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QUOTABLES: Paul Heyman says he told Vince McMahon not to allow The Ultimate Fighter's first season to air after Monday Night Raw
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Aug 16, 2010 - 4:17:15 PM

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"I was there in the room when we decided whether to let The Ultimate Fighter come on after Monday Night Raw. They had the right to approve or decline any programming that followed them... I told [the WWE], they better not let [the UFC] on... Yeah, I'm the a--hole that almost turned it down... [I told Vince McMahon] you should be afraid of anything that will take away from your pay-per-view dollar. They are going to reach into your pocket, rip it open, and all those dollars are going to flow right there."

-Paul Heyman talks to Ariel Helwani on MMAFighting's The MMA Hour on how he almost sent the UFC on a different path by trying to get the WWE to not allow the airing of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter after Monday Night Raw.

Penick's Analysis: Well, if Vince had listened to Heyman, things might be very different for both companies here in 2010. The first season of TUF was the first in a number of things that turned the UFC around and turned them into the pay-per-view juggernaut they are today. And now, while the UFC is breaking pay-per-view records year after year, the WWE's pay-per-view business continues to decline. MMA fans everywhere can thank Vince McMahon if this anecdote is truthful, but in hindsight it may not have been the best move for the WWE.

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