'TUF' producer Craig Piligian reflects on 20 years of UFC reality show – and the moment things changed

USA Today

4 days ago

'TUF' producer Craig Piligian reflects on 20 years of UFC reality show – and the moment things changed
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Craig Piligian on creating "The Ultimate Fighter" & Saving the UFC
Craig Piligian, co-creator of The Ultimate Fighter reflects on the groundbreaking origins of the reality series that helped save the UFC.
LAS VEGAS – Not many sports organizations have its permanent existence catalyzed by a reality show.
The UFC is different in that regard, however, according to the longtime executive producer of "The Ultimate Fighter."
On Tuesday, "TUF 33" launched in the same relative period that the reality show celebrated its 20th anniversary. In correlation with the season premiere, reality series luminaries and alumni gathered at Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa to reminisce and celebrate the show's success.
Among them was Craig Piligian, the show's longtime executive producer, who will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in the contributor wing as part of the promotion's 2025 class.
"I think the show means a tremendous amount because it helped really a sport that was really misunderstood in the beginning," Piligian told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. "Everybody thought it was a blood sport. No one could watch it. It was banned in every state. I think that the show really dispelled so many rumors. For a sport now that has helped so many people. It has given a lot of fans so much enjoyment. I think the show really added a lot of good will to the sport, the UFC, MMA in general, and all martial arts around the world. I think it was an incredible asset to the UFC. In my world, it's probably at the top. It's so rare that it's never been done, that you do a reality show that helped launch a sport. It didn't happen in football. It hasn't happened in baseball. They didn't do it in basketball. You name the sport, it never really happened. But in this sport, a reality show really launched a tremendously huge global sport."
Dana White has long credited the UFC's survival to the reality series, and in particular, the first season's live finale fight between Forrest Griffin and the late Stephan Bonnar in 2005. Piligian, in turn, credits White for the show's success, and in particular, his fiery pump-up speech that is quoted commonly by MMA followers even to this day.
"It's wonderful and I actually credit Dana for giving the best reality speech in television history with, 'Do you want to be a f*cking fighter?'" Piligian said. "I truly believe that was the moment that it switched, that the light switched on for the audience, that the light switched on for the fighters in the first season, and that the MMA world saw what it meant to do what these guys were abut to do. I literally create that single speech with a lot of the success of the ultimate fighter and eventually the UFC."
"TUF 33," which airs every Tuesday on ESPN2 and ESPN+, features coaches Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen, as they work with prospective UFC welterweights and flyweights. While it's unclear what the future holds for "TUF" beyond the current season, Piligian affirmed the recipe still works – and there's no need to get too cute beyond that.
"We tried to evolve it a few times," Piligian said. "One season we tried to do 'The Ultimate Fighter: Live." It didn't work out so well. We did team against team and that didn't work out so well. I believe in keeping the format how it is. The one thing that you can't change is the cast. When you cast it correctly and you get the right coaches, the chemistry always works. You have to trust that the format is right, which it is, after 20 years. Now, it's our job to make it interesting, cast it the correct way, get great fights, get great stories, get good coaches, and let it just happen. We don't interfere once it starts. We don't tell them what to say. We don't tell them what to do. We let it happen. That's where that magic stays always and always comes always, season after season."