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By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist The latest edition of Spike TV's hit reality show "The Ultimate Fighter" is less than a week away, and part of the programming in the days leading up to the new season includes a reunion of the most prominent fighters from season one. Josh Koscheck, Chris Leben, Bobby Southworth, Mike Swick, Nate Quarry, Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar,Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian were brought in to look back fondly on the show that made all of them household names among MMA fans and is widely credited for keeping UFC in business and putting MMA on the map in mainstream America.
Joe Rogan presided over the event and Dana White served as the host for what was to be a three hour taping for Spike. Parts will air during the marathon airing of season one episodes which begins at 9am on Saturday September 13, 2008. Clips from this reunion will be inserted into the episodes and will allow fans to take a look back and see how far these fighters have come, as well as getting their perspective on the show and answering some questions that many have wondered the answers to. This was a great idea and it has provoked me to look back on the season, as well as the concept of the show in general, and address a few things relating to everything good and bad in regards to "The Ultimate Fighter".
Much like many of you, I was seated firmly on my couch in anticipation of the first episode of the first season; and since I didn't know what to expect, I was able to watch this without prejudice. When you consider all of the horrendous offerings of reality television that had been served up to the viewing audience, it really is a blessing that this one saw the light of day and was even given the chance.
The Fertitta brothers had experienced the reality show genre for themselves by way of “American Casino,” which focused on the daily goings on of their Green Valley Ranch Casino resort and originally aired on the Discovery Channel. With this in mind, the brothers decided that a series where a bunch of fighters live in the same house and fight to eliminate the others would be a way to get on television and promote their company. The company at the time desperately needed to turn things around or face shutting down for good.
The brothers were $34 million deep into the UFC with nothing to show for it and this was an idea that was going to make them or officially break them as a fight promotion. They pitched this idea to every network and were treated as if they were Tommy Callahan and Richard Hayden from ‘Tommy Boy’ attempting to sell them on some auto parts. They then turned their focus on Spike which was the only channel gearing their program towards the very audience that Frank and Lorenzo felt could become their audience, if only they were exposed to the product.
The Fertittas agreed to put up the $10 million cost of the show so that Spike could simply air the program. January 18, 2005 was to be the first day of the rest of the UFC’s life, and here we are heading into the fall of 2008 with some of the biggest days in UFC history on the horizon. Before we look at Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture, the two men headlining the much anticipated UFC 91, we have to look back at the sixteen men who joined Couture along with Chuck Liddell as part of that one little reality show that made all of this possible.
Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell brought more than legitimacy to this show from the beginning as these are two of the most celebrated and skilled fighters in the short history of MMA in America; and having these men coach the teams was one of the best decisions the company could have possibly made. Right off the bat this show was bringing more than just some fluff reality program to the airwaves, and it let us know that this was going to end with two men being more than capable of stepping into the Octagon.
Even if you weren’t a fan of MMA or the UFC before and had decided to tune in, you knew this was for real and not a joke. Now, I cringe at the memories of the challenges and Chuck Liddell being carried while seated atop a recliner by members of his team as they raced against the others; but aside from the “Survivor” moments such as these, this show was all about fighting both inside the Octagon and inside the house where they lived for the duration of the competition. Competition this was as these men fought for the chance to be a part of the UFC, and even more importantly, for the chance to actually make fighting their full time vocation.
Fatherless bastard, flawless victory, cat smasher, and spritz; do these words bring back memories? While most would read the aforementioned list and imagine they are bands on MySpace or clothing lines sold at Hot Topic, these are some of the first things that come to mind when I look back on the drama that unfolded inside the house for the combatants.
The first memory many of us have is one of Chris Leben drinking like a spring breaker in Cancun and declaring that he was the best fighter of the whole lot. We all realize that Leben didn’t put his best foot forward and that maybe this wasn’t the best way to present a group of athletes to the world to represent a sport that was deemed to be “human cockfighting,” but this is what made everyone stop and call someone else into the room to see just what in the hell was happening on Spike TV.
From “human cockfighting” to drunk off of “Fighting Cock” this was Chris Leben talking about putting the stamp on everyone, and clearly putting a bull’s-eye upon himself. Leben drank seemingly everyone under the table and was still raging long after the others had decided to go to bed. At this point is when he performed the act that just shocked about everyone who was watching; he “spritzed” Jason Thacker’s bed pillows with streams of urine while laughing maniacally like one of those Calvin stickers from the back of a pickup truck coming to life.
