TUF’s Top Seven Moments
The Top 3
Scott Holmes Apr 2, 2008
3. While technically not a complete TUF moment, watching Tito Ortiz (Pictures) and Ken Shamrock (Pictures) on Season 3 was like getting a
"Cliff Notes" version of the epic saga between these two.
Make no mistake, Shamrock is a legend. And with all respect to his skills, Ortiz's career can be traced by the times he has rattled Shamrock to the glee of the general public. It was hard to tell what motivated Shamrock to appear as a coach on the show. He seemed to lack any inspiration when it came to training the young fighters, and his style of speaking in hyperbole kept many of the contestants from connecting with him.
On the flip side, Ortiz seemed to be all about making his team
better. When he wasn't molding Matt Hamill (Pictures) into a future contender, he was
aping Shamrock in order to get under the older fighter's skin --
once again. When Shamrock finally decides to retire, Tito owes him
one of those 20-years-of-service gold watches that companies used
to hand out.
2. While most people enjoyed the skull-splitting backyard brawl between Marlon Sims (Pictures) and Noah Thomas (Pictures), nothing compared to Chris Leben (Pictures) in Season 1.
Leben woke with a roar and went on a rampage of destruction, punching out windows and breaking down doors in the house. It might have been bad for the sport, as they say, but God did it make for great reality TV. UFC or not, Leben secured his place on fight cards across the country for the rest of his life.
1. The No. 1 moment in TUF history was actually more momentous than all the editing, careful casting and contrived drama of all the seasons combined.
It's been said before that Dana White didn't really want to do the show. It was the Fertittas who thought something could be accomplished by creating the show, but no one would have ever guessed what would occur during the finale of Season 1.
Forrest Griffin (Pictures) and Stephan Bonnar (Pictures) made their way into that final match with the chance to fight live in front of a television audience comprised of plenty of new MMA fans. Fans both new and old weren't disappointed when they battled it out in one of the greatest fights of all time -- boxing or otherwise.
It wasn't the most technical of fights, but anyone who saw it was in awe of the heart that both Bonnar and Griffin showed while they wailed on each other in a match so close that White had to (shrewdly I might add) give them both a "six-figure" contract.
If the UFC were a calendar, consider Bonnar vs. Griffin to be the "A.D." mark. Sure, things happened before it, but that fight was the turning point in the sport's history.
Own a copy of the fourth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," which yielded a new UFC champion.
Make no mistake, Shamrock is a legend. And with all respect to his skills, Ortiz's career can be traced by the times he has rattled Shamrock to the glee of the general public. It was hard to tell what motivated Shamrock to appear as a coach on the show. He seemed to lack any inspiration when it came to training the young fighters, and his style of speaking in hyperbole kept many of the contestants from connecting with him.
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2. While most people enjoyed the skull-splitting backyard brawl between Marlon Sims (Pictures) and Noah Thomas (Pictures), nothing compared to Chris Leben (Pictures) in Season 1.
Leben is the TUF equivalent to Puck from "The Real World." He was
and always will be the ultimate star in that he pretty much stole
the show whenever he appeared on the screen -- for better or worse.
After Bobby Southworth
(Pictures) called him a bastard, he
then got a wet wakeup call by the same man and his nemesis,
Josh Koscheck
(Pictures), when they decided to hit
Leben with a hose while he slept his depression off outside.
Leben woke with a roar and went on a rampage of destruction, punching out windows and breaking down doors in the house. It might have been bad for the sport, as they say, but God did it make for great reality TV. UFC or not, Leben secured his place on fight cards across the country for the rest of his life.
1. The No. 1 moment in TUF history was actually more momentous than all the editing, careful casting and contrived drama of all the seasons combined.
It's been said before that Dana White didn't really want to do the show. It was the Fertittas who thought something could be accomplished by creating the show, but no one would have ever guessed what would occur during the finale of Season 1.
Forrest Griffin (Pictures) and Stephan Bonnar (Pictures) made their way into that final match with the chance to fight live in front of a television audience comprised of plenty of new MMA fans. Fans both new and old weren't disappointed when they battled it out in one of the greatest fights of all time -- boxing or otherwise.
It wasn't the most technical of fights, but anyone who saw it was in awe of the heart that both Bonnar and Griffin showed while they wailed on each other in a match so close that White had to (shrewdly I might add) give them both a "six-figure" contract.
If the UFC were a calendar, consider Bonnar vs. Griffin to be the "A.D." mark. Sure, things happened before it, but that fight was the turning point in the sport's history.
Own a copy of the fourth season of "The Ultimate Fighter," which yielded a new UFC champion.
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