Take A Trip Down Memory Lane To See Which Fighters Emerged Victorious From The Ultimate Fighter.
The 30th season of The Ultimate Fighter has finally arrived.
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Peña is set to coach heavyweights and women’s flyweight hopefuls against longtime two division champion Amanda Nunes.
The two TUF coaches met in the Octagon last December, when Peña delivered a stunning upset win over Nunes to claim the bantamweight title. Now the two will go head-to-head on TUF before their highly anticipated rematch.
But before we dive into more information about the historic 30th season of TUF, let’s look back at some of the most iconic winners from the 29 previous seasons of the show:
The Winners
Forrest Griffin
Forrest Griffin throws a punch Stephan Bonnar during the Light Heavyweight Final bout during the live Ultimate Fighter Season Finale at the Cox Pavilion on April 9, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)
The first season of TUF was brilliant. It had everything - crazy moments, crazy personalities, and even crazier fights. No fight was crazier than the epic finale between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar, which is known as the most important fight in company history. After the win, Griffin went on to become a UFC champion and have a great UFC career before joining the team at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
Diego Sanchez
Joe Stevenson
Rashad Evans
Kendall Grove
Michael Bisping
Michael 'The Count' Bisping of England celebrates after his victory over Anderson 'The Spider' Silva of Brazil in their Middleweight bout during the UFC Fight Night held at at Indigo at The O2 Arena on February 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dean
When “The Count” won the third season of TUF, it was undeniable that the man was destined to be a star. He would go on to fight many of the best middleweights in the world on his way to becoming a UFC champion in 2016. After his outstanding career, Bisping has stayed heavily involved with the UFC and is frequently the color commentator for UFC broadcasts on ESPN+.
Matt Serra
Travis Lutter
Nate Diaz
Nate Diaz reacts to his victory over Conor McGregor of Ireland in their welterweight bout during the UFC 196 event inside MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 5, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)
Stockton stand up! The younger brother of UFC icon Nick Diaz did the 209 proud on the fifth season of TUF. Nate Diaz showed off his incredible toughness and submission skills on the show and in the Octagon on his way to becoming one of the biggest names in the sport.
Diaz has racked up an incredible 14 UFC bonuses, including getting Fight of the Night eight times. Although he lost his only crack thus far at a title against Benson Henderson in 2012, his two fights with Conor McGregor are two of biggest events in UFC history.
Tony Ferguson interacts with media during the UFC 249 press conference at T-Mobile Arena on March 06, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
There isn’t anyone else in the UFC quite like Tony Ferguson. He was the perfect personality for TUF, and he showed that was talented enough to compete with the best lightweights in the world. “El Cucuy” has been on an amazing run in his UFC career, winning 12 straight at one point and getting eight bonuses along the way. He secured the interim UFC lightweight championship and became one of the most popular fighters in the sport.
Don’t miss his next fight, which comes this Saturday, May 7, against Michael Chandler at UFC 274: Oliveira vs Geathje.
Julianna Pena reacts after defeating Amanda Nunes of Brazil by submission in their UFC bantamweight championship bout during the UFC 269 on December 11, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
“The Venezuelan Vixen” made the impossible a reality when she submitted Amanda Nunes at UFC 269. But before she was a champion, she was an Ultimate Fighter winner. Peña showed the world on season 18 of TUF that she had all the heart and all the skills to be a force in the UFC.
Eddie Gordon
Corey Anderson
Carla Esparza
People might not remember this, but Carla Esparza won the inaugural UFC strawweight championship on season 20 of TUF. How did she do it? She submitted Rose Namajunas in the finale with a rear naked choke. On that season Esparza defeated Angela Hill, Tecia Torres, and Jessica Penne before facing Namajunas.
Esparza will get a second crack at Namajunas, who is now the strawweight champion, at UFC 274 this weekend.
Kamaru Usman
Kamaru Usman of Nigeria reacts after his victory over Gilbert Burns of Brazil in their UFC welterweight championship fight during the UFC 258 event at UFC APEX on February 13, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
When fight fans saw Kamaru Usman on TUF 21, they had to know they were watching one of the best in the world. Usman showed he had all the talent you could ever ask for on the show and proved it once he made it into the UFC. Usman has never been beaten in the UFC and is 20-1 overall as a pro. He’s the reigning UFC welterweight champion and the current pound-for-pound number one fighter in the world today.
It's safe to say that TUF was just the beginning for “The Nigerian Nightmare”.
