The debut season of The Ultimate Fighter (later designated The Ultimate Fighter 1) premiered on January 17, 2005. Sixteen mixed martial arts fighters (eight light heavyweights weighing from 186 to 205 lb and eight middleweights weighing from 171 to 185 lb) were invited to participate in the show where they resided together and trained in two separate teams coached by UFC light heavyweight fighters Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. The teams competed in physical challenges, segments hosted by singer Willa Ford, to determine which had the right to pair one of their fighters against an opponent of their choice in the same weight class, with the loser being eliminated.
The finale was broadcast live on April 9, 2005, where the two finalists in each weight class faced off for a contract with the UFC. It was the first live UFC broadcast on non-pay-per-view television, and it drew a very impressive 1.9 overall rating. The series was also broadcast in the United Kingdom in the spring of 2005 on Bravo. A 5-disc DVD set of The Ultimate Fighter was released on November 1, 2005.
Contents
Cast
Coaches
Chuck Liddell, head coach of blue team
Randy Couture, head coach of green team
Marc Laimon, grappling coach
Ganyao Fairtex, Muay Thai coach
Peter Welch, boxing coach
Fighters
Listed as originally assigned.
Light heavyweights
Team Liddell: Bobby Southworth, Sam Hoger, Forrest Griffin, Alex Schoenauer
Team Couture: Stephan Bonnar, Mike Swick, Lodune Sincaid, Jason Thacker
Middleweights
Team Liddell: Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian, Josh Rafferty
Team Couture: Nathan Quarry, Chris Leben, Alex Karalexis, Chris Sanford
Others
Hosts: Dana White, Willa Ford
Narrator: Mike Rowe
Episodes
Episode 1: "The Quest Begins" (original airdate: 17 January 2005)
The 16 fighters are driven to the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they meet Willa Ford, Dana White, and the coaches, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell.
At the house, Chris Leben keeps on drinking heavily, and starts to make fun of Jason Thacker, and give people nicknames.
At 2:00 am, while Thacker is in the shower, Leben decides to urinate on his teammate's pillow, without him noticing.
The fighters are woken up at 5:00 am by Couture and Liddell, and the first day of training proves too much for almost half of the fighters.
During the jiu jitsu training, Nate Quarry cuts himself on his chin after landing a takedown.
After the second day of training, Thacker talks to Couture and says that the training is too much for him, but Couture talks him into staying and trying to get the training done.
On the 4th day, everyone is ready to spar, except for Thacker, because of the training, so Bobby Southworth and Lodune Sincaid decide to talk him into going with them, saying they need him and he is part of the team.
While Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar are sparring, Griffin accidentally headbutts Bonnar, causing a need for stitches.
Light heavyweight and middleweight teams are chosen by coaches Liddell and Couture:
Episode 2: "Team Challenges" (original airdate: 24 January 2005)
Middleweight bracket
* Nate Quarry was slated to fight Florian but an injury forced him to be replaced by Leben.
Legend
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Couture vs. Team Liddell Finale
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Couture vs. Team Liddell Finale (originally broadcast as The Ultimate Fighter: Ultimate Finale, and also known as The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale) was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on April 9, 2005. Featured were the finals from The Ultimate Fighter 1 in both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.
Although the main event featured Rich Franklin against Ken Shamrock, the light heavyweight finale between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar received significant attention. The three-round match went to a decision, with Griffin winning. Both fighters were subsequently awarded UFC contracts.
Originally, Tito Ortiz was offered to fight Ken Shamrock in a rematch at this event. However, Ortiz left the UFC shortly after UFC 51 due to contract disputes.
Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar fight
Even though both Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar had good records at the time (Griffin 9–2, Bonnar 7–1), many were expecting this fight to be nothing more than filler before the main event between Ken Shamrock and Rich Franklin.
Both fighters had rough, controversial, and impressive wins to make it to the finale. In their first fights, Griffin defeated Alex Schoenauer by TKO but suffered what appeared to be a serious cut above his eye; Bonnar earned a controversial decision win over seasonal favorite Bobby Southworth. In the semi-finals, both fighters finished their opponents with Griffin defeating teammate Sam Hoger by TKO and Bonnar defeating teammate Mike Swick by Submission.
UFC President Dana White credits this fight as being the driving force behind the future success of the UFC, often stating that due to the fight Spike TV offered them a second season of the show. An estimated three million viewers saw the Bonnar-Griffin fight live on Spike, and the resulting pay-per-view where coaches Liddell and Couture squared off saw a then-record 280,000 buys. It also kicked off what has been termed "the TUF boom", where interest in both watching MMA fights as well as training in disciplines such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, amateur wrestling, and judo rose amongst the general public. In 2013 both Griffin and Bonnar were inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, and whilst Griffin went on to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, this fight is still considered the highlight of both fighters' careers.
Results
The following fighters were honored in the October 2011 book titled UFC Encyclopedia.
Fight of the Night: Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar
Knockout of the Night: Josh Koscheck
Coaches' Fight
UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell 2 was held on April 16, 2005 in Paradise, Nevada.