Leben had already taken the time to give the very shy and awkward Thacker the nickname of “Strange Brew,” in reference to the comedy film about the McKenzie brothers from Canada, and this was icing on the cake; or rather piss on the pillows as he finished off the public humiliation with a grand display of disrespect. Immediately you either loved to watch this guy or you wanted to watch this guy get beaten up, unlike every other reality show this was something that was really going to happen and this is what brought this show to life. The next day Leben worked out for the first time on nearly no sleep at all and proved to be a machine as he performed even better than those who didn’t really party all that much. Chris Leben was officially the Wildman of this show and would prove to earn this title based on all that was still to happen in the weeks to come.
When Bobby Southworth called Chris Leben a “fatherless bastard,” this would prove to be a moment in which four men established themselves in the mind of every viewer, and not all would prove to be something less than stellar. The man who came out of this earning a world of respect was Nate Quarry, as he consoled Chris and diffused the situation with rational thinking and mature behavior, which was in great contrast to most of the goings on in regards to how the fighters treated each other.
Quarry cajoled Leben into separating himself from the target of his rage and Chris decided to sleep on the lawn inside of a sleeping bag. This was to be the moment that Bobby Southworth and Josh Koscheck became Batman and Robin or a modern day real life version of some 1980’s teen movie villains. Bobby was going to apologize, and then Josh guided him towards the decision to take a garden hose and drench Leben’s makeshift bed. This started off a chain of events no one imagined could ever take place and one we could not believe we were watching.
An intoxicated and angry Chris Leben began charging towards the house in search of Josh and Bobby and punched out a window, kicked down a door and would have probably come close to killing either of the dastardly duo had he gotten his hands on them. The handling of this incident is what separated this show from being a reality show about fighters to being a fighting reality show as Dana White reviewed the footage, and spoke with both coaches and the parties in question before announcing that neither Leben nor Koscheck were going to be kicked off of the show; they would fight each other to settle this matter.
This moment was the most memorable one of all for me as the announcement of this fight made all of the posturing between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock before UFC 40 seem like much ado about nothing. These were two very skilled young fighters who had shown more might than maturity, but you knew they hated each other and you wanted to make sure you were there to watch this fight unfold. Koscheck defeated Leben by decision, and for the most part it was not an especially great fight, but for each minute my eyes were glued to the screen in anticipation of Leben delivering a KO blow. When Nate Quarry had to exit the competition due to injury it was going to be his decision as to which previously eliminated fighter would take his place; he selected the “Cat Smasher” Chris Leben. Having Leben return to the house caused everyone to wonder what was going to happen next and become excited at the prospect of seeing Leben vs. Koscheck for a second time.
This was not to be as Koscheck would lose to Diego Sanchez and Leben would fall to Kenny Florian to set up what was going to be an amazing match for the middleweight contract. Diego Sanchez was the fighter with quirks, or the “weird one” of this season; and from his drunken hallucinations that aliens were out to get him along with his yoga routines and his suitcase full of supplements, here was yet another fighter who was a captivating personality to watch and an amazing fighter inside the octagon.
Kenny Florian was an unassuming guy for the most part and flew under the radar as he never was a part of much of the activity inside the house and quietly yet efficiently won his battles in the cage. After his brutal elbow opened up a nasty cut which caused his fight with Chris Leben to be stopped, we knew a star was being born as Florian was definitely for real. Diego Sanchez would prevail as he stopped Florian by way of TKO in the first round to become the first winner of the “six figure contract” and the middleweight championship of “The Ultimate Fighter”.
Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin outfought and outlasted all other light heavyweights and survived to make it to the finals. Bonnar was a generally calm character in the house; and Griffin was known for shaving half of his hair off and for becoming “Coco” the monkey as he proceeded to eat bananas and let off steam as a way to fend off the boredom in the house due to having been cooped up. Stephan defeated the nefarious Bobby Southworth and Forrest dispatched Alex Schoenauer in order to make it to the finals.
