Dana White Confident That 'The Ultimate Fighter' Will Be Back on TV

“The Ultimate Fighter” has been credited into turning MMA into what it is today, with the Season 1 light heavyweight final between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar seen as one of the key turning points in the history of the sport.

Almost a decade and a half later, the future of the venerable reality television appears to be in jeopardy, as “TUF” has been supplanted by Dana White's Contender Series as the marquee pipeline of new talent to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Poor ratings and a lack of interest ultimately led the UFC to put “TUF” on ice, but UFC President Dana White is confident it will make a return, as he claims it covers a particular niche in the sport that isn’t offered anywhere else.

During a media scrum on Tuesday, White said discussions have been ongoing to bring back the series given the promotion’s newly announced broadcast partnership with ESPN and Disney after the latest series aired in November 2018 (via MMAJunkie.com):

“I think we made some progress [on bringing ‘TUF’ back], but we’re still looking for where this thing is going to end up,” White said. “In a perfect world, I want ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ back on FX. In a perfect world, that would be awesome because FX is incredible. ESPN owns FX for those who don’t know.”

“The Ultimate Fighter” has produced a number of UFC champions since it aired including Season 1 winner Griffin, Season 2 winner Rashad Evans and Season 3 winner Michael Bisping.