The Ultimate Fighter turns 20: UFC's signature show's new season stars coaches Cormier, Sonnen
The fight between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar has been mythologized for 20 years as the one that saved UFC. The spectacular, bloody brawl so masterful — the main event on the first season of a new reality show, aired live on Spike TV — that UFC soon skyrocketed from a weakened MMA promotion potentially on the brink of new ownership into a sports and pop culture phenomenon.
(And yes, a billion-dollar empire.)
It's billed as the fight that forever changed UFC.
Right?
'The whole thing is complete BS but I'm happy to play along,' retired UFC fighter and noted trash-talker Chael Sonnen said. 'It does get too much credit. It didn't change the world just because it was on Spike TV.'
Hold up, former UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier would like a word.
'I don't think it gets enough credit for what it did to the sport,' Cormier said. 'I watched that as a wrestler and I knew that I was watching something happen. I didn't know what it was. But it was something.'
The two can debate the fight's spot in MMA history all they want — Griffin won the decision, but the viral attention gained by the highly entertaining bout is widely credited with exposing the little-known sport to a larger worldwide audience — since the verbal sparring is part of each fighter's appeal.
What neither can deny is how the show responsible for the fight — 'The Ultimate Fighter' — has become a UFC staple and is widely regarded as one essential in the survival and eventual expansion of UFC.
'I don't know why they ever let this be called a reality show,' Sonnen said. 'I really do feel it's a miss. This is a documentation of the toughest tournament in all of sport. You will not find a harder sports process anywhere, aside from possibly the Olympic Games.'
Cormier and Sonnen returned as coaches in the show more commonly known as TUF's 20th anniversary year. Though the show debuted on Jan. 17, 2005, UFC counts 31 seasons of the show that has launched prospects such as Griffin and Rose Namajunas into future champions.
'The Ultimate Fighter' — which airs Tuesday nights on ESPN and ESPN-plus — features Cormier and Sonnen coaching 16 men's flyweight and welterweight prospects that live and train together in Las Vegas with the winner (and sometimes the losers) earning a UFC contract.
While the coaches often fight at the end of each season, Cormier and Sonnen are both retired and have shifted into broadcasting and their 'Good Guy/Bad Guy' podcast.
'The show is about the guys,' Cormier said. 'Chael and I not fighting doesn't take away from that because I think ultimately the experience for the athlete is going to be better. We aren't fighting. We can compete against each other and make them do the fighting. They ultimately do take the spotlight and it's on them, as it's supposed to be.'
Sonnen coached against Wanderlei Silva and again against UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones in 2013 and was soundly defeated by the champ. Cormier was the UFC light heavyweight champion when he agreed to coach against heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in 2017. Cormier would go on to defeat Miocic at UFC 226 and became only the second fighter to be champion in two divisions simultaneously.
The move worked out for Cormier. Not so much for his students.
'They either had to do what I was doing to keep up in most instances or it felt like a failure,' Cormier said. 'They were getting hurt. They were overtraining them. When you're an athlete, you've got to be selfish. While I was still in the show, I was worried about fighting Stipe Miocic and winning the heavyweight championship. This time, I don't have that. I can literally just coach and give them my all as a coach.'
Cormier wins the coin flip
Cormier won a coin flip and drafted first last week in the first episode and picked Brazilian fighter Eduardo Henrique. Sonnen would draft Diego Bianchini — a fighter appropriately known as 'The Brazilian Bad Boy.'
'Once you get inside here,' UFC President Dana White told the fight prospects, 'this competition is an absolute pressure cooker. But don't forget why you came here and what the prize is at the end of this.'
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Cormier was surely glad more fights and episodes are ahead — Henrique was choked out by Sonnen's Joseph Morales.
The days of having to save UFC are long over. The thrill of winning TUF and earning that contract continue into the show's next decade.
'That ending still feels special,' Cormier said. 'You win the tournament, you get a contract. That's what makes 'The Ultimate Fighter' work. That's why it's worked for 20 years.'
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