The fight between Bonnar and Griffin in the finals was nothing short of awesome and not enough can be said about both the fight itself and the impact it had on the sport. I stood in the middle of my living room about one minute into the first round and I would not return to my seat on the couch for the duration of this epic battle. The fights throughout this season were very good, and obviously the interactions between the fighters were nothing short of having been “must see television,” but this fight bested anything seen before or even since in terms of sheer magnitude. We had seen it all throughout this season yet we hadn’t seen anything like what Bonnar and Griffin gave us. Leben kicked down the door inside the house but Bonnar and Griffin kicked down the door of the world and made everyone take notice of this sport and the UFC.
Today finds Forrest Griffin as the UFC light heavyweight champion; Diego Sanchez, now a welterweight, is set to do battle with Thiago Alves at UFC 90 in a pivotal bout; Kenny Florian, who now competes at lightweight is in line for a future title shot and will be facing Joe Stevenson at UFC 91; and Chris Leben is headlining UFC 89 against a winner of season 3 of “The Ultimate Fighter” in Michael Bisping.
Bobby Southworth is fighting for Strikeforce and is their light heavyweight champion while his running mate from the show, Josh Koscheck is a top ranked welterweight in the UFC. Mike Swick and Nate Quarry both fight for the UFC and both are coming off of wins. Alex Schoenauer is making his return to the UFC shortly and Alex Karalexis competes for the Zuffa-owned WEC. Season one was a success as a program but the fighters who competed on the show have achieved success in their own rights and have moved on to achieving superstar status in the sport, which overshadows anything their association with the show ever meant for them.
Season one is quite simply my favorite season of “The Ultimate Fighter;” and while there have been many fighters from the subsequent seasons who have found success and gained my appreciation, no one group has captivated me as much as the cast of the first season. I was a fan of MMA long before the show and had been since UFC 1 from 1993; which I watched a short time after courtesy of a friend who had recorded the PPV on VHS and handed me a copy one day while I was at the gym with the declaration that I just had to see this event.
I was hooked from day one and from big, burly brawlers in sweatpants to Art Jimmerson and his one boxing glove I became a diehard fan of MMA and the UFC in particular, and watched in awe as Royce Gracie showed us what the next generation of MMA was to be. The sport has evolved and it has truly become a sport rather than the shameless exhibitions of violence that it once was, and I as a fan have evolved as well by becoming more and more educated all of the time by fighters who have become even more proficient at their craft.
So much flack gets handed out to fans of this great sport that happened to get turned on to it by “The Ultimate Fighter” and this infuriates me to no end. Look, we are all fans of this sport and it matters not when you started watching, but rather that you do watch, and no one is any better for having watched it from the beginning. My having watched every UFC from 1 until today makes me no better than the fans who began watching after Griffin vs. Bonnar took place and those of you who think otherwise need to get off of your high horse and simply be glad for the new fans who have allowed this sport to continue.
This isn’t about whether you love the UFC but more about the fact that had it not been for this show that there may not be an Affliction promotion to speak of, or an Elite XC to watch, and we would have to be content with watching bootleg footage of MMA from Japan in order to sake our thirst for the action. Today is a great day for this sport, and tomorrow looks even better; but right now I am sitting here looking back at the moment I turned on my television to watch “The Ultimate Fighter,” and I am in awe of just how much that show meant in the grand scheme of things.
Never did I imagine that I would be talking about it 4 years later and I certainly wouldn’t have dreamed that any of those names would be so prominent in this sport. I had a blast watching season one and I plan on experiencing more of the same as season 8 pits Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s team against Frank Mir’s team and the format goes back to featuring fighters from two weight classes. We have lightweights and light heavyweights and I can’t help but wonder just who is going to not just come out on top, but who will be someone to make an impact and actually become a factor in the UFC like so many before them.
The thing is, these fighters have a chance to make it big, fight in the UFC and possibly become stars. The main point is that if it weren’t for all who were involved in season one, they wouldn’t have any chance whatsoever; and it really was all about chances after all. The Fertitta brothers took a chance on buying the company and having their old friend Dana White handle the daily operations. Frank and Lorenzo gambled with a $10 million dollar bet that this show could put the company in a position to actually make good on their initial investment; and Spike TV gambled that all of these men were right. The house won this bet like it always does, except in this case that house was the one on “The Ultimate Fighter,” and those fighters are the one who built the house that is the UFC in 2008.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
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