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| Forrest Griffin, right, and Stephan Bonnar are just two of The Ultimate Fighter alumni who have had stellar careers in the UFC. |
As another season of the UFC reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, comes to a
conclusion I find it appropriate to take a look back and reminisce on some of
the shows most notable contenders.
TUF has helped launch the careers of many fighters and it
helped build the UFC’s mainstream audience. There have been countless fighters
that have been on the show and all have left their own mark.
There are many that stand out in my mind, but there are five
truly worth mentioning.
Forrest Griffin: Griffin,
as well as fellow Season 1 finalist Stephan Bonnar, is credited by many as
having the fight that helped put UFC and MMA on the map. He won the Season 1
light-heavyweight competition and has gone on to have a stellar career. He’s beaten the likes of Rampage Jackson,
Tito Ortiz, Rich Franklin and Mauricio Rua. He has also won the UFC Light
Heavyweight Championship.
Rashad Evans: Evans
was the winner of the TUF season 2 Heavyweight contest, but has made a career
in the light heavyweight division. He held the light heavyweight belt for a
six-month period (Dec. 2008-May 2009) and earned 2008 Knockout of the Year
honors. He owns victories over Chuck Liddell, Michael Bisping, Stephan Bonnar
and Rampage Jackson.
Nate Diaz: Diaz
was the winner of the TUF season 5. He has wins over the likes of Josh Neer,
Melvin Guillard, Rory Markham and Takanori Gomi. As a member of Team Gracie, it
is no surprise that he has earned three Submission of the Night honors and four
Fight of the Night honors. His career spanned two weight classes, but his
return to the lightweight division promises to be rewarding.
Michael Bisping: The
Manchester, England native was the winner of the light heavyweight division’s
third season of TUF. He must’ve enjoyed the show a lot, because he’s comeback
to coach twice. Bisping has fought at light heavyweight and middleweight in his
career and has wins over Matt Hamill, Chris Leben and Yoshihiro Akiyama. But,
his biggest claim to fame might be from a vicious KO loss to Dan Henderson at
UFC 100 in July of 2009.
Josh Koscheck: Koscheck
is the only fighter on this list that did not win his season or even a finalist,
he lost a semi-final bout to Deigo Sanchez. He’s mentioned solely because of
what he brought to the show. Kos’s “bad guy” persona that fans love, or hate,
began on the first season of TUF, in which he was a contestant on. After the
show, that persona grew. He olds wins over Matt Hughes, Paul Daley, Anthony
Johnson and Sanchez.
Who will be the next winner of The Ultimate Fighter and will they have a career like one of these
five men? That’s tough to say. With every Griffin and Evans there are several
that get lost in the shuffle and never make it to the UFC.
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