("Congrats buddy, here’s your piece of jagged f*cking glass." Photo courtesy of UFC.com)
MMA Junkie reported yesterday that TUF 11 winner Court McGee will return to the Octagon at UFC 121 (October 23rd, Anaheim) against Ryan Jensen. In doing so, the well-bearded Utah native follows a proud tradition of Ultimate Fighter winners who take on middling veterans directly after winning their six-figure contracts, and beat them (most of the time) before eventually dropping in weight (some of the time). As a helpful reference, we decided to put together a timeline of those first post-TUF fights, as well as some relevant statistics. Starting at the beginning…
Season 1 light-heavyweight winner: Forrest Griffin
First post-TUF opponent: Bill Mahood (0-0 in the UFC at the time)
Result: Griffin via submission (rear-naked choke), round 1
Is Mahood still in the UFC? No, the fight against Griffin was Mahood’s only Octagon appearance.
Does Griffin still compete at light-heavyweight? Yes
Season 1 middleweight winner: Diego Sanchez
First post-TUF opponent: Brian Gassaway (0-0 in the UFC at the time)
Result: Sanchez via submission (strikes), round 2
Is Gassaway still in the UFC? No, the fight against Sanchez was Gassaway’s only Octagon appearance.
Does Sanchez still compete at middleweight? No. Sanchez immediately dropped to welterweight after the show, and has spent the majority of his UFC career there.