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Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Ultimate Fighter turns 20: UFC's signature show's new season stars coaches Cormier, Sonnen
FILE - Chael Sonnen answers a question at the 30th anniversary Q&A before the UFC 292 mixed martial arts weigh in, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File) FILE - UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier is seen in the ring at UFC on ABC 3, Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File) FILE - UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier is seen in the ring at UFC on ABC 3, Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File) FILE - Chael Sonnen answers a question at the 30th anniversary Q&A before the UFC 292 mixed martial arts weigh in, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File) FILE - UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier is seen in the ring at UFC on ABC 3, Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File) The fight between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar has been mythologized for 20 years as the one that saved UFC. The spectacular, bloody brawl so masterful — the main event on the first season of a new reality show, aired live on Spike TV — that UFC soon skyrocketed from a weakened MMA promotion potentially on the brink of new ownership into a sports and pop culture phenomenon. (And yes, a billion-dollar empire.) Advertisement It's billed as the fight that forever changed UFC. Right? 'The whole thing is complete BS but I'm happy to play along,' retired UFC fighter and noted trash-talker Chael Sonnen said. 'It does get too much credit. It didn't change the world just because it was on Spike TV.' Hold up, former UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier would like a word. 'I don't think it gets enough credit for what it did to the sport,' Cormier said. 'I watched that as a wrestler and I knew that I was watching something happen. I didn't know what it was. But it was something.' The two can debate the fight's spot in MMA history all they want — Griffin won the decision, but the viral attention gained by the highly entertaining bout is widely credited with exposing the little-known sport to a larger worldwide audience — since the verbal sparring is part of each fighter's appeal. Advertisement What neither can deny is how the show responsible for the fight — 'The Ultimate Fighter' — has become a UFC staple and is widely regarded as one essential in the survival and eventual expansion of UFC. 'I don't know why they ever let this be called a reality show,' Sonnen said. 'I really do feel it's a miss. This is a documentation of the toughest tournament in all of sport. You will not find a harder sports process anywhere, aside from possibly the Olympic Games." Cormier and Sonnen returned as coaches in the show more commonly known as TUF's 20th anniversary year. Though the show debuted on Jan. 17, 2005, UFC counts 31 seasons of the show that has launched prospects such as Griffin and Rose Namajunas into future champions. "The Ultimate Fighter" — which airs Tuesday nights on ESPN and ESPN-plus — features Cormier and Sonnen coaching 16 men's flyweight and welterweight prospects that live and train together in Las Vegas with the winner (and sometimes the losers) earning a UFC contract. Advertisement While the coaches often fight at the end of each season, Cormier and Sonnen are both retired and have shifted into broadcasting and their 'Good Guy/Bad Guy' podcast. 'The show is about the guys,' Cormier said. 'Chael and I not fighting doesn't take away from that because I think ultimately the experience for the athlete is going to be better. We aren't fighting. We can compete against each other and make them do the fighting. They ultimately do take the spotlight and it's on them, as it's supposed to be.' Sonnen coached against Wanderlei Silva and again against UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones in 2013 and was soundly defeated by the champ. Cormier was the UFC light heavyweight champion when he agreed to coach against heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in 2017. Cormier would go on to defeat Miocic at UFC 226 and became only the second fighter to be champion in two divisions simultaneously. The move worked out for Cormier. Not so much for his students. Advertisement 'They either had to do what I was doing to keep up in most instances or it felt like a failure,' Cormier said. 'They were getting hurt. They were overtraining them. When you're an athlete, you've got to be selfish. While I was still in the show, I was worried about fighting Stipe Miocic and winning the heavyweight championship. This time, I don't have that. I can literally just coach and give them my all as a coach.' Cormier wins the coin flip Cormier won a coin flip and drafted first last week in the first episode and picked Brazilian fighter Eduardo Henrique. Sonnen would draft Diego Bianchini — a fighter appropriately known as 'The Brazilian Bad Boy.' 'Once you get inside here,' UFC President Dana White told the fight prospects, 'this competition is an absolute pressure cooker. But don't forget why you came here and what the prize is at the end of this.' Advertisement Cormier was surely glad more fights and episodes are ahead — Henrique was choked out by Sonnen's Joseph Morales. The days of having to save UFC are long over. The thrill of winning TUF and earning that contract continue into the show's next decade. 'That ending still feels special,' Cormier said. 'You win the tournament, you get a contract. That's what makes 'The Ultimate Fighter' work. That's why it's worked for 20 years.' ___ AP sports:
