's renewal on Spike TV. Regarding the success of the show, UFC president Dana White said, "It's amazing to think.... how close we came to not being here today. If it weren't for what these guys did, I don't know if there would even be a UFC. I'll never forget these guys. Ever."

Selection process

Seasons 1–4

For the first four seasons, prospective UFC fighters from two different weight classes were selected to compete. The fighters are divided into two teams, irrespective of weight class, with each team coached by a current UFC headliner. The teams then compete (in a manner which varies by season), with the loser being eliminated from the competition. Often, incentives are provided for the team of a winning fighter. This can include the right for their team to select the next matchup, in order to pick off fighters from the opposing team by selecting favourable matchups.

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. Seasons five to seven and ten to twelve have featured fighters from just one weight class each, with the other seasons focusing on two weight classes.

The show features the daily preparations each fighter makes to train for competition at the UFC training center, and the interactions they have with each other living under the same roof. Day-to-day events on the show are overseen by UFC president Dana White.

With the exception of the season finales, fights on The Ultimate Fighter are sanctioned by the Nevada Athletic Commission as exhibition matches and do not count for or against a fighter's professional record. This is done to keep the results from going public before the air date. However, going into the semi-final stage of each series, fights are scheduled for the full professional three rounds, as opposed to two rounds (with the possibility of a sudden victory round) for all stages prior. Though officially exhibition fights, the UFC chooses to record the results of semi-final matchups. For example, the seventh season winner Amir Sadollah has one more win on his UFC record than on his official record due to his victory in his season's semi-final round.

Changes

The first six seasons featured sixteen fighters, in either one or two weight categories. The first two seasons, however, were very different from each following season. The original format for The Ultimate Fighter saw each team compete in challenges, such as hoisting their respective coach up on their shoulders and sprinting down a beach, or a team tug-of-war. These challenges resulted in eliminations of fighters who hadn't fought, until late in the season when the challenge incentive was to select the next fight where fighters would be eliminated, having lost the fight. In the first two seasons, fighters would also leave the house for good upon losing and this often resulted in odd numbers for teams, which forced the moving of fighters to opposing teams.

Beginning in season four, fighters were no longer removed from the house after losing their fights and did not switch teams except in extraordinary cases, such as being kicked off a team by the head coach. In the seventh season, instead of the usual sixteen fighters, thirty-two fighters participated. This new rule introduced a preliminary fight, in order to get into the house, which gave the coaches an early evaluation.

The final change to date was the introduction of the "wild card" for seasons 11–13. In seasons 11 & 12, 28 fighters competed in the preliminary round, with the winning fourteen entering the house. A "wild card" bout would take place at the end of the "round-of-fourteen" featuring two of the losing fighters. The winner of the wild card bout would then be included in the quarterfinal round of eight fighters. This format proved highly successful for middleweight fighter Kris McCray, who took part in season 11's wild card bout. Having lost his opening match in the house, he won the wild card bout to reach the quarter-finals and went on to win his next two bouts, reaching the tournament final. The wild card bout was instituted one last time in season 13, which only featured 14 fighters in the house & no preliminary fights.

Contract award

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. These contracts are specifically three-year contracts with a guaranteed first year. Each year consists of three fights, the first year's purse per fight consists of $12,000 guaranteed with a $12,000 win bonus (a maximum of $24,000 per fight). The second year's purse per fight is $16,000 with a $16,000 win bonus (a maximum of $32,000 per fight) and the third year's purse per fight is at $22,000 with a $22,000 win bonus (a maximum of $44,000 per fight).

A TUF winner who goes 9–0 can earn $300,000 total on the contract, but only $150,000 is guaranteed for all three years if nine fights are fought. Some TUF competitors who did not win the series were also offered UFC contracts, although not on as attractive terms.

Coaches involvement

With the exception of seasons 2, 4, 11, 13, 15, 16, 22, 31, 33 and season 1 of TUF: Brazil the coaches fought each other after the conclusion of the show. Season 2 featured Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes, who were in different weight categories, eliminating the possibility for a post-season fight. Season 4 saw multiple guest coaches take the lead, differing from other seasons with two clearly designated coaches. Season 22 did not feature a fight between coaches Conor McGregor and Urijah Faber since McGregor was the UFC Interim Featherweight Champion and had an automatic title unification with Featherweight Champion José Aldo next. As such, these seasons did not feature their respective coaches in competition. Season 11 coaches Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell's fight was cancelled due to Ortiz's need for neck fusion surgery. Season 13 saw the fight between Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos cancelled after Lesnar was diagnosed with his second bout of diverticulitis. 2012 saw the cancellation of a bout between season 15 coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, due to a torn ACL for Cruz. In addition, the expected fight between the TUF: Brazil coaches Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva did not occur after Belfort sustained a broken hand while preparing for the fight. 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.

