Great Moments in MMA History: "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 1

Welcome back fans and friends to another edition of “Great Moments in MMA History”. Today’s moment celebrates what many consider to be the launching point of the UFC into the mainstream, at a point where Mixed Martial Arts was still widely considered “human cockfighting”. The parent company of the UFC, Zuffa, was having trouble turning a profit after acquiring the UFC back in 2001, and all involved were aware of how increasingly sink-or-swim their predicament was becoming. Despite UFC President Dana White’s early hesitations, a plan was put forth, a TV show was pitched, and history was made. It was one of the most refreshing ideas to come to reality television in ages, and helped introduced the nation to the UFC and its varied casts of characters. It’s “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1, and what a season it was.

In an era where reality television shows were getting increasingly insane in their gimmicks in order to cash in on the success of such runaway shows as Survivor (see: Joe Millionaire, Boot Camp, etc. etc.), The Ultimate Fighter was so simple that it actually became quite the breath of fresh air: a bunch of fighters have to live in a house with each other and ultimately fight each other. They’re split into two teams, each team led by a big-name UFC star. They’ll learn from the best, train with the best, and try to live with each other despite the fact that they’re all competing for the same thing: a six-figure UFC contract. For a reality television show, there were relatively few gimmicks. And that’s one of the main reasons the Ultimate Fighter proved so successful: the UFC effectively worked past the stigma of MMA fighters being ruthless animals by presenting real, candid footage of how these talented men think, train, live and breathe.

That’s not to say that the first season was without controversy. We’re talking about a cast of fighters that included Diego Sanchez and Chris Leben, after all. “TUF” established from relatively early on that there will always be one or two attention-hogs that desperately want their fifteen minutes of fame. But honestly…the jackasses are part of what makes reality TV so much fun. It just makes the moment when they finally gets what they deserve all the sweeter. And while a bunch of fans may have tuned in the first time to see what crazy thing Chris Leben would do next, they kept tuning in because of the great fights and engaging fighters.

It all culminated in what is perhaps the biggest coming-out party in North American MMA history. An induction in its own right, TUF Season 1 ended with a stellar war of attrition between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar, the headline of a show that would ultimately pull a 1.9 rating, which was completely unheard of for a Mixed Martial Arts show. Many of the TUF 1 alumni would all go on to have stellar careers in the UFC, with quite a few competing and in some cases winning UFC gold.

Let’s not sugar-coat it, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 was a gamble. But it paid off beautifully. It set the precedent that MMA fighters are real people, real athletes. Some are crazy, some are funny, some are stupid, some are just there to hog the camera…but at the end of the day, everyone had their turn to fight in the cage and prove themselves to both their coaches and the nation. TUF Season 1 broke down barriers, it paved the way for the UFC’s current reign of dominance, where they stand virtually unchecked as the biggest Mixed Martial Arts promotion in the world. It all had to start somewhere, and for the UFC, it started with TUF. And that’s a “Great Moment in MMA History”.