Toronto Sun
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Toronto Sun
UFC president Dana White excited to be back in Montreal after decade-long absence
Published May 09, 2025 • 3 minute read UFC President Dana White attends the ceremonial weigh-in for a UFC mixed martial arts event in Elmont, N.Y., July 15, 2022. Photo by Gregory Payan / AP Thousands of crazed fans lined up outside Montreal's Bell Centre for hours on Thursday, despite grey skies and cool temperatures, with the hopes of catching a glimpse of their sports heroes. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account However, they weren't there to see Montreal Canadiens stars like Cole Caufield or Nick Suzuki, but rather Belal Muhammad, Jose Aldo and other mixed-martial artists for the official UFC 315 press conference ahead of the main card scheduled for Saturday night. 'That was just a little bit of a quarter of the bowl and you heard the energy,' said UFC president and CEO Dana White in a one-on-one interview with The Canadian Press following the press conference. 'This place is going to be packed, sold out on Saturday. The Canadian fans are awesome. 'They always bring incredible energy. Saturday is going to be fun. It's great to be back in Montreal.' It has been just over a decade since Montreal last hosted a card held by the American promotion. That was UFC 186, headlined by a flyweight title bout between champion Demetrious Johnson and challenger Kyoji Horiguchi on Apr. 25, 2015. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'They deserve it,' said White. 'Some of the most fun times in my career were when we were breaking into Canada back in the day, getting (professional mixed martial arts) legalized in Ontario (in 2010). As we started to move around, whether to Montreal, the East Coast, West Coast, and everything else in between, Canada remains one my favourite places to go.' Nevertheless, 415 total UFC fight cards and 3,668 days will have passed between that spring night ten years ago and Saturday's UFC 315 fight card featuring title bouts between welterweight champion Muhammad and fifth-ranked Jack Della Maddalena and flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko against France's Manon Fiorot. It's a far cry from the six UFC events held at Bell Centre in a five-year span, between April 2008 and March 2013, four of those cards headlined by three-time welterweight champion and Canadian mixed martial arts legend Georges St-Pierre. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'As we were growing the sport and the company in the early days, there were so many of the guys, from the Chuck Liddells to the Georges St-Pierres that were so instrumental in taking this thing global,' said White. 'I don't know if there will ever be anybody who has an impact up here the way that St-Pierre did.' Saturday's card is also the first being held on Canadian soil since Donald Trump was re-elected American president last November. It comes amid growing political tensions between Canada and the United States, as Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state. 'I don't even think about that at all,' said White. 'That doesn't have an impact on what we do.' White points rather to other world events, such as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, as far greater hurdles that the UFC has had to recently contend with. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'When you're a global business, there's always going to be things every four years, or even every two years, that affect your business,' said White. 'None of that stuff bothers me. We just do our thing.' The animosity existing between the two nations does risk, however, spilling into the octagon come Saturday. During his Wednesday news conference, American welterweight Charles Radtke referenced the ongoing booing of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at Canadian sporting events in recent months, saying 'when you all boo the national anthem, somebody's gonna have to pay for that.' He went on to trash-talk Canada, offering an expletive-laden message to any fan at Bell Centre to jeer him during his fight with Mike Malott of Burlington, Ont. MONTREAL'S AIEMANN ZAHABI LOOKS TO IMPRESS Malott will not be the only Canadian fighting on home soil Saturday. Montreal's Aiemann Zahabi is set to face off against former two-time featherweight champion Jose Aldo of Brazil in a bantamweight fight. 'I'm proud to be fighting Jose Aldo,' said Zahabi on Thursday. 'He's a legend of the sport. I'm even more proud to do it here at home in Montreal. 'I know that he said he was disappointed in his last performance, but it's a good thing my brother Firas and I prepared for the best Jose Aldo possible. I'm excited.' Zahabi will have extra support in his corner in the form of St-Pierre, who Zahabi has turned to for advice and guidance in preparation for his bout with the 38-year-old UFC Hall of Famer. Canada NBA Columnists NFL Ontario
