Graduation Day: A trio of TUF winners look to shine at UFC 173
For 19 seasons domestically and another eight internationally, The Ultimate Fighter has proven to be the real breeding ground for hopefuls trying to make their way into the UFC. The early days of the reality show helped save the UFC from going out of business, and nine years later the series is still bolstering the roster of fighters with each new crop of talent that comes out of the pool, all competing for a spot in the Octagon.
The early seasons of The Ultimate Fighter helped produce future champions with names like Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans, while even more contenders were also a product of the series like Kenny Florian, Michael Bisping and Nate Diaz.
While more than 100 fighters have found their path to the UFC by way of The Ultimate Fighter, there's still a special fraternity amongst the winners of the show because ultimately only one person per weight class, per season can walk away and say they were the champion.
At UFC 173, the new age of The Ultimate Fighter will be on full display during the preliminary fights airing on FOX Sports 1 as three recent winners compete in back-to-back-to-back bouts on the undercard. It's not only a rare treat to see three show winners on the same card, but all of them fighting in a row could be the only time in recent history it will have happened. Beyond the three TUF winners, there's also a cavalcade of other show veterans dotting the card.
"It is pretty crazy having three TUF winners on the prelims and then you've got finalists with Al (Iaquinta) who was in the finals with me and then T.J. (Dillashaw) who was in the finals as well fighting in the main event. It's crazy how it panned out," said season 15 winner Michael Chiesa, who headlines the prelims in his fight against Francisco Trinaldo.
The trio of fighters -- Chiesa, season 13 winner Tony Ferguson and season 18 winner Chris Holdsworth -- are not only featured together at UFC 173, but also might be some of the most promising prospects to come off the show in recent years.
Holdsworth, who just completed the most recent run of the show with coaches Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate, looks at his time on The Ultimate Fighter with pride and carries the torch of winning the series like a champion should. Holdsworth sees his win on the reality show as a great piece to his resume, but he'll never be one to brag or feel entitled just because he won The Ultimate Fighter.
There is also added pressure coming from the show because immediately on day one in the organization there's a brighter spotlight and a visible target etched on their backs. For all the champions and top names that have been crowned via the show, there's also a laundry list of fighters who won on TUF that are no longer competing in the UFC.
"That's what I did, that's what I accomplished. I feel like I have the right to have that attached to my name being The Ultimate Fighter," Holdsworth told FOX Sports. "It didn't get to my head, I'm not going to let it hold me down or feel like it added pressure to what I have to do. Everybody wants to know if The Ultimate Fighter was a fluke. Come May 24 I'm here to show people it wasn't a fluke. It's my time to shine.
"I feel like every fight from here on out is going to be harder and harder. Burt Watson said it best at the finale -- it's harder to stay here than it is to get here. I really took that to the head and he's right, it's going to get harder from here on out."
While The Ultimate Fighter has served as a launching pad for a lot of fighter's careers, season 15 winner Michael Chiesa likes to look back on his time on the show in a much different way. Chiesa was on the only ever live season of the series, which meant he was stuck in a house with 15 other competitors for 12 weeks all leading to the show finale before he could actually go home again.
That's not even mentioning the heart wrenching personal loss Chiesa dealt with just hours after he made it onto the show when his father passed away and he was forced to go home for the funeral before turning right back around and joining the other fighters in the house. All told, Chiesa experienced a lifetime of turmoil during those three months as a part of the show, but looking back on it, the time spent there made him a better fighter and gave him the mental acuity to navigate his UFC career.
"I think either way I would have got to the UFC, but it's one of those things that I'm very glad that I did it. That was the most trying three months of my life," Chiesa said. "The thing is when times get tough, I can look back on The Ultimate Fighter and be like 'I was able to pull this off'. When I get to cutting weight I can say 'this is nothing', I cut weight five times in 12 weeks and I'm a big lightweight. I can make it through this one weight cut.
"Everybody goes through peaks and valleys when you're getting ready for a fight. At one point you're like 'I'm going to beat this guy' and then the next it's like 'I don't know if I can do it'. I look back on The Ultimate Fighter and I was able to go through getting dropped this fight and turn around and win a fight a week later. That's the thing I like the most, it was such a trying time for me both physically and mentally that when I think I've got it tough right now and look back and say 'nothing's worst than that'. It's something I would do over again in a heartbeat and I'm glad I did it."
Season 13 winner Tony Ferguson has a different look back on his time on the show, but not because he didn't enjoy it necessarily. During his appearance, Ferguson was by all accounts a young punk compared the maturity he's showing now both in his personal and professional life.
He wouldn't change a thing about his performances on the show because he won every fight in emphatic fashion. What makes him cringe, however, is going back and watching the episodes and seeing his personality come out like a demon in the night. Ferguson has no regrets, but instead thinks of The Ultimate Fighter as a high school yearbook full of fond memories and a lot of 'I can't believe I did that' moments.
"I'll go back and I'll watch it and I'm like 'what a d--k, what an idiot," Ferguson said with a laugh. "The one thing I've learned is people's attention span is only as good as your last fight. If I keep putting on these performances I'm going to turn haters into fans. I welcome all haters and I'm well prepared for it. I'm the TUF 13 champ and I'm soon to be champ again.
"I knocked out every one of my guys and I take great pride coming out of that show, being able to get my contract in the UFC. I'm not going to forget about it. I'm not ready to go get my TUF 13 tattoo or anything, but it's always in my heart."
Chiesa agrees with Ferguson on the school comparison in one way because as much as The Ultimate Fighter helped him get a kickstart in the UFC, it was really a learning experience that prepared him for the real life inside the Octagon.
The rigors of fighting several times over the course of just a few weeks was like going through basic training in the military, and now that he's competing in one of the deepest divisions in the sport, Chiesa is prepared for war.
"I look at The Ultimate Fighter as college -- this is how I got my degree to fight in the UFC," Chiesa said.
As far as the future goes, all three competitors can't look past Saturday night although one of them is ready to add a little intrigue to the upcoming card. Ferguson offered up a friendly competition amongst the TUF winners to see which one is the best on the night.
"I think it would be cool to have a little contest to see who comes down with the 'performance of the night'," Ferguson said.
In a sport where selling yourself can be as important as the performance you have inside the cage, The Ultimate Fighter has given these three competitors a chance to do both and it's something none of them will ever forget.
Chiesa does buck the trend a little bit as he gears up for his fight at UFC 173, putting aside the boastful self-promotion most fighters are required to have before stepping into the cage and instead takes the chance to promote one of the other Ultimate Fighter champions competing on the card.
"I'm going to say this right now -- I think Chris Holdsworth is hands down, and I'm taking something away from myself, but he is the best Ultimate Fighter prospect as we speak right now. That guy is destined for greatness," Chiesa said about the season 18 winner.
As it stands, Chiesa, Ferguson and Holdsworth are all rising stars with real potential to make waves in the UFC in 2014. The spotlight will certainly shine down upon them once again on Saturday night as the trio of TUF winners look to go a perfect 3-0 at UFC 173 while quietly rooting for each other to come away victorious.
