Over the past few years, Mixed Martial Arts has exploded in popularity with guys like Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, and Georges St. Pierre becoming household names and regular fixtures in the mainstream sports media.
While the rapid ascension of the sport—and in particular the UFC—can be attributed to many factors, there is no question that the spark that ignited the powder keg came from The Ultimate Fighter.
Or perhaps more accurately it came from the finale of season one of TUF, when Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonner beat each other senseless for three rounds in what has been called the greatest fight in MMA history.
While the UFC had built some momentum leading up to the Bonnar/Griffin showdown it was the gutsy performance put on by these two working-class, down-to-earth competitors that really connected with the fans and finally pushed the UFC towards the mainstream.
Now we are heading into the ninth season of TUF, and a new crop of young hopefuls is preparing for, as TUF8 champ Efrain Escudero puts it, “a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
This time around the UFC has decided to pit two countries against each other, with Dan Henderson coaching the American team and TUF3 winner Michael Bisping heading up the UK side.
TUF matches are typically very competitive, but with the added pressure of representing one's country, the UFC is hoping that this season will be a war. One can only imagine how many times the American Revolution will be referenced during the course of the show.
Regardless of which country a fighter represents, at the end, this is still an individual competition that will result in two fighters running the gauntlet and emerging from their weight class as the winner.
And coming out on top is certainly no easy task, just ask TUF 2 champ Joe Stevenson.
“There is no game plan for how to prepare for six weeks with 24-hour notice before a fight,” Stevenson said.
The fighters are put through rigorous training sessions by their coaches during which they are paired up to fight in a single elimination tournament. However, TUF is far from being just a simple MMA tournament, as the new cast will surely discover in the coming weeks.
Once fighters are selected and flown out to Las Vegas, Nev., they are constantly watched in order to prevent contact with the outside world.
TUF8 Champ Ryan “Darth” Bader, who is secure enough to use a Star Wars nickname, described the first few days before filming commenced: “You get picked and you get told a week prior to leaving.
"You get to the hotel, and we were in the hotel by ourselves for the first four days. We couldn’t open the door, we just had to slide a piece of paper under the door to tell them what food we wanted.
"Then when they started filming they walk you down, and you always have someone walking you somewhere.”
Keeping the fighters secluded is a major part of TUF, as the UFC wants to not only prevent any spoilers from getting out but they also want the cast members to interact with each other as often as possible.
To further that goal, the mansion the fighters live in lacks a TV, books, or anything else resembling entertainment. Compounding the issue the fighters are not allowed to speak to their family or friends for the entire six weeks, which takes its toll.
“It’s tough being away from all your friends and family and being cut off from the outside world for six weeks,” said Stevenson. “Nothing really to do in that house…no phones, no books, no newspaper, no TV. We get in trouble for talking to people from the outside.”
Being cut off from the outside world has lead to a few fighters breaking under the pressure, such as season 3’s Noah Inhofer. Inhofer infamously quit the show when he got word that his girlfriend of six months thought he cheated on her, and he was unable to contact her because of TUF rules.
While the UFC does not provide the fighters with entertainment or outside communication, they do provide them with more than enough alcohol to pass the time—and get themselves into trouble.
An abundance of alcohol has been a reality TV staple since the genre began, but TUF takes it to another level. Not that this is any surprise, as a group of 16 20-something-year-old fighters locked in a mansion with nothing but a bar full of alcohol is as close to a perfect storm for inebriated mischief as it gets.
Over the past eight seasons we have witnessed countless drunken mishaps in the house, from Chris Leben punching through a door to Dave Kaplan trying—and failing—to prove that he cannot be knocked out by a punch.
At times, fighters have been kicked off the show when their antics get too far out of hand, but with the continued availability of alcohol, the UFC doesn’t seem too interested in completely doing away with the mayhem.
After all, drama leads to ratings, as season eight’s trouble-making Junie Browning proved.
Fortunately, most eventual champions manage to keep themselves from getting in too much trouble. Joe Stevenson claimed he “had a cocktail every night, but was an adult about it."
While Ryan Bader used the fact that he would be fighting in the end as motivation to stay out of trouble, saying, “we fought the last two days so you got to keep that focus to fight."
The reward is great for the fighters who do manage to keep their composure throughout the physical and mental rigors of The Ultimate Fighter.
The current UFC roster is filled with former TUF participants, with Forrest Griffin, Rashard Evans, and Matt Serra winning titles.
Meanwhile other TUF alumni like Kenny Florian, Michael Bisping, Diego Sanchez, Josh Koscheck, and others have established themselves as contenders in their weight classes. Three former cast members have returned to TUF as coaches—Bisping, Serra, and Griffin.
And of course, in addition to the six-figure contract and a career as a professional fighter, being successful on TUF does provide a little bit of star power.
“You walk into a casino in Vegas and you feel like a rock star,” admitted Bader.
Season nine of TUF promises to bring more great fights, more crazy antics, and this time around, more cultural differences.
While the new group of fighters has had plenty of opportunities to learn from their predecessors, they will not be fully prepared for what they will go through in the house.
They will receive top notch training from two of the best in the game, Henderson and Bisping, while suffering from the boredom and loneliness of being secluded in the house with their competitors.
Those who make it through to the end may have created lucrative careers for themselves, while those who don’t will fall by the wayside.
Season three champ Kendall Grove summed up the experience nicely: “I went on expecting what I got. Great training, great training partners from all over the world, and I had fun. I loved it.
"It was such a great experience, especially learning-wise. I went on there telling myself that I would learn everything that I can in those 6 weeks and I got what I wanted.”
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