“Do people even watch this?”
“This show is still on?”
Those are the most common refrains from MMA fans on social media at whenever a new season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) launches.
TUF was a Trojan horse onto television for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in its first season and consistently producing a number of popular, successful fighters over the first several years. But fans and media started turning on the reality TV competition when each new season felt more similar to the last and the level of competitors graduating to the UFC from the show was viewed as declining.
Following a brief hiatus, TUF returned last fall on ESPN+ and the 30th season wraps this weekend with the finals of the heavyweight and flyweight tournaments taking place on Saturday’s main card.
And while plenty of people we’re paying attention and were incredulous about those that were, the fact of the matter is this weekend’s matchups are competitive fights between athletes that should enjoy lengthy careers inside the UFC cage and reports of The Ultimate Fighter’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
TUF 30 FINALES
Mohammad Usman vs. Zac Pauga
Usman is the younger brother of reigning welterweight champ Kamaru Usman, who also matriculated to the UFC through The Ultimate Fighter, winning Season 21 of the series, and looking to follow in his big brother’s footsteps.
Pauga is a former NFL running back for the Houston Texans who got a relatively late start in MMA, but has wasted no time establishing himself as someone to watch.
The first two heavyweight picks of Julianna Pena, this is the finals matchup the now former bantamweight champion envisioned when giving her thoughts on the semifinal pairings, and should be a good indicator of where each man stands as they look to start their UFC journeys.
Pauga, who has previously competed at light heavyweight, appears to have the greater upside of the two, showcasing good speed and movement, plus enough pop and pressure to be an intriguing addition to either division going forward. But Usman should stick around too, and remains someone that feels on the cusp of breaking through, although it’s felt that way for some time now.
Brogan Walker vs. Juliana Miller
The 33-year-old Walker has nine professional fights heading into this weekend but feels like a seasoned vet as she’s taken on current and former UFC talents like Miranda Maverick, Pearl Gonzalez, and Erin Blanchfield in the past.
Just three fights into her pro career, Miller is the quintessential prospect to come through TUF in recent years — a bundle of raw potential in need of experience and refinement, but showing enough promise to make you very interested in seeing where her career may go.
Walker, who suffered a knee injury while in the house, squeaked out a win over Hannah Guy in the quarterfinals before dominating Laura Gallardo in the semis, while Miller rallied to avenge her previous loss to Claire Guthrie in her first outing before submitting Katlyin Neil to advance to Saturday’s finals.
Like their male counterparts, both Walker and Miller profile as fighters that fit on the UFC roster right now — the former as a battle-tested, well-rounded veteran and the latter as a high upside prospect — and at the end of the day, isn’t that the point of this whole exercise?
STILL CHURNING OUT TALENT
The earlier seasons of The Ultimate Fighter are remembered fondly because four champions, a few contenders, and a handful of tenured talents found their way onto the UFC roster in those initial years. The same goes for a couple seasons in the mid-teens, which introduced audiences to fighters like Tony Ferguson, T.J. Dillashaw, John Dodson, Michael Chiesa, Uriah Hall, and Kelvin Gastelum.
Season 20 saw the introduction of a new weight class — the 115-pound strawweight division — with Carla Esparza becoming the inaugural champion by defeating Rose Namajunas in the finals. Other cast members from that season that have enjoyed (or are still enjoying) lengthy careers in the UFC include Randa Markos, Joanne Wood (nee Calderwood), Angela Hill, Tecia Torres, Jessica Penne, and Felice Herrig.
Make no mistake about it: the first 20 seasons produced a ton of tenured talent and a number of fighters that became household names and fan favorites, but it’s not like things have completely fallen off a cliff over the last 10 seasons either.
While the overall number of fighters to enjoy extended runs on the UFC roster may not be as great in recent years, the overall quality might actually be better.
As mentioned earlier, current welterweight champ and pound-for-pound great Kamaru Usman broke into the UFC via Season 21 of The Ultimate Fighter, as did Top 10 welterweight Vicente Luque, who fights this weekend against Geoff Neal in an absolute must-see matchup.
Tatiana Suarez stormed through the competition on Season 23 and seemed destined to challenge for championship gold, rattling off four straight wins including a dominant finish of Esparza, before injuries derailed her promising career.
Season 24 saw flyweight champions from around the globe compete in a tournament to earn a championship opportunity against then champion Demetrious Johnson. Tim Elliott won the competition and has remained a ranked fighter since, while the cast also included Matt Schnell and a trio of top talents that just competed last weekend at UFC 277: Alexandre Pantoja, and interim title fight combatants Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France.
Lauren Murphy, Roxanne Modafferi, Sijara Eubanks, Montana De La Rosa, and Gillian Robertson all graduated from Season 26, bantamweight prospect Kyler Phillips and Top 15 featherweight Bryce Mitchell were a part of the Season 27 cast, while Season 28 finalists Macy Chiasson and Pannie Kianzad continue to have success inside the Octagon to this day.
That’s 11 fighters currently ranked in the Top 15 in their respective divisions, which doesn’t account for Suarez or Modafferi, who maintained a ranking in the flyweight division right up until she retired earlier this year.
And that doesn’t account for others like Ryan Hall, Khalil Rountree Jr., or JJ Aldrich who have all remained on the UFC roster since their time on the long-running reality competition, never mind the five fighters from last season that are now in the early stages of their respective UFC careers.
Sure, the whole “watch people train and have issues with one another in the house” dynamic of the seasons may not be as exhilarating as it once was to some viewers, but TUF is still producing quality UFC talent, even at a time all these years later where the number of organizations and outfits competing to sign these fighters.
Because that’s the other part of it: when The Ultimate Fighter started, there weren’t several other promotions pushing to ink emerging competitors that could help fill out its roster, with one or two maybe developing into something special.
But now the UFC is competing with Bellator and PFL in North America, Cage Warriors and KSW in Europe, One Championship in Asia, while many fighters are less inclined to go the TUF route, and yet without fail, each season continues to send at least a couple quality fighters on to join the UFC roster.
It may not be anywhere near as popular as it once was, and the graduates might not be ascending to the levels of a Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping, or Nathan Diaz, but the numbers don’t lie: The Ultimate Fighter is still a reliable source of fresh talent for the UFC and this weekend’s finalists will continue to prove that point in the not too distant future.
