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March 7, 2008
A look back TUF # 1
The first season, which ran in early 2005, was a huge hit, for a number of reasons. One of the biggest is that it aired at 11:05 p.m. on Monday nights, right after World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Raw” program. While most wrestling fans, in particular the kids and older people, weren’t that interested, Ultimate Fighter kept the vast majority of the WWE’s male 18-34 audience, which became the new core audience for the promotion.
The vast majority of the public envisioned “ultimate fighters” as thuggish bar room brawlers, devoid of the skills of boxers and wrestlers. But in airing the brutal training sessions and even more controversial weight-cutting, they became very real people, with real flaws and insecurities who worked incredibly hard. Instead of being unskilled, they actually had to be skilled to some degree at many fighting styles.
There were two nights from the first season which put UFC on the map: a two-week television grudge program that led to a match with Chris Leben vs. Josh Koscheck, still the highest rated episode in the history of the series, and the live championship match with Forrest Griffin winning a controversial decision over Stephan Bonnar, the almost perfect fight at the perfect moment.
The two coaches from the season, light heavyweight champion Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, fought with Liddell winning, and the match did record numbers for the sport on pay-per-view and it was established as a viable attraction.
Many of the fighters introduced that season, Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Koscheck, Leben, Mike Swick, Nate Quarry, Bonnar and Kenny Florian remain stars with the promotion.Source: Yahoo Sports
