With the UFC having now secured a new broadcasting deal with ESPN from 2019 onwards, Dana White recently admitted that ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ show may finally be on its way out after a 27season series run.
As such, now seems like a good time to take a look back at what has become of every single one of the long-running show’s 35 ‘Ultimate Fighter’ winners to date.
Find out what your favorite past winners of TUF are up to now:
SEASON 1
Diego Sanchez
It’s a testament to Diego Sanchez’s durability that 13 years after winning TUF season 1 he remains the only fighter from that historic series to still be actively competing in the UFC, having amassed 27 fights (16-11) to date.
However, after suffering back-to-back first-round knockouts in his last two fights, it’s possible that the 36-year-old’s memorable career is now entering its final stages, though Sanchez has assured his fans that, “I’m not done yet.”
Forrest Griffin
Arguably TUF’s most iconic winner, Griffin’s fight with Stephan Bonner in the Season 1 finale was declared as the most important fight in UFC history by Dana White, while he’d also go on to win the light-heavyweight title too.
Griffin retired in 2013 at the age of 33 due to chronic injuries, but he’s since been inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame and now works for the UFC as their Vice President of Athletic Development.
Light heavyweight contender Corey Anderson was scheduled to take on Patrick Cummins in just a few weeks at UFC 217, but Cummins was recently forced to withdraw from the bout after suffering a staph infection. Anderson, however, will remain on the card, as former interim title challenger Ovince Saint Preux has signed on to replace […]
Light heavyweight contender Corey Anderson was scheduled to take on Patrick Cummins in just a few weeks at UFC 217, but Cummins was recently forced to withdraw from the bout after suffering a staph infection.
Anderson, however, will remain on the card, as former interim title challenger Ovince Saint Preux has signed on to replace Cummins according to a report from Newsday.
Saint Preux took to Twitter earlier today (Oct. 19, 2017) to express his interest in fighting Anderson, and he’s apparently gotten what he’s asked for.
“Hey Corey, looks like you lost your partner & I’m sitting here without a fight, Nov. 4 I’m your guy,” he tweeted.
After losing three consecutive bouts to the likes of Jon Jones, Jimi Manuwa and Volkan Oezdemir, Saint Preux has recently bounced back, picking up back-to-back victories over Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Yushin Okami.
Anderson, on the other hand, has won four of his last six fights, but he most recently suffered a knockout loss to Manuwa last March.
UFC 217, which is set to take place on Nov. 4, 2017 at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City, will play host to three title fights.
In the main event, middleweight champion Michael Bisping will take on Georges St. Pierre. Cody Garbrandt will put his bantamweight title on the line against TJ Dillashaw in the main event, and strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk will take on Rose Namajunas on the main card as well.
Corey Anderson isn’t happy to hear the news of Patrick Cummins’ staph infection. Cummins recently said he has a “mutant” staph infection on his foot. As a result, the light heavyweight said he is forced to pull out of his bout at UFC 217 with Anderson. The bout was set to take place inside Madison […]
Corey Anderson isn’t happy to hear the news of Patrick Cummins’ staph infection. Cummins recently said he has a “mutant” staph infection on his foot. As a result, the light heavyweight said he is forced to pull out of his bout at UFC 217 with Anderson. The bout was set to take place inside Madison […]
Slow and steady wins the race for Corey Anderson. Anderson has time on his side. With 12 professional mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts and hitting the age of 28 in September, “Overtime” doesn’t have to worry about the clock as much as older competition do. With so much going for him, Anderson is using that […]
Slow and steady wins the race for Corey Anderson. Anderson has time on his side. With 12 professional mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts and hitting the age of 28 in September, “Overtime” doesn’t have to worry about the clock as much as older competition do. With so much going for him, Anderson is using that […]
No one can dispute that 2017 has been a down year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship thus far. There have been a few bright spots like UFC 211 and the highly anticipated battle between Jose Aldo and Max Holloway at UFC 212, but they largely been overshadowed by mediocre Fight Night cards, some with head […]
No one can dispute that 2017 has been a down year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship thus far.
There have been a few bright spots like UFC 211 and the highly anticipated battle between Jose Aldo and Max Holloway at UFC 212, but they largely been overshadowed by mediocre Fight Night cards, some with head scratching main events.
Things are finally looking up with the McGregor vs. Mayweather super-fight getting finalized. Next month’s UFC 213 also looks outstanding, with two title fights and a bevy of other exciting scraps.
But before the good times start rolling again, there will be another entry to the crappy event list added this weekend. With that in mind, let’s look back at the eight worst bookings of 2017 so far.
1. UFC Fight Night 103: Penn vs. Rodriguez
No list of cringe-worthy bookings would be complete without the epic mismatch between dynamic rising featherweight star Yair Rodriguez and all-time great BJ Penn. The two were set to do battle at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 15, but it wasn’t much of a fight.
