With Carla Esparza winning the inaugural UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship on Friday, the UFC put a close on their 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter. The reality show began in 2005 and is believed to be a huge factor in the UFC becoming some-what mainstream, now showing fights on FOX and signing a major sponsorship deal with Reebok.
The series has drawn criticism for staying around too long and not creating new stars. Gone are the days of original season where half of the fighters became instantly recognizable to even the most casual MMA fan. The original Ultimate Fighter was a whole different animal, and as these statistics will show, only one other season of The Ultimate Fighter has what it takes to match the success of the season that saved the sport.
For season by season statistics, including individual fighter records, click here.
*Note: The following statistics are for the American version of The Ultimate Fighter and do not include spin-offs (TUF Brazil, TUF Nations, etc.)*
Comparing Seasons of The Ultimate Fighter
Those are a lot of numbers, but what do they all really mean? Let’s take a closer look at what is probably the most important statistic on the chart, the wins and the losses (sorted by winning percentage).
As we can see, the stats are just a little bit skewed due to the more recent seasons of the reality show. If we take out the last three seasons, then we are left with a more accurate indicator of success.
Best Seasons of The Ultimate Fighter
As mentioned already, there will never be another season like TUF 1. Both TUF 7 and TUF 5 came close, with the likes of Gray Maynard, Matt Wiman, Nate Diaz, Cole Miller, CB Dolloway, Matthew Riddle and Matt Brown coming out of TUF with great UFC records.
Unfortunately for those seasons, they will end up falling a little bit short as neither season has a championship or more than 6 active UFC fighters.
The season with the most potential is TUF 14. Even though the season holds a lower winning percentage than the more recent TUF 17, TUF 14 holds the most recorded wins for a post TUF 10 season, has 10 current fighters on the UFC roster, as well has the only TUF competitor to win and defend a UFC Championship belt, TJ Dillashaw.
Worst Seasons of The Ultimate Fighter
Many criticized the new seasons of TUF for the lack of successful fighters. From what the statistics show, some of the older seasons of the show ended up doing poorly as well.
TUF 6, TUF 9 and TUF 16 will go down as the worst seasons in TUF history for many reasons. All three seasons ended up with losing UFC records, TUF 6 & TUF 9 have only one fighter remaining in the UFC while TUF 16 has only three (a record low for post TUF 14 seasons).
All three of these seasons failed to get a fighter to a UFC title shot. Even worse, three of the four champions from those TUF seasons exited the UFC with an even or losing record. Ross Pearson was the lone the exception of the four (and the only current UFC fighter from TUF 9).
TUF 4 does have the record for the most UFC losses but the season did have a champion in Matt Serra, meaning the season had a more successful fighter than most do. TUF 8 and TUF 12 did have losing records but both seasons have active fighters in the UFC rankings (Ryan Bader and Michael Johnson).
Has TUF Been Successful?
Success has many different meanings. When looking at TUF as a way to create guaranteed champions, then the series falls short. If you look at the series as a way for up and coming fighters to make their way into the UFC, then the show has been very successful.
TUF fighters have combined to fight 1333 UFC fights and there are currently 100 TUF fighters on the UFC’s roster. TUF fighters have been involved in 21 UFC title fights with 5 UFC Champions emerging from the 20 seasons.
The UFC has yet to indicate if there will be a 21st season of The Ultimate Fighter. If the series were to end after 20 seasons, than the UFC can take pride in what a lot of the fighters who made their debut on TUF accomplished.
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