After the inaugural season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ reality series became an instant television hit, Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship quickly rounded up another load of up-and-coming MMA fighters and filmed another season. The second season of ‘TUF’ featured heavyweights and welterweights, and notably did not feature the usual feud between coaches. Instead, the coaches were friends, one-time training partners, and both UFC title holders at the time: Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes. Let’s look at how the careers of the participants turned out since then. I will examine the heavyweight class first, and the welterweights next week.
All in all, the heavyweight edition of TUF has been a failed experiment. Of the ten fighters who participated, only two are still fighting in the UFC and both dropped down to 205 lbs, as did Mike Whitehead who has had an impressive win streak outside of the Octagon. None of the true heavyweights of the group enjoyed great success in MMA since the Season 2 finale.
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Part 2 - Welterweights