The finale of the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter is going down Dec. 3 in Las Vegas. For the 20th and 21st times, Dana White will dole out the glass plaque and the vaunted “six-figure contract.” The evening’s headline fight features coaches Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller in a middleweight bout.
Now allow me to switch to the wider lens for a moment. This season will be the show’s last on Spike TV, as it will reportedly move to FX as part of the UFC’s blockbuster deal with Fox. Though you have to say that any show lasting 14 seasons is a major success, TUF’s ratings have been uneven through the years. FX will apparently spice up the show by adding more live fights and other bells and whistles, the eyeball-drawing power of which remains to be seen.
What is certain—and what I believe will always keep TUF relevant on some level—is the show’s ability to find and groom fighters who are actually viable at the UFC level.
Like reality juggernaut American Idol, TUF is only as legitimate as the winners it produces. If every TUF champ went down the tubes as quickly as he came up, it wouldn’t be compelling television. The stakes wouldn’t be “real.” Luckily for the show, then, plenty of TUF competitors have made their mark in the Octagon, and continue to do so to this day.
With that in mind, here’s a ranking of every TUF champ.