THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER
In 2005, Dana White pitched a reality show idea to Chuck. “The Ultimate Fighter” pitted 16 contenders trying to make it in to the UFC. They all lived, ate and trained together, and each episode climaxed with a fight, sending the loser home. The eventual winner in each weight class received a pro contract. There would be no votes, immunity or backstabbing. Everything would be settled in the ring. With head coaches Chuck and Randy Couture scheduled for a rubber match shortly after the series finale, this would be the perfect lead up. This was a no brainer, right?
There was just one problem. Nobody wanted to make it.
At this time, the UFC was still unproven. While Pay–Per–View buys had been accelerating, the sport had lost $50 million dollars in the last three years. The sport was still not sanctioned in the vast majority of the 50 states. Networks were overwhelmingly afraid to air a show Senator John McCain had just described as “human cockfighting.” But Dana believed that “The Ultimate Fighter” would finally legitimize the sport as a group of elite athletes and gambled $10 million dollars of his own money to produce it.
Fighters live to the extreme and these contenders were no exception. Most of the participants in the first season went on to compete regularly in the UFC. To ratchet up tension in the house, Dana stripped the fighters of any form of entertainment but provided plenty of liquor. The rookies were forced to entertain themselves:
