Who would have thought TUF would one day overtake M*A*S*H?
I’d wager no one saw that coming back in 2005. Let’s travel back in time, shall we? On the big screen, the Sith was exacting his revenge, young Harry Potter was sneaking swigs from the Goblet of Fire, and Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson introduced audiences everywhere to the Stage 5 Clinger.
Meanwhile, on the small screen, in an overlooked corner of the basic cable universe, a little revolution was beginning.
Fifteen seasons, 240 fighters, very few format changes and one network relocation later, The Ultimate Fighter—the first vehicle to bring mixed martial arts to the water cooler—is still kicking along (and holding its own in the ratings department).
And though it has a ways to go to catch the venerable M*A*S*H in years on the air and the ratings scale, it has already outlasted the long-running sitcom if you’re scoring by seasons.
I don’t know about you, but to me, it never gets old. I love watching fights with no background noise except the coaches and teammates. And I admit it: I like the action in the house, too. No matter how predictable it is, I never tire of watching the house gadfly finally get charged, with everyone holding the guy back and shouting things like, “Don’t let him take your dreams, man! You hit him, he wins!” Great stuff.
So in honor of the most real of reality shows, here are the 25 best fighters to graduate from the TUF house.