In addition to the seasons which did not feature post-season fights between the coaches, several seasons have been impacted, forcing postponements. Due to injuries to the season six coaches Matt Serra and Matt Hughes, their fight was postponed. Serra suffered a herniated disc in his lower back and Hughes later suffered a torn MCL before the fight finally took place at UFC 98. The fight between season ten coaches Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson took place at UFC 114 with Rashad Evans winning by unanimous decision. The fight was postponed by five months due to Jackson's A-Team filming commitments and his temporary decision to retire from fighting.

Though rarely taking place at the live finales, the coaches' fights are an important part of each season of The Ultimate Fighter. With each season effectively hyping the fight and the individuals for multiple weeks, the fights are usually the focal point of the pay-per-view event in which they are featured. The coaches' fights have resulted in the following matchups and results:

Season synopses

Season 1–3

The first season of The Ultimate Fighter was the last attempt by the UFC to capture public interest in the sport. The Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin bout saved the sport according to many journalists and Dana White. 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." Griffin and Diego Sanchez are also regarded as the original Ultimate Fighters, after their wins at the finale.

The second season saw welterweights and heavyweights compete, featuring coaches Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes. The final saw Rashad Evans defeating Brad Imes and Joe Stevenson defeating Luke Cummo.

The third season highlighted the long-standing rivalry between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock. It was also the first season to feature competitors from outside of North America, after the addition of Michael Bisping and Ross Pointon. The season saw a format change, when the team-games were eliminated in favour of a conventional knockout style tournament format. The final fights saw Michael Bisping become the first non-American winner, defeating Josh Haynes and Kendall Grove defeat Ed Herman.

Season 4–7

The fourth season was different from others before it, as it was the "comeback" season. Past UFC fighters who hadn't had the success they were expected to have, were invited back, to compete in the show, with the winner receiving a guaranteed title shot. This season was also the only one to date to not feature team coaches. Instead, the show had guest coaches each week. The final saw Matt Serra defeat Chris Lytle and Travis Lutter defeat Patrick Côté to receive their guaranteed title shots.

The fifth season was coached by Jens Pulver and B.J. Penn, as the company attempted to kickstart the lightweight division. The show featured many of the future stars of the lightweight division such as Nate Diaz, Joe Lauzon, Gray Maynard, Matt Wiman and Cole Miller. Despite the fact that Team Pulver won 5 out of the first eight fights, the 3 fighters who made it through the quarterfinals on Team Penn are still in the UFC which are Gray Maynard, Matt Wiman and Joe Lauzon while Cole Miller, Manvel Gamburyan, and Nate Diaz from Team Pulver are still in the UFC. The final was contested by Nate Diaz and Manvel Gamburyan, with Gamburyan falling to a shoulder injury early on.

Seasons

Main seasons

^A. For this season instead of coaches, prominent trainers and UFC fighters acted as advisors.

^B. Tito Ortiz was replaced in the final episode by Rich Franklin.

^C. This season is the first to feature a gym vs. gym format as each team is composed of fighters from the same gym and their head coaches are also the teams' head coaches.

^D. There was no individual tournament for the season. After a round of 12 fights, divided into points (the first four fights were 25 points, the next 50 and the last were 100 points), American Top Team emerged victorious and won $200,000. Then, each team picked a representative to fight at the finale for $300,000 and the tournament trophy.

^E. Saul Rogers was scheduled to be part of the finale, but was pulled due to Visa issues and was replaced by Ryan Hall.

^F. Sijara Eubanks was scheduled to be part of the finale, but was pulled on the day of the weigh ins for medical reasons and was replaced by Roxanne Modafferi.

^G. Brad Katona was originally on Team Chandler, but switched to Team McGregor in the semi-final round.

International versions

These versions did not have a stand-alone The Ultimate Fighter final.

^H. Daniel Sarafian was scheduled to be part of the finale, but was injured and replaced by Sergio Moraes.

^I. Santiago Ponzinibbio was scheduled to be part of the finale, but was injured and replaced by Leonardo Santos.

^J. For this season Cung Le served as a mentor and chief coach.

^K. Hailin Ao left the show after the 4th episode for personal reasons. His staff took over his duties.

^L. Anderson Silva was removed from the show on episode 3 due to his failed pre-fight drug test for UFC 183. He was replaced by Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Impact

Post-show success

The Ultimate Fighter has created many successful fighters. As of October 2019, ten TUF contestants have won UFC titles. However, some fighters have also had success in the sister promotions World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) or Strikeforce. The following fighters have competed for a UFC, Strikeforce or WEC championship:

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

As part of season four, Travis Lutter and Matt Serra received automatic and immediate title shots, though non-winners can also compete for titles. Lutter was scheduled to compete for the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 67: All Or Nothing, but weighed in over the limit. He still competed against the champion and lost a non–title fight.

Season 5

Season 13

Season 14

Season 15

Season 17

Season 18

Season 20

Season 20 was the first season of The Ultimate Fighter to crown a champion. All fighters of the season were competing to win the inaugural UFC Women's Strawweight Championship. Most of the competitors from the division came from TUF 20.

Season 21

Season 23

Season 24

The winner of Season 24 won a fight with Demetrious Johnson. Tim Elliott won the tournament and fought Johnson for the main event on the finale.

Season 26