Press Release – Las Vegas, Nevada (Sept. 20, 2012) – Have you ever wondered what life was like in The Ultimate Fighter® house? Wondered what it’s like to be one of 16 guys, with no contact with the outside world, sleeping in twin beds, training twice daily and competing with your housemates to reach the same dream? Well, we followed up with the cast of The Ultimate Fighter® Fridays, which airs Friday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX, to get their thoughts on life in the TUF™ house after week one. Here’s what they had to say:
TEAM CARWIN
Sam Alvey (@Smilensam)
“Week one of the TUF house was a lot like when Luke first met Yoda; excited to learn but really looking past that to becoming the TUF Fridays champ.”
Bristol Marunde (@bristolmarunde)
“I went from owning my own business, a big house, a king size bed to a bunk-bed and a house full of crazy fighters. I’m back in college!!!!”
Mike Ricci (@MikeyRicci)
“The first week was ‘tuf’ adjusting to the new location and schedule but things got easier from then on.”
Neil Magny (@neilmagny)
“The first week living in the TUF house was great. I was so happy that I was able to make it this far, after being turned away so many times before. Making it into the house was the biggest accomplishment I had in my MMA career yet. I also thought the house was amazing. For the first time in my life I had a hot tub/pool in my backyard and everything I could possibly want in the kitchen.”
James Chaney (@jameschaneymma)
“When initially going into the TUF house everybody was overjoyed. Flying high on our fresh victories, it was a rush picking the beds and raiding the massive fridge and pantry, the reality setting in that we had really made it, we were really there! The house itself was so massive! I constantly found myself discovering bizarre new things: Greek statues, koi ponds, samurai statues, and all sorts of bizarre locked rooms. I’m reasonably sure somewhere within that property is a path to Narnia or Hogwarts or something. For most, the joy of victory and the luster of the house was dulled within the week as fight picks loomed and the seriousness of our circumstances was realized.”
Eddy Ellis (@fasteddyellis)
“My feelings about the first week of The Ultimate Fighter house were mixed, the first part of the week I was just excited to be there. By the end of the first week I thought WHAT DID I GET MYSELF IN TO? Five and half more weeks in that place was a LONG-time away!”
Igor Araujo (@igoraraujojj)
“The war has started, amazing room, amazing house, 15 more crazy guys who want to see my head on the ground. I am sleeping in the same room as James Chaney and Julian Lane, will I survive in this adventure?”
Matt Secor (@secormatthew)
“I figured I wasn’t going to make any friends in the house and stay to myself, until our first Team Carwin practice. Then I knew I was going to be on a team that would stick together throughout the whole season.”
TEAM NELSON
Dom Waters (@shonuff89)
“My first week in the TUF house I felt like I was on cloud nine it was just the highest of highs to be walking around that house, just wow.”
Michael Hill (@mmamike)
“I made it, I’m finally here, and now it’s time to get to work. Mooooortal Kooooombat!!! This house is huge, bed’s are very unpleasant, is this jail? I could get used to this grocery list thing, might start using this back home. Cameras are even in the washroom??? Holy shit this is going to be serious.”
Cameron Diffley (@camerondiffley)
“The first week was pretty tame in the house compared to the rest of the season. Everyone was getting to know each other, getting used to their teams training schedule and getting used to living in the TUF house.”
Colton Smith (@coltonsmithmma)
“Being Active Duty Army for the past seven years has ingrained my mind into a certain schedule and habit. That was all shook up when I was put in the TUF house and that was the first of many obstacles I had to overcome being in the house with 15 other warriors.”
Jon Manley (@jonmanleymma)
“The first week in the house seemed crazy. We had to win a fight to get in the house. Pick teams, train and then we were right back into fighting. It was a high stress situation, not knowing who or when you are going to fight. The house was sick and plenty of free food.”
Nic Herron-Webb (@NaptimeNic)
“It was such a crazy experience. I’m stuck in a house with 15 other guys that I don’t know, and we are all out for the same thing. There is bound to be heartbreak, and lots of trouble. Bring it on!!”
Joey Rivera (@joeyboomboom)
“The first week at the house was tough being away from my friends and family, but I had fun meeting the guys and ‘experiencing’ all the different personalities. I knew then it was going to be a wild six weeks.”
Julian Lane (@julianlanemma)
“I really didn’t know what to think, but just go with it. I was ecstatic by the mansion, and knowing I had to live there for six weeks with 15 other fighters made my adrenaline pumped. All I could think about was how crazy everyone will be after the first week when we all get comfortable.”
The series resumes Friday, September 21, on FX at 10 p.m. ET/PT (check local listings for Central and Mountain Time) with the second episode of its 12-week run.
For more show information, bios, videos and photos, visit ultimatefighter.com and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter under our new name @TUFonFX or on Facebook.com/TUF.
About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Universally recognized for its action-packed, can’t-miss events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the globe, the UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto and Beijing, UFC produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest Pay-Per-View event provider in the world. In 2011, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX properties FX and FUEL TV. This also includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, which now airs on FX.
In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 149 countries and territories, to nearly one billion homes worldwide, in 20 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and in French throughout Quebec via Interbox. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with over two million followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC businesses include best-selling DVDs, an internationally distributed magazine, UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, the best-selling UFC Undisputed® video game franchise distributed by THQ, and a new franchise in development with EA, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.
FX
FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable network from Fox. Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in more than 98 million homes. The diverse schedule features a growing roster of critically acclaimed and award-winning hit dramas series Sons of Anarchy and Justified; the miniseries American Horror Story, which earned 17 primetime Emmy® Awards, tying for the most nominations of any program this year and the most nominations for a miniseries in basic cable history; the acclaimed hit comedy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League, Louie, Archer, Wilfred, Legit, BrandX with Russell Brand, and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. The network’s library of acquired box-office hit movies is unmatched by any ad-supported television network. FX’s other offerings include the acquired hit series Two and a Half Men and How I Met Your Mother, and live sports with UFC and NCAA football.