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Ultimate Fighter 'Reunion' show coming soon to Spike TV

tuf reunion
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) mixed martial arts reality series is often referred to as the single-most important development in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

When the first episode debuted on Spike TV on January 18, 2005, the promotion was in dire straits. It was already about $40 million in the hole and it had essentially bankrolled a show on television to gain critical traction and exposure.

It was a huge dice roll -- if the show flopped it could have spelled the eventual end of the Zuffa-owned organization. Fortunately for them, and the millions of fans now scattered across the globe, it was a smash hit thanks in large part to the sensational three-round light heavyweight final brawl between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar.

Griffin ended up with his arm raised in the end, along with Diego Sanchez, who was the middleweight winner after totally dominating Kenny Florian. In hindsight, however, more was won that night than just two fights -- the entire concept won over a legion of MMA fans literally overnight.

That crowd has multiplied year-over-year like Smallpox, turning the UFC eventually into the premier promotion on the planet. In fact, several reports indicate that the company now has an estimated worth of $1 billion.

Regardless of how accurate that figure is or isn't one thing is certain: The Las Vegas-based owners (and casino moguls) pushed all their chips to the center of the table with TUF and are now playing with a mountain of house money.

And it doesn't appear to be dwindling anytime soon.

To pay tribute to this seminal moment in history, as well as to honor the fighters who essentially made it all happen, MMAmania.com has learned that the UFC and Spike TV are in the process of putting together a reunion show. We have learned that several fighters are actually in "Sin City" right now filming for the episode.

Of course, several of the fighters from that season are now some of the biggest stars, meaning that there will not be any fights. It's likely an opportunity to reflect on the experience and share a few good laughs, which doesn't appear to be in short supply.

The original TUF season featured several names that are still in the UFC fold today, including Griffin (now light heavyweight champion), Sanchez, Florian, Chris Leben, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Nate Quarry and others, as well as coaches Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture (currently estranged but still considered heavyweight champion for legal reasons).

Expect most of those participants to appear on the reunion show, which should air sometime in early 2009. Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more details ... this should be good.

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it will be very interesting to see if randy is on that show. i cant wait to see it. hopefully leben will show up drunk and take a swing at koscheck

by b.w. on Aug 28, 2008 8:53 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

no fights? whats the point then?

by brendan on Aug 28, 2008 9:01 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Yeah! What’s this, all suckin’ and huggin’?!

by TheNegation on Aug 29, 2008 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

No way Couture would show up.

by Luppers on Aug 28, 2008 9:06 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

never say never in mma.

by b.w. on Aug 29, 2008 11:00 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

How the hell did Randy land a spot back on the show?

by c-war on Aug 28, 2008 9:08 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I don’t know if you read the article but it doesn’t say that he will be on it.

by Bojo on Aug 28, 2008 11:47 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

This is SO stupid! A reuniion coombaya show, with no fighting? Piss off!

by john on Aug 29, 2008 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

If that is the case.. have Ya ya host this shit on VH1.. make it a live show..and hour long..and that’s it.. to make a “season” out of this .. no fighting?? What is going to excite me?? Forrest and Diego.. have brunch..a cup of tea togther.. is Kos and Leben.. going to make up.. it makes no sense to even waste $$ on production of TUF if there will be NO FIGHTING.. Fighting is the whole point.

by PhilQNY on Aug 29, 2008 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

i always wondered about diego sanchez. on the tuf show he used to talk about having a bad hip and needing the money to pay for the surgery. as far as i know he never had hip surgery, so was he full of s**t or what?

by day1er on Aug 28, 2008 8:59 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I was thinking about Randy’s envolvement aswell. Does this mean he has patched things up with Dana and the UFC? And does this add some validity to the Randy vs Brock fight?

by DB on Aug 28, 2008 9:00 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

randy vs brock fight? when was this mentioned?

by sinister on Aug 28, 2008 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

The rumor right now is that the UFC and Couture have settle, Couture will fight one more time under the UFC and then be a ‘free agent.’
Then one writer made the claim that Lesnar would be the obvious fight, seeing as that would be the one fight in the HW division that would be a total blockbuster.

I really doubt any of it is true.

by Luppers on Aug 28, 2008 9:10 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Yeah I doubt it too. This fight is very unlikely, but I thought I might ask. That is definatley total speculation and flat out rumor, I was just entertaining the idea beceause it is a “hot topic” of discussion. Though I highley doubt it will come to fruition it’s been talked about and I’m a fan of propetuating subjects of debate amongst fans. Just thought I’d ask.

by DB on Aug 28, 2008 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

A Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar fight makes a lot of sense at this point. It’s sort of been falling into place with recent news. Even if it’s not what the UFC was thinking, it should be.

It’s hard to think of anyone other than Nogueira and Lesnar that are even worthy of fighting Randy, and we all know Big Nog is tied up with Frank Mir. Maybe the UFC would throw everyone a curveball and change their minds, but I doubt it. The possibility of Couture vs Lesnar has also been dismissed because people believe that would then be giving Lesnar a title shot with Nog as interim. Simple solution. Non-title fight. Especially if you take into consideration that Randy would be free and clear after the fight. There would be no point to defend a title. The UFC doesn’t even give title fights to fighters with only one fight remaining on their current contracts. Nor am I saying they should, by any means.

Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar is a great fight. Wrestler vs Wrestler. Randy, who seems to be able to beat anyone, against Lesnar, who quite frankly made Heath Herring look like a complete amateur. His power would cause Randy some problems, I’m sure. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lesnar mangle Randy’s face the same way he did Herring’s. Brock’s strength and wrestling ability would cause anyone problems, and when he starts throwing those sledgehammer fists of his, he’s really dangerous. If the guy would earn himself some BJJ belts, he might very well be unstoppable.

So we know Brock is qualified to fight Randy. If you’re still doubting that, I really hope this fight does happen. That aside, the fight would make HUGE money. It could possibly be one of the biggest fights in the history of the UFC. Sure, the UFC has to watch Randy walk away and fight Fedor. But how much does a fight with Fedor mean, and how much would people care about Randy vs Fedor, if Brock beat Randy? But if Randy tries to play the “it doesn’t make sense” card, that’s bullshit. The only reason it doesn’t make sense is because that would be a duck.

So yeah, the UFC is rolling the dice again with a fight like this, but wasn’t this article about how rolling the dice has paid off for the UFC? Question is, will Randy roll the dice?

by Dredg_XI on Aug 29, 2008 8:39 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

ONE CORRECTION

Randy can not beat Chuck, he came back to heavyweight cuz the division is thin

by The Dude on Aug 29, 2008 8:43 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I dont think you guys are right about Randy only fighting once and then being Freed from his contract with the UFC.

My understanding is that Couture will fight Brock at UFC 91 and then the UFC will sign Fedor to a 1 fight deal and let Randy fight him as a Farewell fight. If not, they could possibly coax him into fighting the REAL CHAMPION, NOgueira!~

Regardless of what is true and what isn’t, FACT is that Couture is in the gym training for a FIGHT! That is a FACT!

by john on Aug 29, 2008 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

If Randy was to fight in the UFC again, he’d have to fight Nogueira to unify the HW belt.

by --utaptout-- on Aug 28, 2008 10:03 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I agree utapout, there is no point in fighting lesner if randy is really coming back for one fight, the only fight that makes sense is one against nog. They’re saying because nog is already going to fight mir that this doesn’t make sense, but I’d feel the UFC would make an exception in this case and let us see the couture vs nog fight first!

by linx on Aug 29, 2008 5:38 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

If it’s true in any way, they better have Couture vs Nog.

by Toms Bombs on Aug 29, 2008 9:17 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Couture vs. Nog is NOT HAPPENING! I want to see it, but believe me, No chance that they fight each other before April of 2009

by john on Aug 29, 2008 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

that would be the ideal situation for me as well. beating brock wont mean anything to randy’s career and if he loses? i think this would happen if it were not for thesupposed 1 shot deal, but it could still happen. everybody thinks just because nog and mir are on tuf, that it is set in stone that they have to fight. that fight isnt even signed yet. usually thats what the set tuf up for, but randy might throw a wrench into that. thwe could still give mir a high profile fight (werdum) in dec and a nice paycheck to step aside. these are all just rumors and speculations, theres even one now that kongo might have a bum shoulder adding to fuel to the fire of the randy/brock rumor, but if it were up to me it would definetly be nog/randy to unify (ahem) the title.

by b.w. on Aug 29, 2008 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Thats pretty cool. Keep Kos and Diego away fom eachother though!

by PP on Aug 28, 2008 9:37 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Keep Kos and Leben away from each other too.

by PW on Aug 29, 2008 10:14 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

You could definitely keep Koscheck the f**k away from me as well

by TheNegation on Aug 29, 2008 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Man i would love to see this. watching the guys sitting down watching the first season and laughing at chris leben pee on the canadian guys bed haha…..

by Toad on Aug 28, 2008 9:54 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

no man remember it was just a “spritz”

by day1er on Aug 28, 2008 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

This should be a good show. I’d love to see Leben and Kos get into it again. I hate Kos and I would die laughing if Leben KTFO’d him. BTW…you know theres gonna be some crazy stuff happening, because they are going to want the ratings! I’m sure itll be encouraged!

by --utaptout-- on Aug 28, 2008 10:05 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Is this going to be like a few episode thing where they live in the house, and possibly fight?

Or is this going to be like a 2 hour special where they all sit on couches and “talk”

by Robby on Aug 28, 2008 10:43 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

seems like it is the second scenario…

by linx on Aug 29, 2008 5:40 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Diego and Koz need to squash it… lmao

Rob Dib
http://www.break-your-face.com

by Rob Dib on Aug 28, 2008 10:52 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

never mind i read it too quickly, didn’t notice the “episode” part

by Robby on Aug 28, 2008 11:05 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

now it all makes sense.. this is why Griffin got the decision win olympic wrestling style!

by RoB on Aug 29, 2008 4:39 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

WAR KOSCHECK!!!

by Spirit Killer on Aug 29, 2008 5:29 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

So are they only bringing in the guys who are successful UFC stars now, or will we see guys like Shoenauer and Karalexis who ended up in the IFL? Or even guys like Josh Rafferty and Jason Thacker who have done squat since leaving the show.

by PW on Aug 29, 2008 10:18 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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