Penn was making his return to fighting after a two-and-a-half-year retirement, taking his second-ever fight at featherweight. Various opponent switches, injuries, and suspensions delayed his return by nearly a year, and left him with “Pantera” as his comeback foe. Rodriguez, meanwhile, was undefeated in the UFC and regarded as one of the most promising prospects in the 145-pound division.
Penn looked better initially than he had in his last fight, an embarrassing and perplexing third loss to Frankie Edgar. But the positives wouldn’t last long. The high-flying “Pantera” hurt Penn with a kick to the body in the first round that seemed to sap the Hawaiian’s resolve. Free to unleash the full breadth of his arsenal, Rodriguez teed off, nearly finishing Penn at the end of the frame.
He would mop up Penn early in the second. Another kick dropped “The Prodigy”, and Rodriguez finished him off with ground and pound. The victory gave the exciting young Mexican the most high-profile scalp of his career but did little to test him. It also served as a humiliating setback for Penn. It was a predictable outcome that nevertheless did little to elevate either fighter, more sad than anything else.
2. UFC 208: Holm vs. De Randamie
The premiere MMA organization’s debut in Brooklyn was supposed to be a watershed moment for New York MMA and the UFC. Instead, it was a roundly mocked debacle.
With Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey on the sidelines for 2017, the UFC needed (and still needs) all of the star power it can acquire or manufacture. One star that had shown promise as a draw, particularly in her native Brazil, was Cris “Cyborg” Justino. The former Strikeforce and Invicta FC featherweight champion had two catchweight bouts in the UFC, winning each by first-round knockout, and the company planned to launch its own women’s 145-pound division to showcase her talents.
But negotiations with the cagey “Cyborg” broke down, with the Brazilian insisting that she would not be ready to fight on the Brooklyn card. Frustrated with Justino, and needing a headliner for the pay-per-view (PPV) UFC 208, the UFC brass decided to move forward with their featherweight plans without her.
Enter former bantamweight champion Holly Holm and fellow kickboxing champ Germaine de Randamie. The UFC hoped to cash in on the notoriety Holm still possessed following her earth-shattering knockout of Rousey, despite the fact that she had lost two straight since. De Randamie had little star power of her own. She simply had the good fortune of being a big bantamweight coming off a win with a striking-oriented style that would (in theory) provide a favorable matchup for Holm.
Fans and pundits jeered the fight and the card in general. A UFC women’s featherweight championship fight that did not involve “Cyborg” was laughable; the winner would never be regarded as the best 145er with Justino still lurking.
The fight and its aftermath only served to intensify the mockery. De Randamie won a controversial decision marred by multiple fouls for striking Holm after the bell, fouls that were not punished by the referee. She has since ducked and then flat out refused to accept “Cyborg” has her first challenger, risking having the belt stripped.
With every decision comes a consequence and for those fighters who took part in battle at UFC Fight Night 107, it’s their time to faces those consequences in the form of medical suspensions. Some of the more notable suspensions include Corey Anderson, Teemu Packalen, and Lina Lansberg being suspended for 60 days while Francimar Barroso,
With every decision comes a consequence and for those fighters who took part in battle at UFC Fight Night 107, it’s their time to faces those consequences in the form of medical suspensions.
Some of the more notable suspensions include Corey Anderson, Teemu Packalen, and Lina Lansberg being suspended for 60 days while Francimar Barroso, Brad Scott, and Scott Askham were suspended for 180 days. Here are the entire medical suspensions:
Corey Anderson: suspended 60 days with no contact during training for 45 days for precautionary reasons
Alan Jouban: suspended 30 days with no contact during training for 21 days for precautionary reasons
Brad Pickett: suspended 30 days with no contact during training for 21 days for precautionary reasons
Makwan Amirkhani: suspended 30 days with no contact during training for 21 days for precautionary reasons
Joseph Duffy: suspended 30 days with no contact during training for 21 days (cleared of a possible right-foot injury after event)
Reza Madadi: suspended 30 days with no contact during training for 21 days due to a forehead laceration
Francimar Barroso: suspended 180 days due to a left-foot injury, though a doctor can clear him early; regardless, suspended 30 days with no contact during training for 21 days due to a right-eyebrow laceration
Timothy Johnson: suspended 30 days with no contact during training for 21 days for precautionary reasons
Daniel Omielanczuk: suspended 30 days with no contact during training for 21 days for precautionary reasons
Vicente Luque: suspended 30 days with no contact during training for 21 days for precautionary reasons
Teemu Packalen: suspended 60 days with no contact during training for 45 days for precautionary reasons (cleared of a possible head injury after event)
Brad Scott: suspended 180 days due to a left-shoulder injury, though a doctor can clear him early; regardless
Scott Askham: suspended 180 days due to a right-leg injury, though a doctor can clear him early; regardless, suspended 30 days with no contact during training for 21 days for precautionary reasons
Lina Lansberg: suspended 60 days with no contact during training for 45 days for precautionary reasons (cleared of possible head and face injuries)
Lucie Pudilova: suspended 30 days with no contact during training for 21 days for precautionary reasons
